Herein, we report a new class of oil absorbents via conventional free radical polymerization method to prepare polymethacrylate gels with a range of crosslinking density having both phenylalanine and stearate moieties in the gel matrix. Analogue crosslinked gel was also synthesized with only stearate pendants without phenylalanine. Solvent absorbing capacity of gels was studied in various solvents with different dielectric constants. The mechanical property and morphology of the absorbents were studied by rheological method and field emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Modulation of porosity, absorption capacity and mechanical property of the absorbent were achieved with the variation of crosslinking density. The side chain pendants in the absorbent played an important role toward the solvent uptake capabilities. The absorbent readily can uptake 66 times chloroform and 14 times petrol of its dry weight at room temperature. Overall, the solvent uptake capacity of a new class of absorbents was well studied in this report.