Easy Vegetarian Gravy
This fabulous gravy can be made up to two days in advance of serving. Easily adapted to a vegan option too, this gravy will also please those who prefer traditional turkey gravy. It's full of great flavor.
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 98kcal
Ingredients
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ cup butter, (to make vegan, substitute a good olive oil or dairy free butter, like Miyoko's vegan butter)
- 1 shallot, finely minced, about ⅓ cup
- ½ cup plus 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp sea salt
Optional ingredients- (see notes):
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped to sprinkle just before serving
- 1 dash dried sage, stirred in before serving
Instructions
- Pour 8 cups vegetable stock into a medium pot and drop in 8 shiitake mushrooms. Bring stock to a boil over high heat, stir occasionally until boiling, then remove from heat and let mushrooms steep for 30 minutes. Pour stock and mushrooms into a large measuring cup or bowl, and wipe out the pot with a paper towel.
- Add ½ cup butter to the empty pot and melt over medium heat. Add 1 shallot, and cook for a minute or so until softened but not brown, whisking a few times. Turn heat up to medium-high and add the ½ cup plus 3 Tablespoons flour and cook, whisking, until it turns very lightly golden, about two minutes. It will be quite lumpy, don't worry, this is fine.
- Pour in the stock with the mushrooms, whisking while adding to the flour mixture. The lumps will even out as you pour and whisk. Add 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, and about ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper (or to your liking- you'll taste again later to add additional if desired).
- Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until gravy is reduced by at least a third, and to your liking, thickness wise (about 20 minutes, depending on how hard of a simmer is going on). Taste for seasoning and add 1 teaspoon salt (more or less, as desired) and additional pepper if needed.
- Remove mushrooms before serving. If you want the gravy to be silky smooth, pour it into a large bowl through a sieve, pushing with a spatula. This will remove the minced shallots and any lumps if there are any.
Notes
- The gravy can be made ahead by about two days and reheat before serving. Or you can do step one in advance and make the rest of the gravy closer to serving time. Doing step one in advance and leaving the mushrooms in the stock until the rest of the recipe is completed will make the gravy flavor be very mushroom-forward. If you'd like the mushroom flavor to be more muted (my preference), either make the entire recipe days ahead or just make it the day of serving, it's so easy.
- The shallots are optional in the recipe but they add a depth of flavor that I wouldn't skimp on. Shallots themselves are very mild- a nice combination between and onion and garlic.
- Optional ingredients- This gravy is perfect just as instructed but for a pretty presentation, at the last minute you could add some fresh thyme leaves, or a dash of dried sage to stir in just before serving.
- If you're making the vegan option, I highly recommend using a dairy-free butter over the olive oil. Miyokos is my favorite vegan butter.
- Make this gravy with confidence for meat-eaters too. This is a great gravy to satisfy everyone.
Nutrition
Calories: 98kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 1056mg | Potassium: 23mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 570IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg