This easy recipe for sausage gravy is the breakfast recipe my Southern grandma passed down and I learned to make as a child. Be sure to check out our recipe tips for the perfect homemade biscuits and gravy recipe!
Best Homemade Recipe For Sausage Gravy
This really is an easy recipe for sausage gravy. Some people call this white gravy, country gravy, pepper gravy, or milk gravy. But it is different from sawmill gravy, which is made made with cornmeal instead of white flour, and is not the same as chipped beef gravy, which is made with beef.
How do I make sausage gravy from scratch?
Recipe For Southern Sausage Gravy Ingredients List:
- Ground pork sausage
- White flour
- Whole milk
- Butter (*optional, see full recipe)
- Salt
- Black ground pepper or white ground pepper
There are a couple of important recipe tips that I use for making the best recipe for sausage gravy and biscuits. Be sure to read through all the helpful recipe notes in the post before you get to the free printable recipe card.
How much flour for sausage gravy?
How much flour you need for a sausage gravy recipe will depend on how much you are making. For our recipe, which serves 6-8, I use about 1/3 cup of flour — sometimes a little more and sometimes less flour, depending on how easily the gravy thickens.
(If you like thinner sausage gravy, use less flour and don’t cook it as long to thicken.)
One of the important recipe tips is to stir, stir, stir the flour and milk mixture while it’s cooking! This helps prevent the gravy from clumping and also prevents it from burning.
I usually use a whisk for this, which is probably very un-Southern-like. I remember my grandma stirring gravy with a fork while it was cooking.
How much sausage grease for gravy?
There should be one to two tablespoons of sausage grease left in the pan before adding the flour. If you don’t have that much, you can add in a tablespoon or two of butter and melt it before adding the white flour.
If you have no grease, add about 3 tablespoons of butter and melt it before adding the flour.
What is sausage gravy good on?
- Biscuits
- Toast
- Hash Browns
- Fried Potatoes (especially southern fried potatoes and onions!)
- Eggs
- Breakfast Casseroles
- Grits
- Alone – like my husband and daughter like to eat it! (But, I think it’s offensive not to eat sausage gravy on biscuits. lol)
Recipe Note: You can use this recipe for sausage gravy biscuits to make just plain white gravy to put over country fried chicken or chicken fried steak. Just leave out the sausage.
Recipe For Spicy Sausage Gravy
I prefer to use plain ground sausage and then add the spice with black pepper. However, some people use hot ground sausage in their recipe for sausage milk gravy because they like it really hot.
(Sometimes I add a little hot sauce to my gravy because my daughter and husband like it really spicy.)
You can use any flavor of sausage that you prefer.
Some people even like maple flavored sausage in their homemade sausage gravy from scratch, but I don’t prefer a sweet sausage gravy like this.
Can you make sausage gravy with ground beef?
If you’re in a pinch, you can make white gravy with ground beef. However, know that making gravy this way will have a very different flavor from classic Southern biscuit gravy. You will definitely need to add pepper and salt to give it more flavor.
You can also make your gravy with ground turkey, but the same seasoning tips apply.
Also, you will definitely need to use butter (about 3 tablespoons) to replace the sausage grease because turkey sausage doesn’t have a lot of fat.
The Best Southern Country Sausage Gravy Recipe For Biscuits And Gravy
Recipe For Sausage Gravy For Biscuits
Hands down, the absolute best way to make sausage gravy is from scratch. It may seem like an intimidating recipe, but it’s really easy with just a little practice to understand how you like to make your biscuits and gravy.
Once you’ve had sausage gravy recipe homemade, you’ll definitely have a hard time going back to canned sausage gravy.
RECIPE TIP: If you’re making this sausage gravy recipe for large group, it’s easy to double or triple this recipe. Just be sure to stir continuously to avoid the increase in flour from coming out lumpy. (If you’ve ever bitten into what you thought was a sausage piece in gravy only to realize it was a dry, clumpy flour lump, you understand why this is important.)
What makes sausage gravy taste better?
The secret tip to white gravy with sausage is seasoning with salt, but especially the pepper. Liberally use black pepper in this recipe. You won’t be sorry!
MORE SOUTHERN RECIPES TO TRY:
Southern Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork sausage
- 1/3 cup white flour
- 4 cups milk
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large, deep skillet pan (cast iron works great!), break apart the sausage into smaller pieces. Cook sausage until evenly browned and no longer pink.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove cooked sausage and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Leave sausage drippings in pan. If you don't have a lot of sausage drippings, add 2-3 tablespoons of butter to pan to melt.
- Over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of flour to sausage drippings (or butter) in pan. Whisk and stir until drippings are absorbed into flour. (You will have flour clumps at this point. That's OK!)
- Add one cup of milk to the flour clumps and whisk until smooth. (You may need to add a little more milk.) Cook until light brown, just a few minutes.
- Whisk in the remaining flour, stirring until smooth. (You may need to add a little more milk at each step.)
- Gradually whisk and stir in remaining milk a little at a time. Continue stirring until smooth and gravy starts to bubble and thicken. Be sure that there are no flour clumps and stir to prevent the gravy from burning on the bottom. Season with salt and pepper.
- Reduce heat to medium-low to simmer. Add cooked sausage to gravy and cook until sausage is heated through and gravy is thickened, about 8-10+ minutes. If the gravy gets too thick, stir in a little more milk. If it's not getting the thick consistency you want, you can also add in a little more flour. Just be sure to continue stirring so it doesn't burn on the bottom!
- Serve immediately over hot biscuits, adding more salt and pepper to taste. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
TRY THIS VINTAGE RECIPE NEXT: Fried Southern Biscuits
I hope you enjoy this Southern recipe for sausage gravy that my grandma taught me to make!
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