Gravy: The Nectar of Life

 I’m a firm believer that gravy is a food group necessary in every diet. Being from Indiana, I grew up with many meals covered in gravy. It makes me feel at home. I always loved waking up on weekend mornings to the smell of biscuits and gravy 

I love gravy of all forms, but white pepper is my favorite. The recipe that follows will be for white gravy, but all gravies are founded on a roux.

Gravy gravy gravy….

Technique Notes

A roux (pronounced “roo”) is a substance made with wheat flour and fat. The type of fat varies based on the cuisine. Starting a gravy with roux is important because it is a thickener, and cooking the flour with fat gives it a nutty flavor. No one wants gravy that tastes like raw flour. The recipe calls for vegetable based fats because it’s vegan! You can make substitutions to this recipe, but know that it’s tried and true as is. If you change things and it doesn’t turn out right, I’m not responsible!

If you end up with the gravy too thick you can simply add more milk, but  thickening it up post-roux is tricky and won’t taste very good. Err on the side of ending up with extra gravy from adding milk.

Ingredient Notes

For this recipe, Earth Balance will do. However if you like to avoid palm oil products like I do, the “Better Butter” recipe from The Gentle Chef is amazing. The recipe is only available in the non-dairy books, but it’s definitely worth purchasing if you’re serious about cheese and other vegan dairy replacements.

And a note about the soymilk: I use West Soy Unsweeteend Organic. It’s just soybeans and water. Other types of soymilk, even ones that say “unsweetened”, still contain sugar. If you can’t get a hold of soymilk containing just soybeans and water, be sure to at least get unsweetened.

This recipe is perfect to top two servings of mashed potatoes (although I like a lot of gravy, so maybe three normal people servings). Simply double to get enough for two servings of biscuits and gravy.

If you make this and think you fucked it up, it’s OK! Try again another time and watch the roux more carefully.

Print Recipe

White Gravy

This is a classic white gravy, veganized. I like this gravy best on biscuits and home fries.

Prep Time

3 minutes

Cook Time

7 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 heaping tbsp Non-dairy Butter Example: Earth Balance
• 1 heaping tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup soy milk or other unsweetened non-dairy milk
• 1 pinch salt or to taste
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper more or less to taste - I like to load it up!

Prep Time 3 minutes Cook Time 7 minutes Servings people Ingredients 1 heaping tbsp Non-dairy Butter Example: Earth Balance 1 heaping tbsp all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cup soy milk or other unsweetened non-dairy milk 1 pinch salt or to taste 1/2 tbsp black pepper more or less to taste - I like to load it up!

Instructions

1. Put a heavy skillet on medium high heat. Melt butter. When it bubbles, add flour.
2. Whisk mixture and watch carefully as it browns. It should be a nice golden color and smell nutty. If you overcook it the world won't end, but your gravy will have a brown color and taste different than traditional white gravy. For this recipe it only takes about 3 minutes, if you double the recipe go for 4ish minutes.
3. Pour in half of the milk and whisk. Once the lumps are gone pour in the other half of milk. Having a miniature whisk is not required, but it sure is cute!

   
4. Add a pinch of salt and a good bit of pepper. Simmer for another minute.
5. Add more black pepper because pepper is awesome.
6. Pour over mashed potatoes, home fries, biscuits... or just drink it hey I'm not judging.

   

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