One of the harder things about going vegan is making sauces. Without all the butter, cream and animal fat, how do you get good flavor into your sauces? I’ve been investigating this culinary quandary for quite awhile. And while I am adept at making chili sauces and soup broths, I’ve yet to find the magic in making a good gravy.
Until I stumbled upon the secret. Mushrooms. OK, I love a good mushroom. Portabellos, Hen of the woods, crimini (which are just baby portabellos), oyster mushrooms, to name a few. One of my favorite dishes that I cooked at the fine dining restaurant involved a mushroom melange. It only makes sense that I use succulent fungi to make gravy, and onions.
Don’t expect this to recipe to turn out like your flour based gravies, because the other dilemma I had was how to make the gravy gluten free. Armed with arrowroot, I made it happen. I believe the household response was Yum!
You can even serve this at a holiday party, leave out the part where you announce to everyone that this is a vegan gravy and see how people react. It will make them think twice about plant based foods, and the flavor they bring to the party.
- 1 tbsp Sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp margarine
- 1/4 cup diced Onions
- 1/4 cup diced mushrooms
- 1 cup Vegetable Stock
- 1 1/2 tbsp Arrowroot
- 1/3 cup soy or other non-dairy milk
- 1/4 tsp thyme leaves, fresh
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Heat up a saute pan, add oil and let it get hot. Mix in the diced onions and mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms start releasing their liquid. Drop in the margarine and cook for a few minutes more, until the mushrooms soak up all the margarine.
- Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
- In a separate bowl, mix a small amount of water in with the arrowroot. Stir until the powder dissolves, forming a slurry.
- Add the arrowroot slurry to the vegetable broth. Cook for a few more minutes, until the broth and slurry are incorporated. Add in the non-dairy milk and thyme. Cook until the gravy bubbles again. Remove from heat.
- Season with salt & pepper.
- Serve with garlic smashed mashed potatoes.
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