This mushroom onion gravy gets its thickness from roasted onions and cauliflower, with mushrooms blended into the base and sautéed slices stirred in at the end. There is no flour slurry to whisk together. The onions bring a little sweetness, the mushrooms make the flavor savory, and homemade meat stock turns the soft vegetables into a gravy you can spoon over dinner.
Working second shift and homeschooling before work means I have to look at the whole recipe schedule, not just the hands-on part. This one spends two hours in the oven. It is a good recipe to start while you have time at home, rather than when everyone is already waiting for dinner. The chopping is straightforward, and most of the roasting time is yours to use elsewhere.
Vegetables Give This Gravy Its Body
The roasted onion and cauliflower become the thick base after blending. Some mushrooms go into the baking dish with them, giving the purée a warmer brown color. The remaining mushrooms are sliced and cooked separately, then folded into the smooth gravy so you still have pieces to bite into.
That combination is useful when you want mushroom flavor throughout the sauce without making every spoonful completely smooth. The stock loosens the purée, and the amount you need depends partly on the size of your onions and cauliflower. Start at the lower end of the stock range and add more as needed, rather than turning a thick gravy into soup all at once.
Where It Fits On GAPS
This version is for Full GAPS once its ingredients are introduced and tolerated. It uses homemade meat stock and homemade ghee, with no wheat flour, cornstarch, or added cream. Ghee is dairy-derived, so this version is not labeled dairy-free.
The two-hour roast is part of what makes this gravy different from a simple simmered onion sauce. If you need an earlier Intro option, use the separate Two-Ingredient Onion Gravy. That recipe cooks onion in meat stock rather than roasting this larger mixture of vegetables. Follow its own directions instead of assuming the same stage applies to both.
Ingredients
- 3 large onions, peeled and cut into eighths
- ½ head cauliflower, broken into small florets
- 8 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, divided
- 2–4 tablespoons homemade ghee, divided, plus a little for greasing the dish
- ½ cup water, for the baking dish
- 2–3 cups homemade meat stock
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, optional, to taste
Use homemade chicken meat stock for a lighter gravy or homemade beef meat stock for a more pronounced beef flavor. Both fit the same two-to-three-cup range. These are short-simmered meat stocks made from raw, meaty bones, rather than a direction to use long-cooked bone broth.
Set aside seven of the baby portobellos for the baking dish and slice the rest for the skillet. This works best with small mushrooms, so the eight-ounce portion includes mushrooms for both jobs. Baby portobellos are also sold as cremini mushrooms. Keep the baked mushrooms whole after trimming their stem ends.
Two tablespoons of ghee are used for the sliced mushrooms. The rest, up to another two tablespoons, can be stirred into the finished gravy. The small amount used to grease the baking dish is separate. Salt is added to taste because homemade stocks can begin with different amounts of seasoning.
Recommended Equipment
Use a medium glass casserole dish large enough to hold the vegetables, with a fitting oven-safe lid. You also need a skillet for the sliced mushrooms, a saucepan for finishing, and a spoon or spatula. A covered glass dish keeps this oven step simple and lets you see the juices around the vegetables.
For blending, I use the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System BN801. Let the roasted vegetables and stock cool before loading its pitcher, then reheat the finished gravy in the saucepan. Work in the smaller batches described below, secure the lid before blending, and turn the machine off before opening it.
How To Make Mushroom Onion Gravy
1. Fill The Baking Dish
Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the glass casserole dish with ghee. Add the onion eighths, small cauliflower florets, and seven trimmed whole mushrooms. Pour in the half cup of water and cover the dish with its oven-safe lid.
The onion pieces should be substantial wedges, not finely diced. The cauliflower should be in smaller florets so it softens through during the covered bake. Distribute the vegetables through the dish without trying to arrange them into a decorative layer. They will be stirred halfway through and blended later.
2. Roast Until The Vegetables Are Soft
Bake for one hour, then remove the dish carefully and stir the vegetables. Cover it again and return it to the oven for another hour. At the end, the onions should be translucent and easy to pierce with a fork. The cauliflower should be soft, with some light caramelized color beginning to appear. The mushrooms can remain firmer than the other vegetables.
This is a covered bake with a little water, so look for tender vegetables and modest browning rather than a dry tray of deeply crisp roasted pieces. The softened onion and cauliflower are what will make the purée smooth. Set the dish on a heatproof surface, uncover it, and allow the vegetables to cool before blending.
3. Cook The Sliced Mushrooms
While the vegetables bake, melt two tablespoons of ghee in the skillet. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté them until the liquid they release has cooked away. Stir as they cook so the slices do not sit in one damp mound.
