Country Bacon Gravy is a simple milk gravy recipe made with bacon grease.
Why this recipe works:
If you love biscuits and gravy with traditional sausage gravy for breakfast, you'll love this bacon gravy!
- For best results, use a high quality, applewood smoked, uncured bacon and make your own Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits.
- This recipe is just as easy to make as a traditional sausage gravy.
- Who doesn't love bacon? Since bacon grease is used to flavor the gravy and crisp bacon pieces are added on top, the flavor is tasted in every bite.
Ingredients:
- bacon grease along with crisp bacon pieces
- flour
- milk
- salt and pepper
Here's how to make it:
- First step is to accumulate a quarter cup of bacon grease. To do this, I cooked 18 ounces of bacon in a dutch oven on the stove. The bacon was pretty lean, so the total amount of grease that I got was ¼ cup. If you have pretty fatty bacon, you could probably get away with less. I always like to have cooked bacon available in the refrigerator, so cooking an 18 ounce package is a regular thing in our house.
- Once the bacon grease is all measured out, add the flour. You'll want to whisk the grease and the flour together regularly over medium heat. It takes about 5 minutes for the roux to develop.
- Then all you need to do is add the milk. I like to add about a cup at a time and whisk it together until it's nice and smooth. It might not seem like it will thicken at first, but if you continue to whisk the mixture over heat, it will thicken.
- Finally, add your salt and pepper and give it a good taste.
Why bacon grease gravy is so good:
The basic formula to any gravy recipe is fat and flour combined and cooked to make a roux. Then liquid is added. The roux thickens the gravy.
The fat can be butter, oil, or in the case of this recipe, fat. One of my favorite fats to cook with is bacon grease. It has so much flavor.
The trick to a good roux is to cook it hot enough to develop a rich flavor and darker color, but not so hot that you burn it.
Typical gravy is made with either broth or milk. When making biscuits and gravy, you'll almost always be making a milk gravy. This bacon grease gravy recipe really is so incredibly fast and simple to make. You might be confused as to why I have salt in the recipe, especially considering how salty bacon typically is. For whatever reason, bacon grease really isn't that salty, so I felt the salt was necessary.
Country Bacon Gravy
CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
- ¼ cup bacon grease (see note 1)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 4 slices bacon (chopped)
- flaky buttermilk biscuits (see note 2)
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom stock pot or skillet, whisk together bacon drippings and flour over medium heat. Continue to cook until the mixture browns slightly, about 5 minutes, but be careful not to let it burn.
- Add milk, 1 cup at a time, whisking thoroughly with each addition. Continue to whisk over medium heat until gravy is smooth and begins to thicken. Add salt and pepper.
- Serve over warm biscuits and top with chopped bacon pieces.
Notes
2. Love my recipe for Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits! Homemade is always best!!! https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/flaky-buttermilk-biscuits/
NUTRITION INFORMATION
This recipe was originally published in September 2019 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!
Michelle Snipes
This is the best white gravy I have ever tasted! I added one chopped Butterball All Natural Turkey Sausage Breakfast Patty. I used Smithfield Hometown Original bacon and whole organic milk. My husband and sons loved the gravy and said it is the best they have had as well. Thanks for the recipe!!
ray lawrence
I've been making bacon gravy for years .Grand dad had 1800 hogs on the farm
beside cattle and sheep so we smoked a lot of bacon & Hams.
nothing like going into the smoke house=
on a cold winter morning and take a slab of bacon to the house for butter milk
biscuts and bacon gravy. grate recipe.
Ray from Ohio & Venice Florida
Kayla M
I normally add on to recipes I find.. but this was excellent and I wouldn’t change a thing! Southern girl approved (:
Kayla
Well, actually, I guess I did change a thing or two. Let me mention that I didn’t need to cook 18 slices(or a whole 1lb package) of bacon. I cut up about 5-6 slices and pan-fried them in about 1 tsp of veg oil. AND, I chopped up those slices and added them into the gravy so more of the flavor would cook down into it.
black jack.
Serve sliced tomatos with it gonna love it thank me later.
Luke
Doesn’t work. Tried to create roux and after 5 mins still had waster. Added milk an twenty minutes later still had water. So as for thick gravy I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but all I have now is bacon milk.
Krissy
Hi Luke, Sorry to hear this didn't work for you. I'm not sure I understand what you're saying about having water?
