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This super-robust mushroom gravy doesn’t call for any hard-to-find ingredients or hours of simmering. This quick, easy, and perfectly rich recipe has been tried, and loved by hundreds of recipe testers from all around the world. Whether you’re pouring it over mashed potatoes or using it to top your favorite loaf, this recipe reliably delivers on flavor every time!
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Now, let’s be real—mushroom gravy is a classic, but nailing that umami-rich, velvety texture can be tricky. I’ve tested gravy recipes that end up looking clumpy and sad. That’s why I took things into my own hands and perfected the heck out of this. Now this bad boy has been added to the growing collection of fan-favorite gravies, including vegan brown gravy and my vegan sausage gravy recipe.
Ready to taste the best mushroom gravy you've ever set eyes on? Let’s get cooking!
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🥰Why this is the best mushroom gravy recipe
✊ Vegan AF: Like all of my vegan Thanksgiving recipes, this one is made without harming a single adorable creature. No beef broth or cholesterol to be found here!
🙅♀️🌾 GF or GTFO: Do you hate gluten with every ounce of your being? No worries! By using gluten-free flour, this can be one of the gluten-free vegan recipes you serve that no one will suspect is missing something.
⏲️ Fast and Easy: This gravy comes together in under twenty minutes, and you only need one skillet!
🛒 Simple Ingredients: No need for mail-ordering anything obscure. Grab your favorite mushrooms, some stock, and a few herbs, and you're set.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of the vegan recipes I share, after tweaking and refining this gravy, I had a team of recipe testers from all over the globe double-check it for perfection.
🍄🟫 Ingredients for this vegan mushroom gravy recipe
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 really do take this recipe to the next level 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
Smoked Mushroom Gravy
If you have a smoker, smoking the cut onions and mushrooms first before using them in this recipe gives this gravy an even better flavor. One apartment-friendly option is to just smoke the veggies with applewood chips in a Dutch oven inside of your home oven, like I do for making my vegan breakfast sausages.
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 this the best mushroom gravy
Nail this glorious, robust sauce on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print 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:
Lower the heat to medium and 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 like a pro 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
Serve it up:
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.
💡Serving Ideas
I’m a gravy-all-year-round kind of guy when it comes to serving vegan corned beef and tofu schnitzel. But let’s talk about what most people are thinking: using this gravy as part of a holiday dinner menu.
It works like a dream as a turkey gravy to slather all over vegan turkey stuffed with either classic vegan stuffing or vegan cornbread stuffing.
If you are somewhat insane like me, it can also be poured over a creepy-baby-shaped tofu turkey, surrounded by Brussels sprouts, vegan green bean casserole, or Turkish green beans.
Obviously, it’s the perfect partner-in-crime for garlic hasselback potatoes, and creamy dairy-free mashed potatoes. Though, to be honest, I am not sure what kind of crime mashed potatoes commit. Arson? Maybe a white-collar crime? Help me out here.
This gravy also slaps extra hard on jackfruit-based vegan drumsticks or vegan fried chicken.
👉Top tips
- Use a Decent-Quality Pan:
A heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven ensures even heat distribution and prevents burning. Burning your gravy will do two things: ruin your day and set off all of your painfully-loud smoke alarms, thereby ruining everyone’s day in the entire galaxy. - Sauté Mushrooms Until Golden:
Allow the mushrooms to cook until they’re nicely browned and some of their moisture has evaporated. This caramelization brings out the deep umami flavors and avoids a watery gravy. - Whisk Flour Thoroughly:
When adding flour to the sautéed mushrooms, whisk it in well to ensure it’s fully incorporated before adding the liquid. This helps prevent lumps and ensures a smooth, delicious gravy.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
🧊 Refrigeration:
Allow the mushroom gravy to cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
❄️ Freezing:
If you want to freeze the gravy, place it in an airtight container, leaving some space at the top for expansion. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. Make sure to label the container with the date, so you know what the heck it is and how long it’s been hanging around for. To thaw, move it to the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
🔥 Stovetop Reheating:
Pour the gravy into a skillet and reheat over low heat, stirring occasionally. If the gravy has thickened too much, add a splash of vegetable stock or water to reach your desired consistency.
⚡️ Microwave Reheating:
Transfer the gravy to a microwave-safe container and heat on medium power in one-minute intervals, stirring in between, until it’s heated through. If needed, add a little vegetable stock or water to adjust the consistency.
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.
Absolutely, homemade vegetable stock is a great option. It will add a richer flavor to this easy vegan mushroom gravy compared to store-bought versions. Plus, you can use stock making as a way to put things like broccoli stems, kale stems, and shiitake mushroom stems to work.
✌️ Serve mushroom gravy all over this stuff ⬇️
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Get your hands on seriously crowd-pleasing vegan Thanksgiving menus, including detailed video guidance from Chef Adam Sobel.
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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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!!
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.