This vegan gravy is the best ever. It’s rich and flavorful, easy to make, hearty and satisfying and just perfect over mashed potatoes.
This vegan gravy has been making us very happy!
It’s super easy to make and absolutely divine poured on top of some vegan mashed potatoes! Add some vegan sausages and you have bangers and mash. Sooo good!
It’s a super simple recipe that is also ready in 30 minutes. And it’s so tasty that you are going to want to pour it over everything once you’ve tasted it.
It’s wonderfully rich and creamy and tastes just like gravy should. It has some lovely texture (from the onions in the gravy) and it’s hearty and really satisfying.
If you’re a fan of mushrooms though, then you should also try our vegan mushroom gravy. It’s every bit as good as this gravy, just with mushrooms!
How To Make Vegan Gravy
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- You start off by frying some onions and garlic in some vegan butter.
- Then you mix some flour with coconut milk into a paste, add more coconut milk and then pour that into the pot along with vegetable stock and soy sauce.
- Keep whisking until it boils and then keep boiling and stirring until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste and you’re done!
Recipe Q & A
Do I have to use coconut milk? No, not if you hate coconut or are allergic. You could substitute it for a different non-dairy milk like soy milk. We like this gravy with coconut milk as it’s deliciously rich which is what we were going for, but a different non-dairy milk can also work fine here.
Can I make it gluten-free? Yes you can make it gluten-free. You would just need to use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour and make sure your soy sauce is also gluten-free, or switch it for tamari.
Why dark soy sauce? Dark soy sauce gives the gravy the really rich color here. You can use a light soy sauce if that’s what you have on hand, but the color will be much lighter as a result.
How To Serve This Gravy
This is wonderful served on a vegan nut roast, or vegan meatloaf. Of course it’s wonderful on vegan mashed potatoes or vegan cauliflower mashed potatoes. It’s also great with baked potato fries or vegan biscuits. Or just serve it with roasted vegetables.
Storing and Freezing
Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days and can be reheated on the stove or in the microwave. If it gets too thick while reheating, then thin it out with a little added water.
You can also freeze some if you like, let it cool completely before freezing and then freeze in a freezer-safe container. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge when you’re ready for it and then reheat as usual.
More Vegan Comfort Food Recipes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Soup
- Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Chili
- Vegan Shepherds Pie
- Vegan Meatloaf
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Gravy
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter (56g)
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
- 4 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Coconut Milk (240ml) Canned, Full Fat, Unsweetened
- 2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 cups Vegetable Stock (480ml)
- ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- Sea Salt to taste
Instructions
- Add the vegan butter to a saucepan and let it melt. Then add the chopped onions and garlic and fry in the butter until very soft and translucent.
- Mix the flour and a little of the coconut milk together and mix it into a paste. Then add the rest of the coconut milk to the paste and whisk it in so that the flour and coconut milk is well combined and free of lumps.
- Then add the flour and coconut milk mix to the saucepan along with the soy sauce and vegetable stock and whisk together.
- Bring to the boil, whisking constantly and then let it boil for a few minutes until it thickens. You don’t need it to get very thick, because you want it to be a nice pourable consistency.
- Add some black pepper and then sea salt to taste.
- Serve over mashed potatoes or over anything that needs a delicious rich gravy.
Video
Notes
- The gravy doesn’t taste like coconut at all, but if you hate coconut milk or have an allergy then you can make this with a different non-dairy milk such as soy milk or almond milk. It won’t be quite as rich, but it will still be very good.
- The dark soy sauce gives this gravy it’s beautiful color. However, you can use a regular soy sauce as well, but the color will be lighter.
- To make this gravy gluten-free you can try it with a gluten-free all purpose flour and a gluten-free soy sauce or tamari. I have not tested it this way but have made other sauces with gluten-free all purpose flour and it has worked perfectly.
- This recipe was first published in October 2018.
