People new to oil-free vegan diets often ask what they can put on baked potatoes. If you’re used to using margarine or butter, it can be intimidating to be told that you need to either (a) get used to potatoes plain or with new toppings such as salsa or (b) make a cheesy sauce or gravy from scratch.
I’ve been eating a lot of potatoes lately while following my personal version of the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Plan, and I can tell you from experience that (a) I don’t care for salsa on baked potatoes and (b) if I had to make a difficult sauce in order to eat them I never would.
Instead, I make a gravy that’s so ridiculously easy that I wasn’t going to write about it here. After all, I already have a mushroom gravy that is very popular, though a little more time-consuming to make. But then I posted the following photo of my breakfast on my Instagram account, and a couple of people wanted the recipe:
911 Vegan Gravy with Mushrooms and Chickpeas
It’s practically not a recipe, just a proportion of ingredients: 9 stands for 9 parts liquid, 1 stands for 1 part brown rice flour, and the other 1 stands for 1 teaspoon of seasoning (or 1 tablespoon if you’re really into seasonings.)
But 911 is also the code for emergencies, and when you need gravy but you don’t have any mushrooms or onions or other fresh vegetables, this recipe will save you and your baked potatoes. Of course, if you have fresh ingredients to add, so much the better, but this recipe is perfect for all of you mushroom haters out there. And it’s gluten-free, so it’s safe to serve to any gluten-sensitive guests at your holiday table.
Tastes great on Biscuits.
Try it on Fat-Free Vegan Biscuits!
911 Vegan Gravy
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups vegetable broth or a combination of broth and non-dairy milk
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1 - 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning or your choice of seasonings see notes
- generous grating of black pepper
- soy sauce, tamari, or salt to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until gravy boils and thickens. Check seasonings and add more as needed. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. If it's too thick, add additional broth or non-dairy milk to thin.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
I hope you don’t have a gravy emergency this holiday season, but if you do, just remember 9-1-1.
Antoinette S Heilman
November 10, 2019 at 6:33 amFast and yummy and sooo simple to make!!!!! Thanks
Andrea
November 10, 2019 at 11:37 amMy family loves this gravy. I make it every week. I’ve found that I can make it even easier with my Vitamix. I don’t have rice flour on hand so I just use brown rice. I add all the ingredients to the vitamix and then blend it on high for a few minutes. I can pour that into a sauce pan, bring it to a boil, and it thickens up in less than a minute.
Susan Voisin
November 10, 2019 at 11:38 amThis is so cool! Do you use cooked brown rice or raw?
Andrea
December 8, 2019 at 10:08 amraw
Kat
November 21, 2019 at 2:11 pmYou can also leave it in the Vitamix and continue blending it until it comes to a boil!
Rachel
November 16, 2019 at 8:42 amI was wondering, does this freeze well? I am trying to stock my freezer with some easy vegan, starch based meals and combo items…gravy would be wonderful.
Susan Voisin
November 16, 2019 at 9:03 amI haven’t tried freezing it, so I suggest you make it and freeze part as a test. I can’t think why it wouldn’t work, but I wouldn’t want you to waste a whole batch if it didn’t.
Rachel
November 17, 2019 at 3:09 pmI guess I’ll have to, but I’m sure it is fine. Thanks!
Jcb
November 16, 2019 at 8:46 amCan you use almond, oat or spelt instead of rice flour?
Susan Voisin
November 16, 2019 at 9:01 amI think oat or spelt flour would work, but almond doesn’t have enough starch. I haven’t tried, though, so I can promise you’ll get great results,
Peggy
November 23, 2019 at 1:57 pmCan i use whole wheat flour or bean flour? I have both on hand.
Susan Voisin
November 23, 2019 at 4:39 pmI have a recipe that uses wheat flour here: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2013/12/vegan-mushroom-gravy.html. I prefer rice flour in this one.
Jill
May 20, 2020 at 7:06 pmWorks great for a bag of frozen stew veggies when Safeway is out of every other frozen veggie. . I added frozen peas, a few small purple potatoes (stew mix has potatoes in it, too) and a bunch of chopped mushrooms to my “gravy stew.” . Served with corn on the cob and grapes. The Pandemic Diet is so strange. I need to start shopping during senior hour.