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Mum's homemade gravy recipe with 1 'magic' ingredient looks 'epic' but has people divided
Reach Daily Express | February 1, 2026 10:41 PM CST

Gravy is an essential part of the legendary roast dinner. While some rely on instant granules, there's nothing quite like gravy made from scratch to really take your meal to the next level. One social media food influencer demonstrated her own method after a viewer of one of her videos described her gravy as "epic".

Rebecca Morgan has 13,700 followers on TikTok, where she demonstrates easy and healthy recipes she makes for her family. After a comment on a previous video had asked her to explain how she made her gravy, she said her recipe had been passed down to her from her mum. "I feel like a bit of an imposter posting this because I'm not a trained chef, this is just how my mum taught me to do it, and maybe I'm doing it wrong, so feel free to let me know in the comments," she said.

Speaking over a video of herself making the gravy, Rebecca said: "You want to add almost equal parts fat and flour, so I'm using butter and plain flour here. Mix that together with the heat on so the butter melts and it forms a kind of glob paste thing. I believe the technical term is a roux.

"Then, after a couple of minutes, you turn the heat off. It's very important to turn the heat off apparently.

"Then you gradually add in your stock bit by bit and stir each time so the liquid combines into the roux. If it starts to look or feel a bit lumpy then just switch from the spoon to the whisk.

"Once all the stock is in there you might be thinking it's a bit too runny, but don't worry, just turn the heat back on on a medium heat and then the gravy will thicken up a little bit. At this point you can add in some herbs or some wine.

"And you're probably wondering why it's not a gravy colour yet, and this is where the magic stuff comes in: gravy browning. A few drops of this will do the trick, and this bottle will literally last you a lifetime so it's a good investment.

"I also add some juices from the cooked meat at this point to help give it a lovely flavour and then just cook it until that's the right consistency for you. Personally I like my gravy nice and thick.

"And that's it. This is definitely something that takes practice and trial and error, but once you've got it, it's really easy to do."

Writing in the video description, Rebecca said: "I also sometimes make it direct in the dish that the meat is in, but usually I make it ahead in a separate pan... I'm sure everyone has their own way of doing it so feel free to tell me I'm wrong."

Commenters were divided on the method. One said: "That's not a gravy, you have made a sauce!" Another said: "Gravy is made from the juices of meat. SAUCE is made with a roux."

But others were impressed. One said: "It looks incredible! I love how simple you've made it for people to follow too. Far nicer than gravy granules! I bet the butter adds a lovely additional flavour!" And another wrote: "That's exactly how my mum used to make it and so I do the same."

Someone else commented: "If you'd like some technical responses to the naysayers - what you just made is a classic french sauce called a veloute - a roux made into a sauce with meat stock (if you use milk instead of stock, you have a bechamel). A jus is a meat sauce made with no thickening. You used a thickener (flour/roux) and therefore made a gravy. Veloute = Gravy."

Ingredients
  • 30g butter
  • 40g plain flour
  • 400ml chicken stock (or use beef for beef roast, etc)
  • Dried Sage and thyme
  • Juices from the meat
  • Gravy browning

Make enough for two to three adults.


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