*This post may contain affiliate links. Read more »
This onion gravy recipe is an easy way to make your mashed potatoes, burgers, or Sunday roasts 100x more delicious, without requiring a whole lot of time, skill, or effort. Get ready for massive comfort food energy with caramelized onions doing all the heavy lifting for you.
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
No butter. No drippings. No problem. Just a silky-smooth, surprisingly vegan gravy with layers of herby, umami magic that fools your guests into thinking it's been simmering all day. But spoiler alert: you can whip it up in the amount of time it takes to roast the Brussels sprouts and carrots, or the vegan turkey you are about to drown in the darned stuff.
It's a total banger for the holidays, but simple enough to whip up on a Tuesday to polish off your stuffed tofu with.
You def. don't need fancy kitchen gadgets, a culinary degree, or perfect knife skills-just a wide skillet and a wee little bit of patience while those onions do their slow-cook thing. Plus, m'dear pony, you know it reheats like a gosh darned champ, so go ahead and make extra. Wait, do champs actually reheat well? Never mind…
Jump to:
🥰Why you'll adore this onion gravy recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Like all my vegan Thanksgiving recipes, this onion gravy skips the butter, skips the turkey drippings, skips the beef stock, and still slaps the wig clear off your head. It's pourable magic that both people who do and do not hate eating animals can get behind. Plus, it's got no gluten in it either, which is great for you in case you hate that stuff with all your heart and soul.
⏱ Weeknight-Friendly: Done in about 30 minutes with zero complicated steps. Just cook, whisk, pour, and devour all over dairy-free mashed potatoes.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of my vegan recipes, this onion gravy was perfected with feedback from a massive team of hundreds of recipe testers.
🤘learn to make insanely flavorful sauces
This guide to my most popular vegan sauce recipes is 100% FREE, & you'll love the actual heck out of it 🥰
🧅Onion gravy ingredients
The Onions
Yellow or white onions (thinly sliced) build the primary flavor and texture of this gravy. As they caramelize, their sugars break down into a golden jamminess.
To make it look even prettier when dripping down your whipped potatoes, this recipe also brings in pearl onions.
Don't stress if you can't find them, though-boiler onions, small shallots, or even more sliced yellow onions make excellent stand-ins.
The Herbs
Fresh rosemary is non-negotiable here. Don't even think about using the dried stuff unless you're into chewing on splinters from that busted-up plywood shelf in your garage. Dried rosemary arguably has less flavor than that shelf too. Just sayin'.
As for thyme and sage, dried is totally fine and what the recipe is built around. But if you've got fresh on hand, go for it! If using fresh, use about double the amount of thyme, and a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh sage instead of the ground kind.
The Stock
Near where I live in NJ, the folks at Two River Gourmet Mushrooms craft a phenomenal mushroom stock that's so deep and rich, it practically moonlights as a beef broth.
If you don't have access to a solid store-bought mushroom stock, you can make your own from scratch by simmering mushrooms (this is a good thing to use up shiitake stems in), onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a couple of bay leaves in water for about 45 minutes. Strain it, and you've got a clean, full-bodied broth to make your gravy out of.
Of course, vegetable stock works fine here, too. If you just can't get your hands on fully unsalted stock, just cut back a bit on the tamari so it's not crazy salty.
Tamari
Tamari adds color and depth while keeping things gluten-free. If you don't give a damn about gluten, you can totally use regular soy sauce instead. Planning to skip soy altogether? Coconut aminos work beautifully in this here gravy too.
The Starch
Cornstarch and arrowroot act as your gravy thickener, which is how you get away from having to make a roux like you would when making vegan brown gravy.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Mushroom Gravy
Mushroom gravy is always a Thanksgiving crowd pleaser. If you're into deep, earthy intensity and want your mashed 'taters to feel like they've been kissed by a forest spirit, this is the one.
Vegan Sausage Gravy
Thick, chunky, and made with my vegan sausage, or crumbled smoked vegan breakfast sausage. My vegan sausage gravy recipe is a creamier southern-style country gravy that brings the brunchy energy that onion gravy just doesn't. It is the very stuff for drowning biscuits in.
50+ of my own family's fave recipes. Carefully concocted to win over even your most anti-vegan friends.
📖 How to make onion gravy
Hangry and can't be bothered to scroll through a photo essay about onions? Skip straight to the recipe card for the printable version. For everyone else, let's make magic:
Step One
A More Perfect Onion:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and pearl onions and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they're deeply browned and caramelized.
Step Two
More Herb Than a Cyprus Hill Concert:
Toss in the garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, and black pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly so nothing burns.
Step Three
Stock Options:
Pour in the mushroom stock and tamari. Stir well, bring to a simmer, then reduce to medium-low. Let it bubble gently for 10 minutes until the pearl onions are soft and infused.
Step Four
Slurry in a Hurry:
In a small bowl, using the tines of a fork, whisk the cornstarch and water until smooth.
