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Even my jaded wife that hates Southern cuisine loves this recipe

Yee, and I can’t stress this enough, haw.

I grew up in the South. Texas Gulf Coast but my father was a redneck. If you’ve ever seen the movie Urban Cowboy, well, the people that movie was about were literally my neighbors. Even though my father was a rocket scientist, he did grow up poor, rural, and in the South.

So, our food was what he grew up eating which meant the only gravy we ever really got was a rich creamy Southern gravy with sausage. I really missed having good cream gravy. I played around with a TON of recipes and finally got one together that I really like.

Cooking Tips & Tricks

The Dry Ingredients

The Arabic elephant in the room…
Yes, the recipe calls for using the spice za-atar. I use it often and it has an amazing flavor so it’s well worth checking out. If you don’t have any, it’s easily replaced with equal amounts of thyme, oregano, and or marjoram.

Like with literally every recipe I’ve ever posted, the spice measurements are up to you. I grew up on a VERY black pepper heavy gravy that would literally burn your tongue. But, I get why people don’t like that. It’s a vegan recipe to by vegan law it requires the use of nooch. It actually adds a nutty flavor to the dish that helps it fire off on your tastebuds. Adjust it to fit your personal tastes.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to toast the dry ingredients. It’s actually very easy to do. I just pour the dry ingredients in the pan, give them a stir, and turn on the heat.

You should notice the odor of toasted wheat or spices arising very soon. This is exactly what you are doing btw. The idea is to toast the wheat and spices to give them a seriously important punch of flavor. Nothing too technical, I stir using a wooden spoon. Once the toasted flavor is about right, it’s time to add the wet ingredients.

ProTip: As it’s toasting, I’ll taste the spoon. Yes, it’s flour but it’s a roasted wheat taste that will help you realize the flavor you’re creating.

The Wet Ingredients

Here is where you can get a ton of flavor out of the gravy if you choose. I prefer a very umami filled gravy. I will mix 3 cups of plain almond milk with a cup of veggie stock. Pour the mix slowly into the hot dry ingredients gently stirring as you pour.

Once in the pan, turn the heat up to about 3/4 strength or medium-high setting. It’s very important to keep stirring. My father would lose his crap if he ever saw me use anything but a wooden spoon. So, I vastly prefer that method for stirring. You can also whisk the mix to help give it a more even creaminess. I personally prefer slightly lumpy gravy. Perfectly even is like something you get out of a jar.

Getting Creative With Add Ins

Once it starts setting up or clumping a little bit, this is when I’ll toss in a veggie burger patty or sausage patty. I can’t recommend the Boca All American Flame Grilled Burger patties highly enough. They are very meaty and have an amazing flavor. They also break up really nicely, give some color, and add to the meatiness of the gravy. You could also break up veggie sausage patties in the gravy as well, but I’m not a huge fan of sausage.

Some people would use chicken fat to help make their bescamel. If you prefer a more chicken flavor then I strongly recommend you toss in a tablespoon of Butler’s Chik-Style Seasoning. It’s a bit salty for my liking, so I’d suggest cutting out the salt in the recipe.

To amp up the creaminess, put a little vegan butter over the top of the gravy.

Not Just For Biscuits Any More

So, the classical way to serve this is over biscuits. That’s pretty easy to do and makes for a very filling and hearty breakfast. My favorite way to eat the gravy is spread over rice. I usually do up some rice with a little spinach in it and pour this gravy over the top. It tastes sublime.

You can also add this over potatoes of any sort and it’ll kick up the flavor for them. Being relentlessly Southern, I’ve also poured Country gravy over waffles and pancakes. Yes, this is exactly why I got as fat as I did.

Remember kids: Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthy.