This apple cider gravy gets its rich, savory depth from slow-caramelized onions and a splash of hard apple cider — no turkey drippings required. Made almost entirely in the slow cooker, this vegetarian cider gravy is the perfect finishing touch for all your Thanksgiving side dishes.
If you're here planning your holiday menu, don't miss our new Vegan Christmas and Vegan Thanksgiving cookbooks. They're packed with all my favorite holiday-worthy recipes for a plant-based feast.
Hi! I'm Liz. I'm the new kid on the block here at Oh My Veggies. And I'm so excited to start bringing you all some veggie-licious recipes!
I live in a small seaside New England town with my dog. And I have a food blog called Floating Kitchen. I love creating healthy, beautiful dishes with fresh, seasonal ingredients. But I also have a penchant for chocolate and bourbon. So you'll find a little bit of everything on my site. I'd be thrilled if you stopped on over at some point to check it out!
But enough about me at the moment. Let's talk about Thanksgiving. Which is only one week away. Are you feeling prepared? Overwhelmed? Somewhere in between?
I'm actually feeling pretty relaxed about the whole situation. My Mom is hosting Thanksgiving dinner at her house this year, so I definitely don't have as many responsibilities as I've had in years past when I've been the host.
Although she did put me in charge of one very important Thanksgiving staple: the gravy. Which is a dish you definitely don't want to mess up. Because nobody should be forced to consume naked mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving day. That's just wrong.
Luckily for me, I've got this recipe for apple cider gravy with caramelized onions in my back pocket. And the best part is: it's made almost entirely in the slow cooker!
One of my favorite ways to increase the richness of almost any dish is with the addition of caramelized onions. So it's no surprise that they do wonders to help create a luscious, complex tasting cider gravy as well.
But caramelizing onions can be a time consuming process that requires a bit of attention at the stove. Which is the last thing we need to worry about on Thanksgiving day.
So when I was creating this recipe, I decided to caramelize the onions overnight in my slow cooker. This was a good decision on my part. Because not only did the onions come out perfectly caramelized with minimal work, but my house smelled AMAZING as well!
Once the onions were caramelized, I continued cooking them with some hard apple cider, vegetable stock and herbs.
Then I blended everything together for a smooth finish. This whole process couldn't be any easier. And no one will guess you didn't use any turkey drippings for this apple cider gravy!
Helpful Tips for Apple Cider Gravy
Pick a dry or semi-dry hard cider. A very sweet cider can push this apple cider gravy toward dessert-sauce territory. A drier variety keeps the apple flavor present without overpowering the savory caramelized onions.
Coat the onions in cornstarch before adding the liquid. Whisking the cornstarch directly onto the warm caramelized onions, rather than into the cold cider, helps this cider gravy thicken smoothly in the slow cooker without clumping.
Blend hot gravy carefully. Steam builds up fast in a sealed blender full of hot liquid. Vent the lid, or remove the center cap and drape a towel loosely over the opening, and blend in batches if your blender is on the smaller side.
Adjust the consistency after blending. If your gravy comes out thicker than you'd like, whisk in a splash of warm vegetable stock. If it's too thin, return it to the slow cooker on the high setting, uncovered, for a few extra minutes to reduce.
Cider Gravy Variations
- Make it vegan. Swap the butter for a plant-based butter or a neutral oil to make this apple cider gravy fully vegan — everything else in the recipe already is.
- No hard cider on hand? Substitute an equal amount of regular apple cider plus a splash of apple cider vinegar for a similar depth of flavor, minus the alcohol.
- Add mushrooms. Stir in a cup of sautéed cremini or shiitake mushrooms before blending for an earthier, heartier gravy.
- Brighten it with fresh herbs. Finish with a sprinkle of fresh chopped thyme or sage right before serving for extra herbal aroma.
- Try different alliums. Shallots, or a mix of onions and leeks, caramelize just as beautifully and add a slightly different sweetness to the finished cider gravy.
More Vegetarian Holiday Recipes
If you love this vegetarian cider gravy, be sure to check out these other holiday staples:
P.S. Don't miss our complete Vegan Thanksgiving Cookbook, for the ultimate plant based feast!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups thinly sliced onions, from about 2 medium onions
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup hard apple cider
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Add the sliced onions, garlic, butter, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar to the insert of your slow cooker. Cover and set your slow cooker to low. Cook the onions for at least 8 hours, or up to 12 hours. The onions will be very soft and browned when they are finished cooking.
- Remove the cover from your slow cooker. Add the cornstarch and stir until the onions are coated. Then stir in the apple cider, vegetable stock, thyme and the bay leaf. Cover, set your slow cooker to high and cook for an additional 1 hour.
