“Feels like Home” Sausage Gravy

The first question my children would ask me when they got home from school was, of course, “What’s for dinner?” And some answers were met with more enthusiasm than others. For instance, they all ate spaghetti like they really enjoyed it but it never got that great first reaction that makes a mother’s heart swell. The one answer that always, without fail, every time, got the reaction I was looking for was sausage gravy and biscuits.

They would cheer, they would smile, they would do any chore I wanted before dinner without talking back. It was magical what sausage gravy would do. My husband reacted the same way. If I had a task that needed to be done, I would strategically wait until sausage gravy day and ask for it right before dinner.

Everybody was happy when they learned sausage gravy and biscuits was on the menu. I made it for overnight school friends and then gave the recipe to their parents when their kids went home and reported that they needed to make it for breakfast. (To this day, I see those parents and they say they’re still making it routinely.) This is comfort food at its best and for my family, it just feels like home.

My family would say sausage gravy is best served over a biscuit, which may be true, but I love it over eggs, or, when garden tomatoes are in season, it’s wonderful over a salted slice of tomato.

The Sausage Gravy and Biscuit Table

I decided to do this as part of a series, “The Sausage Gravy and Biscuit Table,” because I feel like the side dishes I serve with this meal are so important to the whole experience. Eventually, I’ll post about drop biscuits, as well as fried apples. I also hope to show you how I make my own freezer jams, how I freeze peaches to taste freshly picked and how we make our own grape juice as a perfect breakfast drink with gravy and biscuits. Some of the recipes will come as we are doing them in the summer months, so make sure to sign up for our email now so you don’t miss a thing. Now having said that, there have been many times when we have just eaten gravy and biscuits and that’s just fine too.

Sausage Gravy

Tips on the Ingredients for the Sausage Gravy

I typically use Bob Evans original ground breakfast sausage, but I’ve used many different brands as well as homemade sausage, and they’re all very good. So whatever kind of breakfast sausage you have will work. I use two percent or whole milk for my gravy. You can use skim milk, but you will have to add more flour to thicken it. I would just rather have more milk fat than more flour. That’s just me, but either way will work.

Browning your flour–the key to flavor

Having four daughters and a son who love to make sausage gravy, I have had many phone calls involving troubleshooting. They will say, “It just doesn’t taste quite like yours.” Ultimately, it usually comes down to not browning the flour long enough, or not adding enough pepper.

Getting your gravy to the right thickness

Some people like a thick gravy that sits on top of the biscuit, while others like a gravy that soaks in a little. But no one wants a gravy that is runny. The key is letting your gravy get good and hot and bubbly and simmer for about 5 min. This allows the roux to become activated and do its job of thickening. If you decide the gravy is too thick, add a little milk to thin it out, and use less flour the next time. If it’s too thin, add more flour the next time.

Enjoy!

As I mentioned this gravy is great on so many things. Our family favorite is over a crumbled drop biscuit. But it is also exceptional over a fried egg, fresh garden tomato or mixed with some fried apples. Let us know how yours turns out in the comments below!