I’ve been having a lot of fun lately looking at old recipes from The Great Depression and I’m always surprised at how simple they are. They’re always just a few ingredients, barely seasoned, but always filling. The simplicity of those recipes inspired this Vegetables and Gravy recipe, although I did make sure it was well seasoned to fit today’s palate. 😅
This recipe is great for those times when you just need to throw together something simple, warm, and filling using inexpensive ingredients that you might already have on hand. It’s kind of like a cross between potato soup and the filling of a chicken pot pie (minus the chicken). Is it the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life? No. But when money is tight, this dish hits just right.
What is Vegetables and Gravy?
This dish starts with cubed potatoes that are boiled in vegetable broth until tender. The liquid is then seasoned with herbs and spices and thickened to a gravy with a milk and flour slurry. Next, we add a bag of mixed frozen vegetables to add color, texture, and flavor. And we finish the dish off with some butter for added creaminess, and salt and pepper to taste. Simple, filling, and satisfying!
What Else Can I Add?
If you happen to have some extra ingredients on hand and want to take this dish up a notch, here are some ideas:
- Top with shredded cheese
- Brown some bacon in the pot first and top the finished dish with the crumbled bacon
- Add your favorite seasoning blend(you could do anything from a Cajun seasoning to something simple like Lawry’s)
- Add chopped cooked chicken to make it more like a chicken pot pie (a great use for leftover rotisserie chicken!)
- Add dumplings
How to Serve Vegetables and Gravy
I would consider this a simple all-in-one bowl meal and would not plan to make anything on the side. I might serve with some crusty bread for sopping up all that delicious gravy, but otherwise, everything I need is in that bowl. If you definitely need something on the side, I’d do a simple roasted vegetable. Maybe broccoli or Brussels sprouts.
About Those Leftovers…
Because this gravy is thickened with flour, it does gel up and get quite thick when refrigerated. But don’t worry, it will loosen a bit upon reheating and you can always add a splash of water or milk to thin it out even more, if needed.
Vegetables and Gravy
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1.5 lbs. russet potatoes ($1.96)
- 2 cups vegetable broth ($0.26)
- 1 cup milk ($0.20)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.12)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried sage ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 12 oz. frozen mixed vegetables ($1.00)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.02)
Instructions
- Peel and cube the potatoes into ¾-inch pieces.
- Add the cubed potatoes to a large pot with the vegetable broth. Cover the pot, turn the heat on to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a boil. Continue to boil the potatoes until they are fork-tender.
- While the potatoes are boiling, whisk together the milk and flour.
- Once the potatoes are tender, turn the heat down to medium and add the flour and milk slurry. Also add the soy sauce, thyme, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper.
- Allow the liquid in the pot to come back up to a simmer, at which point it will thicken to a gravy.
- Add the frozen vegetables to the pot, stir to combine, then allow them to heat through.
- Stir the butter into the gravy until melted and combined. Give the gravy a taste and add salt, pepper, butter or other seasonings to your liking. Serve hot!
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Equipment
Nutrition
How to Make Vegetables and Gravy
Start by peeling and cubing about 1.5 lbs. russet potatoes. Cut them into ¾-inch cubes.
Add the cubed potatoes to a large pot and add 2 cups of vegetable broth. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the broth up to a boil. Continue to boil the potatoes until fork tender (about 7 minutes).
While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the milk and flour slurry. Whisk ¼ cup all-purpose flour into 1 cup milk.
Once the potatoes are tender, turn the heat down to medium and add the milk and flour slurry to the pot along with 2 Tbsp soy sauce, ½ tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp dried sage, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp garlic powder, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Stir to combine.
Allow the liquid to come back up to a simmer, at which point it will thicken into a gravy.
Add one 12oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables and stir to combine. Allow the vegetables to heat through in the gravy.
Lastly, add 2 tablespoons of butter to the gravy and stir until it has melted in. Give the gravy a taste and add salt, pepper, or more butter to your liking.
Serve it up hot with a little bread for sopping up that delicious gravy! (I garnished with some fresh parsley because I had it on hand, but it’s not necessary to flavor this dish.)
I didn’t have any onion or garlic powder, but otherwise I made this recipe as described. It’s excellent! Thanks for sharing this. I’ll definitely be making it again sometime.
Many of the Depression era recipes I inherited from my family used eggs. Even urban folks–not apartment dwellers, but folks who had houses with even very small yards–kept a few chickens and grew gardens in their yards–as much as they had space for, maybe even a fruit tree or two. They couldn’t afford much meat, and since the chickens were for eggs, not many of those hens made it the table until old and fit for stewing. My mother grew up eating creamed eggs on toast when her mother cooked, macaroni and cheese when her dad made dinner–his version, the one I grew up eating–was baked and included eggs. The chickens scratched for a living–insects, mostly, and kitchen scraps and vegetable peels. Obviously they didn’t have many hens, usually 4-6 at a time.
