I saw the most ridiculous thing in Sainsburys today...

[clary]

A pot of gravy - the size of one of those plastic pots of posh soup - for £2.60! And this was a special offer - it's normally £3-something.

Gravy - that's some meat juices with flour and a bit of veg water, right? How the dickens is a portion for about three people worth three quid?

I quite like the ready made gravy at Xmas. It’s one less thing to worry about. But you are right about the price.

I bought frozen mash on the recommendation of mumsnet and love it! Much better than instant and easy to portion out. Means I can whip up a shepherds pie or comfort food after working all day.

I guessed this thread would be about prices. Took DH food shopping the other day and he was shocked that big tubs of butter were a fiver. I think he even took to Facebook to moan about it.

My gravy is a filthy hybrid of home made and granules

It's delicious

Hence why I have a tub of ASDA onion gravy granuals for 80p.
I'll get my coat.

Hang on! I'm just getting mine too. I go all upmarket and do Bisto granules at Christmas. You?

Dakiare, you need FAT for home made gravy

You're relying on the interaction between the fat and the flour. If you don't get that interaction, the heat burns the flour instead of opening up the starches to thicken the water. SO instead of thick, buttery, meaty sauce, you have burnt flour water.

I love frozen for putting on top of pies. Means I can make a fish pie in between school and scouts. Also although I am not a bad cook I just cannot cook gravy so I buy those posh pots. Why not? I can afford it.

Look what I saw in tesco the other day.

£1.05 for one cake.
£1 for 3 of the same cakes.

I buy frozen mash, pre diced onions and a load of other time saving ingredients. Zero fucks given on whether that's lazy according to sanctimummies on MN!

I think it's about equal in terms of cost for potatoes v frozen mash. £1 a bag for frozen and no mess, no waste and no fuss. I do still make proper mash sometimes (Christmas mainly!) but for a mid week tea when you've been out working, it's great. I can't get excited either way about the tubs of gravy. You could actually say the same about the tubs of soup - water, stock cube and vegetables isn't really much more of a stretch than making gravy really. personally I think I'd probably just use it for a quick stew/casserole rather than pouring over a roast when you already have the juices available for gravy. But I wouldn't judge others :o

I’m in deep despair at the moment. Tesco have stopped doing their frozen cauliflower rice. 😳
We are a low carb houshold and cauli rice is such a faff and makes such a mess. The fresh stuff in supermarkets, when you can get it, is always stale and rank tasting but the frozen packets were wondeful and meant we could have a meal in just a few minutes when we got in knackered.
Damn you Tesco. 🤬🤬🤬

I'm all for choice.

Qvar: Thanks. I'll have another go next time I have a roast and add some extra fat to the pan. I'm not hideous at cooking generally but when things go wrong they do it with style!

The inedible gravy isn't quite as bad as my pineapple bread attempt at least - that wandered off the worktop and started crawling along the floor with wrongness.

Making mash isn't that much of a faff it you leave the skins on. I'd use ready mash but not frozen. The bags don't contain enough for the money. I like ready diced onions but they seem to stink my freezer out no matter how I Tupperware them.

My mash always comes out slightly lumpy. I'm planning to experiment and perfect my technique some time when I'm alone and in the mood for mash, but for now frozen mash it is. The stuff in tubs can be a bit watery, but the Waitrose stuff in little frozen tubes is brilliant!

This is the reason I never make bangers and mash though - am rubbish at mash and have no idea how to make good onion gravy. Can someone give me a foolproof onion gravy recipe?

(Sorry for the hijack OP )

I buy gravy for meat eaters who don't like my onion gravy (my brothers) so about twice a year. Can't be bothered to make gravy for one person.

I'm cash rich, time poor so I see the appeal. I wouldn't buy this for a sunday roast (I'd make my own), but for a weekday dinner, sure.

DH used to do a great line in quick dinners through the week. One of his best was rotisserie chicken, ready made mash, bought gravy, frozen peas. Bought on the way home, assembled in seconds, feels like a 'real' dinner.

Is frozen mash ok if I made it first? I always have pots of it in the freezer for the kids as its a faff to make a small amount for two toddlers!

I do buy pre made gravy sometimes - sometimes its one less think to have to do!

people who have no good reason to need to use this sort of thing all the time, rather than making their own have more money than sense

Every reason is a good reason.

easiest mashed potato method ever:
Cook whole potatoes in the microwave.
cut in half
put one half of potato skin side up in a potato rice and squish.
remove skin from ricer and repeat
add cream, egg, butter whatever you fancy.
Washing up = ricer plus serving bowl of mash

I always cook my joints of meat and chicken long and slow in a chicken brick (or a roasting tin with a tent of foil) with water and/or wine and/or cider, and take off the fat (in one of those natty jugs that pours the meat juices from the bottom, leaving the fat behind) and just thicken with some Bisto powder, leaving it to simmer to cook out the powder. Gravy granules are foul. I make vegetarian gravy with vegetable stock, red wine, Marmite and Bisto. If I had £3 to spare, I'd spend it on something other than gravy.

Ah @vandrew4. But frozen mash only requires the single microwaveable bowl.

You can use it as you’re serving bowl too, unless you are super fussy about what bowls are used to serve Tuesday night dinner.

Your serving bowl.

I do actually know the difference between your and you’re. Until I type anything on MN.

I have never used Bisto powder. I thicken my gravy with flour only. What does the Bisto do?

I “treated” us to a ready-made Bisto Best for Christmas but forgot about it so ended up trying it last week and then was thankful I hadn’t ruined the Christmas dinner with it.
Yeuchh.
I actually couldn’t live without ready made mash. Losing it would tip me over the edge in my tiny windowless, surfaceless, dishwasher-less kitchen.

I think that there is a decent price differential between the home made and bought gravy, but not so much for the mash.

750g of frozen mash in sainsburys is £1.15. A kilo of maris Pipers is about 80p - you'd need at least that to get 750g of mash, plus milk and seasoning which is all the frozen mash is, add in time plus extra energy needed to cook the potatoes and it's a no brainer for me. I do really like real mash but frozen is really good and good value too.