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Sausage Biscuits and Gravy

Scratch-made buttermilk biscuits and a single-skillet peppery sausage gravy make a classic breakfast that is both flaky, rich, and deeply comforting.

Flaky split biscuits are covered with pepper-flecked sausage gravy and served with a fried egg.

This is the familiar breakfast plate built entirely from pantry and refrigerator staples: tender, layered biscuits with a peppery sausage gravy that comes together in the skillet where the sausage browned. The key is not rushing either half of the recipe.

Keep the biscuit ingredients cold and handle the dough lightly, then give the flour in the gravy a full two minutes in the rendered sausage fat. Those small pauses create flaky layers and a gravy that tastes savory rather than pasty.

Keep the biscuit dough cold

Cold butter is what creates pockets of steam in the oven, separating the dough into tender layers. Mix only to a shaggy mass and use quick folds instead of kneading; a few rough seams are exactly what you want before cutting the rounds.

Cut straight down

Press the cutter straight through the folded dough and lift it away without twisting. Twisting seals the layered edges, while a clean cut gives the biscuits room to rise tall and pull apart once baked.

A whisk stirs milk into browned sausage crumbles in a skillet to form creamy gravy. — Browned sausage and its rendered fat form the savory base for the skillet gravy.

Cook out the flour

The flour needs direct contact with the hot rendered fat before the milk is added. Stir for the full two minutes, until every trace of dry flour disappears and the skillet smells lightly toasted; this simple step prevents a raw, chalky finish.

Loosen gravy as it stands

A well-made gravy thickens as it cools, especially while biscuits come out of the oven. If it becomes too tight, whisk in a small splash of milk over low heat until it pours easily again, then adjust pepper and salt to taste.

A flaky biscuit's tender layers are visible beneath creamy pepper-speckled sausage gravy. — A split biscuit reveals flaky layers beneath a spoonful of creamy pepper-flecked gravy.

Sausage Biscuits and Gravy

6 breakfast servings

50 minutes total

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 8 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk, plus 1 tbsp for brushing
• 1 lb breakfast sausage
• 3 cups whole milk, plus more as needed
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 6 fried eggs, optional for serving

Method

Heat the oven
Set a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment so the biscuit bottoms brown evenly without sticking.
Look for: The oven is fully preheated and the baking sheet is ready.
Mix the biscuit dry ingredients
Whisk 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Work in the cold butter with fingertips or a pastry cutter until pea-size pieces remain.
Look for: The flour looks sandy with visible pea-size pieces of cold butter.
Fold and cut the biscuits
Pour in 1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk and fold just until a shaggy dough forms. Pat it into a 1-inch-thick rectangle, fold it in thirds twice, then cut six rounds without twisting the cutter.
Look for: The dough holds together but still shows rough seams; visible butter pieces remain cold.
Bake the biscuits
Set the rounds close together on the prepared sheet, brush their tops with the remaining 1 tbsp buttermilk, and bake at 425 F until risen and deeply golden, 14 to 16 minutes.
Look for: The biscuits are tall, golden on top, and separate into flaky layers at the sides.
Brown the sausage
While the biscuits bake, cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it into small crumbles, until browned with no pink remaining and fat has rendered into the pan.
Look for: The sausage crumbles are browned throughout and a glossy layer of rendered fat coats the skillet.
Cook the roux
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup flour over the sausage and rendered fat, then stir constantly over medium-low heat for 2 minutes until the flour is absorbed and smells lightly toasted rather than raw.
Look for: No dry flour remains, and the mixture smells nutty and cooked rather than pasty.
Whisk the gravy smooth
Gradually whisk in the 3 cups whole milk, plus more as needed, scraping the skillet bottom, then add the remaining 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper. Bring it to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring often, until thick enough to coat a spoon.
Look for: The gravy bubbles lazily, has no floury lumps, and leaves a clear trail when a spoon crosses the skillet.
Split and serve
Split the warm biscuits and ladle the peppery sausage gravy over them. If the gravy thickens while standing, whisk in a splash of milk over low heat; serve with optional fried eggs.
Look for: The gravy flows over the biscuit halves but remains thick enough to hold the sausage crumbles.