Your best recipe for sausage gravy

[marbel]

Some of my family members want me to make biscuits and gravy.  I found pork sausage in the "about to expire" section in my store yesterday, so it's getting to be time. (The expiring sausage is in the freezer, so it's not an emergency.)  I've made it once before, and liked it, but I don't remember what recipe I used.

Recipes vary, particularly in the use (or not) of chicken broth instead of all milk.

What is your recipe?  I've googled, and of course there are many.  I'm looking for personal recommendations!  

Edited March 23, 2019 by marbel

[fairfarmhand]

I’ve never heard of chicken broth in gravy. I make killer gravy but never measure anything!

[umsami]

So, being Southern, we make this as a treat....but use the rolled turkey sausage.

I don't really measure much....and even though turkey sausage is close to chicken broth, I only use milk and a roux in mine.

I cook the sausage in a little bit of olive oil (as turkey sausage is leaner than pork)....

If I have it, I'll add 1/2 of a finely chopped onion to the mix while cooking....

Then I stir in about 1/4 cup of flour (all purpose).....and cook it for a bit....

Then I slowly add in 2 cups or so of milk.  I usually heat the milk a little in the microwave.  I almost always use 2% or whole milk.  Key is to add a bit at a time...incorporate....a little more.

Then I taste, and add salt, pepper, and sometimes a bit of cayenne pepper if my youngest isn't eating it.

A local restaurant makes a veggie gravy for biscuits using shitake mushrooms and I'm thinking of adding some the next time.  Will brown them well with the onions and turkey sausage.

 

 

[HomeAgain]

There is a disagreement in our house.
I like ours with a roux made from smoked bacon drippings.  It adds a little bit of extra flavor.
The kids prefer when I make the roux with the sausage drippings only.

To both I add milk, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder.  It's pretty basic.  I have never heard of using chicken broth and I think that's just one more thing at 6:30 in the morning that I'd be inclined not to remember.

[mmasc]

Like others, I’ve never heard of chicken broth. I don’t think you can go wrong with just the sausage, flour, milk, and S&P. My directions for cooking are much like umsami’s, but with just the four ingredients I listed. 

Just as an aside, @umsami my autocorrect tried to change ‘umsami’ to ‘insanity’. 😂

[Pawz4me]

I do it the way Umsami does. I've never heard of using chicken broth to make sausage gravy! Being a lifelong southerner that sounds a bit heretical to me . . . 

[Tap]

My family is Southern so that is where my cooking style is rooted. I don't have a recipe but I am sure there is one with ratios online. I simply brown the sausage being careful to not let the pan burn at all. I pull out the sausage (set in a bowl) and use the grease in the pan plus some butter if needed to get a good bit of fat. I add flour to the fat in the pan and make a roux. I like to have my roux cooked long enough to start to slight change color. I don't like it when the flour doesn't cook long enough and makes the gravy pasty flavored.  I add milk and use a whisk to stir like crazy to make it as smooth as possible. I often warm my milk first, but sometimes I don't. I know some people like to slowly add the milk, but I tend to dump it all at once and stir it in quickly. Once the gravy is done, I add back in the sausage. I find it easier to manage making the gravy without the sausage in the way.  I just use salt and pepper to season. 

Now I want biscuits and gravy. Boo Hoo Hoo. 😞 My stove is broke so no gravy for me. LOL

My favorite sausage in gravy is the spicy Jimmy Dean. Otherwise, we just use the regular JD.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Tap

[Kidlit]

Ditto what everyone else said about chicken broth. 🤔. Interesting!

I use about a quarter cup of flour in the pan drippings, stirring around to cook it a bit.  Add about 1-1.5 cups of milk, stirring with a fork or whisking constant.  Add a bit more milk as needed.  Salt and pepper generously. 

I’m sure there’s a recipe somewhere, but that’s how this Alabama girl does it. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by hopeistheword
You want to stir/whisk both constantly and consistently, buy comstantly makes more sense

[math teacher]

I make sausage gravy like everyone else who has replied-Jimmy Dean sausage preferred.

I have an aunt who added chicken bouillon base to the roux. Dh and I did not care for the flavor. Just our opinion, but chicken flavor does not belong in there.

[Farrar]

Like everyone is saying, I make a roux. From there, you add either broth or milk or some of both. No recipe. You just keep whisking until it's the consistency you want. Obviously, traditional sausage gravy is with milk. But the idea that roux + liquid = gravy is just how all gravies work (unless you're using a mix). Like, surely you guys make turkey or chicken gravy this way as well, right? Roux, plus chicken or turkey stock and maybe some herbs. Or gravy for pork. Same deal. I usually use whatever stock is on hand for this sort of thing.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Farrar

[Tap]

13 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Like everyone is saying, I make a roux. From there, you add either broth or milk or some of both. No recipe. You just keep whisking until it's the consistency you want. Obviously, traditional sausage gravy is with milk. But the idea that roux + liquid = gravy is just how all gravies work (unless you're using a mix). Like, surely you guys make turkey or chicken gravy this way as well, right? Roux, plus chicken or turkey stock and maybe some herbs. Or gravy for pork. Same deal. I usually use whatever stock is on hand for this sort of thing.

