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This is my classic, old-fashioned homemadesausage gravyrecipe (also often known as “sawmill gravy”)! Just 4 ingredients and 15 minutes and you can have this classic breakfast staple on your table. Pairs perfectly with my 5-star foolproof homemade biscuits!
The Best Sausage Gravy Recipe
When the chilly weather starts to roll around, the first thing I do around here is break out my sausage gravy recipe.
That’s not entirely true, I have it more-than memorized by now, but the skillet comes out, the biscuits go in the oven, and we start getting serious about comfort food. Sweater weather means homemade sausage gravy and biscuits and buttermilk pancakes for breakfast and my best chili recipe and potato soup on weekly dinner rotation.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Super simple to make — beginners & experts will enjoy this recipe, and find equal success with it!
- Ready in under 15 minutes
- It’s a satisfying, filling, and hearty breakfast gravy
- Full of authentic flavor; you won’t find a sausage gravy this tasty on any shelf or even your favorite breakfast spot.
🧂 Ingredients You’ll Need 🧂
Simple ingredients, spectacular results. Here’s what you need for my homemade sausage gravy recipe:
- Sausage. Search for pork breakfast sausage, which is typically sold in a log as shown above. If you can find a sage variety, grab it, it will make your gravy even more flavorful.
- Flour. Use all-purpose flour for this recipe, it serves as the thickener that keeps the gravy from becoming too loose/watery. Some readers have reported success using a 1:1 gluten free flour in place of wheat flour, but I have not personally tried this myself yet.
- Milk. Whole milk is best for the proper consistency. Using a lower-fat milk will result in a thinner sausage gravy.
- Seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste, and, if you’d like, just a pinch of crushed red pepper. If the flavor of the gravy tastes anything less than amazing once it’s finished cooking, you most likely just need a few more shakes of salt!
This is just an overview of the ingredients we’re using today. For the full list of amounts and all recipe details, please scroll down to the printable recipe.
How to Make It
- Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium/high heat, crumbling with a spoon or spatula as you cook.
- Cook until the sausage is thoroughly browned and well broken up. No need to drain the meat!
- Sprinkle flour over the sausage and stir until the flour is absorbed, then cook a few seconds longer!
- While stirring, slowly drizzle in the milk and cook until it’s absorbed. Add crushed red pepper, if using. Let the mixture thicken (stir occasionally) and add salt and pepper to taste!
SAM’S TIP: Use your spoon, spatula or even a whisk to break up any flour clumps after adding to your sausage but before you add the milk. This will keep you from having any flour lumps in your breakfast gravy!
The technique is simple and I have no doubt you’ll find success with this sausage gravy recipe (hundreds already have!), but if you’re more of a visual learner, be sure to check out my how-to video tutorial in the recipe card!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make sausage gravy the night before?
Yes, this recipe is a great make-ahead breakfast option! Keep refrigerated in an airtight container and simply reheat in a skillet over medium-low heat the next morning. The gravy will have thickened quite a bit overnight, so add a splash of milk and stir well when you first add it to the skillet and cook until the gravy is heated through.
How can I make my sausage gravy thicker?
My sausage gravy recipe is thickened by the flour that the recipe calls for. When you first add the milk, it will likely seem very runny, but as you continue to cook the mixture, the gravy will thicken. If you like an even thicker gravy than seen here in photos, don’t add more flour, just continue to cook until your desired consistency is reached. As the milk cooks out, it will become thicker!
What is the difference between country gravy and sausage gravy?
The primary difference is that country gravy is typically prepared without meat (quite unlike today’s recipe)! The base is usually built on a base of butter rather than sausage grease. While it’s certainly tasty when done right, it simply doesn’t smother biscuits quite as satisfyingly, if you ask me (though I’d say they both fall slightly short of chocolate gravy 😉!).
Warm, hearty, and just simply delicious, I hope this homemade sausage gravy recipe will be a new staple in your household cold-weather breakfast rotation. If you try it, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Enjoy!
Let’s cook together!I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe andvideobelow! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me onInstagram, and you can also find me onYouTube!
Homemade Sausage Gravy Recipe
An old-fashioned homemadesausage gravyrecipe, this one is flavorful and foolproof. Serve over my award-winning (and easy!) biscuit recipe.
Recipe includes a how-to video!
5 from 110 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 340kcal
Author: Sam Merritt
Ingredients
- 1 lb (455 g) pork breakfast sausage I recommend using sage flavored
- ¼ cup (31 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
- 2 ½ cups (590 ml) whole milk
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
Place sausage in a skillet over medium/high heat.
1 lb (455 g) pork breakfast sausage
Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up and crumble sausage as it cooks, cooking until completely browned and no pink remains. Do not drain your skillet.