Step Five
Delbert Gravy:
Slowly drizzle the slurry into the gravy while stirring. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens to your liking.
💡Serving Ideas
Smother sage and garlic Hasselback potatoes with this gravy. It also turns vegan schnitzel and vegan corned beef into holiday centerpieces so good they should come with a warning label for excessive plate licking. Stop it, the guests are starting to freak out.
Got green beans? Make them significantly more dope by rocking this gravy with them. It doesn't make a difference if you are serving up Turkish green beans or a vegan green bean casserole; this gravy and some vegan cornbread stuffing will result in a Thanksgiving tag-team that will bring you to the upper echelons of yum.
Other no-brainers to top with this? Vegan shepherd's pie and vegan fried chicken, for realsies.
👉Top tips
- Caramelize Patiently: Don't rush those onions-the pearl onions need time to do their slow-cooked transformation into lightly browned, jammy greatness.
- Deglaze Like a Boss: Once your onions are caramelized, you'll see a sticky fond on the bottom of the pan. That, my friend, is flavor gold. When the stock hits, scrape with purpose-you're not just stirring, you're letting those sugars from the onions melt back into the body of the gravy.
- Mind Your Starch: Never dump the starch right in. Whisk cornstarch or arrowroot into water first so there's no chance you'll end up with little lumps of white throughout the gravy.
- Choose Your Stock Wisely: Use unsalted mushroom or vegetable stock if you can. If you can only get salted stock, you may want to reduce the amount of tamari in the recipe slightly to make up for that.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Yup-if you prefer a silky texture, blitz it in a blender after cooking. Just cool it slightly first so the lid doesn't do a pop-off explosion. If you are going to do that anyway, just use more sliced onions in place of the pearl onions to save yourself a lot of avoidable peeling time.
What are you, some kind of nasty monster? Just kidding. I am all about some disco fries, so call me a monster too if that's the standard for being one.
Scatter on pan-fried bits of vegan chicken and some of your fave melty vegan cheese on top while you are at it.
❄️ Refrigerating:
Store cooled gravy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It may thicken slightly-just stir well before reheating.
🧊 Freezing:
Freeze in portions using silicone trays or small containers. Keeps up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
🔥 Stovetop Reheat:
Pour into a saucepan and warm over medium-low heat, stirring often. Add a splash of water or stock if it's too thick.
⚡️Microwave Reheat:
Microwave in a covered container at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds until heated through. Add liquid as needed to loosen it up.
🍁 You'll adore these vegan holiday recipes too
Onion Gravy Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cups onion peeled and sliced
- 2 cups pearl onions peeled
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 ½ cups mushroom stock or vegetable stock (unsalted)
- 3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- ¼ cup corn starch or arrowroot
- ⅓ cup water
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the sliced onions and pearl onions and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned and caramelized.
- Add the garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, and black pepper, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.
- Pour in the mushroom stock and tamari, stir well, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pearl onions are tender.
- In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with the water until smooth.
- Slowly pour the slurry into the gravy while stirring continuously. Cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring, until thickened to desired consistency.
Notes
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
Erik Schmid says
out of this world, however the original recipe that i had was no pearl onions, sage or rosemary. needless to say even with these ingredients missing this gravy is outstanding.
Linda says
This was insane when I covered my vegan mashed potatoes with this beautiful gravy! I also love that you can adjust the thickness (or thinness) by using less arrowroot powder. I used my favorite kitchen gadget, my immersion blender, to finish it into a delectable gravy! Yum-o, sir!
Pearl B. says
Whilst I personally could do without the Pearl onions ( I’ve never been a fan), the flavor and consistency is fantastic. I bet it will freeze well.
Tabitha says
Excellent! SO flavorful! It took longer than I expected because I struggled to get the onions to brown, but once they did, it was great. I ended up using a stick blender to puree the onions and am not sure it needed the cornstarch since the onion puree was so thick. I’ll try leaving it out the next time and see if I can tell a difference.
Paula B says
OMG this gravy takes gravy to a gourmet delight!
I usedv eggie broth, didn’t have & couldn't mushroom stock at the store & too lazy to start making a mushroom stock. BUT even with vegan stock it was loaded with INCREDIBLE flavor!!! Using some tonight over a bowl vegan dinner
cuz I doubled the recipe. bringing this luscious gravy to Thanksgiving dinner to serve over Adam's Mushroom Wellington. Making 3 of Adam's recipes for the first time and I couldn't be happier with his recipes!
Can't wait to try his mushroom gravy at Christmas! Thank you Adam for creating this winner gravy recipe!!
Paige Davis says
Made this on Thanksgiving to serve with Shepherd’s pie and was very pleased with the delicious gravy that resulted. I also used my blender to smooth it out a wee bit. The caramelizing makes all the difference, and my guests all enjoyed it very much.
I never cook with pearl onions, and it was a fun change!