My daughter made this for our weekly vegan family dinner. We all loved it and got the recipe.
Awesome! So happy to hear that Susan. Thanks for sharing and the great review. 🙂
This was sooo gooood!!!
I did not use onions or garlic, instead I opted for carrots and celery. Instead of vegetable stock I used beef stock. Instead of Vegan butter , I used extra salty butter!!! Then I replaced the vegan milk alternative with heavy cream. Then I boiled noodles and sautéed some beef!!!
All of a sudden I seemed to be looking at Beef Stroganoff!!!
Thank You for the recipe!!!
I’m absolutely kidding! ????
Reading what people change in your recipe must drive you crazy!!!!
I want you to know , I followed it religiously except for the dark soy soy. I had no I idea there was such a thing!!! ????????♀️ Anyway …. absolutely fabulous.
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Hahaha, that’s super funny! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for the awesome review. 🙂
This is my favourite vegan gravy recipe and one I come back to again and again. Much easier than so many I’ve tried and it tastes so much better. The omnivores in my family love it too which helps.
So happy to hear Jordan! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Can vegetable broth be used instead of vegetable stock?
Yes, it’s the same thing. 🙂
Super easy, and great taste!!
Very delicious! Made it using soy milk. It was a lot lighter than the photos, closer to a strong cup of milk tea, but the flavor was great. My non-vegan gravy loving family approved 🙂
Hi Sophia, glad to hear it was good! For the color, using dark soy sauce is what gives it that rich color, regular soy sauce will result in a much lighter color (but still taste great). Thanks for the awesome review! xo
I loved the taste of this gravy but it didn’t exactly match up the colour of regular gravy, it was more like a creamy colour.
What I did was instead of putting two cups of broth, I added some red wine, which gave it a darker colour and stronger taste.
Soo good!!! My friend made this for us on mashed potatoes and it tasted even better than the real thing. Im gonna try this as a substitute for the gravy in the quebec classic poutine!! So excited
Wonderful to hear that! Thanks a million for the great review! 🙂
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
I would imagine around 3-4 days ahead would be fine, keep stored in the fridge and then reheat.
Hi! This is a beautiful simple recipe and it makes ey whole lotta gravy! Can I ask you is there any way to keep it that rich dark color. It turned a lot lighter when i added the cocunt milk+flower. I actually added some of it to my roasted mushrooms and it was out of this world good!
Aaamazing site, amazing recipes!! Thank youu!!
Hi! So glad you liked the recipe! For the color, it’s important to use dark soy sauce, that was the key to having it come out a lovely rich color. 🙂
Made it , lovely
Just the rich, hearty and mouthwatering gravy I have wanted!
Hello is it possible to freeze the gravy?
I think so! It might be thicker once it’s been thawed after freezing so you might need to add a bit more liquid when reheating.
This is the best vegan gravy recipe IMHO and I have tried others before, it has become my “go-to” gravy recipe so much that, for convenience and time-saving, I make extra batches and freeze individually, they keep in my freezer for weeks and it is soooo delicious! Now I just have regular soy sauce (La Choy or my favorite store brand, usually low sodium) so i use that and really don’t need to add extra salt, also the coconut milk really does add to the richness but I am willing to try the soy milk as well, thanks again, Allison, and keep up with the fantastic vegan recipes!
So happy you love it! Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful review! 🙂
Does this taste even remotely like coconut? Thoughts on substitutions ..? almond/oat ?
I don’t think it does at all, but you could also use a different plant milk, I haven’t tested different ones I’ve only made this with coconut milk but almond or soy should both work fine.
I used unsweetened silk soy milk and used mushrooms cumin and basil… fantastic thanks doll ❤️??❤️
Sounds great! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Why the extra salt when this recipe requires Soja sauce , which is already very salty? Thanks
Hi Tina, it’s salt ‘to taste’ so only add it if you want to or feel it’s needed. If it’s salty enough for you then no need.
Thank you Alison!