Sprinkle flour evenly over the sausage crumbles. Stir frequently until flour is absorbed (about 1 minute).
¼ cup (31 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
Slowly drizzle the milk into your skillet, stirring as you pour. Add crushed red pepper, if using.
2 ½ cups (590 ml) whole milk, ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Continue to cook, stirring frequently until mixture is thickened and desired consistency is reached.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve warm over homemade biscuits!
salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Notes
Storing/Making in Advance
Sausage gravy can be made the night before you plan to serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, add to a skillet over medium/low heat. Gravy will likely be thickened, so add a splash of milk to it and stir well until mixture is heated through.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving (⅙ of total gravy) | Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 621mg | Potassium: 174mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 250IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 1.6mg
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!
More Great Recipes to Try
- Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole Recipe
- French Toast Casserole
- The Best Sloppy Joe Recipe
- How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
I originally published my sausage gravy recipe in October of 2018. The recipe remains unchanged, but I’ve since updated the post to be more informative and helpful.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Bernadette
whenever i went out to breakfast my go to treat was sausage gravy and biscuits. Some were good, some tasted out of a can. This recipe blows away all of these. It is so darn simple to make. I no longer order this if I go to breakfast since I now make it at home and it is so much better. Cant understand now why restaurants would ever used canned.Reply
Heather
Needed a quick idea for dinner and this sounded amazing. This was the first recipe that showed up. It was simple and delicious. My girls even helped me put it all together (4 and 11).
Thank you for a family friendly dinner!Reply
Gabe
nice job, that’s just how we always made itReply
Michelle
This is such a great recipe!!!!
So glad I stumbled across it.
I don’t use sage sausage. Just the regular, but with the red pepper flakes and pepper it’s perfect!!!!!!Reply
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you like it, Michelle! Thanks for coming back to leave a review–we really appreciate it 🥰
Reply
Victoria
YUMMMMM…made this morning, so full we can’t move! SUPER DELICIOUS
skipped the red pepper, but served atop fried potatoes with a fried egg crown!Reply
Christina
Can this be frozen once prepared? I’m the only one of us that eats it, and I would love to have some made up to enjoy throughout the colder months.
Reply
Sam
Hi Christina! I think that will work just fine. I would let it cool completely before freezing. When you want to use it, it is best to let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat on the stovetop. 🙂
Reply
Gigi
I have frozen it before in a food saver bag and reheated in a water bath. It was perfect, fyi.
Sam
Thank you so much for the feedback! 🙂
Ginger McElrath
Yes you can freeze it. I do it all the time.make sure you mark it though.Reply
Owen
So quick and easy AND still delicious!!!! I served it with fries (frozen) cooked in the air fryer then a few hefty dashes of Frank’s Red Hot sauce (I did not have pepper flakes).
Looking forward to trying with potatoes (baked, mashed, scalloped), pasta (any kind), tater tots, hamburger patty, or as new version of lasagna.
Thank you for the great recipe!Reply
Caleb
Loved this. I prefer a bit of a thinner gravy so I added an extra ~3/4 cup of milk. I also finished it with some garlic compound butter to smooth it out, highly recommend!Reply
Mirjam van Wijk
Heerlijk gerecht! De biscuits waren kruimelig maar zeer goed op smaak. Ik heb wat gehaktkruiden en nootmuskaat toegevoegd. Dank voor het delen van deze recepten.Reply
Barb
Quick and so good! I used hot sausage for added flavor.Reply
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Barb! Thank you so much for trying my recipe!
Reply
Kyle
I used turkey sausage, and it came out amazing. Excellent recipe. Thank you!Reply
Ann
I did not grow up eating this at all. I had it only once at McDonalds lol. I just made this due to how easy it seemed and OMG, not only is it quick and easy, IT IS SO GOOD. Thank you so much for sharingReply
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Ann! 🙂
Reply
Cara
I’m a Northerner, but living in the South over 15 years. I made my first sausage gravy this morning – you made me look like a pro! 😂 Chili pepper flakes were perfect – loved the spicy kick, which made it different from other bland versions I’ve tried in restaurants. Yummm 😋Reply
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Cara! 🙂
Reply
marty
Great spice it up or not,good either way.
Reply
Shaheen
Thanks for this Craving a hearty breakfast!Reply
Christy Wood
I made this gravy. It was easy and absolutely delicious!! I only needed a half tsp of salt and half tsp of pepper. I will be saving this as my go to recipe.Reply
Anna
I do this recipe but with White Pepper when adding the milk, and a little black better on top when it’s done. Sooooo yummy!!!!Reply
Sam
Sounds delicious! Thank you for trying my recipe, Anna!
Reply
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