The ultimate biscuits and sausage gravy recipe – tender and fluffy biscuits are topped with a traditional, rich sausage gravy. This meal is perfect for breakfast, but also hearty enough for dinner.
If you haven’t had your fill of biscuits after making this recipe, try these Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits or these Sausage and Cheese Biscuits.
Biscuits with sausage gravy is one of my favorite meals to make for breakfast. I don’t know if it’s because I prefer savory meals like this one when I first wake up, or because I’m just a sucker for comfort food.
As easy as it is to buy biscuits out of a can, there is something special about a homemade biscuit that adds to the essence of biscuits and gravy. And while this biscuit recipe isn’t your traditional biscuit or method, you won’t regret making them from scratch. I’ll walk you through some of my tips and tricks to getting the perfect biscuit and mastering the consistency of this sausage gravy.
Biscuit Ingredients
- Flour: I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: You need both baking powder and baking soda to give these biscuits their tender texture.
- Sugar: The sugar does not make these biscuit sweet, but it helps to give them the perfect texture.
- Salt: The salt adds flavor and balance.
- Butter: You need butter for in the biscuits, as well as some melted butter to brush on top of the biscuits.
- Buttermilk: The buttermilk helps to activate the baking soda, but it also adds a tangy flavor.
How to Bake the Perfect Biscuits
If you have made biscuits before, don’t go into this recipe thinking that they will be the same. The dough for these biscuits is very wet. But the biscuits you get are so light and fluffy and different that you’ll find yourself wanting to make these biscuits all the time. Here are a few tips and tricks to remember as you go into making these.
- You are making 12 biscuits, and they will all fit in a 9-inch cake pan. Make sure your pan is greased before starting.
- Turn the oven on to 500ºF. I know it’s hot, but they won’t bake at that high of a temperature the whole time. That initial high heat will help the baking soda to release carbon dioxide, which creates little pockets of air, which makes a light and fluffy biscuit.
- You can cut your butter into the mixture with a fork or a pastry cutter. I think a pastry cutter is faster, but either will work.
- Stir the buttermilk in just until it is combined. The mixture will be very wet and sticky. If you put your hands in, it would stick all over. This is how it should be.
- To form the biscuits, I think it’s easiest to use a spring-release scoop. Scoop the dough and then drop it into your bowl of flour. I will then sprinkle some flour on top and roll it around a bit, until it is coated in the flour. Then I will gently scoop up the ball with one hand and let the excess flour fall off through my fingers, bouncing it up and down slightly to shake off the excess flour. You should be able to transfer it to the baking dish easily at this point.
- Yes, it will be a little messy – but it’s worth it!
- When baking the biscuits, keep an eye on them. Since you are starting off at 500ºF then turning the oven down to 450ºF, there may be some discrepancies in cook time since different ovens will adjust to the new temperture faster than others. They will be done when they are golden brown on top.
- Let them cool slightly before removing from the pan.
Sausage Gravy Ingredients
- Oil: You can use any good cooking oil – I tend to use olive oil, but vegetable oil or avocado oil are also good alternatives.
- Sausage: I like to use a bulk breakfast sausage. You want one that will break up well in your gravy.
- Flour: The flour will thicken the gravy.
- Milk: I use 2% milk because that is what I keep on hand.
- Herbs: The extra dried herbs are optional. Whether or not I use them usually depends on what sausage I’ve used. If it is a heavily seasoned sausage, I’ll leave the extra herbs out. But if I feel like it needs more flavor, I’ll add in some extra herbs. Sage is one of my favorites.
- Salt and Pepper: Make sure and taste your sausage gravy and add salt and pepper as needed. I usually like to add a lot of pepper.
Tips for the Perfect Sausage Gravy
I used to be scared of making homemade gravy, until I learned how easy it is! Here are my tips for the perfect sausage gravy.
- Some sausage is fattier than others, and you’ll need some of that leftover grease to make the gravy. After you remove the sausage, if you don’t have 3-4 tablespoons of fat left in the pan, you can add butter to make up for the difference. If I have bacon fat on hand I’ll use that sometimes, as well. Don’t skip this – you have to have the fat or your gravy won’t work.
- Whisk the flour into the grease well, and then as you add the milk, whisk vigorously the whole time to avoid lumps.
- Let it cook until it thickens up before you add the sausage back in. This should only take a minute or two.
- If the gravy thickens up too much, whisk in a bit more milk.
Biscuits and Sausage Gravy for Dinner
While I love having biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast, this is actually one of my favorite breakfast meals to have for dinner! That sausage gravy is savory enough to hit the spot and the homemade biscuits don’t leave anyone hungry. I have to say I was pretty proud of myself when we had this for dinner and my husband told me it was the best biscuits and gravy he had ever had, I would call that a win.
This is a great meal that is perfect any time of day!
More Savory Breakfast Ideas:
Camping Breakfast Burritos
Meat and Potatoes Breakfast Skillet
Quiche Lorraine
Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Bacon and Eggs Benedict Sandwich with Chipotle Hollandaise
Breakfast Tortilla Stack
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Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
Biscuits:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Sausage Gravy:
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 16 oz bulk pork breakfast sausage
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- Dried herbs optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
To make the biscuits:
- Preheat the oven to 500ºF. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda.
- Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut the butter into the flour until you have coarse crumbs. Fold in the buttermilk. Stir just until blended – the mixture will still be lumpy.
- Place the remaining 1/2 cup flour in a bowl. Using a 1/4-cup trigger-scoop ice cream scoop, scoop out a ball of the dough and place in the flour. The dough will be very sticky – not like a typical biscuit dough at all. (It is best to use a scoop so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands.) Toss the dough gently to coat it in the flour, then place the dough balls in the prepared pan – 9 balls around the outside and 3 balls in the center.
- Brush the tops of the balls with the melted butter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 450ºF and bake another 15 minute, or until golden brown.
To make the sausage gravy:
- Heat the 2 teaspoons of oil in a heavy duty skillet or cast iron skillet. Add the sausage and cook until cooked through, breaking up the sausage as it cooks.
- Remove the sausage, reserving any fat. If you don’t have 3-4 tablespoons of grease left, add enough bacon grease or butter to make up the difference.
- Add the flour to the grease, and whisk, allowing the flour to brown and form a dark roux. Keep whisking as you pour in the milk. Whisk to remove any lumps. Cook until the mixture starts to thicken slightly, then stir in the cooked sausage and any additional herbs.
- Simmer until it is thickened to your liking.
- Serve the gravy over split biscuits.
Brendan says
Wow, I had my doubts, because I made a different diy biscuits that didn’t turn out so well. Amazing! I will be saving this recipe for future use.
Deborah says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!