Mushroom Gravy
Mushrooms are about two thirds water, and that water decides everything. Dropped into hot butter they immediately release their juice, the pan falls back to 100 °C and they stew — grey and flat. In a dry hot pan the water evaporates first, browning follows, and that browning is where the depth of the gravy comes from.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 170 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
For a dairy-free version fry in oil alone and replace the sour cream with 100 ml of oat or coconut cream.
Makes: about 600 ml
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Slice them thickly
Cut the mushrooms no thinner than 5 mm. They lose up to half their volume in the pan, and thin slices vanish into the gravy entirely.
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Step 2: Start in a dry pan
Heat the pan with no fat, spread the mushrooms in a single layer and hold back the salt. They give up their water first — wait until it has boiled away completely, 6–8 minutes.
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Step 3: Brown them
Once the pan is dry, add the butter and oil and fry for another 3–4 minutes until golden. The oil is there to stop the butter burning.
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Step 4: Add the onion
Stir in the onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Now is the time to salt: at this stage it no longer interferes with browning.
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Step 5: Cook out the flour
Sprinkle over the flour and stir for a minute so it absorbs the fat and loses its raw taste.
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Step 6: Add the stock
Pour in the hot stock in stages, stirring smooth each time. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8–10 minutes, until the gravy coats a spoon.
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Step 7: Finish with sour cream
Off the heat, stir a few spoonfuls of the hot gravy into the sour cream, return it to the pan and warm through for 2 minutes without boiling. Add thyme and pepper.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Never put a lid on while the mushrooms are frying — the steam falls straight back in and you get no colour at all.
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Variation
10 g of dried porcini soaked in 200 ml of boiling water for 20 minutes transforms this gravy. Strain the soaking liquid and use it in place of some stock.
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Swap
For a dairy-free version fry in oil alone and replace the sour cream with 100 ml of oat or coconut cream.
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Storage
Three days in the fridge. It sets thick when cold, so reheat gently with a spoonful of stock.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 170 kcal | 680 kcal |
| Protein | 5 g | 20 g |
| Fat | 12 g | 48 g |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g | 36 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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