For broth gravy, I use corn starch to thicken (not a roux). 😀

[Farrar]

10 minutes ago, Tap said:

For broth gravy, I use corn starch to thicken (not a roux). 😀

Ah. I only ever use cornstarch to thicken stir fry and other Asian style sauces. My mother would not approve if I used it in a gravy of any kind!

[marbel]

Thanks all.  It's really all about the proportions.  Since I have little experience with it, that's the hard part.  I'm probably not going to make it so often that I master it., lol.

My husband (the southerner in the family) suggests trying it with broth, but maybe a lower proportion than recipes are calling for.  Like, half a cup rather than a cup.  A comment on one recipe I read said that they use broth to lighten it a little.  I think the right amount could add a little depth of flavor but not any actual chicken flavor.   But I don't actually know anything about gravy. I don't make regular gravy either.   For Thanksgiving I buy Trader Joe's.  I can cook a lot of things, but gravy is not something i've ever mastered.  

 

[Farrar]

Honestly, I think if you're seeing a recipe that gives a very specific proportion, it's misleading you to some extent. A good recipe will have an estimate and have you add the liquid slowly until it's the desired thickness. If you add it all at once, it's likely to be too thin or clumpy or take forever.

[marbel]

32 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Honestly, I think if you're seeing a recipe that gives a very specific proportion, it's misleading you to some extent. A good recipe will have an estimate and have you add the liquid slowly until it's the desired thickness. If you add it all at once, it's likely to be too thin or clumpy or take forever.

True.  I've looked at too many today (I tend to take things like this on as a quest) but it seems most give a range, or say something like "if it's too thick, add more liquid; if it's too thin, cook it down some" or similar.   I know it's not rocket science and it's not an exact thing.  And I like reading about what people do.  

I am not asking my southern mother-in-law. She would probably just comment on how fattening it is.   Like, yeah, you think I don't know that?  :-)

 

[theelfqueen]

Brown your sausage and pepper it. Add flour to the same pan Until the flour stops absorbing. Add milk slowly with regular stirring  until the gravy is a little thinner than you want it (it will thicken when you take it off the heat). A little seasoning salt and cayenne to taste.  The flour flavor should cook out pretty quickly. 

 

[LucyStoner]

1 hour ago, theelfqueen said:

Brown your sausage and pepper it. Add flour to the same pan Until the flour stops absorbing. Add milk slowly with regular stirring  until the gravy is a little thinner than you want it (it will thicken when you take it off the heat). A little seasoning salt and cayenne to taste.  The flour flavor should cook out pretty quickly. 

 

 

This is what I came here to say.  I don’t make a separate roux for milk gravy.  Just cook up the sausage and add flour, then milk and seasoning. It’s perfect every time.  

Ixnay the broth.  

 

[Rachel]

I did not grow up eating biscuits and gravy but my husband did. My MIL does it all by feel, but when she was teaching me, we measured everything and I wrote it down. Now 20 years later I don’t have to use a recipe but I still always glance at if for approximate measurements. 

For 1/2 pound ground sausage (I prefer Jimmy Deans Hot, my husband prefers Sage):

Brown sausage over medium to medium high heat. Then add approximately 2 round Tbsp flour to the pan and continue to cook until flour is light brown. Slowly stir in about 2 cups milk, continue cooking over medium heat until the right consistency. 

I have found 2% or whole milk works best and I like to have it at room temp before adding it. I keep the gravy just below boiling while it thickens. We season with pepper after the gravy has thickened. 

Good luck!

[Tap]

4 hours ago, Farrar said:

Ah. I only ever use cornstarch to thicken stir fry and other Asian style sauces. My mother would not approve if I used it in a gravy of any kind!

LOL. If you ever want to try (just tell tell your mom on me 🙂 ).... One of my favorite gravy is made by caramelizing sweet onions (or yellow if that is all I have) in a stainless steel pan with the smallest amount of oil I can use to keep them from burning. Then I add chicken, turkey or beef broth and simmer for a few minutes. I strain out the onions and then use cornstarch to thicken. The caramelized onions flavor in the light flavored broth is wonderful!  I use salt and pepper for all broths except turkey and then I add a tiny amount of powdered stuffing spices too. (I don't like bits of leaf in my gravy).

Edited March 23, 2019 by Tap