Hali
It doesn't always take 5 minutes and then after you add the milk if it doesn't thicken it cld be because your heat is too low.
Joy
I followed the directions exactly, and it tasted like hot milk. I’d recommend to use half the milk for the gravy or double the bacon fat and flour.
Krissy
Hi Joy, I'm sorry it didn't turn out for you. I'm wondering if there was also a difference because of the type of bacon that was used? I'm a total bacon snob and go for the thick cut, uncured, uber delicious stuff.
Shawna Babin
Learned as a kid in south Louisiana how to make the sausage version (as is every child in the south, girl or boy). Started making the bacon version back 30 years ago. Great for brunch before the Sunday New Orleans Saints game!!!
Carl
Takes the edge off another loss!
Gayle Gallagan
This was the first time I made country gravy. I use to buy it in a can, but for now on this is my go to recipe. My husband said this was the best country gravy he tasted.
Thank you for sharing.
Whitney
This is similar to the gravy my Mom taught me to make - she was a Southern cook.
One way she would make it is to cook crumbled sausage in the bacon grease to make a combination of sausage/bacon gravy. And she would use 1 can of evaporated milk in place of 1 cup of the milk.
Cassi
Great recipe! It turned out perfectly. I added a little more milk to make it stretch. It worked!
Catherine
I grew up with this gravy being on the breakfast table every Sunday,and I had done the same with my kids, if i make bacon through the week, I always save the grease in a mason jar...so whenever you open my refrigerator youll see my Mason jar of bacon grease, but my label on it states LIQUID GOLD
Eli
This is one of the best Garvey I’ve had for me making
It I haven’t done it too many times because after a while it got so thick like jello not this time it was perfect
And so easy
Thank You for making me a better graveyard
Alicia Taylor
I made this for breakfast and my partner said it was just like our favorite restaurant in the smokey mountains! I couldn't believe I made it.
Karyn Ryan
I absoloutely LOVE this..I am so intrigued by this recipe..in my country biscuits are something we dip in tea lol
Danielle
You have me craving biscuits and gravy now... This recipe looks over the top tasty! I love how you incorporate bacon grease in it, something that's generally tossed down the drain at my house.
Susan P. Hannibal
Hi, I agree that this looks amazing and a great twist on tradition! But your comment about the bacon grease and your drain hitched me. As the wife of a plumber, I mus5 encourage you to never dump a quantity of fat down a drain, unless you WANT to replace you drainpipes or sewer line. When cool weather comes along, all that grease can firm up and it can’t be augered clear. Hope this saves you and others from needing to call my hubs some weekend! 😉
Ginny
I learned how to do biscuits and gravy in the south about a billion years ago 🙂 but never did see bacon gravy. Great idea.
Emma
What an intriguing recipe. They are like no biscuits I've ever seen - as Jac says they look like a savoury scone to me. Also gravy is brown that's more like an onion sauce. Whatever they are the flavours sounds delicious! Would love to give this a try.
JOSEPH DAVILA
It's country gravy which is always lighter. Brown gravy is for turkey and beff
Mac
It is funny, the culture divide.
I live in Dallas Texas, and on the norm. We generally, make a Sausage Gravy with our biscuits. It is very good. And I can tell you unequivocally that they're not COOKIES. I am not yelling at ya, just clarifying. it's also a milky cream gravy, for the brown gravy comment. So, Blokes, Mates and Friends alike, happy tasting. Ya'll have a nice day. Cheers.
Shanika
Oh my! Oh my! That gravy! And with bacon? And on those biscuits? Absolutely amazing! Yum!
Jacqueline Meldrum
I'm still trying to get my head around American biscuits. In the UK they are cookies. Yours look more like what we would call scone though but we serve them with butter and jam for afternoon tea. Such a cultural divide.
Paul
scones are hard unlike biscuits they're soft.
russell holding
uum scones and bacon gravy good Idea.
Becca
American biscuits aren't scones. Try googling for example, Buttermilk Biscuits recipes.
Jessica
This is the best Sunday morning comfort food. Gravy. Gravy. Gravy. Delicious and thank you!
Linda
Oh yum! I am one of those bacon grease fans! Every time I cook bacon I save the grease in a jar in the freezer to take out whenever I need it. So it would seem I have plenty to give this a try tomorrow morning. And I really want to try your breakfast sausage recipe too - sounds divine!