EASY VEGAN GRAVY

We’re inching closer to Thanksgiving and I couldn’t leave you all hanging without a good gravy recipe.

For a while now, I’ve been dreaming up this version, which utilizes dried mushrooms for a richer, more intense flavor and color, and it seriously paid off. Let me show you how easy it is!

Wood cutting board with ingredients for making our simple homemade vegan gravy recipe

This 9-ingredient, 15-minute recipe starts by rehydrating dried mushrooms in vegetable broth. We went for porcini because their flavor is more woodsy and intense. But you can sub whatever mushrooms you’d like (or use fresh – see notes).

While that’s happening, start sautéing onions and garlic in a saucepan. For thickener, I went for cornstarch, but you could also sub a gluten-free flour blend, all-purpose flour, or arrowroot starch. Stir to coat and cook for a couple of minutes to deepen the color and flavor.

Cooking onions for Thanksgiving vegan gravy

Next, you’ll add in your rehydrated porcini mushrooms and the vegetable broth as well as fresh herbs. We went for rosemary and thyme to keep things classic. But play with whatever flavors sound best to you.

After a few pulses in the blender (or an immersion blender), this gravy becomes deep caramel in color and creamy smooth!

Cooking vegan mushroom gravy made with fresh rosemary Pouring vegan mushroom gravy over mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving

We hope you all LOVE this gravy! It’s:

Rich
Creamy
Earthy
Versatile
Customizable
Easy to make
& Seriously delicious

This would make the perfect sauce for just about any holiday or special occasion meal. We found that it paired incredibly well with a mound of creamy mashed potatoes and a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

If you like this gravy, be sure to check out our Vegan Biscuits and Gravy, Mushroom Lentil Stew over Mashed Potatoes, Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes, Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes, and Easy Vegan Poutine!

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!

Plate of vegan mashed potatoes and gravy topped with fresh parsley

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

GRAVY

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (or sub 2 cups chopped cremini or shiitake mushrooms as the recipe is written*)
2 1/2-3 cups vegetable broth (or store-bought – we like Imagine brand best!)
2 Tbsp olive or avocado oil (if avoiding oil, sub water)
3/4 cup diced yellow or white onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp cornstarch (or all purpose flour or arrowroot starch)
1 tsp minced fresh thyme (or sub dried)
1 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary (or sub dried)
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (optional)

FOR SERVING (optional)

Mashed potatoes
Fresh parsley

Instructions

Rehydrate dried mushrooms in vegetable broth in a large saucepan or pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once bubbling, turn off heat, cover, and let rest.
In the meantime, heat a large rimmed pan over medium heat. Once hot, add oil (or water) and onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Then add garlic and sauté another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add cornstarch and stir to coat. Then cook for 2 minutes more. Next add herbs and mushrooms with their broth (reserving a little of the broth so you can play with the thickness) and stir to combine (see photo). Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Transfer gravy to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend until smooth and creamy. You can leave some of the onions or mushrooms unblended for more texture. Then transfer back to your pan and warm over low heat for 2-3 minutes more. At this time, you can add a bit of almond milk to lighten the color and flavor a bit (optional), but we opted not to.
Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt and pepper to taste. If gravy is too thin, scoop out a small portion of the gravy and whisk in 1-2 tsp more of cornstarch until no clumps remain. Then add it back to the larger batch – repeat as needed until desired thickness is reached. If too thick, thin with a little of your reserved vegetable broth.
Serve with dishes like mashed potatoes, biscuits, and more! Store completely cooled leftovers covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 1 month. Reheat in a saucepan until hot and bubbly, adding more vegetable broth to thin as needed.

Notes

*If subbing fresh mushrooms for the dried, don’t add them to the broth in step 1. Instead, add them directly to the pan when sautéing the onions so they can reduce in size and caramelize. Then continue with recipe as instructed.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.