Vegane Bratensauce (vegan roast gravy)
A dark, savoury gravy built without any actual roast drippings, root vegetables roasted hard until genuinely charred at the edges standing in for the browned bits a meat roast would normally leave behind. Deglazing the roasting tin itself rather than making the sauce separately in a pot is what carries that char flavour into the finished gravy.
Prep15 min
Cook45 min
Servings4
Christoph's vegan roast gravy, the vegetables roasted until genuinely charred to replace the browned bits of a meat roast.
Ingredients
Units
Temperature
Servings
Gravy
- 200 g onion, quartered, skin on rounded
- 200 g carrot, cut into chunks rounded
- 150 g celeriac, cut into chunks rounded
- 2 garlic cloves, skin on rounded
- 40 ml olive oil rounded
- 30 g tomato paste rounded
- 800 ml vegetable broth rounded
- 30 g flour rounded
- 15 ml soy sauce rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan). Toss the onion, carrot, celeriac and garlic with the olive oil on a sheet pan. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, until visibly charred and dark brown at the edges, not just golden.
- Stir the tomato paste through the roasted vegetables and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
- Transfer everything to a pot, scraping up any charred bits from the pan with a splash of the broth. Add the rest of the broth and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Strain the liquid, pressing firmly on the solids to extract all the flavour. Discard the solids (or save them for another use, such as a purée).
- Whisk the flour into a splash of cold water until smooth, then whisk into the simmering liquid. Simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Stir in the soy sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
Notes
- Roast the vegetables until genuinely charred, not just golden. The dark, slightly bitter char is what stands in for the deep savoury flavour a meat roast’s drippings would normally provide; undercooked vegetables leave the gravy tasting thin.
- Deglaze the actual roasting pan, not a separate pot. The browned, sticky bits stuck to the pan carry a huge amount of flavour that gets lost if you skip straight to simmering everything in a saucepan.
- Press the solids firmly when straining. A gentle strain leaves a lot of flavour behind in the discarded vegetables.
- It keeps for 4 days in the fridge and freezes well for months, so it’s worth making a double batch ahead of a big meal.
Ingredient substitutions
- Celeriac can be parsnip if unavailable.
- Soy sauce can be tamari for a gluten-free version.
- A splash of red wine added when deglazing gives extra depth for a special-occasion version.
From Christoph Mayer