Easy Vegetarian Onion Gravy
This vegetarian onion gravy (with vegan option) is a favorite here in our house and with readers. It’s a shockingly easy, surprisingly delicious recipe that welcomes vegetarians (and vegans, with the vegan option) into the Thanksgiving fold. Want to know something else cool? You can make this gravy today and freeze it for the big day! Anything to make Thanksgiving easier.
This 100% vegetarian onion gravy recipe – with a vegan option – is exactly what you’ve been missing on Thanksgiving. It’s so easy to whip up a batch of this stuff. Just keep those saucy carnivorous mitts away from your gravy boat – meat eaters may prefer it over their own non-veggie-friendly gravy.
I can’t be the only vegetarian who’s suffered the lonely and tasteless holiday dinner fate of having to eat mashed potatoes with only a bit of salt and pepper and a sorry pat of butter. While everyone around you gleefully shoves down forkfuls of gravy-heavy potatoes… it’s horrible! Just horrible!
Okay, you know I’m exaggerating. But it does kind of suck a little. Gravy’s yummy, but I just can’t bring myself to eat it because of the whole meat thing.
That is… until now.
It all started on Thanksgiving when my guy’s awesome mom whipped me up a portion of my very own vegetarian white gravy for my potatoes. Yum!
And while we were stirring the meaty gravy meant for everyone else and talking about the whole affair, I came to the realization – why not do the roux thing and then add vegetable broth?
I know, total duh moment. I decided to do it one better and make it a vegetarian onion gravy.
This stuff is truly really really good. And way easier than I ever thought it would be. So of course, I have to share. (Psst: My carnivorous guy approves of this also – apparently it’s great on, well… meat.)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this gluten-free?
I have not tried it myself, but I had one reader report that she used all-purpose gluten-free flour in equal measures and it was successful.
If I want to make this vegan, do I have to use Earth Balance or can I use another vegan butter?
No, I’ve used Melt with success and also a 50/50 olive oil/vegan butter split. Both are great! I do not recommend only olive oil, however, the flavor just isn’t the greatest.
Easy Vegetarian Onion Gravy
Vegetarians and vegans, rejoice! This gravy is exactly what you’ve been missing on Thanksgiving. It’s so easy to whip up a batch. Just keep those saucy carnivorous mitts away from the gravy boat – meat eaters may prefer it over their own.
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons butter (can sub Earth Balance [see Vegan Option])
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon Tamari or soy sauce (optional)
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.
- Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Sweat the onions, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8-10 minutes. If they start to turn brown, turn down the heat – you’re looking for translucent and tender, not golden.
- Increase heat to medium. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for three minutes.
- Gradually stir in the vegetable broth and continue stirring, over medium heat, until thickened to a gravy consistency, about 3 – 4 minutes.
- Stir in Tamari or soy sauce if using. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Vegan option:
Substitute Earth Balance for the butter. I also like to use half olive oil and half Earth Balance.
Recipe updates:
11/17/2015: I’ve recently started adding a splash of Tamari to the mix, and I really like the additional flavor (and color) it adds! So I thought I’d revise the recipe to include that option.
11/13/2019: I’ve simplified the recipe by changing the instructions a bit. Before, I suggested sautéing the onion then removing them and setting them aside. The removal was to help keep the onions from getting too brown once they were cooked with the flour. I’ve since learned that simply sweating the onions and not letting them brown while cooking them means they don’t overcook during the remainder of the process – so no need for removing them. Much simpler!
Nutrition Information
Yield: 4-5 servings, Serving Size: 1/10 of recipe (about 1/4 cup)
- Amount Per Serving:
- Calories: 65 Calories
- Total Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
- Sodium: 285mg
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Sugar: 1g
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This was very good cheese raviolis with a side cauliflower tots. I used some soy sauce, as suggested, and topped with parmesan. All my children, aged 10, 7 and 5, loved it. Thank you.
Yes!!!! 😀 This recipe is so awesome! I used it over my garlic roasted mashed potatoes, and turk’y cutlets. It was sooo delicious. I have made one similar to this recipe, but it required a lot more soy sauce and was okay, but this one blew me out of the watee! I also added some minced garlic, and sauteed with the onions. Because, garlic is life!!! 😀 thank you sooo much for this much needed recipe.
Great idea to add garlic! So glad you like the recipe – that meal sounds like comfort food heaven!
OMG!! You are going to make me a star on Easter. My vegan son is going to give his mama the stamp of approval. I can’t wait.
Yay! What a sweet mama you are. 🙂 Happy Easter!
I just made this gravy for my vegan son for our Easter dinner. It is absolutely hands down, the best gravy I have ever made. I can’t wait to serve it tomorrow!! This Mom is savoring points for this one!! Thank you so much!!!!
