Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

Biscuits and gravy are a Southern staple for weekend breakfasts. Flaky homemade biscuits smothered in sausage gravy is the perfect comfort food. This easy breakfast is ready in 20-minutes.

Old-fashioned sausage gravy recipe with buttermilk biscuits are just like grandma made. Be sure and try my jalapeno cheddar biscuits.

According to many historians and writers, biscuits and gravy originated in the Southern Appalachia in the late 1800s. During the lumber industry era in logging camps, biscuits with “sawmill gravy” was considered a hearty, inexpensive, and high-calorie meal. Some earlier recipes used cornmeal as a thickener, where more modern recipes use all-purpose flour.

Sawmill gravy (sausage gravy) is simple to make with a handful of pantry staples. It’s a Southern-style white gravy made from fat drippings of sausage, thickened with flour (or cornmeal) combined with milk and seasoned with pepper. Delicious over biscuits, country fried steak or fried chicken.

Why this recipe works

• Ease – Uses simple pantry ingredients and ready in 20-minutes
• Hearty breakfast – This satisfying breakfast will provide you with long-lasting energy and fullness.
• Crowd-pleaser – Perfect meal idea for feeding a crowd, brunch or weekend guests.
• Budget friendly – This affordable breakfast meal is easy to make and can stretch a grocery budget.

What you’ll need

• Fat/drippings – From cooking a pound of breakfast or sweet pork sausage.
• Butter – Melted in the fat drippings for flavor and mixed with flour to create a roux.
• Flour – Used to create a roux with the fat to thicken the gravy.
• Milk – Whole milk or half and half provides creaminess.
• Seasoning – A generous amount of salt and black pepper to taste. You can also season with onion or garlic powder if desired.
• Biscuits – We love homemade buttermilk biscuits, but you can also use store-bought.

The secret ingredient to light and flaky biscuits is using a combination of lard and butter. Another secret is baking biscuits in cast iron. That’s key!

How to make buttermilk biscuits

The key to making flaky buttermilk biscuits is keeping ingredients cold and not overworking the dough!

• Mix dry ingredients – In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.
• Cut in fat – Use a pastry blender to cut in lard and butter into the dry ingredients.
• Add the buttermilk – Add cold buttermilk and incorporate with a rubber spatula just until the dough starts to come together. Dough will be slightly crumbly.
• Work the dough – On a lightly floured surface, press the dough together with your hands into a rectangle shape. (This biscuit dough will be sticky!)
• Fold the dough – This makes the layers. Gently fold the dough over itself into layers.
• Cut the biscuits – Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut biscuits. Do NOT twist the cutter!
• Place into baking pan – Place biscuits close together in buttered cast iron pan or baking dish. This helps them rise properly.
• Bake – Bake in a preheated 475 degree oven for 15 minutes or until tops of biscuits are golden brown.

Tips on making homemade buttermilk biscuits

• Cold fat – Cold butter and lard help create pockets of air while they bake. It’s similar to making homemade pie crust.
• Using lard and butter – Using both of these ingredients helps to achieve the flakiest and fluffy biscuits.
• Real buttermilk and quality ingredients – Using high-quality flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour and real, whole cultured buttermilk creates tender biscuits.
• Don’t overmix – Mix ingredients just until combined. Overworking biscuit dough will result in hard and flat biscuits.
• Don’t use too much flour – Lightly flour the work surface. Too much flour can make dough tough.
• Flatten and fold – Use your hands or a rolling pin to gently flatten dough, form into a rectangle shape and fold over to create layers. (I prefer to use my hands very little, as your body temperature can heat up the biscuit dough.)
• Don’t twist the biscuit cutter – Press the biscuit cutter down firmly, in a stamping motion into the dough. Twisting seals off the edges and prevents biscuits from rising properly.
• Bake close together – Biscuits rise best when pressed up against each other in a baking dish.
• Bake in cast iron – One of the best methods for baking biscuits. Cast iron helps distribute heat more evenly, helps biscuits rise well and outer edges have a good crust. Our favorite is the 9×13-inch cast iron baking pan from Lodge.

