I adore sausage gravy and biscuits. They’re the ultimate comfort food. The biscuits are a wee bit sweet, and the sausage gravy is a bit spicy and savory and creamy, all at once. I always make mine with an egg, though you can do what you want with yours.
Ingredients for the sausage gravy:
- 1 lb ground sausage meat (Jones or Jimmy Dean work well)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 to 2 cups of milk (regular, cream, or non-dairy is fine)
In a large pan, brown your ground sausage meat over a medium heat. You want it to be thoroughly cooked, but not crispy or burned. Drain off the fat, and reserve it (pro tip: add a lining of tin foil to a bowl and strain your fat into it… after, use what you want by spooning it out, then discard the rest, wrapped up in the foil). Remove the sausage and set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons of the fat back into your pan and add in the onion. Saute over a medium heat until the onion until becomes soft and opaque. Add in the garlic and stir continuously for about 30 seconds to a minute. You want the garlic to be fragrant, but not brown or crisp. Add extra fat if necessary.
Sprinkle the onion mixture with the flour, and stir with a wooden spoon until it’s incorporated and clumpy. If it’s very loose and saucy, you may need a bit more flour. If it’s all white and not mixing into the onion, you may need a bit more fat. The idea is to make a roux.
Lower your heat to just below medium. Pour in your milk very slowly, about a quarter cup at a time, and stir gently and constantly with a wooden spoon. Work on getting rid of any lumps or bits of unincorporated flour to ensure your gravy comes out smooth. Continue to add your milk until the gravy is a good consistency for you. You want to end up with a smooth, fairly thick gravy that is easy to stir and has no lumps.
If your gravy “breaks,” meaning it separates into lumpy bits and oily liquid, you can fix it. Add warm water a tablespoon at a time and whisk vigorously in between. This should allow your gravy to emulsify again, and get creamy. The water must be warm, not hot or cold, for this to work.
Once your gravy is how you like it, add the sausage back in and stir to mix it well. Set aside until your biscuits are done!
Now it’s time to make the biscuits!
Ingredients for the biscuits:
- 2 cups sifted all purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup milk
Preheat your oven to 450F. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture is like coarse cornmeal. Another way to add the butter is to freeze it, then grate it.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour in 2/3 cup of milk all at once. Stir quickly around the bowl with a fork. If it seems too dry, add more milk a tablespoon at a time. You want to form a dough that’s just moist enough (but not wet) to leave the side of the bowl and form a ball.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it. You want to knead it about 10 to 12 times. Don’t over-knead, because you’ll melt the butter!
Gently roll out the dough to make it 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick. Use a floured 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter or glass and cut straight down into the dough. Place each round onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake these for 12 to 15 minutes.
Once everything is made, heat up anything that’s gotten cold. Assemble your meal by cutting a biscuit in half and buttering it. On top of the biscuit, add a healthy dollop of the sausage gravy. On top of that, you may then put an egg. You can fry it (what I usually do because it’s easiest) or poach it (what you should do, because it’s so yummy, but it takes skill), but whatever you do, the yolk should be at least a little runny and the white should be solid.
This makes a great protein heavy dinner, or a big Sunday breakfast. You can double and triple the recipes easily enough if you have a crowd to feed. It comes together pretty quick, and doles out even quicker. I guarantee they’ll be licking their plates.
Notes:
I have made this into a vegan meal. It is not exactly the same, but it still has a similar “comfort meal” feel to it. Simply replace butter with margarine that’s dairy free, milk with oatmilk or another dairy free “milk” of your choice, and the sausage with something like Impossible Savory Sausage. Be sure to let your vegan friends know it’s vegan, because it really does come out looking rather meaty. 😉
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