Okay, gang: Thanksgiving’s just one week away, so here’s Part 5 of my Nomtastic Thanksgiving series! Just tuning in? I’ve already got you covered for turkey, Brussels sprouts, cran-cherry sauce, and mash—and today, I present to you: a flavor-packed, make-ahead Umami Gravy!
Yep, this is a rich, thick gravy that you can pour on EVERYTHING. I love my Easy Paleo Herb Gravy and my Slow Cooker Roast Chicken & Gravy, but this recipe’s the one you break out for company.
Traditionalists may scoff because there are no turkey pan drippings in this gravy, but by using bone broth or rich chicken stock, you can minimize your game-time kitchen chaos by making this gravy a couple of days before Thanksgiving. You simply reheat it just before you go into Feast Mode. (I don’t know about you, but this lady hates frantically cooking against the clock.)
Plus, this gravy is packed with carefully selected ingredients that boost umami: savory bone broth, tomato paste, dried and fresh mushrooms, and fish sauce. Once all these flavorful ingredients have simmered, simply purée everything together and voila! Thick gravy!
Umami Gravy keeps in the fridge for several days, and is a great item to keep in the freezer for everyday meals. Just cook up your favorite quick-cooking protein and simmer it in this fantastic gravy.
Ready for the recipe?
Time to make Umami Gravy!
Makes 3 cups
Ingredients:
- ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons ghee (or fat of choice)
- 2 onions, diced
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups bone broth or organic chicken stock
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Equipment:
- Bowls
- Medium saucepan
- Silicone spatula
- Measuring spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
- Garlic press
- Immersion Blender
- Chef’s Knife
- Cutting Board
Here’s how you make it:
Rinse the dried mushrooms with cool water and place them in a small bowl. Add enough water to cover the mushrooms and set aside for at least 30 minutes to soften.
In a medium saucepan, melt the ghee over medium heat. Add in the onions and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes or until translucent.
Then, drop in the tomato paste and fish sauce.
Don’t worry—the smidge of fish sauce doesn’t make your gravy fishy; it just amps up the umami. (Don’t know what umami is? Listen to our podcast by clicking here!)
Stir to evenly distribute the umami boosters…
…before dumping in the sliced cremini mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until the liquid is released and evaporated, about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, fish the reconstituted porcini mushrooms out of the bowl of water, and roughly chop them up.
Add the garlic to the saucepan, and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Then, mix in the reconstituted dried mushrooms, pour in the broth…
…and drop in the thyme sprigs.
Increase the heat to high and bring the gravy to a boil.
Decrease heat to medium-low to maintain a strong simmer/low boil, and cook until the gravy has reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Be patient—you want half of the liquid to evaporate in order to concentrate the flavors. Plus, you don’t want the gravy to be thin and watery once blended.
Remove from the heat. Take out the thyme twigs and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Using an immersion blender or a regular blender, purée the gravy until smooth.
Seriously good gravy.
Serve over Butterflied Big Bird (Spatchcock Turkey) and Instant Pot Autumn Mash!
Now get cookin’—and stay tuned for a Thanksgiving wrap-up post tomorrow!
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Umami Gravy
Ingredients
- ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons ghee or fat of choice
- 2 onions diced
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ pound cremini mushrooms sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups bone broth or organic chicken stock
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the dried mushrooms with cool water and place them in a small bowl. Add enough water to cover the mushrooms and set aside for at least 30 minutes to soften.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the ghee over medium heat. Add in the onions and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes or until translucent.
- Then, drop in the tomato paste and fish sauce. Stir to evenly distribute the umami boosters, before dumping in the sliced cremini mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until the liquid is released and evaporated, about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, fish the reconstituted porcini mushrooms out of the bowl of water, and roughly chop them up.
- Add the garlic to the saucepan, and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Then, mix in the reconstituted dried mushrooms, pour in the broth, and drop in the thyme sprigs. Increase the heat to high and bring the gravy to a boil.
- Decrease heat to medium-low to maintain a strong simmer/low boil, and cook until the gravy has reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Be patient—you want half of the liquid to evaporate in order to concentrate the flavors. Plus, you don’t want the gravy to be thin and watery once blended.
- Remove from the heat. Take out the thyme twigs and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Using an immersion blender or a regular blender, purée the gravy until smooth.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ok I just came across this recipe and already finished my Thanksgiving shopping! I have a ton of baby bellas, do you think those would be ok instead of the cremini?! And also have no dried porcini….so more bellas?!! Or should I just suck it up and go to the store!!
I didn’t have porcini mushrooms, so I substituted powdered porcinis. This will be my go-to gravy from now on! It’s so delicious.
We used a variation of mushrooms and it was mouthtastic. The gravy is so so thick without any added gums. The recipe makes a lot, but you can easily get through it.
Any way to make this AIP friendly? Other than keeping the black pepper off, what could I sub for the tomato paste? Thanks!
You can leave it out! There should be tons of umami from the other ingredients already.
Any other mushrooms that would work instead of cremini? Having a hard time finding them. Also could dried Thyme work?
Cremini mushrooms are just brown button mushrooms. Most grocery stores carry them, it just doesn’t always say cremini on the package.
This was amazing. I made it to go with your Egg Foo Young and it was a huge hit!
Delicious gravy. Even my sons who don’t like mushrooms devoured it.
Would this work if I omitted the fish sauce and used vegetable stock? I’m going to a vegan Thanksgiving.
It’ll work, but it might not be as tasty!
This is delicious and easy to make, so thank you for the recipe. I have to say, though, that I was not able to get the smooth thick texture with the immersion blender alone. I tried, but the mushroom and veggie pieces were still somewhat chunky. So I threw it in the Vitamix and it turned into a beautiful creamy gravy.
Oh man, I forgot to buy fresh thyme. So would dried thyme work? How much would you add?