Classic Southern Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

Sausage gravy and biscuits is the quintessential southern food. It is comfort food at it’s best. Make no mistake, there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, healthy about this dish. But it does provide a good stick-to-the-bones kind of comfort and is a definite reminder of all that is good and charming and hospitable about the south.

While sausage gravy and biscuits is a simple meal, it takes a little know-how and experience to get it just right. It’s not the kind of dish that you can easily create a recipe for, as you adjust the ingredients depending on how the dish is turning out. But here’s my best attempt to write it down in a way that you can follow.

You’re going to need a roll of sausage (Use your favorite brand. We like Bob Evans, Jimmy Dean, or Tennessee Pride.), about a half cup of flour, about two cups of milk, and some piping hot biscuits (I use my 7 Up Sour Cream Biscuits recipe).

First step is to heat a heavy skillet to medium heat. This is a great time to use that cast iron skillet I’ve been trying to convince you that you need. Cut about 2/3 of the roll of sausage into patties and fry them in the skillet.

When they are nice and brown, remove them to a paper towel covered plate to drain off the excess fat.

Put the rest of the sausage into the skillet to cook and crumble. Get it cooked all the way through and remove it to the paper towel. Keep your sausage grease hot in the skillet.

Now comes the part where you have to hold your mouth just right. You are going to sprinkle – and I do mean SPRINKLE!! DO NOT DUMP!! – about 2-3 tablespoons of flour into the pan of grease until the flour soaks up most of the grease as you whisk it around the pan. The exact amount of flour you use will be determined by how much grease is in the pan, and all sausages cook differently. When you have enough flour in the grease, it will look something similar to this…

Be sure you use the whisk to scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the little yummy bits of sausage-y goodness.

Once you have the flour mixed in with no clumps, you can begin pouring the milk WHILE YOU WHISK. If you don’t whisk at the same time, your gravy will form lumps. That’s a travesty by any southern cook’s standards. You are shooting for a nice creamy gravy here. You will pour about 1-2 cups of milk, depending on how much flour you had to use. 1-2 tablespoons of flour=about 1 cup of milk. 3-4 tablespoons of flour=about 2 cups of milk. It will be very runny at first, but as you continue to whisk, it will begin to thicken after about 2-3 minutes.

Once you have it to a nice thickness, you can turn off the eye and add the crumbled sausage back into the gravy.

Open up your nice, hot biscuit.

Add a piece of sausage on top of the biscuit, and spoon the gravy over the top.

And that, my friends, is how you make your family love you.

Don’t get discouraged if the first pan of gravy doesn’t turn out exactly like you want it to. It takes a little practice to get the consistency just right. Let me know if you get brave enough to try. I’d love to hear how it turned out for you. Hope y’all love it.

Comments

  1. My husband loves biscuits and gravy – every single delicious calorie. Do you have a favorite biscuit recipe?

  2. I love biscuits and gravy and never had a clue how they were, actually, made. Great step by step instructions! Thank you.

  3. Becky Green says

    Ashley, I make pretty good gravy, still mastering the biscuits. But, I love reading your recipes, your expressions and southern descriptions. I’m from Louisville, Kentucky and grew up eating and experiencing very southern and country cooking. Your expressions reminding me of my late Mother, especially in this recipe when you said, “you have to hold your mouth just right.” My Mom used to say this quite often. Thank you for making me smile.

    • Ashley Mills Hill says

      Thanks, Becky. Your mom sounds like my kind of cook. I know you miss her. Thanks for the kind comments.

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