- After an hour, remove the cover from your slow cooker. Using a pair of tongs, remove and discard the thyme sprigs and the bay leaf.
- Transfer the contents of your slow cooker to your blender and blend on high until the gravy reaches your desired consistency. Depending on the size of your blender, you may have to work in batches, being very careful when transferring and blending hot liquids.
- Return the gravy to the slow cooker. Taste and add salt, if desired. Keep the gravy warm (set your slow cooker to either the warm or low setting), until you are ready to serve it. Alternately, the gravy can be made 1 to 2 days in advance, refrigerated in an airtight container and then reheated before serving.
Cheyanne says
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a recent vegetarian (since March) and I wasn't TOO worried about missing the turkey but I definitely was A LITTLE sad about gravy. I wonder if this would freeze well so I could have it on hand for lentil shepherd's pie. . . . . .
Liz says
I haven't tried freezing this, Cheyanne. But most gravy recipes can be frozen and re-heated. If you try it, please come back and let me know! I'd love to hear your findings!
Cheyanne says
PS it seems like your pin button isn't working, FYI! 🙂
Liz says
Hi Cheyanne, I just checked the "pin" buttons and they seem to be working fine. Maybe refresh your browser history and try again?
Lisa says
Hi, even though we don't do Thanksgiving in NewZealand I am SOOO going to make this gravy for my family. It sounds delicious. I have just one question ... what is HARD apple cider please? Apple Cider isn't too common in NZ for a start so am going to have to try and hunt some down, but I have never heard of HARD apple cider and wondering if regular will do if I can't find the HARD? type.
Liz says
Hi Lisa! Hard apple cider is an alcoholic beverage (it's the fermented juice of apples). So you can look for it wherever you would normally buy wine and beer. If you can't find hard apple cider and you can only find regular apple cider (i.e. non-alcoholic), I would suggest using just 1/2 cup of regular apple cider and then adding 1/2 cup of white wine. Regular apple cider will be very sweet, and if you use the full cup, I think your resulting gravy will be more sweet than savory. Hope this helps!
annie says
Woah! I usually don't like gravy (for gibbletty reasons, ugh) but this. This is the kind of thing that starts arguments at the dinner table because everyone's worried there won't be enough to go around. Better make several batches.
Kelley says
I'm not a big mushroom gravy person, but caramelized onion gravy might win me over. If so, my husband will be PSYCHED. The idea of having this cooking all day and then having half a hard cider to finish sounds pretty appealing, too.
CJ says
What kind of balsamic did you use for this gravy? Was it the thick, aged type or the thinner type that you can find in the grocery store?
Liz says
Hi CJ, I used the thinner kind (like that I would use to make salad dressing with) that you can get at any regular grocery store.
Nancy says
Great recipe. My problem is I won't have access to a slow cooker where I'll be. How would you suggest I cook the onions? Thanks
Liz says
Hi Nancy! You can check out this post here (https://ohmyveggies.com/how-to-caramelize-onions-perfectly/), which has step-by-step instructions for caramelizing onions on the stovetop.
Triz says
So ... if one uses the stovetop caramelizing method, how does that affect the rest of the recipe? Particularly the ingredients, like the sugar, that go in the slow cooker in step 1.
Thanks!
Liz says
Hi Triz. Since I haven't tried doing this EXACT recipe on the stovetop, I can't say for sure. I would maybe wait to add the sugar until the onions are almost caramelized, or else it could burn.
Triz says
Thanks Liz!
karen baer says
I tried this gravy a yesterday for Thanksgiving -- it was outstanding! Even the non-GF guests preferred it over the traditional gravy. Thank you sooooo much. I plan to make it regularly (when needed, of course). For me, I will cut back on the "sweet". BUT it is outstanding as-is !!! THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!
Liz says
So happy you all loved it, Karen! That's great to hear!
Denise says
Oh my goodness...my prayer shave been answered. I have been searching for a yummy gravy that I can make from scratch for our turkey and this one sound delicious and healthy. Love the idea of adding cider! YUM and Thanks!
Tesia says
This looks AMAZING! Do you think I could do it with dairy free butter? I've made other vegan gravies and they work just fine, but wanted to get your opinion on this one in particular. Thanks!
TRACI says
Liz
I am a recovering alcoholic I am NOT going to be buying hard cider OR wine,(can't get booze here on the Reservation anyway). But I desperately need carmelized onion gravy. Help?????
Katie Trant says
Hey Traci, you could try a non-alcoholic apple cider in its place. Good luck!
Lauren says
I have made this a few times and it is always a big hit. Most recently, I subbed Miyoko vegan butter for regular butter and it was still amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Nancy Pepper says
Has anyone tried freezing the gravy?
Sid Wilson says
Yummy but too sweet. I’ll try leaving out the brown sugar next time.