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Biscuits and gravy is a classic weekend breakfast staple. This easy Homemade Sausage Gravy recipe only takes 20 minutes to prepare and is as good as any breakfast joint. Serve over fresh hot biscuits and you’re set!
I love making a big home cooked breakfast on the weekends, and biscuits and gravy is almost always on the menu, along with some fluffy Baked Egg Muffins and a delicious Fruit Salad.
Best Sausage Gravy Recipe
This sausage gravy with biscuits is everything that’s right about weekend brunch. This gravy comes together in about 20 minutes, just enough time to bake your biscuits and let them cool a bit.
This recipe is a classic southern breakfast that every home cook should have in their recipe box. Trust me, one bite and you’ll be hooked! Cook the sausage, make the roux, thicken it up. It’s easy enough that even older kids can get in on the fun.
How to Make Sausage Gravy
Cook the sausage: Place a large skillet over medium heat and add some breakfast sausage (not links) and use a spatula to break it. Brown the sausage and let it cook until it’s golden brown with no pink remaining. Don’t drain the grease because you’ll need that to make the gravy.
Make the roux: Add some butter to the skillet and let it melt, then sprinkle flour over the sausage. Stir until the flour disappears, then add milk, stirring constantly until no lumps of flour are visible. Use any kind of milk you have on hand, just know that the higher the fat content, the richer the gravy will be.
Thicken the gravy: Stir in the rest of the milk and bring to a boil. The gravy will begin to thicken, but be sure to stir often to prevent the milk from scalding.
Season: Flavor the gravy with seasonings, including salt and pepper, garlic powder, paprika and sage. Pro tip: I always taste before adding salt; different brands of sausage, like Jimmy Dean, can be saltier than others.
Serve: Spoon the sausage gravy over warm over homemade biscuits, slices of bread or even mashed potatoes.
About the spices
I used a few extra spices in this recipe to give it a flavor boost. The combination of salt, garlic powder, and paprika is kind of like making a quick seasoned salt. It adds a depth of flavor to the gravy that’s really nice.
How to serve biscuits and gravy
While your sausage gravy is simmering, bake your biscuits. You can use the canned variety if you prefer, but making homemade biscuits is almost as easy! To serve, split biscuits in half and lay the halves on a plate. Some like to butter the biscuits so you can do that if you want. Spoon the sausage gravy over the biscuits, using a little or a lot. The biscuits soak up the gravy and soften them, making them just melt in your mouth.
Here are some of our favorite sides to serve with biscuits and gravy:
- Homemade Hash Browns
- Scrambled eggs
- Fresh fruit
- Sweet Potato and Bacon Hash
- Mashed Potatoes
FAQs
Sausage gravy and biscuits can be served as a stand alone meal for breakfast or dinner. But if you want to round out your plate, serve with some scrambled eggs, hash browns and fresh fruit. If you want to try something really different but totally delicious, try pouring sausage gravy over mashed potatoes.
Store gravy in the fridge, covered tightly, for 3-5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gravy on the stove or in the microwave separately from the biscuits, stirring halfway through heating.
Mixing flour with a fat, like butter or the grease from the sausage creates a roux that acts as the thickener for the gravy. Once you add the milk, it bubbles and reduces and becomes a thick gravy.
If your gravy is too thin, you can add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. Mix a tablespoon of water with a tablespoon of cornstarch, then add it to the skillet. Turn the heat to medium and let it bubble and simmer until it’s thickened to your liking.
More Breakfast Recipes to Try
- Baked Cinnamon French Toast Casserole
- Loaded Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole
- Baked Egg Muffins
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 pound breakfast sausage
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon paprika
- Fresh sage finely chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the sausage. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until no longer pink and nicely browned.
- Add butter to skillet and stir until melted. Sprinkle flour over sausage and stir to coat. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in 1 cup of milk. Stir to incorporate the flour and prevent lumps. Pour in the rest of the milk and stir.
- Bring to a simmer and cook until gravy thickens, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the milk from scalding.
- Remove gravy from heat. Stir in pepper, salt, garlic powder, and paprika. Sprinkle with sage before serving, if desired. Serve warm over biscuits.
This is a good basic recipe, but too much black pepper for our taste ( I will reduce to 1/2 teaspoon) and omit the garlic powder and add sage ( 1 teaspoon).
Taste is certainly subjective. Thanks for your review.
I’ve made this the same as you do but some of my seasoning is different I don’t us garlic because I’ve become allergic (sad because I love) i put a few dashes of tabasco into mine or flakes of crushed hot red peppers. yes this is real easy.
Love your feedback James! Thanks for stopping by.
Absolutely delicious! Rivals our Texan neighbors recipe that he wouldn’t share. I did add an additional 1/2 tsp of black pepper but followed the rest of the recipe exactly! This will be made on the regular.
Thank you for sharing!!!!
How do I double this recipe?
As long as your skillet is big enough you can easily just double the ingredients. A 12-inch skillet should be fine. This recipe is very forgiving as well if you need to play around with it.
This recipe is phenomenal and it was my 1st time EVER making gravy!!! Definitely try this, you will instantly put it into rotation!! Easy and delicious, what a win!!
Nice! Thanks for the awesome comment Carrie!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Finally made my husband happy with this awesome recipe.
Nice! You are so welcome Alicia! Thanks for stopping by.
Marvelous recipe. I added some herbs and left out the added salt. Goodness!! Delicious!!!!! I added some pepper flakes and cooked in the garlic etc. I will definitely be keeping this recipe! Thanks!
You are so welcome Tiffany! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
Absolutely love this!! This recipe was the first I’ve ever made, and now the only! I don’t change a thing! Made it for my entire family and my soon to be son-in-law said it was just like his moms!!! That was the best compliment a soon to be mother-in-law could get!! ♥️
Nice! Absolutely love the comment Renae, thanks for stopping by.
I love sausage gravy. It’s one of my favorite choices.
Ours too Alena. Thanks for stopping by.
I like it hot! However, next time I make this gravy, I’ll be adding about half of the black pepper called for in this recipe. Really good! Other than burning out my gizzard! LOL
XD
This was the best sausage gravy I’ve ever made. My guys devoured it! Tasted like it came from a mom & pop breakfast place. Thank you for the recipe!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Amy.
My first time ever making sausage gravy, it turned out great! Thank you!
You are so welcome Stephanie! Thanks for stopping by.
Amazing ❤️ Thank you for the recipe !
You are so welcome Ali! Thanks for stopping by.
Are you supposed to drain the sausage before continuing with the rest of the recipe.?
No, the grease is what helps to make the gravy.
I have to disagree with the garlic powder. Was not happy with that flavor. Everything else was great.
I appreciate your feedback Carol. Everyone’s tastes are a little different.
This is awesome! My family looooooved it.
Thank you Sheri! Sounds like a winner!
Love this recipe turns out perfect ever time !!!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Mitchellshoemaker.
Great article! I personally love biscuits and gravy. Usually when I fix biscuits and gravy, I love eating it, with some eggs and country fried taters, or hash browns.
Thanks John! I totally agree with that combination. YUM!
It’s so much better with bacon grease instead of butter….. Southern girl thang?
Your recipe is so similar to how i make mine, except I add an onion diced to the sausage as it browns and add thyme instead of sage. Thyme adds less salt to the flavor than sage. Don’t forget a few dashes of tabasco or hot sauce of your choice. It adds a bit of zing without the heat. Give this to try, i know you’ll never make it any other way again