Mushroom gravy
35 min · 2 g protein · 55 cals / serving
A deep brown gravy that needs no roast: a big pan of mushrooms cooked until they give up their juices and brown hard, then simmered with shallot, thyme, broth and a splash of soy for savouriness. The mushrooms stay in, so it pours glossy and meaty over mash, meatloaf, turkey or a nut roast.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 12 oz crimini mushroom, cremini or chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp leaves fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth, hot
- 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- a pinch, to taste salt
Steps
- Heat the butter and oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and leave them alone for 3 minutes, then stir and keep cooking for 8–10 minutes more, until the liquid they release has boiled away and they are well browned. The browning is where the gravy's colour and flavour come from, so don't rush it.
- Turn the heat to medium, add the shallot, garlic and thyme and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until the shallot softens.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir for 1 minute so it coats everything and loses its raw taste.
- Pour in the hot broth a ladle at a time, stirring after each addition so no lumps form, then add the soy sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until it coats the back of a spoon.
- Season with pepper and taste before adding any salt, because broth and soy both bring plenty. Leave it chunky, or blend half of it with a stick blender for a smoother gravy that still has pieces of mushroom.
Good to know
Can I use beef broth instead?
Yes, and it tastes more like a classic roast gravy. It is no longer vegetarian, and it lands at about the same score.
Can I make it gluten-free?
Skip the flour in step 3. At the end of step 4, stir 2 tbsp cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water and whisk it into the simmering gravy; it thickens in a minute. Use tamari in place of soy sauce.
Can I make it ahead?
It keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes well for 3 months. It thickens as it cools, so reheat it gently with a splash of broth or water until it pours again.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 57
- Protein
- (18%)
- 2 g
- Fat
- (38%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (45%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 361 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 442 kcal goes into the pot and 1056 g of ingredients comes out as about 780 g of food: 57 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.