The mushrooms will shrink and become softer. Early on, you may see liquid collecting around them; keep cooking until that loose liquid is gone. Set these slices aside. They stay separate from the blender so they can give the finished gravy its mushroom pieces.
4. Blend In Batches
Once the roasted vegetables and stock have cooled, put about two cups of the vegetable mixture into the blender with one cup of stock. Secure the lid and blend until puréed, about one to two minutes. Pour the smooth mixture into the saucepan and continue with the remaining roasted vegetables and stock.
Keep the total stock within the two-to-three-cup range, adding the last portion gradually as you judge the consistency. The purée should be smooth enough to pour into the saucepan in a thick stream, without firm onion pieces or cauliflower lumps. Smaller batches give the mixture room to move around the blades.
5. Finish And Warm The Gravy
Stir the sautéed mushroom slices into the purée. Add salt to taste and any remaining ghee you want to use, up to the four-tablespoon total. Add optional pepper if you like. Warm the gravy gently in the saucepan, stirring along the bottom so the thick vegetable base heats evenly.
The gravy should coat a spoon while still moving when you tip it. If you have some of the measured stock left, add it a little at a time for a looser finish. Serve warm. The mushroom slices should remain visible against the smoother onion and cauliflower base.
Mushroom Onion Gravy With Cauliflower for Full GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease the casserole dish. Add the onion eighths, cauliflower florets and the whole trimmed mushrooms reserved for baking. Add the measured water and cover with the oven-safe lid.
- Bake for 1 hour, stir, cover again and bake another hour. The onions should be translucent and fork-tender, the cauliflower soft with some light caramelized color, and the mushrooms firmer. Let the vegetables cool before blending.
- While the vegetables bake, sauté the remaining sliced mushrooms in the ghee portion for sautéing until their released liquid cooks away. Keep these slices separate from the blender.
- Using cooled vegetables and cooled stock, blend in batches of about 2 cups vegetables with 1 cup stock for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth. Transfer each batch to a saucepan. Use the total stock range in the ingredient list and add the final portion gradually.
- Stir in the sautéed mushroom slices, salt to taste, optional pepper, and as much of the optional finishing ghee as you want. Warm gently, stirring along the bottom. Add any remaining measured stock gradually if you want a looser gravy. Serve warm.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Serving And Preparing Ahead
Spoon this gravy over a Beef Top Round Roast or serve it beside chicken and cooked vegetables. The beef-stock version is a natural fit with a beef dinner. Chicken stock gives you a gentler base when you want the mushrooms and onions to stand out more.
You can roast the vegetables ahead, cool them, and keep them covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to blend. Keep the sautéed mushroom slices separate so they do not accidentally go into the blender. Having the stock prepared already is the biggest head start; its cooking time is separate from this gravy.
Storage And Reheating
Refrigerate the finished gravy promptly in a shallow covered container. As it cools, the fat can firm and the vegetable base can feel thicker. Reheat gently in a saucepan, stirring from the bottom and around the sides until the gravy is hot through.
If it needs loosening, add a little meat stock while reheating. This is a consistency adjustment for leftovers rather than a reason to add all the stock at the first blending. Avoid leaving a thick gravy over strong heat without stirring, because the bottom can catch before the middle warms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Does It Taste A Little Sweet?
Three large onions are a substantial part of the base. Their sweetness becomes more noticeable as they soften and develop some color in the oven. The mushrooms, stock, and salt balance that flavor, but this is still an onion-based gravy.
Do All The Mushrooms Go Into The Blender?
No. The seven mushrooms baked with the onions and cauliflower are blended. The remaining sliced mushrooms are sautéed separately and stirred in at the end. Keeping the two portions separate gives you both a mushroom-flavored base and recognizable slices.
Can I Skip The Cooling Step?
Allow the vegetables and stock to cool before using the Ninja BN801. After blending, the saucepan is where the gravy returns to serving temperature. Plan for that cooling time in addition to the two-hour bake.
Is It Supposed To Be Completely Smooth?
The vegetable purée should be smooth, but the sautéed mushroom slices remain whole. If you find firm pieces of onion or cauliflower, the base needs more blending. Those lumps are different from the mushroom pieces deliberately stirred in afterward.
Homemade Sauces For Everyday Meals
A few dependable gravies and dressings can make the same cooked meat and vegetables feel less repetitive. The upcoming Sauces, Dressings & Condiments Cookbook is planned around those useful additions. Find current and upcoming resources in the WFLI shop. Start this gravy early enough for the oven and cooling steps, then warm it when dinner is nearly ready.
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