Sauces & Condiments Recipes

Nothing in this category is a meal by itself. Everything here gets spooned, poured or piled onto something else, whether that's Vegan Mushroom Gravy over mashed potatoes or Vegetarian Kimchi alongside rice, and none of them are the entree.

Vegan Mushroom Gravy is the weeknight one, ready in about forty-five minutes, built for mashed potatoes or roasted vegetables. The cranberry pair are holiday projects: Cranberry Orange Sauce simmers the berries until they burst and sets on its own without pectin, about two and a half hours start to finish, while Cranberry-Orange Relish takes closer to four, mostly hands-off. Vegetarian Kimchi is the biggest commitment, about three and a half hours of active work for close to seven cups that keep well after the cabbage is gone.

A sauce concentrates as it cooks, so its seasoning should too. Cranberry Orange Sauce and Cranberry-Orange Relish both lose volume as their liquid cooks off, and salt or sugar added at the start tastes different once the pot is down by half, which is why a simmered sauce wants a final taste right before the heat goes off. Vegetarian Kimchi runs the opposite way: salt drawn out of the cabbage up front controls the fermentation later, so seasoning happens once, at the start.

The badges on each card mark vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free status, so check there before committing a batch to the fridge. Vegetarian Kimchi is worth a second look if gluten is a concern, since a traditional seasoning paste often leans on soy sauce for depth; a straight swap to tamari keeps the flavor and drops the wheat.