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This mushroom gravy is deep brown, packed with savory flavor from browned fresh mushrooms and dried porcini, and ready in about 20 minutes in 1 pan. No drippings, no gravy packets, no hours of simmering. It's 100% vegan, it pours over mashed potatoes like a dream, and your skeptical uncle will go back for thirds without asking a single question.
Recipe tips tailored to what matters most to you:
Gluten-free flour swaps 1-to-1 for the wheat flour here, no drama. Stick with tamari and skip the regular soy sauce.
It's a 17-minute gravy, so make it while the potatoes boil. If it stiffens up on you, a splash of stock or water loosens it right back out.
Dried porcinis are a bit expensive, so leave them out and stir in a spoonful of nutritional yeast. Homemade stock from veggie scraps costs nearly nothing.
Go heavier on the mushrooms than the 8 ounces called for. They bring more body and flavor, and it's the easiest way to work more veg into the gravy.
Ordinary white button mushrooms will absolutely work here, the porcinis are optional, and regular soy sauce stands in for the tamari.
A heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven make sures even heat distribution. Burning your gravy will ruin your day and set off your painfully-loud smoke alarms.
Allow the mushrooms to cook until they're nicely browned. This caramelization brings out the deep umami flavors and avoids a watery gravy.
When adding flour to the sautéed mushrooms, whisk it in well before adding the liquid. This helps prevent lumps and make sures a smooth, delicious gravy.
Oodles more tips, step-by-step recipe photos, info on weird ingredients, and FAQs are all still here. I just tucked 'em out of the way so you can start cooking sooner.
Mushroom gravy is a holiday classic, but a lot of recipes come out pale, clumpy, or tasting like wet cardboard. I tested this one until it came out dark, smooth and seriously savory, and now it sits right next to my onion gravy, vegan brown gravy and vegan sausage gravy recipe in the gravy hall of fame.
It's also the easiest part of your Thanksgiving menu, so make it while the potatoes boil. Let's get stirring!
Great as a topper for your vegan seitan or tofu turkey, mashed potatoes and even a baked potato . When I plated my pre Thanksgiving meal, some of the mushroom gravy made its way to my broccoli. I'm glad it did, cause It tasted great and I continued to dip my broccoli into the gravy too! I used a mushroom medley ( Crimini, Maitaki, Oyster and King Oyster). If you're a mushroom lover, this is the gravy to make.
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Why you'll adore this vegan mushroom gravy
⏲️ Ready in About 20 Minutes: 1 skillet, about 20 minutes, done. It's the one Thanksgiving dish that won't fight anybody for oven space.
🍄🟫 Real Mushroom Depth: Browned fresh mushrooms plus a handful of dried porcini give this gravy the dark color and savory punch people expect from drippings, without a single turkey getting involved.
✊ Vegan AF & Easy to Make GF: Like all my vegan Thanksgiving recipes, there's no beef broth and no drippings here. Swap in gluten-free flour 1-to-1 and it slides right onto your list of gluten-free vegan recipes.
Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like every one of my vegan recipes, this gravy got whisked, ladled and (I assume) slurped straight from the pot by my crew of over 1,000 recipe testers around the world.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
Mushroom gravy ingredients
Fresh Mushrooms
Fresh mushrooms like crimini (sometimes marketed as baby bella), portobello, or oyster add an earthy, umami flavor to the gravy, making it rich and satisfying. While you can absolutely make this with ordinary white button mushrooms, I find their flavor and appearance to be a little boring. Oyster mushrooms are my fave, and I use them all the time to make baharat roasted vegan shawarma and tom yum fried rice.
Lion's mane mushrooms are also insanely good in this recipe if you can get your hands on them. Out of all mushrooms, they have the most steak-like texture, which is why they are the star of my mushroom fajita recipe.
Dried Porcini Mushrooms (Optional)
Dried porcinis add a woodsy depth of flavor that complements and deepens the complexity of the fresh mushrooms. These are a bit expensive, so just leave them out if you like, but they make a huge difference if you include them. A cheaper option is to swap them out in the recipe for a spoonful of nutritional yeast.
Flour
All-purpose flour acts as the thickening agent, transforming the mushroom mixture into a smooth, velvety gravy. If you need a gluten-free option, use gluten-free all-purpose flour, which works just as well in this recipe.
Fresh Rosemary
Rosemary brings a piney, aromatic flavor that pairs perfectly with the earthiness of the mushrooms. This is one of the herbs that I must insist you use fresh. Using dried rosemary is somewhat like adding flavorless, sharp splinters of wood to your gravy. Don't do that.
