Cream Biscuits and White Sausage Gravy
Homemade Biscuits and Gravy are the ULTIMATE Southern comfort food breakfast! Fluffy, cream biscuits are simple to make and are topped with a creamy white gravy recipe with sausage. This is the perfect weekend meal that’s ready in less than 45 minutes. Makes 15 biscuits.
Oh, you’re looking for a decadent breakfast to cook for family and friends? Look no further than this recipe, y’all.
These beauties are a Southern breakfast staple and are absolutely delicious, decadent and kind of ridiculous.
And if you’re going to make this dish, please don’t try to cut calories and use low fat sausage, mmkay?
I tried this once upon a time, and it wasn’t a good idea. Everything was bland.
Why I love this recipe:
Homemade Cream Biscuits with White Sausage Gravy is the ultimate Southern breakfast, and I cannot think of a diner in the South that doesn’t carry this classic dish.
Biscuits and gravy remind me of my childhood and visiting these diners. And once I learned how to make them, I realized that they could be even better at home.
My family loves this recipe. So does everyone I’ve served it to.
And honestly, it’s not a surprise, considering these homemade cream biscuits are light, fluffy and utterly delicious.
It’s no surprise that the pepper gravy, studded with ground breakfast sausage, is bursting with flavor, too.
Try not to let your eyes get too big for your stomach when you make these biscuits and white gravy from scratch, though. We’ve experienced a biscuits and gravy haze after eating one too many. 😉
Other breakfast dishes we love: Vegan Coconut Oil Southern-Style Biscuits / Sweet Potato Hash with Fried Egg / Blueberry Biscuits / Mashed Potato Chorizo Breakfast Tacos / Boudin Breakfast Sandwiches / Sweet Breakfast Crepes / Honey Butter Biscuits | Homemade Butter Biscuits
Need breakfast inspiration? Head on over to my Breakfast and Brunch recipe index for ideas!
What are the tools and products I need to make this recipe?
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Let’s talk ingredients!
In addition to the tools above, you’re going to need some ingredients to make this recipe, too! Chances are, you might already have some of them in your fridge or pantry. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full measurements and instructions.
These are the ingredients you’ll need to grab at the store to make cream biscuits with a homemade white gravy.
- All-purpose flour — this serves as the base for our biscuit recipe. I keep unbleached AP flour in the house, but you can use the regular kind, too.
- Kosher salt — a medium-grain kosher salt is my favorite. You can also use sea salt of the same size.
- Baking powder — this is our leavener, and it will rise the biscuits as they bake in the oven. Make sure yours is fresh, and also confirm that you’re not using baking soda because they’re different things.
- Heavy whipping cream — also known as heavy cream, this is going to serve as the liquid in our biscuits, as well as add creaminess to our white gravy recipe.
- Unsalted butter — for both brushing the tops of the baked biscuits and in the gravy recipe, too.
- Breakfast sausage — I recommend using pork breakfast sausage because it has the most fat. Whatever kind you use needs to be the full-fat version, as a lower fat sausage will yield a less flavorful gravy.
- Skim milk — this pairs with the heavy cream in our white sausage gravy recipe to thin it out a bit.
- Black pepper — this will add a bit of flavor and heat to the gravy! I like to use a pepper mill to crack my own and control how large the pepper is, but you do you and use what you’ve got on hand.
- Hot sauce — this is optional and only if you want to add some heat to your sausage gravy.
How to Make Classic Southern Cream Biscuits and Gravy
Make the Cream Biscuits
First and foremost, preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper. This step is super important so your beautiful biscuits don’t stick to the baking sheet.
Next, whisk flour, salt and baking powder together to make a homemade self-rising flour. These are the only ingredients you’ll need, other than cream, for your biscuits. Hooray!
Push the flour mixture against the sides of the bowl to create a well to pour the cream into. Pour the cream into this, and stir it gently, incorporating it into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula.
Mix the ingredients juuuuuust until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Be careful not to overmix, as this will affect its rise in the oven!
If the mixture is too dry? Add additional heavy whipping cream to it incrementally. I suggest by the tablespoon because this ensures that the mixture doesn’t get too wet.
Shape and bake the biscuits
Flour a flat, clean surface in your kitchen. Flour your hands, too, then turn the dough out onto the surface. Sprinkle additional flour to the top of the dough before folding it in half. Using your hands, pat it into a 1/2″ thick round.
Use biscuit cutters or a drinking glass to cut the biscuits. Start at the outside edge of the dough and cut the biscuits close together. Do not twist the cutters, as this will affect the rise of the biscuits.
Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet.
Use the scraps to pull together another round for more biscuits. These will be less fluffy, but they’ll still be delicious.
Transfer the baking sheet into the preheated oven, and bake the biscuits until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and lightly brush with melted butter. Let the biscuits cool for 5-10 minutes on the sheet pan, then serve warm!
How to Make this Homemade White Gravy recipe
As the biscuits bake, make your gravy.
Brown the sausage in a medium-sized saucepan with higher sides. Once cooked, remove from the pan. Leave the grease behind and add butter—this is going to serve as our base for the homemade white gravy.
Once the butter has melted, sprinkle in the flour. Use a wooden spoon to mix it into the fat. This is a roux and will thicken your gravy! Stir it constantly until the mixture browns slightly.
Lower the heat, and whisk in the milk and heavy cream. Cook until thick, and keep an eye on this mixture—you don’t want to scald the dairy products by bringing them to a rolling boil.
Season the gravy with salt and pepper. Add back in the cooked sausage, too.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes, then serve over the homemade biscuits.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is not a low calorie dish, and it doesn’t taste the same if you try to cut out fat. Simply put, using milk in the biscuits or low fat sausage in the gravy will make this dish a sad, flavorless rendition of itself.
The flavors are nowhere near as good, and the recipe will not turn out as intended. (I would know.)
After years of doing it wrong, I have learned that biscuits and gravy are all about moderationu002du002dloading up one biscuit (instead of the original three I was eyeing) with just enough gravy, then savoring those flavors throughout breakfast and not going back for seconds or thirds.
Keep this mindset because nobody wants to be a Biscuits and Gravy zombie after they’ve just eaten half a pan of both… (Trust, y’all.)
Yes! We use a little bit to give the gravy as much flavor as possible.
Eeeeeeeeeh. I’m not 100% sure, to be honest with you. I’d classify this as a sausage or a meaty cream gravy, BUT let’s talk history for a moment.
Sawmill gravy (or saw mill gravy, I’ve seen it spelled both ways) is a traditional gravy made from milk or cream with meat drippings and flour. It originated in logging camps, where cooks fed hundreds of men daily and were always making for hearty food to fuel the lumberjacks. Since they worked at a saw mill, the name is a nod to the workplace.
Saw mill gravy was thickened with cornmeal (instead of flour) and was thick and lumpy. The lumberjacks would say the cooks were using sawdust instead of cornmeal to thicken the gravy, hence the name.
Cream gravy starts with a roux (like this one!) The roux includes both meat drippings and flour before milk is added and thickened. Once the gravy is nice and thick, seasonings (and occasionally meat) are added, too. You might also see it listed as country gravy or white gravy.
If you’re into chicken fried steak, this would be brilliant on it!
You could also serve it on top of Sweet Tea Oven Fried Chicken for some extra flavor, too.
This white gravy recipe is pretty straightforward and includes breakfast sausage (and its pan drippings), flour, milk, heavy cream and black pepper. You can give it a bit of heat by adding some hot sauce, too.
We’re thickening our gravy with a blonde roux, which is a combination of pan drippings, melted butter and all purpose flour. This serves as the base and cooks for a few minutes before we pour in the milk and heavy cream.
Tips and Tricks to making the BEST Southern Biscuits and Gravy
- Have the right tools. This biscuit cutter* (affiliate link) is my favorite to use for biscuits. If you don’t have one, use a drinking glass and a paring knife to cut out the biscuits.
- Bake the biscuits in advance. Toast them in the toaster oven to warm before serving.
- Skip the homemade biscuits and use your favorite freezer or store-bought alternative. If that makes this dish possible for you to make, please do that instead. You can find lots of good buttermilk biscuit options in the store these days.
- Serve the white gravy recipe immediately. If you can’t make it the day of your brunch, it can be reheated in the microwave, but you will need to add milk to thin it out. It thickens when refrigerated.
What are some breakfast and brunch dishes I can pair with this recipe?
- Brunch Salad
- Prosecco Mimosa
- Sage Browned Butter Homemade Home Fries
- Bloody Mary (or a BBQ Bloody Mary or a Bloody Maria)
Interested in taking a walk on the Southern side for breakfast?
Scroll on down to learn how you can make your own…
Cream Biscuits and White Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
Cream Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240g
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream plus ¼ cup reserved
- Unsalted butter for finishing
White Sausage Gravy
- 16 oz. breakfast sausage full fat
- 2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ cups skim milk
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Hot sauce to taste
Equipment
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Instructions
Make the Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together until combined. This is homemade self-rising flour!
