Extra tasty, rich & flavoursome Red Wine Vegan Gravy, infused with sweet vegetable & fresh herb flavour and perfect for serving with your holiday feast!
I can’t believe that Christmas is almost upon us. I am really not prepared this year and have so much left to do and only Christmas Eve to do it in. Thank goodness I managed to get the day off work. (Bribing your boss with Festive Vegan Cupcakes works wonders!)
I planned to post this Red Wine Vegan Gravy recipe a little earlier than I am but life has been so busy and gravy is very unphotogenic.
The plus side of me posting this recipe today is that my gravy for Christmas day is now made. It keeps very well for up to five days in the fridge and also freezes really well so you can make it well in advance and take some pressure off yourself on the day of your special meal. I am all for anything that makes life easier.
Gravy can make or break a dish. There is nothing worse than bad gravy and nothing better than good gravy. This Red Wine Vegan Gravy is extra tasty, rich and flavoursome.
Slow cooked onions, carrots and celery add sweet vegetable flavour, red wine adds depth and fresh herbs add an extra layer of deliciousness. It is a regular feature on the menu here and I always end up drowning my meals in it. It is fantastic served with vegan roast, Wellingtons, Mushroom Lentil Loaf with Cranberries, veggie sausages, piles of creamy mashed potatoes and pies. In fact I am having it with a pie on Christmas day.
Portobello Pot Roast is being made as a pie filling and will be served with roast potatoes,Crispy Yorkshire Puddings, a variety of different sides and lashings of this fabulous Red Wine Vegan Gravy!
This will be my last post before Christmas. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my family and taking a few days break. Life has been so hectic lately and I have been feeling a little frazzled. I will be back with more great recipes in the new year (you might possibly get one before that but no promises).
If you make any of my recipes over the holidays feel free to share them with me on Instagram or Twitter. I am @avirtualvegan. Use the hashtag #avirtualvegan on Instagram. You can also share them on my Facebook page. I enjoy seeing what you are cooking. I love it when you leave feedback here on my website too. It’s great to hear what you think and it also helps newcomers to A Virtual Vegan see that my recipes are reliable.
I have had a fantastic first eight months of blogging and have loved every minute. Here’s to more of the same in 2016. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and eat well!
Red Wine Vegan Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 medium onions , chopped
- 1 medium carrot , chopped
- 1 stick celery , chopped
- 1 clove garlic chopped , chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour , or cornstarch or arrowroot for a gluten-free option
- 240mls | 1 cup red wine
- 480mls | 2 cups broth / stock (I used Pacific Organic Mushroom Broth but veggie broth/stock is fine too)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons Tamari (you can sub soy sauce) (see recipe note)
- Optional - A few sprigs of fresh herbs (stalks are fine - thyme and sage are good, and a bay leaf if you have one)
- Optional - 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce (see recipe note)
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat.
- Add the onion. carrot, celery and herbs and sauté slowly, stirring often, for about 10 minutes until golden brown and caramelized.
- Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Turn down the heat to low, add the flour and stir very well. It will be clumpy and weird looking but thats fine. Cook the flour for about one minute.
- Remove from the heat and very gradually add the red wine a few tablespoons at a time, stirring very well in between to work out any lumps (don't worry too about them as you will be straining it later anyway).
- Once all the red wine has been added, pour in the broth/stock, salt, pepper,sugar and Tamari and cranberry sauce if you are using them.
- Turn the heat back up to medium and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Stir constantly until thickened (about 10 minutes).
- Strain through a sieve, mashing all the veggies and herbs down with a spoon to get maximum flavour from them.
- Serve right away or cool and warm just before serving. It can also be stored in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer until needed.
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
Cindy says
Hi Mel,
Can you make the gravy without oil, or will that impact the flavor? I don’t use oil when cooking.
Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Just use a tiny bit of water to sauté the onions etc and it will be fine. Add more to stop it sticking as you need to.
