Store-bought gravy often contains dairy, so I usually make my own. It’s as easy as flour, broth, salt, and pepper. But sometimes I want gravy with more flavor, or I need a quick and portable option that only requires the addition of water. This dairy-free gravy mix is my solution. It’s just like the packets you can buy at the store, but it’s cheaper, uses simple pantry ingredients, an is made without any milk or additives.
To Grandmother’s House Easy Dairy-Free Gravy Mix
This dairy-free gravy mix is a variation of a brown gravy recipe my sister makes with beef bouillon–usually to go with venison. I looked at several gravy mix recipes online and adapted it based on those. It’s great for weeknights, and if you’re travelling somewhere where the gravy being served has dairy, such as a relative’s house for Thanksgiving.
My sister likes the gravy thin with just 1 Tablespoon of mix added per cup. I like 2 Tablespoons per cup, which makes a thicker, stronger-flavored gravy. Most of the recipes I researched use 2 Tablespoons per cup.
I often make this as chicken gravy, but it can easily be made vegan with the use of vegan bouillon. I really like Orrington Farms Bouillons. They don’t use MSG, are gluten free and they use sea salt. I was noticing on their site that they also offer vegan beef and vegan chicken options (and vegan ham!). I bet those would be good in this.
Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Gravy Mix
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, optionally gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, optionally vegan, and optionally vegetarian.
Homemade Dairy-Free Gravy Mix
Ingredients
Method
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the starch, flour, bouillon, onion powder, garlic powder, celery seed, black pepper, paprika, and instant coffee (if using).
- Store in airtight container at room temperature.
- When preparing the gravy, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of gravy mix for each cup of water, depending on how thick you want the gravy to be.
- Whisk the mix and water together in a saucepan.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for a minute or two, while whisking.
- Taste for salt and add a little to taste, if desired.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!More Homemade Dairy-Free Mix Recipes
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Dairy-Free Condensed Cream of Soup Mix
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2 Comments
Thank you so much for this! We go to family’s for Thanksgiving so this will help a lot! I had a question. Can I replace all the cornstarch with GF flour? I’ve tried tapioca and cornstarch and really would prefer all GF flour. Or does it need more like the almond cream or cashew cream to thicken it? I know it defeats the purpose of less prep, but all the GF-DF gravies I’ve made have been too thin so I’m willing to put in a little extra effort if it works out better! Thank you! 🙂
Hi Alexandria, starch is a key ingredient in gravies that aren’t made with fresh stock. Starch is what differentiates it more so from a cream sauce in texture. You can certainly experiment with GF flour or almond / cashew cream, I just couldn’t tell you how much you would need. Typically, you need twice as much flour as starch, or you need to cook it down for longer. This could give it a pastier taste/texture though. I would personally try using ground cashews instead of flour (don’t make it into a cream) but you will still need to use more.