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Transform a popular American classic into vegan biscuits and gravy with Southern-style flaky biscuits and quick breakfast gravy (without sausage)! You won’t miss the dairy or meat!
Southern-Style Vegan Biscuits and Gravy Without Sausage
Most mornings see me rushing around, happy to grab previously prepared vegan overnight oats, vegan lemon blueberry scones, or vegan blueberry zucchini muffins. If I have a few minutes, strawberry oatmeal or the best vegan avocado toast will hit the spot. But, on days I’ve got extra time and a craving for home comforts, it’s time to bust out a vegan potato frittata or this easy vegan biscuits and gravy recipe.
While traditional Southern-style biscuits and gravy are usually loaded with dairy and meat, this recipe is savory, hearty, and simple yet ultra-comforting, but now entirely free from animal products. In this recipe, tender, ‘buttery’, flaky quick and easy vegan biscuits are smothered in a simple vegan gravy, all in under an hour. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
The Ingredients
Vegan Biscuits and Gravy Variations
Make vegan cheesy biscuits by adding ¾-1 cup of shredded vegan cheese to the dough. Alternatively, try these sweet potato biscuits. You might also enjoy vegan biscuits with vegan mushroom gravy or make vegan sausage gravy by sauteing some vegan sausage meat (like Beyond Meat/Impossible) with the onion.
How to Make Vegan Biscuits and Gravy
To Make Vegan Biscuits
Step 1: If you haven’t already, freeze the vegan butter for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the soy milk and vinegar in a glass bowl/jug, mix well, and leave it to rest for 10 minutes (to curdle like buttermilk) before transferring it to the fridge until needed.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 425F/220C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Step 3: When ready, use a fork or pastry cutter to ‘cut’ the frozen vegan butter (grate it first to make the process super quick) into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Step 4: Add the vegan milk and mix (by spoon or hand), being careful not to over-mix it or handle it so much that the vegan butter melts.
Step 5: Sprinkle some flour over a clean surface and spread the dough (it’ll look shaggy) to a ½-inch thick rectangle, folding it in half once, then again before stretching it back out. Repeat this four times, adding a little more flour if the dough begins to stick.
Step 6: Spread the dough to 1 ½ inches thick, using a round cookie cutter (or 2 ½-3 inch wide cup) to stamp out biscuits (pressing straight down and not twisting the cutter) and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Re-stack any scraps to stamp them, too.
This step will help create the wonderfully fluffy, flaky layers. Be careful to keep the handling of the dough to a minimum, though, to avoid melting the vegan butter.
Alternatively, roll the dough into a rectangle and cut it into squares.
Step 7: Bake the vegan biscuits for 12-14 minutes until golden, then let them cool for 5 minutes.
To Prepare The Gravy
Step 8: While the biscuits bake, peel and finely dice the onion. Also, prepare the bouillon by combining it with boiling water and mixing well.
Step 9: Then, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, sauté the onion until tender and translucent. Lower the heat to a simmer and whisk in the flour into a roux. Add the broth, salt, and pepper, then stir/whisk over low until thickened.
Combine and serve
Step 10: Ladle the gravy over the biscuits, serve, and enjoy!
Enjoy homemade vegetarian biscuits and gravy alone, alongside the best vegan tofu scramble with veggies for breakfast, the best vegan mashed potatoes for dinner, or even a simple side salad.
FAQs
Yes, if you use a 1:1 replacement of gluten-free for the biscuits and the gravy, then this dairy-free biscuits and gravy recipe will be gluten-free, too.
Yes, you can freeze them for up to a month, baking them from frozen by increasing the time for a few minutes.
For thinner gravy, add more plant-based milk, a little at a time, whisking constantly. For thicker gravy, add flour (or cornstarch) in a slurry for even, lump-free distribution.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Freeze the vegan butter: This ensures the best, flakiest vegan biscuits.
- Avoid overhandling the dough: The vegan butter may melt, and overworking gluten leads to dense biscuits.
- Stamp biscuits properly: Push the cutter straight down, avoiding twisting, as that can seal the layers and reduce rise.
- For a darker top: Brush the biscuits with melted vegan butter before baking.
- Stir the gravy constantly while thickening: This ensures a smooth, lump-free gravy.
Storage Instructions
The biscuits can be stored in foil/plastic wrap for up to 3 days, while the gravy is stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Alternatively, freeze the gravy and biscuits separately in freezer-safe containers/bags for up to 3 months.
Leave them to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat the biscuits in the oven at 350F/175C until warm (5-10 minutes) or slice in half and toast.
Reheat the gravy on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring often, or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Add extra water/broth if needed.
Vegan Biscuits and Gravy
Ingredients
For the Biscuits:
- 6 tablespoons of vegan butter
- 1 cup of unsweetened plain soymilk
- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
- 2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons of baking powder
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- ½ teaspoon of salt
For the Gravy:
- 1 cup of water
- 1 vegetarian bouillon cube
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- ⅛ cup of diced yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the 6 tablespoons in a freezer-safe dish and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes
- In a glass liquid measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the soymilk and apple cider vinegar and allow to rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes on the counter, place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and prepare your baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- After 20 minutes, add the frozen vegan butter to the dry flour mixture and use a fork (or pastry cutter) to mix it in until it looks like a crumbly mixture.
- Pour the soymilk mixture into the bowl and mix together by hand. Be careful not to overmix.
- Add a handful of flour to your surface and spread it around. Using your hands, spread out the dough. Fold it in half, then fold it in half again, and then stretch it back out. Repeat this four times. If the dough is sticking, add a little more flour.
- Spread the dough out about 1 ½ inches thick and use a round cookie cutter (or a cup that’s about 2 ½ to 3 inches wide) to stamp out biscuits and add them to the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until they’re lightly golden. Cool for 5 minutes.
- For the gravy: Start by either boiling or microwaving the water and bouillon cube until it's a well-combined broth, then set it aside.
- In a small pot over medium-heat, add the vegetable oil and onions and saute until the onions become translucent/tender. Lower to a simmer, add the flour and stir until your roux has a smooth consistency.
- Add the broth, salt and pepper, and stir over low heat until it thickens.
Notes
- Freeze the vegan butter: This ensures the best, flakiest vegan biscuits.
- Avoid overhandling the dough: The vegan butter may melt, and overworking gluten leads to dense biscuits.
- Stamp biscuits properly: Push the cutter straight down, avoiding twisting, as that can seal the layers and reduce rise.
- For a darker top: Brush the biscuits with melted vegan butter before baking.
Both the biscuits and gravy turned out perfectly!! Your instructions were spot on!! I can’t wait to make them again.
So glad you enjoyed them! Forever a classic at our house!
Your instructions are counterintuitive to production of a superior product. The ratios are slightly off and you NEVER add a handful of flour to roll out a laminated type dough. It makes it quite tough. You also do not need to fold it several times as the size of the butter chunks are too small and will melt resulting [as from your photograph] a product with minimal lift and crumb. Your dough due to the amount would be better served as a drop biscuit rather than a rolled.