- Push the flour mixture up against the sides of the bowl to create a space for the heavy cream to pour into.
- Pour the heavy whipping cream in, and stir with a rubber spatula to pull the flour into the cream. Mix until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl. If the mixture is still dry, add the reserved heavy whipping cream tablespoon by tablespoon until all the flour has been incorporated. You don’t want your dough to be too wet, so it’s important to do this incrementally. Also, try not to overmix your dough.
- Sprinkle a clean, flat surface with flour. Turn the dough out onto the surface and sprinkle with additional flour. Use floured hands to fold the dough in half, then pat into a ½″ thick round. If necessary, sprinkle more flour into the dough because you don't want it to stick to the surface. If using additional flour, fold the dough in half again and reform the round.
- Cut out the biscuits using a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass. Start at the outside edge of the dough round and cut them close together, careful not to twist the cutter.
- Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet.
- Use the scraps to pull together another round for more biscuits. These will be less fluffy, but they’ll still be delicious.
- Transfer the baking sheet into the preheated oven, and bake the biscuits for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and lightly brush with melted butter. Let the biscuits cool for 5-10 minutes on the sheet pan, then serve warm!
Make the Gravy
- While the biscuits are cooking, make your gravy!
- Brown the sausage over medium-high heat in a medium-sized saucepan or skillet.
- Once the sausage has cooked through, remove from the pan while leaving the grease, and add the butter.
- After the butter is melted and combined with the sausage fat, sprinkle in the flour, mixing the fat and flour together to create a roux. Stir constantly until light brown.
- Lower the heat to medium-low, and whisk in the milk and heavy whipping cream. Cook until thickened. (Do this slowly so you don’t scald the dairy products!)
- Season the gravy with black pepper, then add back in the sausage.
- Simmer for 12-15 minutes, then enjoy warm over homemade biscuits.
Notes
Nutrition
The photos and recipe for these Cream Biscuits and White Sausage Gravy were originally published on January 8, 2014. The photographs, along with the text of this blog post, were updated on March 22, 2018. The post was republished on April 11, 2018.
About the Author:
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
I want to spend like an entire week with you and be your official taste tester 🙂 lol in the most non-creepy way possible! 🙂
http://neatly-packaged.blogspot.com/
I want to spend like an entire week with you and be your official taste tester 🙂 lol in the most non-creepy way possible! 🙂
http://neatly-packaged.blogspot.com/
HOLY COW! These look AMAZING. I’ve pinned it for later because I’m so making these someday. YUM, YUM, YUM!
Please do, girl! This recipe is SO decadent but SO worth it! Enjoy!
My mom recently taught me a trick for sausage gravy: Don’t remove the sausage/grease from the pan. Once it’s just about cooked through, you can thoroughly coat it in flour, let it cook another minute or so, and then cover the sausage in milk and stir til it thickens. I have to admit I’m a traditionalist and I was really skeptical of her cheating tactics, but I saw/tasted it in action, and it works. 🙂
At any rate, you’ve really made me want to go home and eat biscuits and gravy for dinner!
That’s the way to go, Courtney, and the traditional way down here in the South. All that grease from the pan is what makes the gravy SO good!
And I really hope that you went home and ate biscuits and gravy for dinner the day you read this, haha.
I want to spend like an entire week with you and be your official taste tester 🙂 lol in the most non-creepy way possible! 🙂
Come on down, girl! I like the idea of having an official taste tester, haha!
Great photos! The biscuits look so great!
Thanks so much, Jennifer! The biscuits are pretty divine…
Courtney:
Reference making the gravy with the sausage and grease in the pan. That is not cheating.
That is the real, authentic, traditional way to do it. I grew up in the deep south many years ago and that is the way everyone did it.
Those look slack ya mama good! My husband loves biscuits and gravy. If I made them, he’d be one of those biscuits and gravy zombies you mentioned. Sadly I can’t make biscuits to save my life. They resemble hockey pucks instead of anything edible. Luckily, my son, can make them. SO I’m pinning this for him to make very soon.
Thanks, Nicky! I’m thrilled that your hubby’s a fan of biscuits and gravy. I hope you are, too!
Girl, I didn’t make biscuits until I was well into my 20’s because I was terrified about screwing them up. These biscuits are super simple to make, and a good recipe to start off with, if you’re willing to give it a go!
Let me know what y’all think of the recipe!
