CJ’s Faux Beef Gravy (Vegetarian)

One of the things that tends to go missing in a vegetarian diet is beef gravy (yeah, go figure). Generally speaking, this isn’t a problem; but if you have something like mashed potatoes, you can start feeling like the odd person out.

Like many veggies, I’ve tried my hand at coming up with a gravy that had a suitable beefiness without having to scrounge about for a plethora of uncommon ingredients. I also wanted the sauce to have a similar texture to actual beef gravy as well as being relatively quick to make–I didn’t want to have to devote hours to making what should be a simple sauce. I’ve created a number of close-but-not-close-enough recipes, some that I used for years. Finally, I found what I was searching for.

The foundation for the recipe came from CJ’s Faux Beefy Stew Recipe. I did some tweaking to meet my parameters as well as create a recipe that turned out well consistently. Here’s the recipe followed by more comments:

CJ’s Faux Beef Gravy

1 cube –	Knorr Vegetable Bouillon
1/4 tsp –	Carrot (grated)
2 c –	Water
1 1/2 tsp –	Kitchen Bouquet
1 1/2 tsp –	Soy Sauce
1 1/2 tsp –	Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp –	Onion Powder
1 med/large –	Bay Leaf
Dash –	Pepper
Dash –	Salt
1 tsp –	Red wine (optional)
1 tbs –	Corn Starch
1/4 c –	Potato Flakes

Add all ingredients EXCEPT corn starch and potato flakes to a sauce pan on medium heat. (Ingredients can be added as they are prepared while the water is heating.) Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Put corn starch in a small container and add enough COLD water to make a slurry (about 2-3 tsp). While the sauce is boiling, stream in the slurry while stirring continuously. Allow the liquid to return to a boil.
Slowly add the potato flakes while stirring (this is to prevent lumps of mashed potato from forming). Stir until the potato flakes dissolve.
Remove from heat. Serve.

Important: Please remember to use only vegetarian ingredients — be especially wary of Worcestershire Sauce as most contain anchovies.

I specified Knorr Vegetable Bouillon Cubes because they produce a good savory broth and are readily available in most grocery stores in the U.S. I’ve also used McKay’s Beef Style Instant Broth (vegan) to good effect. I’m sure there are others available, but as I haven’t tried them I can’t give recommendations. I have found that many vegetable broths aren’t sufficiently savory to substitute and get beefy results.

The potato flakes really must be added slowly…put them in 1/2-to-1 tablespoon at a time and stir until they are dissolved before you add more. If you add the flakes too quickly, or you don’t stir as you are adding them, you will get lumps of mashed potatoes that will be very difficult to dissolve. If you do get lumps, smash them on the side of the pan as you’re stirring.

One of the surprises I had with this gravy was when I stored some extra in the refrigerator: after it had cooled, it congealed very similar to “real” gravy.