Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Warm split biscuits under a peppery pan gravy built from the sausage fat left behind — the diner breakfast that needs a fork.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Written
Method
-
Whisk the 2 cups flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt together in a large bowl.
-
Cut the cold butter into the flour with your fingers until the largest pieces are pea-sized and the mixture looks sandy.
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Pour in the buttermilk and fold just until a shaggy dough holds together.
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Turn the dough onto a floured counter, pat it into a 1-inch-thick round, and cut into 8 biscuits, setting them on a parchment-lined sheet with their sides touching.
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Bake at 425°F until the tops are deep gold and the sides have risen tall, 15 to 18 minutes.
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While the biscuits bake, crumble the sausage into a cold skillet and cook over medium heat, breaking it up, until browned and no pink remains, about 8 minutes.
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Sprinkle the ¼ cup flour over the sausage and stir constantly for 2 minutes, until it coats everything like wet sand and smells toasted.
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Pour in the milk in a slow stream, whisking to work out any lumps, and bring to a simmer.
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Cook, stirring often, until the gravy coats the back of a spoon and holds a trail when you drag a finger through it, 5 to 7 minutes.
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Stir in the black pepper and season with salt to taste.
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Split the biscuits and ladle the gravy over the warm halves.
Notes
The gravy’s whole texture depends on that 2 minutes of stirring flour into the sausage fat before any liquid goes in — skip it and the gravy tastes like wet flour no matter how long it simmers afterward. Add the milk slowly and keep whisking; dumping it in all at once is the fastest way to a lumpy pot.
Regular pork breakfast sausage works best for the fat it renders, but hot Italian sausage makes a sharper, spicier version if that’s what’s on hand. Leftover gravy keeps in the fridge for a couple of days and reheats fine with a splash of milk whisked back in.