Vegan Mushroom Make-Ahead Gravy

Vegan Mushroom Make-Ahead Gravy
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(2,135)
Notes
Read community notes

This excellent vegan gravy features caramelized mushrooms and a little soy sauce for depth of flavor, making it good enough to serve to your meat-eating guests, too. Just be sure to use a good-quality vegetable stock, preferably one you’ve made yourself. You can simmer the gravy up to five days ahead and store it in the fridge. Reheat just before serving.

Learn: Melissa Clark’s Thanksgiving

Learn: How to Make Gravy

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Ingredients

Yield:3½ cups
  • ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½small onion, finely chopped (½ cup)
  • 4ounces baby portobello mushrooms, finely chopped (1 cup)
  • ½cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 to 5cups vegetable stock, preferably homemade, as needed
  • 1teaspoon soy sauce, more to taste
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼teaspoon black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

204 calories; 18 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 1 gram protein; 234 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms; cook, stirring, until well browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in vegetable stock, a little at a time, until a smooth sauce forms. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes until thickened. Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Serve as is, or pass it through a fine mesh strainer.

Ratings

5 out of 5
2,135 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I just made this today for T'giving. Because most vegetable stocks ARE bland, I used 50% more fresh mushrooms and also threw in some (reconstituted) dried porcinis and a little fresh thyme and rosemary. This produced a nice mushroom-y flavor. I also didn't strain out the mushrooms, I used a stick blender so all the flavor stayed put.

Definitely add the tablespoon of miso if you have it. If you can't make your own veggie stock then a mushroom based broth from the store works great. This was such a hit at Thanksgiving that even the carnivores dug in. Really important to brown the mushrooms and then the flour too.

It's all in the stock! I haven't made this version yet, but have made plenty of gravies. The whole concept of gravy is in the drippings of a meat source. To go vegan your stock has to be delicious enough to stand alone. I was thinking of roasting some veggies, onion, garlic, leeks, mushrooms, carots etc and building the stock from that.

I doubled the mushrooms, and probably the onions. When I added the soy sauce, I also added about 2 Tablespoons of mild yellow miso. Delicious!

A wonderful, simple recipe, to be made again and again. I doubled the onions and used mixed exotic mushrooms plus dried porcini. Just T flour is enough. Better than bullion veggie broth base was fine.

This is a very easy recipe that makes a really tasty gravy. That said, I've made it the way it was written which I didn't care for at all (super bland) and I immediately added double the amount of mushrooms, porcini powder and a couple of teaspoons of miso per the suggestions of other readers. I also added fresh thyme. I also add thyme to anything shroomy.

It absolutely needed the miso; that was the wow factor.

Too much salt? Take 1/2” slabs of raw potato, simmer them in your over-salty liquid, and the salt is absorbed by the potatoes.

Double mushrooms Full onion Dried mushrooms Nutritional yeast Miso Glut of white wine

The secret to making great vegan grave: replace the soy sauce in this recipe with a little marmite. It's salty, so add it to taste, but about a half a tsp to 1 tsp per cup of water seems to work.

Bourbon. A generous glug of bourbon adds a nice element to the gravy.

I made this Thursday for my vegetarian Thanksgiving and it was delicious. All of my non vegetarian family raved about it!!

I made a few adjustments and will be using this as a go to recipe again and again. I used around 6-7 ounces of mushrooms, 3/4 of an onion, 3.5 cups of Better than Boullion Vegetable stock base, and 1 tsp Bragg's liquid aminos (in place of soy). I used a stick/immersion blender at the end and there was no need to use a strainer.

I made this gravy with Wolfgang Puck's vegetable stock which available in grocery stores, and it was delicious.

We don't use gravy anymore. Everyone in our house looks forward every Thanksgiving to the fresh parsley puree featured quite a few years ago in the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/dining/143mrex.html

Looking forward to making this again this year... it's been a huge hit at our vegetarian-friendly Thanksgiving for years. To round out the flavors, I always add a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes (dissolved in water), and also stir in a slug of warmed cream at the end- obviously not vegan if you do that, but it creates a magnificent mouth feel! This gravy is easily as popular, if not more so, than the turkey gravy.

I made this with Martha Rose Shulman's Dried Porcini Consommé instead of vegetable stock and found it so very delicious. I just served it with Yukon mashed potatoes, but do plan on making this for Thanksgiving to serve with our turkey since we are brining it.

This is the only gravy I make now. I use vegetable broth when feeding vegetarians and either chicken or beef broth for meat eaters. It’s delicious any way you prepare it and so easy to make. It helps that I can make it ahead of time!

Sauteed in butter with olive oil. Quadrupled the amount of mushrooms. Added the nutritional yeast to Better than Bouillon stock. Added a bit of fresh thyme. Added 2 tbsp miso. Pureed with immersion blender at the end. Delicious. Will definitely make this again.

Brown the strained mushroom and onion in a pan and then add a little cream, you get yourself a great mushroom pasta sauce.

A pretty simple, classic recipe, I was using better than bullion for my stock so I skipped the salt as commercial stock and bullion are already salty and it didn't need any more. I served it to meat eaters and everyone enjoyed.

Vegetarian & meat eating guests loved the gravy. Read through notes & made some additions: more mushrooms - used Shitake. And a T white miso. I had gravy leftover and thought this would be a good base for a non dairy pot pie or tetrazzini type dish. I wanted to use up various leftover turkey, gravy etc. Made a small batch of gravy, added left over gravy, turkey stock, turkey, thyme, & mashed sweet potato. Served it with noodles. Next time will try biscuits or make pot pie. Very flexible.

Needed a vegan gravy this year. Took a gamble because the vegan and I don't like mushrooms, but we both loved this. Not overly mushroomy, great texture. All of the meat eaters also loved it

Made this the day before thanksgiving this year. Doubled the portobellos per commenters suggestions. Everything else I did as is. Delicious. Basically the mushroom béchamel of a mushroom lasagne.

This is my staple vegetarian gravy recipe that I’ve been using for a few years now because it’s so tasty and so easy! Today I needed it to be gluten free so I subbed corn starch (half as much as the amount of flour called for) plus a bit of gf flour and it worked beautifully!

I made this tonight and it was great. My issue was that it was pretty thick but I felt like if I added more stock it would have become too salty but if I added water it would become too bland. It was my first time making it and it was a hit all around (for meat eaters too) so I plan on experimenting over the next year to try and refine it to be more viscous.

This gravy needs time for the flavors to develop. Browned onion alone with pinch of sugar, then added 10z fresh mushrooms (could have used more). Cooked until brown and dry again. Added thyme, cumin, garlic, and a bit of tomato paste and cooked until fragrant. Added 2cp broth, .5oz reconstituted porcini mushrooms with soaking water, and miso. Pulsed with a stick blender and reduced by 1/3. Afterward, thickened with flour and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

I love this recipe! I end up puréing it when it’s cooled and it has such a deeper level of mushroom flavor. This is my go to gravy.

I love this recipe. I use a blend of mushrooms, add some miso when I add the soy, and find my favorite way is to use an immersion blender and then pass through a mesh sieve. This gets the most flavor, but still makes a smooth gravy. I find meat eaters don’t even realize it’s vegan!

Delicious and worked perfectly.

I doubled the mushrooms! This is an amazing gravy.

Wow! Best gravy I've ever tasted. I used homemade vegetable stock, added some chopped fresh rosemary and a tablespoon of red miso, based on reviewers comments. I was careful to get the mushroom/flour mixture good and browned before adding the stock, then added the miso. I will probably make this every time I need gravy. Can't wait to have it on my mashed potatoes!

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