I have never been a big fan of meat and never really cared about eating the turkey at Thanksgiving but I did enjoy a good gravy on my mashed potatoes and stuffing. It took some trial and error but I have finally perfected my creamy mushroom gravy. It’s thick like turkey gravy and is full of flavor from the mushrooms, garlic and thyme. And of course, its vegan and gluten free!
I have always seen no reason to skip out on meals or traditions just because I was vegetarian or vegan or even now, after eliminating gluten. I simply saw it as a challenge to create new recipes that were similar or even better than the dairy, gluten and meat laden fare. Gravy was a challenge in that it starts with flour and butter; two things that don’t really show up in my diet. A simple switch is to use to corn starch to thicken the gravy and to use vegan butter in place of dairy butter. There are lots of different vegan butters out there now but two that I like are Earth Balance and Pure Blends: Avocado Oil Plant Based Butter. I used the Pure Blends in this recipe. However, if you aren’t vegan you could definitely use dairy butter in this recipe.
Getting the sign of approval from preschoolers and a husband, who is neither vegan or gluten free, is pretty awesome. I think my daughter would have been just happy with a bowl of gravy and skipped the rest of the meal. I think that is a definite win in my book. It’s super simple to make and has only ten ingredients, most of which, you probably have on hand in your pantry or fridge. I can’t wait to see others make it and see what they think. I, for one, am in love with this stuff. I’d make more right now if I had another can of coconut milk, which is definitely going to be a new pantry staple.
Creamy Mushroom Gravy (vegan and gluten free)
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp vegan butter (you could use regular butter if you aren’t vegan)
- 2.5 oz chopped onion
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms ( I used one 6.5 oz can drained)
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup coconut milk
- pinch thyme
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 2 tbsp corn starch
Directions:
Melt on tbsp vegan butter in a small sauce pan and add the chopped onion and garlic. Once the onions begin to turn translucent add the mushrooms. Sauté for a few minutes and begin adding the broth. Once simmering add the coconut milk (mostly the liquid part as the thick white part was used in making the pumpkin pie). Keep at a low simmer and add the thyme, nutritional yeast and dry mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste and continue to let simmer for 10- 20 minutes. I just let it simmer on low as I was preparing the rest of the food. When you are ready to serve use a whisk and and slowly add the cornstarch one tablespoon and a time. Taking the time to fully incorporate the starch before adding more. Sauce will begin to thicken quickly. Once all the corn starch is well blended in go ahead and remove from heat. Pour into a serving bowl and enjoy.
Nutritional Information, Per 6 servings:
Calories: 94
Total Fat: 6.8g
Total Carbohydrates: 5.7g
Protein: 1.6g
