Recipe: Vegan Mushroom Gravy

Mushroom gravy is just one of those things I’ve been making so long I don’t even think about things like recipes anymore. I made it last weekend though to go along with our decidedly non-vegan dinner. Everyone loved the dinner and to my surprise all of the kids loved the gravy too. I was asked a couple times for my gravy recipe. This is just a simple brown gravy that can be eaten with anything from mashed potatoes to a vegan “meatloaf” to whatever kind of vegan poutine you’re cooking up. This weekend we ate it with non-vegan Polish lazy pierogi.  

Makes 4 ½ cups gravy

Ingredients:

¼ margarine

¼ all purpose flour

4 cups water

2 veggie broth cubes or 4 TB veggie broth powder

12 large white mushrooms

2 onions

1 TB oil

1 TB garlic powder

Directions:

Slice onions very finely, then wash and slice the mushrooms. In a large fry pan heat oil and add the onions. Cook onions until they are brown and starting to caramelize. To do this move them around the pan with a cooking spoon a lot. Also add small amounts of water, no more then a TB at a time, to keep them from sticking and burning to the pan. Add mushrooms, to the pan and cook until they are also brown and tender.

In a small pot melt the margarine. Add the flour to the margarine and whisk until it becomes a paste. The technical name for this is a rue and it's what I base all my sauces on because I am cornstarch impaired. Cook over low heat until the rue start to bubble. Add the water about a cup or a cup and a half at a time whisking constantly to make sure it doesn’t become lumpy. Add the veggie broth and garlic powder to the pot. Let simmer whisking every couple of minutes so gravy does not stick to the bottom of the pot. When the liquid boils take off of heat and add it to the fry pan with the mushrooms and onions. Heat everything in the fry pan stirring until gravy boils and thickens. Pour into serving dish and serve over whatever you want.