I make a mushroom gravy that is vegetarian if you use olive oil to make the roux - I usually use butter, which is not vegetarian, but it works either way.

First I put a handful of dried mushrooms into a two cup Pyrex measuring cup and then fill the cup with filtered water. Then I microwave that for about 1-1/2 minutes and let it stand after stirring it a bit. After a few minutes, strain out the mushrooms and save the water. Chop the mushrooms and set aside.

Next I heat three tbsp of olive oil in a sauce pan and add a couple of cloves of minced garlic and cook that for a minute or so. Then I add 1/4 cup flour and make a roux that is a light brown. To that, add the soaking water from the mushrooms, being careful not to add the last bit, which may have sand in it. Then I add the chopped mushrooms, some dried thyme, and a bit of black pepper. I generally add mushroom soup base instead of salt, but either will work. Then I add a bit of white wine to thin it, if necessary. Adding wine will reduce the amount of salt you need, and so you have to take that into account.
If you do not have dried mushrooms, you can use sauteed mushrooms instead and use vegetable stock instead of water, although either will work.

Lars

Yes, what Lars said. You can make vegetarian gravy easily with vegetable stock and make it just like you would meat gravy. The thing to watch for is the thickener. It's better to start with a lot and reduce than use a lot of starch or flour. I don't know exactly why, but vegetarian gravy gets gummy, otherwise. Or maybe it's just people use too much flour to start with. It'll be more like old fashioned gravy if you use butter and cream in the old fashioned way.

You can also make a wine gravy, which is basically mushroom stock and a bottle of not too dry red wine (meh burgundy works great if you're brave) reduce to 3 cups. Sauté onions and mushrooms until transparent, add a little thickener (cornstarch or barley flour) and cook until it's kind of toasty but not brown, and whisk in the reduction. Season and add herbs or whatever, to your own taste.

That one is easy to make vegan (no animal products of any kind). Just use oil for the sauté. You can make vegan white gravy, ersatz turkey gravy, or whatever, but you have to be a bit creative. I haven't tried it with cashew cream, but I've used cashew for cheese sauce, and it had the right body. If you can't buy it, you can make it out of raw cashews. There's probably some kind of coconut product that will work, too, but I don't know about those.

I would roast carrots, celery, onions garlic and mushrooms with a little olive oil in a 300 degree oven until soft and carmelized. Then I would puree in the blender with a little water or wine. Strain through a fine sieve then heat and reduce if needed. That would eliminate a thickener. Add salt & pepper to taste.

I do something similar for roast beef gravy except I use the veggies I put on the bottom of the roasting pan and I add beef stock and red wine.

My brother-in-law is vegan. My sister is vegetarian. I've made this mushroom gravy recipe from Post Punk Kitchen with success.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vegan Mushroom Gravy

Thanks everyone!

I'm a vegetarian and so all gravies I ever make are vegetarian. There are several tried and tested ones I know but this one is my favorite (its an Indian gravy) to have with koftas or cottage cheese cubes or meats or vegetables or bread:

I just put in my Moulinex Soup Maker some onions, tomato paste, garlic, ginger, cashews, cardamom, star anise and oil along with a spoonful of an Indian spice mix and salt, some dried fenugreek leaves and water. I also add hot green chillies (you can use the mild ones too).

It all cooks at 100 deg C and blends up to form a smooth, rich and thick gravy that is very flavorful and a bright orange color. I sometimes add a little greek yogurt when I want it to be a little creamy and replace oil with butter. For extra rich flavor I sometimes add powdered nuts and nutmeg.

You can eliminate the tomato paste and use saffron in milk instead for a rich yellow color and not as tangy (but add the milk only after the other ingredients are cooked and cook for a few minutes till blended. The onion works very well as a thickener here, along with the nuts (and dairy if used) and I never need any flours for thickening. The traditional way to prepare it is to cook the ingredients on the stove starting with oil, saute onions, ginger, garlic, cardamom, star anise first, tomatoes, spices and other ingredients next (while onions are still translucent). If using milk or greek yogurt add at last after the aromatics are well cooked.

This recipe for vegetarian gravy showed up on Zite last week.

Doesn't look too hard.

My SIL is vegetarian, so I always make cream gravy - from a package - either Ikea or something I get at Walmart. I can darken it with Kitchen Bouquet. No one seems to know the difference.

In a pinch, I'll brown some butter and flour and add vegetable broth for a last minute gravy.

YOU-WON'T-MISS-THE-MEAT VEGETARIAN GRAVY

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 12

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large leek, white part only, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 tablespoons butter (optional)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper

In a large skillet over medium, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, leek, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring often, for 15 minutes, or until very soft and starting to brown. Add the thyme, rosemary, sage and flour, then stir until well mixed. Add the wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pan.

Stir in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the liquid thickens slightly. Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until very smooth, adding the butter during blending, if desired. Pour the blended gravy through a mesh strainer back into the saucepan. Reheat over low heat, then season with salt and pepper.

Nutrition information per serving: 50 calories; 20 calories from fat (40 percent of total calories); 2.5 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 5 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 0 g protein; 35 mg sodium.

Here is a link that might be useful: link