mushroom herb gravy

What makes a gravy? Well, its basically a liquid thickened by roux (flour particles coated with fat). You can use any liquid (broth, milk, cream) and you can use any fat (meat drippings, butter, olive or vegetable oil). Meat drippings, like what comes out of a turkey when it's roasted, yields the most flavorful gravy but since I'm not making a turkey this year I decided to make a vegetable oil based gravy.

This gravy is great because:
a) it doesn't contain saturated fat
b) it's vegetarian friendly and just about every Thanksgiving gathering has at least one vegetarian and...
c) it's quick and easy so you can make this to go along with any week night dinner.

Since the gravy does not use flavorful meat drippings, the flavor comes from the vegetable stock, mushrooms and herbs. You can use any of your favorite herbs in here but I happened to have fresh thyme and I love sage with mushrooms (I used dried).





Total Recipe cost: $2.53
Servings Per Recipe: 6 (1/3 cup each)
Cost per serving: $0.42
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 15 min. Total: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
3 Tbsp	vegetable oil	$0.11
2 cloves	garlic	$0.04
8 oz.	mushrooms	$1.49
3 Tbsp	all purpose flour	$0.03
2 cubes	vegetable bouillon	$0.23
2 cups	water	$0.00
3 sprigs	fresh thyme	$0.48
1 tsp	dried sage	$0.10
to taste	salt and pepper	$0.05
TOTAL		$2.53

STEP 1: Rinse the mushrooms clean and slice thinly. Prepare the bouillon with hot water so that it's ready to go when needed (check the instructions for ratios, you want 2 cups of prepared broth).

STEP 2: Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 3 Tbsp of olive oil. Add the garlic (finely minced) and cook for 1-2 minutes or just until soft. Add the sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Cook the mushrooms until they are soft and all of the moisture they release has evaporated (5 minutes).

STEP 3: Make sure that all of the moisture that comes out of the mushrooms has evaporated and just the oil remains in the pan. Add the 3 Tbsp of all-purpose flour and stir it to coat it in oil. It will form a paste like mixture all over the mushrooms. Continue to stir and cook this for about 2 minutes. This will slightly toast the flour and give the gravy better flavor.

STEP 4: Slowly whisk in the vegetable broth. Whisk well to make sure that all of the flour has dissolved and no lumps remain. Whisk in the pepper, sage and thyme (you can leave the thyme on the stems and remove the bare stems later).

STEP 5: Allow the mixture to come to a simmer. The gravy will begin to thicken as soon as it simmers. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes to infuse the flavor of the herbs. Stir occasionally with the whisk as it simmers. Taste the gravy and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.

Step By Step Photos

Rinse and slice the mushrooms thinly. I wouldn't use the pre-sliced as they are way too thick and will end up as HUGE chunks in the gravy.


Prepare the vegetable broth so that it's ready to go when you need it. These extra large cubes only need one cube per 2 cups of water. Check your bouillon for ratios, you need 2 cups of broth.


Mince the garlic very fine and cook it in the vegetable oil over medium heat until soft.


Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt (this helps draw out the moisture). Let the mushrooms cook down until they release all of their water and it evaporates.


When all of the moisture has evaporated off, add the 3 Tbsp of flour. Stir it up until it has formed a paste all over the mushrooms.


Continue to stir and cook the flour paste (roux) covered mushrooms for about 2 minutes. This will cook out the paste-like flavor of the flour.


Whisk in the vegetable broth until all of the flour has dissolved in.


Add the herbs (thyme, sage, pepper) and stir in. Bring the mixture up to a simmer then reduce the heat. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally with the whisk.


Taste the thickened gravy and adjust the seasonings as desired. The gravy will be thinner while it's hot so if it's not quite as thick as you'd like, let it cool just slightly.



If you don't have any vegan guests and you're not opposed to butter, try substituting it for the vegetable oil for added flavor!!