Mushroom Gravy Is The New Marinara Sauce. Here's Why

Marinara sauce is one of the most classic sauces for a reason. You've likely been eating it on meatball subs, spaghetti, and pizza for years. This highly versatile sauce is as easy for home cooks to make as it is difficult to get wrong, but when you have a fantastic marinara recipe in your cooking arsenal, it can make weeknight dinners a breeze. However, even the biggest fans of marinara can admit too much of a good thing can be tiring. That's where creamy mushroom gravy comes into play.

For numerous reasons, mushroom gravy can serve as the new marinara sauce in your home kitchen. First, it's another sauce that's deceptively simple to make. Second, mushroom gravy doesn't require much in the ingredients department; most are likely already sitting in your pantry or fridge (besides maybe mushrooms and heavy cream). Like marinara, mushroom gravy is also loaded with umami flavor. Both mushrooms and tomatoes naturally contain lots of glutamates, resulting in more notably savory food. Finally, mushroom gravy can be as versatile as marinara: Pair it with pasta, meatballs, or roasted vegetables. In short, we think it's the number-one sauce you should add to your weeknight rotation.

This highly versatile sauce can be used in several different ways, including being subbed in for marinara in traditional marinara dishes. The obvious substitute that would work incredibly well is spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs can first be pan-seared to develop some color, and then added to the mushroom gravy to simmer and impart their delicious meaty flavors. If you like making chicken parmesan, you can give it a mushroom sauce twist by slathering the fried chicken cutlets in gravy and shaving copious amounts of parmesan cheese on top. Even something like seafood and penne pasta could work beautifully with this creamy sauce. Plus, the tube-like shape of penne is an effective vehicle for soaking up all the wonderful gravy.

Remember, creamy mushroom sauce is very simple to make at home and compounds many flavors together which makes it such a great marinara substitute. The recipe starts with a pound to a pound-and-a-half of fresh mushrooms, and the great thing about this gravy is that you can mix and match all kinds of different mushrooms. If you like your sauce with more of a meatier taste and feel, dice up some portobellos or creminis. Want more earthiness and don't care about the budget? Buy some morels or porcinis when they're in season. Experiment with different combinations, and have fun creating your own signature spin on mushroom gravy.