What can take a basic recipe to the next level? A delicious sauce, or in this case, my Creamy Brown Gravy recipe.
If the word gravy scares you, relax. This isn’t a traditional gravy, it’s more of a savory sauce.
Traditional gravy is made from flour, animal fat and milk. Bleck!
This sauce tastes a lot like regular savory brown gravy but it’s gluten-free, dairy-free and cholesterol-free. The pepper gives this a little spice that your kids may not love. Feel free to leave it out if needed.
Creamy Brown Gravy
This creamy gravy/sauce can be used in many ways. Use it as the “soup” or “glue” for a casserole, pour it over pasta, top a baked potato, pour it over veggies or any other way your heart desires.
- 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
- 2 TBSP brown rice flour (other flours may be substituted)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp white pepper (black pepper may be used)
- 1 dash of sweet (not smoked) paprika (may be omitted)
- 1 Tbsp Braggs Amino Acids (tamari or soy sauce can be used but it is NOT gluten-free)
- 1 ½ cup Rice Milk
- In a skillet, add the dry ingredients and cook for a few minutes to toast the dry mixture on medium heat
- Once you start to smell the dry mix toasting, add the rice milk and Braggs. Stir regularly with a whisk.
- After the gravy starts to thicken switch to a silicone spatula and stir gently so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Continue cooking until it reaches a perfect gravy consistency.
- Serve while warm, if gravy gets too dry add a little rice milk.

This sauce is really easy. If you aren’t familiar with Bragg Liquid Aminos, nutritional yeast or brown rice flour don’t get nervous. Bragg Liquid Aminos taste similar to soy sauce but this is gluten-free. Nutritional yeast is something that most vegans use to get a cheesy or savory flavor. Brown rice flour is a gluten-free flour that I often use in sauces. Try them, most people love them.
If you still aren’t convinced about the brown rice you can also make this with corn starch. The taste is the same but the consistency varies slightly. It’s still delicious. I’ve also made it with wheat flour.
Need more delicious meal ideas? Check out my Recipe Page!
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This sounds delicious! Can you substitute the rice milk with any nut milk?
Yes you can April! Just make sure it isn’t vanilla flavored. Unsweetened works great but regular will work too!
Thanks kindly, Holly.
This looks and sounds absolutely yummy. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks Holly!
I hope you love it Kathleen!
Thank you Kathleen! I know you will like it!
Holly…I made this sauce today & it was OUTSTANDING. So much so that I made another batch and put it over pasta, broccoli and some rehydrated TVP like a casserole. I cannot tell you how delicious this was!! Thank you Thank you.
I’m happy to hear that Kathleen! It is so versatile I use it in many, many ways.
Is there a way to make it without any milk? I’m the only dairy-free (or at least lactose-free) person in my family, and we have limited food space. I’d rather not need to buy things if I can substitute (I only have vanilla soy).
Hi Sammie,
You can try it with veggie broth. I’ve made a similar sauce before. It tastes lightly different but still good.
It won’t work with vanilla flavored milk, only unsweetened and unflavored milks.
This sauce/gravy is wonderful. Having it over rice and broccoli. Yum…
How do you think it will change the taste if I leave out the nutritional yeast? Nutritional yeast really irritates with my stomach.
I just finished a huge plate of mashed potatoes with this gravy. It is my new most favorite gravy. I just saw a post on FB about making a large amount of the dry mix to have on hand for gravy emergencies. I will be doing that this week.
This recipe is delicious! I have made it with unsweetened soy milk and unsweetened cashew milk. Both turned out great.
This may need to be amended, as there is such a thing as gluten-free tamari. Love your recipes!
My bottle of tamari says it is gluten free, but your recipe says tamari it is not gluten free, or are you just saying the regular soy sauce is not gluten free?
Gluten comes from wheat. Soy sauce contains wheat, tamari does not. That’s why tamari is gluten-freet
I had no rice or flour so whizzed some oats into flour and it worked beautifully! Always happy to add oats to whatever!
I love using oat flour! I almost always have oats on hand but I don’t always have rice flour these days. We downsized and now I have a small pantry, I just don’t have room for all my old staples.
I’m thrilled to know the oat flour worked well!