The BEST Gravy Ever + Vegan Thanksgiving Inspiration

It’s time for some Meatless Monday Meal Inspiration! And obviously I’ve got Thanksgiving on my mind. I loooooveeee Thanksgiving food and it’s actually been on my mind this whole month. You can make an entire amazing, mouth-watering good, Thanksgiving meal totally sans-animal products. The past few weeks I’ve been making cranberry sauce, scrumptious stuffing, delicious mashed potatoes, and unbelievable homemade gravy all over a bed of sautéed kale. YUM! I can promise…it does not disappoint.

Since I know lots of people already have their Thanksgiving recipe favorites, I thought I would offer some ideas for how you can make your meal a little healthier and a little more plant-based without sacrificing anything when it comes to taste.

Here are some healthy tips to remember this Thanksgiving:

• If your recipe calls for chicken stock or broth use vegetable stock or broth instead. My current favorite is Imagine brand Organic Vegetarian No-Chicken Broth which I get at my local Whole Foods.
• If your recipe calls for butter, use plant-based butter instead. Actually this is a tip to remember always…there’s really no need to ever use real butter again (do you know what real butter is made out of? ew…) when plant-based butter tastes exactly the same and bakes exactly the same as well. Earth Balance brand is a favorite.
• If your recipe calls for processed sugars try other sweeteners such as maple syrup, agave or dates.
• If your recipe calls for milk use a plant-based version instead, such as almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, hemp milk, soy milk, etc.
• If your recipe calls for cream use a plant-based version instead, such as coconut cream, cashew cream or silken tofu.

If you bring any new recipe from here to your Thanksgiving table this year I highly recommend trying out the gravy recipe below because it’s absolutely FANTASTIC and not to be missed! It is the base of my Hearty Vegan Stew recipe.

So whether you want to “planticize” your own recipes with the tips above or use one of my recipes below…there are tons of options to make this Thanksgiving a little healthier and little kinder.  🙂

Here we go.

Cranberry Sauce

I made cranberry sauce with just three simple ingredients:

fresh cranberries + orange juice + agave.

In a medium size pot add 1 bag of cranberries (12 oz), 1 cup orange juice and ½ cup-to-1 cup agave. Bring all ingredients to a boil. Once boiling turn down to a low boil. Stir occasionally. After approximately 10 minutes the cranberries will begin to pop. (They’ll literally start making a *popping* sound). Once all the cranberries have popped, pour cranberry sauce into a bowl and let cool in fridge for at least two hours before serving. Cooling in the fridge overnight is best.

Scrumptious Stuffing

I like to buy the 365 brand vegan stuffing mix sold at Whole Foods as the base of my stuffing and then I doctor it up myself with mirepoix and a couple other ingredients. Mirepoix is the term for chopped carrots, onions and celery. The vegan stuffing comes in purple packaging and it’s hard to miss during the holiday season. Here’s what I use to make it:

vegan stuffing base + mirepoix + olive oil + vegetable broth

I sauté mirepoix in olive oil over medium heat until onions soften. While they are sautéing I make the stuffing according to the package but use vegetable stock where the recipe calls for water, just to add more flavor. Once the stuffing is finished I add the mirepoix to the pot and stir to combine and then voila…simple, scrumptious stuffing.

Sautéed Kale

This sautéed kale recipe is super simple as well and only calls for a few ingredients:

roughly chopped kale + olive oil + minced garlic + vegetable broth + salt + pepper.

Over medium heat, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock and 1 minced garlic clove. Sauté until the garlic just begins to become fragrant. Add 1 lb of kale and sauté for 5-10 minutes until it just begins to wilt. (You don’t want it to wilt too much because completely wilted kale ain’t great). Then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mashed Potatoes

This Minimalist Baker recipe is a must-try: Best Damn Vegan Mashed Potatoes

And finally…

The BEST Gravy Ever

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• Half of one medium size onion (approximately ¾ cup), chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
• 4 tablespoons low sodium tamari sauce
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2-3 cups vegetable broth
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic in oil until onions just begin to brown.
2. Add flour, nutritional yeast and tamari to saucepan with onions and garlic. Stir well. It will form a thick paste. Then, whisk into saucepan 2 cups of vegetable broth. Add sage, salt and pepper. Stir.
3. Bring gravy to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stirring frequently. If gravy seems too thick, add more broth until it reaches a consistency you like.
4. Serve warm over all your Thanksgiving goodness.

 Hope everyone has a lovely & delicious vegan Thanksgiving!!