Anna’s famous onion gravy recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Sauces Gravy Dressings, Vegetarian | 62 comments
Vegetarian onion gravy
I’ve been working at Anna’s house for the past five weeks. The spot is so secluded that I could not find it on my first foray and had to return home. At the second attempt, Jalopy and I were resting at the side of the road, scratching our heads and on the point of giving up when, miraculously, Anna drove past.
We followed her lead and learned the route to her house. Down a quiet track, in the middle of fields. I would never have found it by myself and might have missed out on this onion gravy gem.
Anna cooks delicious meals for her children every evening without a hint of resentful huffing and puffing. She chops, sears and simmers. Then takes Max, their lurcher, out for a power walk. Within minutes after her return, they are sitting down to a feast.
Needless to say, I have tasted every dish that she has made. Anna shares her secrets.
Last night she offered me a spoonful of mashed potato with gravy. My figure has rollicked out of control recently so I tasted only a teeny touch of onion gravy. It was was beefy and piquant. I was amazed to discover that it was entirely vegetarian.
We were having sausages this evening so I made Anna’s onion gravy as an accompaniment. Danny loves onion gravy and I knew that this would blow his socks off. Thanks Anna, he was delighted.
Don’t make the same mistake as we did. This gravy is designed to be served with plain sausages and we used spicy ones which gangled the taste buds.
Our cottage is divided down the middle when it comes to Marmite. I love it, Danny runs screaming from the room at the sight of a pot. The Marmite flavour combines well with the other ingredients and is not discernible.
| Vegetarian onion gravy recipe |
- 1 large onion (sliced into rings). Anna says that red onions are best.
- 1 clove of garlic (Finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 small knob of butter
- 1 level tablespoon of plain flour
- 350 ml of stock (boiling water poured over 1 tsp of Marigold)
- 1 level teaspoon Marmite
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (I think that she shouted this variation through the door as I shot out to join Jalopy in the snow).
- 1 pinch of decent mixed herbs (my addition)
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a frying pan over a low heat and add the onion slices.
- After five minutes add the garlic.
- Sautee until the onions are soft and transparent.
- Add the flour and stir in well. Let the flour get a bit nutty.
- Add the stock gradually, stirring constantly. Then add the Marmite, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, mixed herbs and black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer very gently for 20 – 30 minutes.
- Stir every 5 minutes until the gravy thickens and the flavours blend.
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My husband hates onions(seeing them!) so I blended it, no problem. Love this recipe & sent it to my Vegetarian Son-out-of- law Steve in London.
This is the BEST veggie onion gravy recipe I have ever tasted. I’ve made it three times since I discovered it a month ago and it just gets better every time. I just can’t go back to granules now! Thank you for sharing it with us.
Hi Kate
Thank you so mucj for dropping by. I agree Anna’s recipe is superb!
Hi Kate
I think that this recipe is great too.
Anna is a superb cook and also shares her recipes!
Hi Kyle
Hope that it worked out well for you!
Hello Alex
Love te idea of the port.Thanks for the tip.
Hi K
I love this recipe too. Great that it worked well for you- thanks for dropping by.
thanks for the recipe, went down a treat 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe, I love the bangers and mash in the UK, so naturally looked for the best gravy recipe, which was this one! I agree with Chris on the wine, but added a half glass of port towards the end. Really delicious!
Am using this as the base for a whisky gravy that i’m serving alongside Haggis at a Burns Supper this evening.
Hi Alison
Thanks very much for taking the time to leve some feedback. I love this gravy too.
This has to be the best ever recipe for gravy… Made this last night to have with liver n kidneys. What a cheap n cheerful meal! Love your website, thank you
Thanks for your excellent feedback, Chris. I am making this again this evening to accompany a pack of free range Hampshire breed pork chipolatas that we forgot to cook as trimmings with our Christmas goose. Also a handful of spare ribs rescued from Tesco’s bargain basement counter.
I will try your mustard and red wine suggestions.
Very nice. I’ve just had it with sausage and mash for the second evening running. I haven’t any Bovril, but an Oxo cube in a few decilitres of boiling water did fine.
May I suggest that a generous pinch of mustard powder and a splash of red wine make it even better?