I’ve read a lot about biscuits with gravy but I’ve never actually tasted them. We tend to call your style of biscuits ‘scones’ over here in Australia. Yummy… I can imagine how amazing they’d be with that rich sausage gravy. I really do need to acquaint myself with southern food Erin. You’ve got some of the yummiest stuff on the internet and I haven’t tasted ANY of it! xx
This sounds bad, but I promise it’s not, as I grew up in the Deep South where this dish is a staple. It amazes me when I meet folks who’ve never tried it before, though I know exactly why you haven’t, and it’s fascinating hearing everyone’s thoughts about it. And I think you should make some “Scones and Gravy” one of these days just to have a go at it. 😉
Aww, girl! You’re too sweet. Thank you! Southern food is awesome, and I totally recommend trying it out…
Oh my.. The flaky biscuits. The sauce. My heart. I really KNOW I’ll love this. I need to get some sausage and cream and you know this will be on the table soon enough. This looks like what my biscuits and gravy fantasies are made of. Lol! I promise I’ll report back once I get down on this. 🙂
YESSSS! So excited that you’re going to make this decadent breakfast for yourself, Jayne, and I absolutely cannot wait to hear wait you think of it.
I’m on a quest for the perfect biscuit, and yours look like they’re worth a try! Secretly, I hope this quest never ends. The more biscuits, the better.
I love that you’re on the quest for a perfect biscuit, Beth, and I hope that the quest never ends, too, because biscuits are just so. good. If you try this recipe, I’d love to know what you think!
Biscuits and gravy is something I could eat every day of my life…
You and me both!
Biscuits and gravy is something I could eat every day of my life…
Biscuits and gravy is something I could eat every day of my life…
Your biscuits are totally how we make Irish buttermilk scones only we serve them with lashings of butter. Or with cream and Jam with a hot Cuppa…divine. Serving them with gravy is a strange concept to me but I wouldn’t mind trying. Thanks 🙂
Regard’s
Amy
Amy, I’ve never had an Irish buttermilk biscuit, but I love the idea of having it with butter or cream and jam. Sounds DELICIOUS! The gravy thing is so, so Southern, and we love it, but I get it being a strange concept if you didn’t grow up with it.
Excellent recipe. Perfect gravy. Yum!
So happy to hear you enjoyed this, Kismet! Thanks so much!
Being from East Texas I eat my fair share of B&G but my Momma taught me to add a little more milk and whip it to a fluffy texture and spoon it on to a baking sheet. aka drop biscuits. Very airish.
Mmm. You can’t go wrong with a good drop biscuit! I love that your Momma taught you how to make ’em!
Those look slack ya mama good! My husband loves biscuits and gravy. If I made them, he’d be one of those biscuits and gravy zombies you mentioned. Sadly I can’t make biscuits to save my life. They resemble hockey pucks instead of anything edible. Luckily, my son, can make them. SO I’m pinning this for him to make very soon.
Your biscuits are totally how we make Irish buttermilk scones only we serve them with lashings of butter. Or with cream and Jam with a hot Cuppa…divine. Serving them with gravy is a strange concept to me but I wouldn’t mind trying. Thanks 🙂
Regard’s
Amy
Excellent recipe. Perfect gravy. Yum!
Those look slack ya mama good! My husband loves biscuits and gravy. If I made them, he’d be one of those biscuits and gravy zombies you mentioned. Sadly I can’t make biscuits to save my life. They resemble hockey pucks instead of anything edible. Luckily, my son, can make them. SO I’m pinning this for him to make very soon.
Your biscuits are totally how we make Irish buttermilk scones only we serve them with lashings of butter. Or with cream and Jam with a hot Cuppa…divine. Serving them with gravy is a strange concept to me but I wouldn’t mind trying. Thanks 🙂
Regard’s
Amy
Excellent recipe. Perfect gravy. Yum!
The gravy is the best I’ve had! I just tried to make the biscuits this time too and well…. maybe i Should use the correct flour because mine did not turn out. I used all purpose bleached flour because that’s all I had. But I’ll try again!!
Great recipe, I might add a few tips you might try. A properly seasoned cast iron skillet is all I use to make my gravy. It seems to brown the flour better. Cook the flour a few minutes before adding the cream / milk.
I add diced red onion to my sausage when frying. Gives a great flavor.
Lastly I’ll also eat this over toast or fried taters and onions….if you don’t have biscuits.
Although I prefer squirrel gravy on my taters
Glad you enjoyed this one, Ron! Thanks for leaving us some of your tips to make gravy, too. They all sound delicious. I could use some of this gravy over toast or taters right about now…