Many chefs like to go by the philosophy of "season to taste," rather than using exact measurements for salt and other flavorings, but too much experimentation can create an over-seasoned dish. Overly salty gravy is common, not to mention stressful when cooking for the holidays, but you can fix this mistake easily.

You can dilute the salt by cooking an unseasoned second batch of gravy and mixing it into the salty one, which may not be quick, but is basically the only way to fix this mistake. Once you've diluted the salt level by mixing the batches together, taste the gravy before adding any more seasonings so you won't over-season it all over again.

While simply adding too much salt can create an over-salted gravy, another cause is seasoning it too early in the cooking process, since the gravy's flavors only become more salty and strong as it reduces over its cooking time. This is also fixable with the second-batch solution, and now you know what to avoid doing next time, as well.