Vegan Mushroom Gravy

6 servings

• 1/2 large onion minced
• 10 regular-sized or 6 large mushrooms sliced or chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/– 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary optional, crushed
• 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon sherry optional
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce coconut aminos, or gluten-free tamari
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour substitute with arrowroot for gluten-free
• 1/4 cup plain non-dairy milk
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized non-stick saucepan, saute the onion until beginning to brown, about 5-10 minutes (adding a pinch of baking soda speeds things up). Add the mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of water, and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for another minute.
2. Add the vegetable broth, herbs, nutritional yeast, sherry, and soy sauce. In a bowl, whisk or blend (with a hand blender) the “milk” and flour together until smooth. Add it to the saucepan and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Recipe Notes

You can make this gravy more palatable to mushroom-haters by blending it until smooth. For a smoother gravy with some pieces of mushroom, blend only half the gravy.

For a bacony-flavored gravy, add a few drops of Liquid Smoke with the salt and pepper. (Bacony gravy is excellent over biscuits!)

Savory Mushroom Gravy

This gravy begs to be poured over mashed potatoes and biscuits and really anywhere that gravy would be appropriate. A lot of the flavor of the gravy depends on the flavor of the broth. If you ain’t got time to make your own, I like to use “chicken” flavored broths, either in concentrate or powder form. Better Than Bullion or Frontier both make flavorful broths. The nutritional yeast is optional here, but it does make the gravy a little more creamier, plus adds an extra depth of savory flavor.

4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
2 Tablespoons olive oil
16 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoons salt
Several dashes fresh black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine (chardonnay is great)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

In a small bowl, mix the flour with about 2 cups of vegetable broth until well dissolved. Once dissolved, add the remaining broth and mix. Set aside.

Preheat a 2 quart pot over medium heat. Saute the onion in oil for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, sage, salt and pepper and saute for about 5 more minutes.

Add wine and turn heat up to bring to a boil. Let wine reduce for about 3 minutes. Add the broth/flour mix and the nutritional yeast, if using. Lower heat to medium and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring often.

Taste for salt and pepper and serve.