Vegetable Stock
Because store-bought vegetable broth can vary a lot in saltiness, this mushroom gravy recipe uses unsalted vegetable stock to give you a more reliable result, with full control over the saltiness. If you can't find completely unsalted stock, simply reduce the amount of tamari; note that the gravy will probably end up a bit lighter in color, which isn't such a big deal.
I usually just make my own veggie broth by simmering carrots, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a big pot of water until the vegetables are soft, then strain them out. Because this stock is for use in mushroom gravy, you might as well make mushroom stock, which is a great place to finally use up the stems from shiitake mushrooms you've been collecting in a container in your freezer.
Tamari
Tamari is a type of soy sauce with a deeper flavor and less sodium, adding umami and saltiness to the gravy. You can also totally rock this recipe with coconut aminos, shoyu, dark soy sauce, or regular soy sauce, but since my wife is mostly gluten-free, I like to just keep one type of soy sauce on hand, so this is what makes sense in my pantry.
Another option is to use miso paste, taucu (like I use in my vegan chicken recipe), or Korean doenjang (like I use to make sundubu jjigae) in place of the tamari. These will give comparable flavor and saltiness but will not give the gravy as deep of a color as soy sauce does.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
Variations
Mushroom Bourguignon
My mushroom bourguignon recipe is a rustic stew from the French countryside reimagined just a wee little bit to be completely vegan. It's like a chunky mushroom gravy, but with plenty of red wine and pearl onions to go around.
Grilled Mushroom Gravy
For about 12 years, I used to rock this variation on my vegan catering menu for Thanksgiving, and people loved it. Use a larger mushroom, like portobellos or large bunches of oyster mushrooms. Lightly brush them with olive oil before char-grilling them for a few minutes on both sides. Let the mushrooms cool before chopping them up for use in the gravy.
Creamy Gravy
This is a great style of gravy to rock for breakfast over vegan biscuits. Simply swap out half of the vegetable broth for your fave unsweetened plant-based milk. Through testing, I found that soy milk or oat milk makes the best creamy mushroom gravy, which also doesn't get weird when frozen.
How to make vegan mushroom gravy
Mushroom gravy is mostly stirring and whisking, so pour yourself something festive and follow the step-by-step photos below. Made gravy a hundred times? Jump straight to the recipe card.
Step One
Forest Dump:
Heat the olive oil or vegan butter in a skillet, Dutch oven, or large saucepan over medium heat. After 2 minutes, once the oil is hot, toss in the diced onion and let it cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until it softens and becomes slightly translucent.
Step Two
Mush, Little Baby. Don't Say a Word:
Stir in the minced garlic and mushrooms. Sauté for 4 minutes until the mushrooms release their liquid and start browning.
If you're adding dried porcini, add them at this point too.
Step Three
Flour Power Hour:
Sprinkle the flour evenly over the sautéed mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the flour is well distributed with no clumps remaining.
Step Four
Sim Simmer, Who's Got the Keys to My Bimmer?
Slowly pour in the vegetable stock while whisking constantly to avoid any lumps. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
Step Five
Herb Your Enthusiasm:
Add the rosemary, parsley, tamari, and black pepper. Let the gravy simmer for 4 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally, until it thickens to your desired consistency.
Step Six
Hit Me Gravy One More Time:
If you are serving this gosh-darned heavenly, savory vegan mushroom gravy in a gravy boat, garnish it with fresh herbs, like sage or fresh thyme leaves if you want it to look extra pretty. Otherwise, just ladle it straight from the pot all over your parsnip purée and roasted cauliflower steaks.
Serving Ideas
I'm a gravy-all-year-round kind of guy, and it's just as good over vegan corned beef or tofu schnitzel in March. But let's be real, you're here for the holiday table.
Slather it all over a vegan turkey with classic vegan stuffing or vegan cornbread stuffing, then pile on the roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots and vegan green bean casserole.
Obviously, it's the perfect partner in crime for creamy dairy-free mashed potatoes and garlic hasselback potatoes. Though I'm not sure what kind of crime mashed potatoes commit. Arson? Maybe a white-collar crime? Help me out here.
It also slaps extra hard on vegan fried chicken when Thanksgiving is a distant memory.
Top tips
- Use a Heavy-Bottomed Pan: A heavy skillet or Dutch oven heats evenly and keeps the flour from scorching. Burnt gravy ruins your day and sets off every painfully loud smoke alarm in the house, which ruins everyone else's day too.
