How to Make the Perfect Gravy for Christmas

The perfect Christmas dinner wouldn’t be complete without lashings of lovely gravy. To find out how to make gravy, check out our quick video – we guarantee perfect results with this every time.

Find out How to Make Gravy

In a large pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter until foamy. Stir in 3 tablespoons of plain flour and stir over a low heat until a paste forms. Then, add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and 2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce and stir together over a medium-high heat. You could also add 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce here, if you like (Paul Kelly would certainly approve). When your mixture is starting to look well combined and is sizzling, deglaze the pan with half a cup of good red wine – nothing that you wouldn’t be happy to drink, and whisk so the whole concoction comes together. Finally, pour in 1 cup of chicken stock and allow to reduce until your preferred thickness is reached. Have a taste and give a final season before keeping warm until ready to serve.

If you’ve got the time between roasting the meat and dinner, you could use the juices and fats from your roasting tray instead of butter to start this recipe off – just add enough flour to form a paste with what you have and continue from there. I like this variation because it can be prepared beforehand, and because with some vegetable stock it can also be vegetarian friendly. You’ll still get a lovely meaty flavour with this if you use homemade stock – find out how to here!

Of course, we’re willing to admit little tweaks can be made to this basic method. Mr Kelly himself has a very similar recipe that my Dad swears by…