This quick and easy homemade vegan brown gravy can be made in minutes with just a few simple ingredients! All the savory comforting flavors of gravy made vegan!
Brown gravy is traditionally made from beef drippings. That is what gives it the brown color and meaty flavor, however, it’s easy to make it vegan by replicating the flavors with a beef-flavored vegan broth and some soy sauce to give it an extra savory flavor.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Broth – beef-flavored vegan broth works best. Not Beef brand makes a great one or you can just use standard vegetable broth if you can’t find the beef flavored variety.
- Soy Sauce – for more of a savory beefy flavor. You can also use Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or Tamari to make it gluten-free.
- Flour or starch – to thicken the gravy. I prefer potato starch, but you can also use arrowroot or corn starch, or just plain white flour if you don’t need it to be gluten-free.
- Nutritional Yeast – to give it a rich umami flavor. (optional)
- Herbs – for flavor. You can use fresh herbs like sage, oregano, and thyme if you would like. Italian herb mix also works well if you don’t have the individual herbs.
- Onion Powder – for flavor. You can also use garlic powder.
- Vegan Butter – (optional) for a richer gravy. You can also use coconut oil or any other neutral-flavored oil or simply omit for oil-free gravy.
How to make vegan brown gravy:
- Put all of the ingredients except for the vegan butter into a saucepan. (The broth should be cold or add cold water and a bouillon cube).
- Stir until the starch dissolves.
- Turn on heat to medium and stir frequently until it starts to boil.
- Stir constantly for 30 seconds then turn off the heat.
- Add the vegan butter or oil if you choose and stir until it’s incorporated.
How to thicken the gravy
You can use many things to thicken your gravy. Flour, corn starch, potato starch, and arrowroot all work well. White flour is easy if you don’t need it to be gluten-free.
Personally, I prefer to use potato starch. I feel that it gives it the best flavor and texture and it doesn’t get gloppy and thick when it begins to cool as other methods do. I even prefer it over wheat flour for its great consistency and flavor!
For more gravy varieties, see my post on vegan gravy or try my vegan chicken a la king.
Serve your gravy over
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A quick easy way to make brown gravy without dairy or meat.
- 2 cups Not beef broth or any other vegan broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Tamari)
- 2 tablespoons potato starch or 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional but recommended for flavor)
- 1 teaspoons herbs of choice like oregano, thyme, sage, or Italian herbs
- 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
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Put all of the ingredients except for the vegan butter into a saucepan. (The broth should be cold or add cold water and a bouillon cube).
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Stir until the starch dissolves.
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Turn on heat to medium and stir frequently until it starts to boil.
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Stir constantly for 30 seconds then turn off the heat.
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Add the vegan butter or oil if you choose and stir until it's incorporated.
- You can also use corn starch, arrowroot in equal part in place of the potato starch.
- You can also thicken the gravy with 1/4 cup of flour instead of the 2 tablespoons of potato starch.
