This vegan gravy recipe requires a bit of work, however, the effort is worth it. A lot of gravies don't have much flavour. To make this gravy more flavourful, I have focused my attention to the stock and thickening agent.
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Traditionally vegetable stocks are made by boiling the vegetables and passing them through a colander, and then using that liquid to make a gravy. Often, cornflour is used to thicken a gravy. These methods can tend them towards bland and boring.
With my vegan gravy recipe, on the other hand, I make the stock how a chef would make a meat stock. In a meat stock the bones and the vegetables are roasted before adding water, and that is what I do in this recipe. I add mushrooms and tomatoes so that the gravy has a nice caramel and intense flavour. The stock is simmered for half an hour to get all the flavours from the vegetables, and then passed through a sieve. This liquid is simmered once again to give a more intense flavour.
The thickening agent is a brown roux (pronounced roo) which is made by cooking vegan butter and flour together until it becomes a light brown colour. The stock is then slowly added to the roux. There are 4 types of Roux: White, blonde, brown and dark, depending on how long the flour and butter is cooked.
Ingredients
- Celery
- Leek
- Onion
- Tomato
- Garlic
- Mushrooms
- Carrots
- Bay Leaf
- Peppercorns
- Cloves
- Rosemary
- Water
- Vegan butter
- Plain flour
Vegan Gravy Recipe Steps
Step 1
Gather together your vegetables, wash and pat dry with a tea towel. Next, roughly chop the vegetables
Step 2
Now it is time to roast your vegetable in a large pot. Yes, you can roast vegetables in a pot as well as an oven. First, heat the oil over a high heat and add the bay leaf and peppercorns. Then add all of the chopped vegetables but not the mushroom and tomato at this stage as we want to get the harder vegetables roasted first. Roast them over a high heat until the vegetables are soft. Then add the mushrooms, tomato and rosemary and continue to roast over a high heat until they are caramelised and brown. This roasting is going to give more flavour.
Step 3
Then add the water. Put a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the contents of the pot into a colander with a bowl underneath, to separate the liquid from the vegetables. Give the vegetables a good squeeze with the back of a ladle or spoon (or similar) so as to extract as much juice as possible.
Return the liquid stock back to the heat and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat and simmer for a further 30 minutes, removing any scum ( foamy bits ) that forms on top with a ladle.
Step 4
While the stock is simmering away, you can make the roux. Melt the butter in a pan, add the cloves, and then add the flour, stirring continually, until the mix becomes a light brown colour.
After the stock has finished simmering, slowly add it to the roux, bit by bit, stirring continuously to combine. Once all the stock has combined, simmer the gravy for 5 minutes, continuing to stir. Have a little taste and season appropriately.
Vegan Gravy Recipe Notes
The vegetables used in this vegan gravy recipe are my preference. You can replace with other vegetables or trimmings you may have hanging about. Usually root vegetables are used to make a stock, however at home, we can add all the vegetable scraps hanging about. I do recommend using celery and leek as they give more flavour. I love using the mushrooms and tomatoes in this recipe. The mushrooms give it the umami taste and the tomatoes give colour and flavour. If you don't have fresh tomatoes, you can use either canned tomatoes or half the amount of tomato paste or puree.
If your gravy is lumpy don't worry, just pass through a fine sieve. The gravy, once cooled, will become thick, but once you heat it up again it will thin down. If it is too thick for you, you can either add some stock or even water to thin it down.
Need something to pour your vegan gravy over? Why not give my vegan wellington a go.
Storage
The gravy can be made up to three days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the gravy. Just defrost in the refrigerator the night before using and bring to a boil before serving. Again, it may end up being too thick. Add some stock or water too thin it down. These actions will not impact the flavour in a big way.
How To Make Vegan Gravy Video
📖 Recipe
Vegan Gravy
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Colander
Ingredients
- 150 gms Celery
- 100 gms Leek
- 200 gms Onion
- 100 gms Tomato
- 10 gms Garlic
- 50 gms Mushrooms
- 150 gms Carrots
- 1 Bay leaf
- 6 Peppercorns
- 6 gms Rosemary
- 2 litres Water
- 25 gms Vegan butter A Block, not spreadable
- 25 gms Plain flour
- 2 Cloves
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry all of the vegetables.
- Roughly chop all of the vegetables.
- In a large pot, heat the oil and add the bay leaf and peppercorns.
- Add all the chopped vegetables, except the mushroom and tomatoes.
- Roast the vegetables over high heat in the pot until they are soft.
- Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and rosemary and continue roasting over a high heat until they are caramelised and brown.
- Add the water, cover and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, remove the lid and leave to simmer for half an hour.
- Pass the pan contents through a colander. Press down the vegetables to get all the juices out. Compost the vegetable pulp.
- Bring the stock back into the pan and bring to a rapid boil. Then simmer. Remove the foam or scum on the top. Simmer for half an hour.
- Heat the butter in a pan. Add the cloves. Once melted add in the flour and stir to combine. Over a medium heat continue stirring the flour and butter mix until its turns a light brown colour.
- Lower the heat and add the vegetable stock little by little, stirring to combine.
- Once all the stock is combined, simmer for 5 minutes, while stirring.
- Once nicely combined, remove from heat, season if required, and serve hot.
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Vaibhav Tandon says
Looks very temping would 100% try and revert.
Chef Tripti says
Thank you!
Do let me know if this helped you