Vegan Gravy | Just Like the Original

60 Minuten
5 Minuten

4.8 (4)

Vegan Gravy | Just Like the Original

Table of Contents

    What should never be missing with dumplings and hearty Sunday dishes? That’s right—a rich, flavorful gravy! With our recipe, you can easily make vegan gravy at home. It tastes just like the original but is completely meat-free—a roast sauce without a roast, so to speak.
    And we’re sure: you won’t even notice the difference.

    Nutritional values per serving

    Ergibt 2 Portionen
    calories 160
    carbs 8 g
    fats 14 g
    protein 1 g

    ZUTATEN

    Portionen

    • For roasting

    • 100 g mushrooms
    • 25 g leek
    • 25 g celeriac
    • 1 carrots
    • 1 red onions
    • 1 garlic cloves
    • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
    • 0.5 tbsp tomato paste
    • 0.5 tsp salt
    • 0.5 tsp sugar
    • 0.125 tsp smoked paprika powder

    • For cooking

    • 175 ml vegetable stock
    • 25 ml red wine
    • 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
    • 0.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
    • 0.5 tsp mustard
    • 0.5 bay leaf
    • 0.5 sprig thyme (or a small pinch of dried thyme)
    • 0.5 small sprig rosemary (or a small pinch of dried rosemary)
    • 0.5 tsp starch

    • Notes

    • Missing an ingredient? No problem! In the recipe you’ll find a substitution table with alternatives to the ingredients listed here!

    Instructions

    1 Preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat.
    2 Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Halve the onions (you can leave the skins on—just remove the outer dirty layer) and the garlic cloves (leave the skins on as well). Wash the carrots, leek, and celeriac and cut them into large chunks (about the size of the onion pieces). Finally, clean and halve the mushrooms.
    3 Mix the oil, salt, smoked paprika powder, and sugar into a marinade and pour it over the vegetables.
    4 Spread the vegetables on a baking tray (without parchment paper!) or in a roasting dish. It’s important that everything is in a single layer and not overlapping too much, otherwise roasting won’t work as well. Dot the tablespoon of tomato paste in 4 small dollops over vegetables of your choice.
    5 Into the oven: roast the vegetables for about 40 minutes until nicely browned but not burnt. The roasted aromas (the brown bits) will later give the gravy an incredible depth of flavor.
    6 Remove the tray from the oven and transfer the vegetables to a large pot. Quickly pour the red wine onto the still-hot baking tray and carefully loosen the roasted bits with a wooden spoon. If the tray has already cooled down, you can briefly put it back into the oven with the wine—this will help release everything.
    7 Pour the wine-and-roasting-bit mixture into the pot with the vegetables and add the vegetable stock. Season the base with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and mustard, and add the herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay leaf).
    8 Let the gravy simmer gently without a lid for 15 minutes. During this time, the flavors will develop and intensify.
    9 Strain the vegan gravy through a fine sieve and collect the vegetables. You won’t need them anymore, but you can blend them with a bit of vegetable stock into a soup or serve them as a (slightly softer but delicious) vegetable side—just remove the onion and garlic skins first.
    10 We’re almost there. Reduce the gravy a little more to intensify the flavor. Two servings of gravy equal about 200 ml, so let it simmer until you reach that amount (or the corresponding amount for larger portions).
    11

    Optional: Stir the starch into a small splash of water and add it to the gravy while stirring. Bring it briefly to a boil to thicken the sauce.

    Recipe Note

    This vegan gravy with carrots and onions is heaven on earth for all sauce lovers. And the best part: you can make as much of it as you like. How about serving this gravy at your next Sunday or Christmas dinner?

     

    Gravy without meat—does that even work?

    Many people wonder whether you can make vegan gravy—without meat. And the simple answer is: yes! What gives a dark gravy its flavor isn’t the meat, but the roasted aromas. And we achieve those just as well with a generous amount of vegetables and a few tips and tricks. The gravy turns out hearty, savory, and deeply flavorful—you won’t miss a thing.

    What makes our gravy the best vegan gravy?

    • The oven-roasted vegetables create fantastic roasted flavors, which are perfectly deglazed with a good red wine. For a vegan gravy without wine, simply use vegetable stock.

    • The variety of vegetables brings a wide range of deep flavors: carrots add a subtle sweetness, mushrooms provide umami, celeriac adds savoriness, and onions & garlic are essential in any good dish.

    • The smoked paprika replaces the smoky aroma that meat would normally add to a traditional gravy.

    • Soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and mustard ensure that the vegan gravy tastes like a truly rich, dark sauce.

    • A few herbs round out the flavor and are the finishing touch in our vegan gravy.

    The gravy is not only vegan and delicious, but it also looks amazing—deeply dark and slightly glossy, just like in a restaurant.

     

    What goes well with vegan gravy?

    Gravy doesn’t just taste great with a traditional roast—it also pairs wonderfully with many vegan dishes and can really elevate your plant-based cooking.

    • A vegan Christmas menu with potato dumplings, a vegan roast, red cabbage, and vegan gravy feels truly festive.

    • Vegan patties, mashed potatoes & vegetarian gravy are the plant-based version of a childhood classic.

    • In a vegan goulash, a dark gravy adds incredible depth and flavor.

    • A mushroom pan becomes a dream dish with this vegan gravy.

    • A cauliflower steak with dark gravy and roasted potatoes can easily compete with an animal-based steak—if you like cauliflower.

    • Vegan spaetzle with gravy? No problem!

    My tip: Cook a big pot of vegan gravy on a calm day and freeze it in portions in an airtight container. It tastes just as good after thawing, and you’ll have a delicious sauce ready in just a few minutes.


    Substitution table

    How often do we want to cook a recipe but are missing certain ingredients or don’t like specific components? For that case, here’s a substitution table so you can adapt this vegan gravy recipe exactly to your taste:

    • Mushrooms → Other mushrooms

    • Leek → Spring onions or simply omit

    • Red onions → White onions

    • Rapeseed oil → Another neutral oil

    • Vegetable stock → Salted water

    • Red wine → Vegetable stock

    • Herbs → Feel free to use other herbs to give your gravy an individual flavor.

    Our gravy is vegan, but of course you can also use animal-based ingredients if you like!

    Table of Contents

      ZUTATEN

      Portionen

      • For roasting

      • 100 g mushrooms
      • 25 g leek
      • 25 g celeriac
      • 1 carrots
      • 1 red onions
      • 1 garlic cloves
      • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
      • 0.5 tbsp tomato paste
      • 0.5 tsp salt
      • 0.5 tsp sugar
      • 0.125 tsp smoked paprika powder

      • For cooking

      • 175 ml vegetable stock
      • 25 ml red wine
      • 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
      • 0.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
      • 0.5 tsp mustard
      • 0.5 bay leaf
      • 0.5 sprig thyme (or a small pinch of dried thyme)
      • 0.5 small sprig rosemary (or a small pinch of dried rosemary)
      • 0.5 tsp starch

      • Notes

      • Missing an ingredient? No problem! In the recipe you’ll find a substitution table with alternatives to the ingredients listed here!

      Frequently Asked Questions

      Of course, our simple vegan gravy is perfect for hearty dishes served with dumplings.

      To make a truly festive gravy, you mainly need vegetables, wine, and a few spices, plus small extras like mustard or balsamic vinegar. With the right roasted aromas, you’ll create a heavenly sauce just like grandma used to make.

      Yes! Our “Vegan Gravy” recipe is super easy to make and tastes just as good as the original.

      The sauce is incredibly easy – you can hardly go wrong, and if you subtract the waiting time while the vegetables are in the oven, you could even describe it as a quick vegan gravy.