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This homemade Sausage Gravy is made from scratch and starts with ground pork and seasonings. The flavorful breakfast sausage is then turned into a delicious creamy gravy. This flavorful white gravy is the best comfort food when smothered over homemade buttermilk biscuits!
This recipe has been viewed well over 2 million times. You can see from the 100+ comments why so many people say it is the best sausage gravy recipe they’ve ever made!
Why I love this recipe
- Restaurant quality – only better! Not all sausage gravy is the same. I have frequently ordered biscuits and gravy at restaurants only to be disappointed.
- Quick and easy to make. Only a few basic ingredients are needed to make this homemade sausage gravy recipe.
- Made with homemade breakfast sausage. You can certainly pick up some pre-made sausage from the butcher shop or grocery store, but it is so easy to make with ground pork mixed with just the right seasonings.
Ingredients needed
The exact quantities are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a quick summary.
- breakfast sausage
- butter
- all purpose flour
- whole milk
How to make sausage gravy
Step 1: Prepare the sausage
If you are making your own homemade breakfast sausage, you’ll need to mix together the ingredients. Combine the ground pork with sage, salt, brown sugar, black pepper, red pepper flakes, marjoram, and cloves.
Step 2: Cook the breakfast sausage
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage. Break up any large pieces and continue cooking until the sausage is sufficiently browned.
Cooking Tip
Any time you’re cooking ground pork (or ground beef for that matter), make life easier by using this inexpensive kitchen tool!
Step 3: Add butter to the sausage
When I make my homemade breakfast sausage, there is never a significant amount of residual sausage grease or rendered fat, so I add butter. If you have excess grease, you can skip this step.
Step 4: Add flour
Sprinkle about four tablespoons of flour over the cooked sausage, give it a stir and let the flour cook for a few minutes. This will allow the flour to absorb some of the fat and turn golden brown to create a wonderful roux to thicken the white sausage gravy.
Step 5: Add milk to create gravy
Pour the milk over the sausage mixture and stir well to combine. Reduce the heat, and continue stirring with a flat-bottomed wooden spoon over medium heat until the gravy thickens.
Recipe variations and substitutions
- For a little kick, make this recipe with spicy pork sausage. To make spicy sausage, you can increase the red pepper flakes, or add some cayenne pepper.
- Use fresh herbs instead of dried ones. If using fresh, be sure to mince them very small and double the amount of dried ground spices you would use. Breakfast sausage tastes especially amazing with fresh sage.
- Spicy or mild Italian sausage will work in place of the breakfast sausage. It will create a different flavor from traditional country sausage gravy though.
- Turkey sausage can be used in place of pork.
- Leftover or stored bacon grease can be used in place of the butter.
- Do not substitute the butter with margarine.
- I highly recommend using whole milk for a richer flavor, however skim milk or lowfat milk can be used. I do not recommend using heavy cream.
Storage and reheating
- Doubtful you’ll have any leftovers, but if you do, the sausage gravy can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The gravy should be consumed within 3-5 days.
- I recommend reheating leftover Southern sausage gravy in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Any kind of cream sauce or gravy should always be reheated low and slow.
- If you want to make this gravy ahead of time, you can just reheat it when you are ready to serve. This works great if you’re planning on making a classic Southern breakfast for a special occasion. Pro tip: for best results, let the gravy come to room temperature before reheating.
- Leftover sausage gravy can also be frozen. To freeze, store leftover gravy in a freezer bag and squeeze all the air out before placing it in the freezer. Allow the gravy to thaw completely in the refrigerator before reheating.
Recipe Tips for the best results
- You can buy seasoned breakfast sausage in bulk without any casing from most meat departments, however, I prefer to start with plain ground pork and make my own sage breakfast sausage. You can also use sausage links and remove them from the casings.
- Make sure to use a good pan that will brown the meat nicely. I always cook my sausage gravy in my favorite Staub dutch oven.
- Keep it warm: You’ll want to serve the gravy hot. Because it’s a milk-based gravy with a fair amount of fat, it will get thicker as it cools. To keep it warm, just keep it hot over low heat on the stove until ready to serve. If it still seems too thick, the best way to thin the gravy is to stir in a splash of milk.
Serving suggestions
- Make homemade biscuits and gravy. The best biscuits are my homemade buttermilk biscuits, however, you can use a mix (like Bisquick) to make drop biscuits. You can even buy the kind that comes in a tube.
- Serve this sausage gravy over eggs. It’s especially good over scrambled eggs.
- Top a breakfast casserole with sausage gravy. My family loves my biscuit and gravy casserole, but you can add the warm gravy to any kind of breakfast casserole.
- Serve over potatoes. Whether you make some easy breakfast potatoes, hash browns, or french fries, smother those potatoes with some gravy.
Other great biscuits and gravy recipes
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork breakfast sausage I highly recommend you make your own, recipe link in notes below
- 3 tablespoons butter *may not use all of this if sausage is greasy
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, cook the 1 pound pork breakfast sausage until brown and crumbly.
- When the sausage is done, add the 3 tablespoons butter if there is little to no residual butter in the pan. If there is excess oil for the sausage, you may not need to add butter. Ideally, you want about 3 tablespoons of fat, either from the sausage or from the melted butter.
- Sprinkle sausage with 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, stir, and allow to cook for several minutes until the flour can absorb some of the fat and get golden brown.
- Add the 3 cups whole milk and stir. Continue stirring occasionally over medium heat until gravy thickens, 5-10 minutes.
Notes
- Sausage: You can buy in bulk from the meat counter at the grocery store, you can buy links and remove them from the casing, or you can make your own homemade breakfast sausage from ground pork and seasonings.
- Keep it warm: You’ll want to serve the gravy hot. Because it’s a cream based gravy with a fair amount of fat, it will get thicker as it cools. To keep warm, just heat over low heat on the stove until ready to serve.
- To store: Keep the extra gravy in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Should keep for 3-5 days.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally created in March 2015 and has been updated for your reading pleasure.
I only use this recipe when making biscuits and gravy. The only thing I add is more spices. This is a favorite in our house!
We made biscuits and gravy this year for Christmas morning too! My family’s favorite.
Delicious! I used what I had on hand: Bob Evan’s all natural pork sausage, 3 c 2% milk + 1 c half½ added a couple dashes of onion & garlic powder plus couple dashes of all season salt to taste at the end. One of my pet peeves with restaurant sausage gravy is either too much pepper or too bland; this was perfect!