Tania says
Hi there! Help me please! I made this roast recipe tonight for our New Year’s Eve dinner. I followed the recipe exactly, I had the broth so omitted the water and powder and I even cooked it 10 minutes more than the recipe called for. The end result was it looked and smelled great but the consistency while eating it is like chewing bubble gum :(. What do you think went wrong? If you think it was undercooked, do you think undercooked vital wheat gluten will make us sick? Hope not. Thanks for the recipe though.
A Virtual Vegan says
I’ve never had mine come out like that and I made it all sorts of ways while testing it. No other reports from anyone else either. I guess there’s a chance it was undercooked. Maybe your oven runs a little cooler? Or maybe you made it a bit thicker than my description so it would take longer to cook through. Did you definitely stick to the recipe exactly (other than using broth which is fine) and not change any of the amounts? You used artichokes in oil and not brine/water? And you definitely wrapped it in foil and oven baked it, and not steamed it/boiled it/cooked it in a pressure cooker? This recipe has to be cooked in the oven.
The only other thing is maybe you didn’t knead it properly? If you aren’t used to kneading bread/seitan it might be worth you watching a Youtube video about how to knead.
It won’t make you sick so don’t worry about that.
I hope you can manage to deduce what might have happened from these suggestions!
Kaleigh says
Made this for Christmas dinner.
Loved it!! Thank you. So rich and tasty!
John Francis Murphy says
Dear Mel,
Huge gratitude to you for this gravy recipe and the Mushroom Lentil Loaf with Cranberries. I love to experiment with cooking and baking myself but as it’s 3.00a.m. on Christmas night I will now gratefully follow your recipies in preparation for tomorrow. Best wishes for a happy holiday.
A Virtual Vegan says
Happy holidays to you too John. I hope you enjoy both recipes!
Teresa says
Can you advise on a vegan red wine ?
A Virtual Vegan says
I tend to buy Shiraz or Merlot, but I only buy local wines as we have some great wineries around us, so my recommendations probably aren’t much help unless you are in BC, Canada. Copper Moon is my favourite for cooking because it’s really reasonably priced here and it’s vegan but that’s a local one. My favourite for drinking is any from Tinhorn Creek winery. That’s also in BC. Barnivore is a great website and app for checking what wines are vegan.
This article from PETA might be helpful https://www.peta.org/living/food/vegan-wine/ When I’m not buying wines I’m familiar with I go to the liquor store, armed with my phone and the barnivore app and search each one until I find a vegan one. Just make sure you don’t use a really cheap cooking wine. It should be one of a quality you would drink. Any average priced bottle of red will work in this gravy, and if you don’t drink the remnants, freeze them for when you make the gravy again. Hope that helps!
Lynne says
I didn’t bother straining out the vegies as I thought they added an interesting texture, so I’m just calling this a “sauce” rather than a gravy. I will definitely use this recipe again! And such a shame that there was red wine left over from the recipe that I felt compelled to drink while cooking! HA! Thanks Mel!
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it. Finishing off the red wine after cooking is a hard job but someone’s got to do it! ;O)
Phoebe says
Hi, how long will this keep in the fridge?
A Virtual Vegan says
Easily 3-4 days. Probably a bit longer. It freezes well too. It will get really thick and gloopy when it cools but as soon as it warms back up again it will loosen up. You can always add a drop of water if you need it a bit thinner too.
CharlotteAngel says
I made this to go with a seitan roast for my non-vegan family in law for Christmas lunch. It topped off the meal beautifully. Lovely flavour
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s great! Thanks so much for stopping by to let me know :O)
Vanessa says
I found it so hard to find a good vegan gravy. You nailed it though!
Roxanne Veinotte says
Going to make this for my wedding, to serve over lentil balls. Thank you for the recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
Oh wow! I am honoured! It will be great with the lentil balls. In fact it goes great with nearly everything. I hope your wedding is absolutely fantastic and that you love every minute! Congratulations in advance!
Roxanne Veinotte says
It will be real soon, January 9, so will give you an update, 99% of guests are omnivores, and I am the only vegan there, and the food is ALL vegan. LOL
Oh and by the way the crown I am wearing is the tiara I will be wearing at my wedding!
A Virtual Vegan says
Love the tiara! I bet you are so excited. Have a fantastic day!