- Brown the Mushrooms All the Way: Let the mushrooms cook until their liquid is mostly gone and they turn golden. That browning is where the deep, savory flavor comes from, and skipping it gets you watery, beige gravy.
- Cook the Flour Before the Stock Goes In: Stir the flour into the mushrooms for the full 3 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Then pour the stock in slowly while whisking, and lumps won't stand a chance.
Recipe FAQs
🧊 In the Fridge: Let the gravy cool, then keep it in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
❄️ In the Freezer: Freeze it in an airtight container with a little room at the top for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight.
🔥 Reheating: Warm it in a skillet over low heat, stirring occasionally, and add a splash of vegetable stock or water if it got too thick.
Crimini, portobello, or oyster mushrooms are ideal for mushroom gravy due to their rich, earthy flavors. Portobello and oyster mushrooms provide the best texture and depth.
Dried porcini mushrooms add a deep, woodsy flavor to the gravy. Just use the pieces, crush them, and add them to the pan along with the fresh mushrooms for extra umami.
If you want to use mushroom powder instead, cut the amount by 75%. So in this recipe, instead of using ¼ cup of dried porcini mushrooms, use 1 tablespoon of mushroom powder.
Yes, you can use cornstarch or arrowroot powder as a gluten-free alternative to flour, though they will give the gravy a slightly more gelatinous feel. Mix the starch with a little water before adding it to the gravy to avoid lumps.
A better option is to use gluten-free flour as a 1-to-1 replacement for the wheat flour in this recipe.
Let it simmer a few more minutes over low heat, stirring, and it will keep thickening as it reduces. Overshot it? Whisk in a splash of vegetable stock until it pours the way you like.
Serve mushroom gravy all over this stuff ⬇️
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The Best Mushroom Gravy Recipe (-It's Vegan Too!)
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil or vegan butter
- ½ cup onion small dice
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms chopped finely, or hand torn
- ¼ cup dried porcini mushrooms crushed (optional)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary chopped
- 4 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon parsley minced
- 4 teaspoons tamari or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil or vegan butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the diced onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened.
- Stir in the minced garlic and mushrooms, lower the heat to medium, and sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they release their liquid and begin to brown. If using the optional dried porcini mushrooms, stir them in now.
- Sprinkle the flour evenly over the mushroom mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for several minutes until the flour is lightly browned.
- Slowly pour in the vegetable stock, whisking continuously to avoid lumps, and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Stir in the chopped rosemary, parsley, tamari, and black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and let the gravy simmer, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes, until thickened to your desired consistency.
Notes
Whisk the flour into the mushrooms thoroughly before adding stock. This ensures no lumps and keeps your gravy silky-smooth. 🍳 Pan Solo
Use a solid, heavy-bottomed skillet for even heat and to avoid burning. A pan with higher sides like a Dutch oven will reduce splatter and cut down on your cleanup time a little. 🍄 Shroom Raider
Sauté mushrooms until golden brown, letting their moisture cook off before adding the flour. This will give better flavor and also prevent a watery or loose gravy.
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Cathy Gearhart says
Great recipe!
Laura says
This was the favorite item on the menu! I doubled the recipe, definitely used the porcinis, I don’t use oil, no leftovers and now I’m dreaming about making another batch. Fabulous recipe!
Meg says
Oh yes! This made a simple meal into a big yum fest. Thank you Chef Adam for another easy, fabulous recipe.
Meg says
Oh my. This really is very, very good.
I made meetballs an introduced them to this gravy. It deserves its name. It really is THE BEST. It’s easy, flavoursome and just gets better. Leftovers were amazing.
Thank you yet again Chef Adam.
Dina LeClair says
This was so good. So much better than traditional gravy! Highly recommend this for anyone looking for a healthier gravy!!
CGears says
I used this mushroom gravy in tater tot hot dish with lentils and mixed vegetables.
Kimbi Walton says
I now want to have this in my refrigerator at all times! It is delicious on mashed potatoes, toast and rice. Definitely a new staple in our house.
Kimbi Walton says
This is a truly rich and delicious gravy! The mushroom powder lends a terrific depth of flavor.
hg says
Great as a topper for your vegan seitan or tofu turkey, mashed potatoes and even a baked potato . When I plated my pre Thanksgiving meal, some of the mushroom gravy made its way to my broccoli. I'm glad it did, cause It tasted great and I continued to dip my broccoli into the gravy too! I used a mushroom medley ( Crimini, Maitaki, Oyster and King Oyster). If you're a mushroom lover, this is the gravy to make.