Biscuits and Gravy, My Way!
Originally Posted December 30, 2013. Updated 12/15/2020.
The idea of white gravy is kind of off-putting to me. So, my recipe for biscuits and gravy involves a roux-based gravy, for a ton of flavour!
Biscuits and Gravy
Shortly after I moved to the US, I heard of "biscuits and gravy" for the first time. I have no idea if we have it back home or not, but it was the first time I'd ever been exposed to it.
We were watching TV, and whatever show we were watching was demonstrating it.
The cook lobbed a big chunk of shortening into the pan for making the gravy, and at that point... I think it was the most disgusting breakfast idea I'd ever even heard of.
It didn't even really matter that I later found out that not all biscuit gravy is made like that, the idea of it was gross.
Even without that visual introduction, the idea of anything white being called gravy seemed - and still seems - really OFF to me. Gravy is supposed to be brown!
Well... unless you're Italian, apparently - two of my MasterChef friends schooled me on that one. I digress...
Biscuits and Gravy... MY Way!
So, I recently decided to make biscuits and gravy for my husband. I started out with my Baking Powder Biscuits... but topped them with a proper brown gravy.
In my personal opinion, if you're using flour to thicken anything aside from a delicate white wine sauce, you should make a proper roux.
Usually "the darker the better", too!
Why I Use a Roux for my Sausage Gravy
You see, when it comes to food... browning is flavour. Whether it's a meat, a crust, a cookie... browning your food is adding all kinds of wonderful flavours to it.
Why go with a white gravy, when a brown one takes only a few minutes more? I don't get it.
So, rather than just looking at the flour as a thickening agent alone, I look at it as a way to add flavour.
When you cook the flour and butter together as a roux, it turns into a rich, toasty, almost nutty flavour - it's the best way to start any gravy, really.
Making a Roux
Making a roux is pretty simple: You melt some fat, stir some flour in, and cook it - stirring constantly - until it gets as brown as you’d like it.
Now, most people recommend cooking your roux over medium or lower heat, and it can take a really long time.
If you're just starting out with rouxs, I'd say caution is probably a good idea... but just as an FYI, I usually cook them on high.
As long as you're careful, don't stop stirring, and have your liquid pre-measured and ready to go... I find it pretty low risk.
You may find that you need more or less milk than called for here, partially out of personal taste (we like it pretty thick, you may not!), and partially because making a roux isn't really an exact science, when it comes to thickening.
As flour cooks and darkens, it loses some of its thickening power.
When you first mix the butter and flour together, it will thicken a LOT more liquid than a similar amount of a really dark brown roux.
Play around with it, and see where your preferences take you!
More Breakfast and Brunch Recipes
Looking for more ideas to jazz up your breakfast experience! Here are a few more recipes for you:
Ambrosia Belgian Waffles
Apple Cinnamon Buns
Baking Powder Biscuits
Breakfast Bagel Strata
Breakfast Pizza
Chai Cinnamon Rolls
Deluxe Pizza Strata
Easy Banana Bread
Easy Cheese Souffle
Fig, Honey, and Goat Cheese Strudel
Ham, Swiss, and Kale Strata
How to Make Peameal and Back Bacon
Maple Walnut Spiced Pumpkin Buns
Smoked Gouda and Chive Scones
Rosemary Peach Balsamic Scones
Strawberry Orange Rolls
The BEST Hash Browns Recipe
Looking for even quicker options? Check out my Muffin Recipes, too! There are also some fantastic Bagel Recipes on this blog...
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!
Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.
Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Biscuits and Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Baking Powder Biscuits
- 12 oz Sausage of Choice *
- 4 Bbsp Butter
- 4 Tbsp Flour White Rice or Light Buckwheat works, for Gluten Free
- 1 ½ Cups Milk
- Salt and Pepper To Taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven for biscuits. While it’s heating up, brown the sausage in a fry pan. Remove sausage from pan, set aside.
- Put biscuits in the oven, make the gravy:
- Melt butter in that same frying pan. Stir in flour until smooth. Cook over medium or medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it’s as brown as you want it.
- Slowly add in about half of the milk, stirring until smooth. Add the rest of the milk, stirring once again until smooth.
- Add in the cooked sausage, stir well and bring up to a simmer – the gravy will thicken as it simmers. Add a little more milk if the gravy is too thick for your tastes, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Keep gravy warm until biscuits come out of the oven. Split warm biscuits in half, smother with gravy.
- Enjoy!
This is the most out of touch garbage I've ever read. It reads like a hollywood heroin filled self indulgence. To write a piece like this and proclaiming to define gravy. Everyone in the US needs to know that the spoiled brat who wrote this is the be all and say all of gravy. Ignore the fact that county gravy has been around for hundreds of years. This thing states that all gravy is brown (except italian of course). There are many gravies in this world. Just because you watched one way of making county gravy you base all recipes upon that. And to think you are such a god inside the kitchen that your brown garbage is the way county biscuits and gravy should be served speaks volumes of how terrible our culture is becoming. Here is some information for you. A roux requires two things, fat and flour. Maybe you need to make a trip to the south and stay in the most posh hotel you can find. Next head on down to any reputable restaurant in the area and by reputable I mean a restaurant that serves everyone not just golden spoon brats such as yourself. Then ask if they can show you how to make county gravy. Then eat it before you decide what is the best way to make county gravy. If you want to sit in your apartment and watch some videos without even trying a real recipe then don't open your over privileged mouth.
Country gravy is not brown gravy and people have eaten it long before you became God of your mind you ignorant troglodyte.
Oh boy. Where to even start with this one?
First off, I'm sorry that you were so triggered by my recipe. If people posting their own tweaks to suit their tastes is so stressful for you, maybe there are some cute baby animals on Youtube that would be better suited for your blood pressure?
I have no idea where you're getting "Hollywood heroin filled self indulgence" over "This is the way I do it, to suit my own tastes", but... wow.
You spent an awful lot of words to tell me off for getting "county" gravy wrong, yet somehow you seem to miss the fact that what you're telling me off about is "Country" gravy. There's an r in there, sweetie, and even I - as a Canadian - know this.
Yes, Canadian. I'm not indicative of anything at all to do with your culture or how terrible it is becoming. Amazingly, there are more people than Americans on this planet, and I am one of them. Ironic, isn't it, that you tell me of "different gravies around the world", yet are too myopic to notice the fact that I am, in fact, not an American. Not only is fact all over this blog, it's mentioned right here in this post!
I suppose I should give you a pass on that, as you've made it quite clear that you didn't actually read the post, in your haste to defend county [sic] gravy. You claim that I watched one way and base all recipes upon that (???), yet - assuming you meant to say that I extrapolated that all recipes are that way, based on a single video - you apparently missed the very next line where I specifically mentioned having learned that there were different ways it was made.
As my favourite posters as a kid implored ... READ!
I have no idea why you've come to the conclusion that "Biscuits and Gravy ... My Way" is a direct translation to "This is how you must make biscuits and gravy, because I am the *checks notes* "god" of such things", but seriously... calm your tits.
Yikes.
LMAO @ triggered Country Joe up there. OMG YOU DON'T LIKE WHAT I LIKE HOW DARE!!!1!
Holy crap, "Angry Country Gravy" guy, you need to get back on your meds quick!
I guess you missed the whole "my way" part of the title? Biscuits and sausage gravy is not a thing outside of the US, the author is not alone in finding the colour off putting and unappetizing, what's wrong with tweaking a recipe to suit your tastes? It is done the world over to all types of international cuisine, do you think American dishes are exempt form this practice?