RealGravy

Vegetarian and Vegan Gravies

Vegan Peppercorn Gravy

Cracked black and green peppercorns toasted in vegan butter, deglazed with brandy and finished with oat cream for a steak night sauce without the steak.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy free
  • peppercorn
  • creamy
  • vegan
  • steak night
Illustration of Vegan Peppercorn Gravy
Prep
10 min
Cook
20 min
Total
30 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Medium

A peppercorn sauce lives or dies on two things, the pepper being properly toasted and the base having enough savoury depth to carry the heat. Mushroom ketchup and a spoon of Dijon do that job here in place of the beef juices. It is very good over a seared king oyster mushroom or a thick slice of celeriac.

Ingredients

Makes about 400ml, four servings

Scale

Kit

  • Frying pan
  • Pestle and mortar
  • Whisk

Method

  1. Crush the black peppercorns roughly in a pestle and mortar. You want a mix of coarse cracked pieces and a bit of dust, not a fine powder, so the sauce has texture.

  2. Melt the vegan butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the crushed pepper. Toast it for a full minute, stirring, until the kitchen smells hot and peppery. This is where the heat turns fragrant instead of raw.

  3. Add the shallots and cook for four minutes until soft and translucent but not coloured. Keep the heat gentle so the pepper does not scorch.

  4. Pull the pan off the heat, add the brandy, then return it to the hob and let it bubble hard for a minute until the harsh alcohol smell has gone and the pan is almost dry.

  5. Pour in the stock and add the green peppercorns, mushroom ketchup and Dijon. Simmer for six to eight minutes until reduced by about a third.

  6. Turn the heat right down and stir in the oat cream. Bring it back to a bare simmer but do not let it boil hard, as plant creams can split.

  7. Stir the cornflour slurry in and cook for one minute until it thickens to a coating consistency. Taste, season with salt, and add another crack of pepper if you want more bite.

Tips worth knowing

  • Toasting the pepper in fat is the whole trick. Skip it and the sauce tastes harsh rather than warm.
  • For an alcohol free version, leave out the brandy and add two teaspoons of apple juice with a splash of cider vinegar at the same stage.
  • Oat cream is the most stable of the plant creams for this. Soya cream also works, coconut cream will taste of coconut.
  • Green peppercorns in brine give bursts of soft heat that dried pepper cannot. They keep for months in the fridge once opened.

Change it up

  • Use a splash of vegan red wine instead of brandy and reduce it right down for a darker, less spirituous sauce.
  • Add 100g of finely chopped chestnut mushrooms with the shallots for a heartier sauce that works as a pie filling base.
  • Finish with a spoon of vegan creme fraiche and a squeeze of lemon for something lighter, better with roasted celeriac.

Keeping and reheating

Best eaten fresh, but it will keep for three days in the fridge. Reheat very gently over a low heat and whisk. Do not freeze, as the plant cream separates badly.

Questions people ask

Can you make peppercorn sauce without cream?

Yes. Leave out the plant cream, use 400ml of stock instead of 300ml and thicken it a little more with cornflour. You get a sharper, darker peppercorn gravy rather than a creamy sauce.

Which plant cream is best for sauces?

Oat single cream holds heat best and has the most neutral flavour. Soya cream is a close second. Avoid coconut unless you actively want a coconut flavour in your gravy.

Is mushroom ketchup vegan?

Traditional British mushroom ketchup is mushrooms, salt, vinegar and spices, so yes, it usually is. Check the bottle, because a few brands add anchovy in the style of Worcestershire sauce.