How to make biscuits and gravy

• Make the biscuits – Try our homemade buttermilk biscuits (find the full recipe below) or use store-bought.
• Brown the sausage – While biscuits are baking, brown the sausage. Remove with a spoon, leaving drippings behind.
• Make a roux – Melt butter, add the flour and cook for 1-minute.
• Add the milk – Gradually whisk in the milk and cook until slightly thickened.
• Season – Add cooked sausage back to the gravy, season to taste with salt and pepper. It doesn’t need more seasoning, as sausage is super flavorful.
• Simmer – Reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes. If it becomes too thick, add a few tablespoons of milk.
• Serve – Serve over warm biscuits; split biscuits in half, spoon over sausage gravy. Serve with fried or scrambled eggs.

More breakfast recipes

• Tater tot breakfast casserole
• Quiche recipe

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Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Biscuits and gravy are a Southern staple for weekend breakfasts. Flaky homemade biscuits smothered in sausage gravy is the perfect comfort food.

Course: Breakfast or Brunch

Cuisine: American, Southern

Servings: 9 people

Calories: 616kcal

Author: Jessica Robinson

Ingredients

Buttermilk Biscuits

• ▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
• ▢ ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cold
• ▢ ½ cup lard or vegetable shortening cold
• ▢ 1 ¼ -1 ½ cups whole cultured buttermilk cold

Sausage Gravy

• ▢ 1 pound ground pork sausage (sweet or breakfast) or deer sausage
• ▢ 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
• ▢ ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 3 cups whole milk
• ▢ Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Buttermilk Biscuits

• In a large mixing bowl, gently combine flour with salt and baking powder with a spoon.
• Cut in the lard and butter until you have coarse crumbs. Incorporate the buttermilk and gently bring it together into a dough with your hands or a rubber spatula.
• Start with 1 ¼ cups buttermilk and add more buttermilk as needed, if necessary. The biscuit dough will be sticky!!
• Pat down on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to gently roll into a rectangle shape. Fold several times. Roll out into rectangle about 1-inch thick.
• Use a rubber bench scraper to help work with the dough.
• Be careful NOT to add too much flour or overwork the dough. Cut biscuits with a 3-inch cutter, using a stamping motion, do not twist it.
• Pick up scraps of biscuit dough and shake off excess flour. Press back together. Carefully refold the dough and roll out to a rectangle. Cut out the remaining biscuits. Be careful not to add too much flour or handle the dough too much!
• Place biscuits closely together into a buttered cast iron baking pan or baking dish.
• Bake in a preheated 475-degree F oven for 15-17 minutes or until the biscuit tops are lightly browned. Immediately brush with melted butter.

Sausage Gravy

• While the biscuits are baking, make the sausage gravy. By the time the biscuits are done, the gravy will be ready.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a separate dish, leaving the drippings in the pan.
• Stir in the butter until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth, cooking about 1-minute.
• Gradually whisk in the milk and cook until slightly thickened. Add the cooked sausage back to the skillet. Season the gravy with salt and pepper.
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. If the gravy becomes too thick, stir in a few tablespoons more milk.
• Serve with warm biscuits halved and smothered in gravy.

Recipe Notes

Make sure butter, lard and buttermilk are super cold to ensure flaky layers

Use high-quality ingredients, such as flour and butter. Higher quality butter has a higher fat content and will yield better results.

Cut butter into small pieces with a sharp knife or grate frozen butter with a cheese grater before incorporating into the flour mixture.

Don’t have buttermilk? Make your own with 1 cup whole milk and 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice. Combine and let sit for 5 minutes before adding to the dry ingredients.

Do NOT twist the cutter when cutting out biscuits! Twisting motion will seal edges of biscuits and prevent them from rising properly. 

Bake in cast iron skillet or baking pan. This helps biscuits bake better and more evenly.

Rotate your baking pan 180 degrees about half way through the baking process.

Nutrition

Calories: 616kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 755mg | Potassium: 529mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 673IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 3mg

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