Best Vegan Mushroom Gravy

Vegan Mushroom Gravy! If you need a healthy, vegan gravy for Thanksgiving– try this one! Made with dried mushrooms, fresh mushrooms and so much umami flavor. Delicious on everything!

Is it appropriate to want to drink gravy? Because, that’s how I feel every time I make this vegan mushroom gravy recipe. The perfect excuse to whip up a pot of mashed potatoes, stuffing, noodles– if you can put gravy on it, I want to do it with this.

Even though we’ve still got a few weeks until Thanksgiving, my brain went there last weekend. I’m the first to admit that I decidedly don’t love Thanksgiving food in general, but I occasionally get a craving for the full plate: potatoes, roasted vegetables and lots of this vegan mushroom gravy.

I don’t know why I’ve never posted my mushroom gravy recipe before, but I figured it was about time to do so.  This is the gravy that I make just about every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since BL and I are usually the only vegetarians at the table, I take it upon myself to make sure we have a gravy just for us.

In fact, I made this vegan mushroom gravy last year and pretty much everyone at the table choose this over the turkey one. My father-in-law didn’t even realize he was eating the mushroom gravy until after the meal when he kept talking about how good the gravy was. Mushrooms > Turkey.

Ingredients for Vegan Mushroom Gravy

You’ll need both fresh and dried mushrooms for this gravy. I used a mix of dried wild mushrooms along with fresh cremini mushrooms or baby bell mushrooms. White button mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms can be used instead if you’d like.

Additionally, you’ll need: 

• Olive oil. For a richer flavor, you can substitute vegan butter. 
• Shallots and garlic Cloves
• Fresh thyme or dried thyme leaves 
• Soy sauce
• Corn starch to help thicken. If you don’t have cornstarch, you can sub in all purpose flour or another type of starch, like arrowroot starch. 
• Vegetable broth or vegetable stock 
• Balsamic vinegar

Use Fresh and Dried Mushrooms for the Best Vegan Mushroom Gravy

The secret for this gravy is the combination of both dried mushrooms and fresh mushrooms for the ultimate umami kick.

Using the liquid from the dried mushrooms also gives this gravy a delicious umami boost.

Vegan Mushroom Gravy Recipe Instructions

You’ll first need to rehydrate the dried mushrooms in the base of a glass measuring cup or bowl. Let sit for 20 minutes, or until softened. Don’t throw away the mushroom soaking liquid! You’ll use that to add more umami flavoring to the gravy.  

From there, heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the shallots, mushrooms, garlic, thyme until very tender and golden brown. This will take 15-20 minutes, stirring often so they don’t burn. 

Next, whisk together the mushroom liquid with cornstarch until dissolved. Add that alongside the vegetable broth to the mushroom mixture and simmer until thickened. To finish, stir in the balsamic vinegar and season to taste as needed with salt and black pepper.  The balsamic acid is key here to help balance the richness of the mushrooms. 

You can choose to leave this gravy with the chunks of mushrooms or puree it for a silky sauce. I prefer to add it to the blender and pulse a few times so it’s a little chunky but mostly silky. The splash of balsamic vinegar at the end brightens the gravy and helps cut through the richness- don’t skip it!

How to store leftovers

If you have any leftovers, store them in the refrigerator for two to three days. You can also store it in the freezer for up to four months. 

While this vegan mushroom gravy is fantastic on any mashed potato recipe, I love my Instant Pot mashed potatoes to keep the stove open during a heavy cooking day, like Thanksgiving. This vegan mushroom gravy is also fantastic in my Roasted Thanksgiving Bowl, on Cauliflower Steaks, with my lentil Thanksgiving meatballs or just with crusty french bread. 

If you’re looking for ideas to round-out your holiday feast, you’ve gotta try my mini vegetable wellingtons, my vegan stuffing and my fresh green bean casserole.

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This recipe was first posted in 2018 and updated in 2021.