Lovely, easy recipe for vegetarians. My carnivore son nearly inhaled it, lol. I just made it with biscuits and veggie soup on the side. I had seconds which rarely happens…ty
Did the recipe change? I saw the question asked earlier about the 1 plus 4 tablespoons of butter and you say it comes in later and says in the directions… But I’ve read the directions over and over and can’t see where the other 4 tablespoons come in to play?
Yes, it did! I’m so sorry, I forgot to update the butter portion of the ingredients list, so it was confusing. It now says 5 tablespoons butter and it’s all added at the beginning of the process. When I update a recipe I do add information about the change in the “notes” section of the recipe so you can find more about the change there. But it was still confusing because of how I had the butter listed. Thank you for asking so that I could make the fix and again I’m sorry about that!
This was such an easy recipe to follow and tasted amazing! I used half a vegetable stock cube and half a red wine stock cube as I really fancied red wine gravy and it was amazing. Thank you ☺️
I’m so glad you liked it Hannah! Love your additions; great ideas! Thanks so much for the review.
How long will this last in the fridge?
Just made this to go over my seitan turk’y. YUMMY and so easy to make. Thank you for a great recipe! Funny part is, I never liked gravy even when i ate meat. But this, I like 🙂 I did not add any extra salt, as my homemade broth was pretty salty to start with. I added about 1/2 the soy sauce called for in the recipe. Thanks again!
I’m so glad you liked this one! Thanks so much for sharing and for your review. Happy holidays!
I tend to modify recipes to my taste. I modified this one and was very pleased with the result. I needed gravy for a large party, so I tripled the recipe.
I used my food processor to basically puree the onions, along with about 3 ribs of celery for each recipe. I sauteed them in olive oil. I also added about 1/4 tsp of poultry seasoning, sage, and lemon pepper. Gravy is very flavorful, we’ll see how the meat eaters like it!
That sounds great, thank you so much for sharing! I created a recipe for another website a few years ago where I caramelized onions then pureed them for the gravy. It was one of my faves!
Yum yum! Just whipped this up for my vegetarian dad for Thanksgiving. He’s going to love it. Thank you!
What a nice daughter you are! 🙂 Happy holidays!
SO easy and SO delicious 😍 I used this recipe as a last minute vegetarian alternative at our family Thanksgiving dinner for myself. Let’s just say, I ended up not being the only one eating it! Multiple meat eaters preferred this yummy gravy over the traditional turkey gravy!
I’m so glad you liked this one! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a review. I really appreciate it. Happy holidays!
I have been a vegetarian for over 13 years and I absolutely love love love this gravy!! I added some spices and I really couldn’t be happier with this gravy! Never again dry mashed potatoes or stuffing ❤️❤️
Thanks so much, Amanda! Which spices do you add, if you don’t mind sharing? I love to hear how people tweak it to make it their own!
This gravy is insanely delicious! I made an over complicated bosh gravy for Christmas and it was so disappointing, I’ve also tried 2 other veggie gravy recipes that were nice but nothing amazing. This will now be the gravy I make all the time, thank you so much!
Woohoo, love to hear it! So glad this gravy is a keeper for you. Thanks so much for the review!
This turned out so much better than I expected. Really good. Will not be buying gravy packets anymore, I love how basic this recipe is
Yay! So glad you liked this one. Thanks Tamara!
Fantastic recipe, thank you! I struggle at making gravies, but this one is foolproof and came together easily and tastes delicious.
So glad you liked this one! Thank you for your review!
Wants to know more about different gravy recipe
This was delicious! Poured it over roastes veg and crunchy chickpeas. Better than store bought gravy, thank you.
That sounds delicious! Thank you so much for leaving a review. 🙂
I made this to go with lentil meatballs and it was so delicious!! I have a little bit left in the fridge and was wondering how long it would last in there? Also, can this be frozen? Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Lisa, this sounds delicious with lentil meatballs! I’ve kept this gravy in the fridge for 3-4 days with success. Yes, it also freezes well! Just reheat gently in a saucepan on the stove; maybe add a touch more vegetable broth if it’s super thick.
Thank you!
Thank you for the rating!
Whoops just left a comment on here for a vegan roast in error. But I always make this gravy and its fab. I only use about 2tbsp of butter though.
The vegan roast does sound amazing! 🙂 Thank you so much for your review.
Delicious! This will be my go to recipe. I made this with the coconut oil ( same amount as the recipe required) I had on hand instead of butter.
So glad it was a hit! Great tip about using coconut oil; I hadn’t thought of that! Thank you so much for the review.
I love this recipe, it’s my go to for gravy now. I use liquid smoke instead of soy sauce or tamari. I also add mushrooms to the mix and include a bit of garlic and Italian seasoning. It’s a really great recipe to play with flavors with.
Love those ideas – yum! Glad this was a great jumping-off point for you. 🙂 Cheers!