This Pioneer Woman sausage gravy is a peppery milk gravy with browned breakfast sausage in every spoonful. The sausage cooks first, then the flour and milk go into the same skillet. Spoon it over warm biscuits while it’s loose enough to settle around the edges.
Get the biscuits ready first
Have the biscuits baking or warming while you cook the gravy. Once the gravy is ready, it thickens as it stands, so it helps to have the plates ready too. The recipe card’s 25-minute estimate is for the gravy; allow separate time for preparing your biscuits.
- Use a large, heavy skillet. A deep 12-inch skillet gives the sausage room to brown and leaves space for stirring in the milk.
- Choose a spoon or flat spatula. You’ll need to break up the sausage and stir along the bottom and corners of the pan.
- Measure before cooking. Keep the flour and first 3 cups of milk nearby so you can add them without leaving the pan unattended.
Choosing the sausage and milk
Breakfast sausage: Loose pork breakfast sausage gives this gravy its base flavor. Mild or hot both work. Break it into small, uneven crumbles as it cooks so the finished gravy has pieces that are easy to spoon over a biscuit.
Whole milk: Use whole milk for the creamy texture in this recipe. Begin with the smaller amount listed. Adding all 4 cups at once means more liquid to cook down, while starting with 3 lets you judge the thickness as it develops.
All-purpose flour: Sprinkle it over the cooked sausage in two additions, stirring between them. The flour should pick up the rendered fat and coat the meat. Cook it briefly before the milk goes in, until the dry white patches disappear.
Seasoned salt and pepper: Two teaspoons of freshly ground pepper make this a distinctly peppery gravy. The sausage already brings seasoning, so taste after adding the measured seasoned salt before deciding whether it needs any more.
Cook it in three stages
Brown the sausage. Let it cook through, breaking apart larger clumps as you go. Keep the rendered fat in the skillet because it helps the flour blend into the gravy. Very lean sausage behaves differently, so use regular pork breakfast sausage for the recipe as written.
Coat it with flour. Turn the heat down before adding the flour. Stir it through the meat and give it about a minute to cook. It should look lightly coated and a little drier, without loose flour sitting on the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the milk. Add it gradually, stirring along the pan bottom as you pour. The mixture will look thin at first. Keep it at a gentle simmer and stir often as it thickens, especially around the edges where it can catch.
Watch the texture as it simmers
Allow about 10–12 minutes after adding the milk for the gravy to thicken. Use that time as a guide, since the width of your skillet and the heat of your burner affect how quickly liquid cooks away. Lower the heat if it starts bubbling hard.
The finished gravy should coat a spoon but still fall from it easily. A thick trail left by stirring should slowly fill back in. Take the skillet off the heat while the gravy is still pourable; it will firm up a little more on the plate.
A few simple fixes
Too thick: Stir in a small splash of milk, then check again. Add it in small amounts so you keep control of the texture. This also helps if the gravy tightens while you’re getting the biscuits onto the plates.
Too thin: Give it a little more time at a gentle simmer, stirring often. Check that you’ve allowed the flour time to thicken the milk before adding anything else. Sprinkling dry flour straight into the liquid can leave lumps.
Small flour lumps: Press them against the side of the skillet with the spoon while stirring. For the next batch, make sure the flour is fully mixed through the sausage before adding the milk, then pour slowly at the start.
Serving the gravy
This batch makes about 12 smaller biscuit-topping portions, with fewer servings if you spoon it generously. Warm biscuits are the simple choice. Add the gravy just before eating so it doesn’t sit on the bread while you finish the rest of breakfast.
For another sausage breakfast, try Sausage Hashbrown Casserole. If you want to assemble breakfast ahead of time, there’s also Make-Ahead Sausage Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole.
Pioneer Woman Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 pound breakfast sausage hot or mild
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 to 4 cups whole milk start with 3 cups; add the rest as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste
- Warm biscuits for serving
Instructions
- Cook the breakfast sausage in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it into small crumbles. Cook until browned and cooked through, about 6–8 minutes. Keep the rendered sausage fat in the skillet.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Sprinkle half the flour over the sausage and stir until coated. Add the remaining flour and stir again. Cook for about 1 minute, until no loose white flour remains.
- Slowly stir in 3 cups of whole milk, stirring along the bottom and corners of the skillet. Keep stirring until the flour is mixed into the milk. The gravy will be thin at this stage.
- Bring the gravy to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 10–12 minutes, stirring often, until it coats a spoon but still pours easily. Lower the heat if it bubbles hard. Add some of the remaining milk if it becomes too thick.
- Stir in the seasoned salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste before adding any extra seasoning. Adjust the consistency with a small splash of milk if needed, then remove the skillet from the heat.
- Spoon the warm sausage gravy over warm biscuits and serve promptly. The gravy thickens as it stands, so keep it a little loose before spooning it onto the biscuits.