This is very much like my Nana’s pot pie recipe, which she topped with pie crust–it was often meatless, and sometimes–you guessed it–included chopped hard boiled eggs.
So smart! I always love having another recipe that uses a bag of frozeb vegetables; you’ve totally turned me on to how versatile and easy they make life! Now I always have a stockpile of frozen veggies in the freezer for all sorts of meals. Adding this one to the list!
It looks spectacular, I definitely need to make it <3
My mom back in the 50’s and 60’s used to make something similar. She’d brown a cheap pound of hamburger with a chopped onion, then drain some excess fat leaving enough to moisten flour for a roux. Salt and pepper plus potatoes, celery and carrots were added with a couple cups flour and cooked till the veggies were done. (I now add a bit of soy sauce or beef broth and marjoram but she was from that depression era so didn’t). Once veggies were soft and gravy thick, it was served over toast. This one pound of cheap burger fed a family of 8 so stretching it with those veggies and gravy was a big deal. I never liked the toast so tried it over biscuits which worked so much better!
A couple of cups of water, not flour! Geez. I should have checked my words better before hitting send.
I am confused about the frozen mixed veggies. The ones I get have to be cooked until tender. Adding them at the end as shown in the recipe would leave them pretty crunchy. I make something similar with chicken and serve over biscuits and call it chicken pot pie.
You can let them cook in the gravy until they reach your desired tenderness. Frozen vegetables are partially cooked before freezing, so they get tender really fast.
Oh please keep the depression era recipes coming! This one reminds me of an old Moosewood recipe (Homespun Pot Pie.. the kind that “mother” used to make). Given the ages of the authors… their mothers would have been cooking family meals during the Depression. That recipe is a little time consuming.. lots of chopping!… I’m going to try your recipe this weekend, with the bacon, but I’ll finish it off with the Moosewood buttermilk/yogurt/dill biscuit topping used in the Homespun Pie. Deep comfort food!
I do something similar but use cornstarch to thicken to make it gluten free. It’s a great stick-to-your-ribs meal! Thanks for the idea to use frozen veggies, that will save me some time. I am always looking to add to my repertoire of how to use frozen veggies.
Simple to make, hearty, and cheap! I added a bit of smoked paprika and served over warm biscuits, topped with shredded cheddar and bacon.
I just made this using vegetable broth using bouillon, 3 potatoes, a can of corn and leftovers from rotisserie chicken. I have to say this broth/gravy is so yummy. Your seasoning with soy sauce and thyme etc. (i had no sage) makes this amazing. And soooo easy! Thank you.
A beautiful recipe,all simple and Budget friendly,quick and nourishing.
This looked immediately like a pot pie filling to me and like great comfort food. I like that it’s so simple too!
Hi, this looks so warm and comforting! I was wondering if there is a milk alternative you would suggest that would suit this recipe. It would be helpful for when I’m cooking for vegans or people with lactose intolerance.
You could use pretty much any unsweetened non-dairy milk. :)
I usually lurk, but just wanted to thank you for posting recipes that work with just the most basic of ingredients but showing us how to level up if we have access to extra ingredients. Times are tough and about to get a lot worse, so this is super helpful!!!!
(PS I love your cookbook and hope you put out another one day!)
Would you be able to share the source(s) of some Great Depression recipes? I’m moving to the arctic in a few weeks and feel like they would be super helpful for me!
I have this book, but I don’t find the recipes very practical for today’s use because ingredient costs and availability were different then, and the flavors are often very bland compared to today’s standard). It’s more of an interesting read. That being said, a lot of people have shared different youtube channels and things where people do a lot of depression-era cooking, so you might try searching there!
For baking (specifically) there is a tik-tok guy by the name of B. Dylan Hollis. He bakes and taste-tests old baking recipes in a pretty hilarious manner. Some of them turn out to be awful/some of them turn out to be great so its a mixed bag but a lot of fun to watch. Recently he made a ‘whacky’ cake (a depression era, vegan, chocolate cake with very minimal ingredients/prep) that turns out pretty great!
Haha, I think I’ve seen him come across my feed! We actually have a version of “whacky cake” on the blog, and it’s definitely a favorite! https://www.budgetbytes.com/chocolate-depression-cake/
That chocolate depression cake you shared awhile back is one of our family’s favorites!!! It’s always requested! It’s SO SO good!
Try adding a little curry, smoked paprika, or thyme. Goes well over toast, biscuits, cornbread …
Try with just peas for “creamed” peas . So versatile!!