Sausage Gravy

Depending on where you are, gravy can mean different things to different people. For many, it's the rich brown sauce served alongside poultry. For certain Italian Americans, it's the word for the tomato sauce that takes half a day to simmer. In this recipe, sausage gravy refers to the thick, white gravy that is most often spooned over one of our favorite weekend breakfasts: biscuits and gravy. While this Southern classic may seem daunting to take on, with my top tips, it couldn’t be easier to master. Here’s everything you need to know.

How To Make Sausage Gravy

INGREDIENTS

• Breakfast Sausage: With its special mix of savory depth, mild heat, and sweet spice warmth, breakfast sausage is an absolute powerhouse of flavor. Look for loose sausage,
• Flour: All-purpose flour serves as the gravy’s thickening agent, transforming the rendered sausage fat into a roux-like base for the rich, velvety sauce.
• Milk: I use whole milk to bring extra richness and creaminess to the gravy. It also adds a sweetness that balances nicely balances the heat and spice notes of the sausage.
• Cayenne: Livens up the gravy with a bit of kick.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Start things off by cooking the sausage. If your breakfast sausage came stuffed into casings, split the casings open and pop out the sausage meat. Place the sausage in a heavy medium skillet, preferably cast iron, and cook over medium heat, breaking it up into pieces with a wooden spoon, until some fat has cooked out and the sausage is no longer pink; this should take somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 to 8 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour evenly over the sausage and stir to coat. Cook, stirring often, for about 1 minute to cook off the raw flour taste. Now let’s turn this into a gravy. While stirring (to prevent lumps), slowly pour in the milk and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, until the gravy is thick, 5 to 7 minutes. If the gravy still isn’t thick enough after 7 minutes, just keep simmering until it reaches your desired thickness. Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste.

This gravy has no higher calling than to be ladled over freshly made biscuits!

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• The best sausage for sausage gravy: Breakfast sausage is my preferred choice for sausage gravy. It is usually sold as loose sausage, but if it comes stuffed into casings, just cut open and remove the casings before cooking. Steer clear of pre-cooked links—you’re looking for raw sausage here. If you can’t find breakfast sausage or are just curious to try a different flavor profile, sweet Italian sausage is a great alternative.
• How to make thick sausage gravy: After your sausage is cooked in the pan, use the rendered fat to brown the flour. You might be used to making a roux with flour and butter—this is essentially the same thing. Stir in milk to loosen the gravy and a pinch of cayenne to offset the richness. Unlike the gravy you’d see on a Thanksgiving table, this sauce is lighter in color and much thicker. Sausage fat takes the place of turkey drippings and milk replaces stock or broth, resulting in a super-thick and luxurious gravy.

Make Ahead & Storage

If you want to make this ahead or if you manage to have leftover gravy, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a saucepan on the stove. If your gravy is thicker than you’d like after reheating, add a bit of milk to loosen it back up.