Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Tall, flaky buttermilk biscuits from scratch smothered in creamy, peppery sausage gravy. The classic Southern breakfast, start to finish in under an hour.
- Everyday Classics
- Oven
- Cast iron / Dutch oven
- Pork
- Breakfast
- 45 min total
- Serves 6
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
Enter a number of at least ½, in steps of ½.
Original recipe serves 6. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
Biscuits
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter, frozen and grated
- 1 cup cold buttermilk
- 2 tbsp butter, melted, for brushing
Gravy
- 1 lb breakfast pork sausage, bulk, like Jimmy Dean
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper, coarse
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
Gear
- Sheet pan and parchment
- Box grater
- Biscuit cutter
- Large skillet
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Steps
Step 1: BISCUITS: Heat the oven to 450°F and line a sheet pan with parchment.
Step 2: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Toss in the frozen grated butter until coated.
Step 3: Stir in the buttermilk with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms.
Step 4: Turn the dough onto a floured counter and pat it into a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Fold it in thirds like a letter. Pat it out again and repeat the fold 2 more times.
Step 5: Pat to 1 inch thick. Cut straight down with a 2.5-inch cutter (don't twist). Place the biscuits on the pan so they're just touching.
Step 6: Bake 13 to 15 minutes until tall and golden. Brush with melted butter.
Step 7: GRAVY (while biscuits bake): Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high, breaking it into small crumbles, 7 to 8 minutes. Don't drain.
Step 8: Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir 2 minutes until it's absorbed and cooks out the raw taste.
Step 9: Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until thick. Season with salt, lots of pepper and pepper flakes.
Step 10: Split the warm biscuits and spoon gravy over the top.
Swaps
- Shortcut biscuits: A can of Pillsbury Grands, baked by the package directions.
- Sausage: Sage or hot breakfast sausage.
- Gravy too thick? Add milk a splash at a time until it pours like a thick sauce.
Tips
- Freeze the butter for 15 minutes and grate it. Cold butter pieces create steam in the oven, which makes flaky layers.
- If your sausage is lean, add a tablespoon of butter before the flour so the gravy has enough fat.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Biscuits and gravy is a breakfast that says, “We’re not doing anything productive today, and we’re proud of it.” It’s buttery, it’s peppery, and it requires a nap almost immediately.
The biscuits rise tall because of two things: cold butter and folding. Frozen grated butter stays in little pieces in the dough, and in a hot oven it melts and lets off steam that puffs the layers apart. Folding the dough like a letter a few times stacks up those layers, so you get the flaky biscuit you can peel apart. Pressing the cutter straight down keeps the edges open so they can rise.
The gravy is about as simple as cooking gets. The sausage fat and flour make a roux, the milk turns it creamy, and black pepper keeps it from tasting flat. No draining. That fat is flavor.
HAM out.
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