Sausage gravy is a quintessential comfort food. It is warm, substantial, and evokes contentment. It is one of those things that you make occasionally when you and(or) the weather are gloomy.
It is great for breakfast when you need to feed a crowd. It holds very well in a slow cooker, which is great for holiday mornings when things can get crazy. It can also save you some money by allowing you to use less sausage to feed more people.
I have a rather blurry memory of my maternal grandmother making sausage gravy, but I can’t ever recall my mom making it. My grandmother also used to make “poor man’s” gravy to serve over biscuits, which is something else I don’t ever remember my mom making…or even liking. My mom liked chipped beef gravy. If we had any gravy over biscuits, toast, etc., it was usually either chipped beef or creamed turkey. So, I used my mom’s chipped beef gravy recipe for inspiration on how to actually make sausage gravy. I find that I like this sausage gravy almost as much as I love chipped beef gravy…chipped beef will always be a sentimental favorite because of my mom.
I know that sausage gravy can simply be made with sausage, flour, and milk. Unfortunately, I find that I really do not enjoy gravy that relies on the sausage for flavor. I prefer to add seasonings to the base (white, milk, poor man’s, etc) gravy to compliment the flavors found in the sausage I use in the gravy.
Some people prefer to use hot sausage to make sausage gravy, but I really love sage. So, I buy sage sausage and add cayenne pepper or red crushed peppers to the sauce…along with more sage. I like to taste the sage with just a hint of heat. The recipe reflects my affinity for sage, but you can omit it if it is not to your taste. Just use other flavors of sausage and seasonings instead.
Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 lb. roll or bulk sausage, your preferred flavor
- 3+ Tbsp. sausage grease
- 3+ Tbsp. all-purpose or Wondra flour (approximately the same amount as oil)
- 1 c. half-and-half
- 2 c. milk (preferably whole, but 2% will work)
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- salt, to taste
- white or black ground pepper, to taste
- sage, to taste (OPTIONAL)
- crushed red or cayenne pepper, to taste (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
- Cook sausage in a large skillet.
- When sausage is cooked through, remove from heat. Gather the sausage to one side and slightly tip the skillet so that the grease collects to a point on the opposite side.
- Estimate how much grease is in the skillet. If it exceeds to 3 - 4 Tbsp, remove the excess leaving at least 3 Tbsp. to remain in the skillet.
- Sprinkle the flour over the grease and the sausage, stir to cook for a minute or two over medium heat.
- SLOWLY whisk in the half and half and/or milk.
- Whisk in Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
- Stir in sage and red/cayenne pepper, if using.
- Allow to cook while stirring very frequently until desired thickness is reached.
- Serve hot over biscuits, toast, mashed potatoes, etc.
Notes
You can use another cup of milk instead of the half-and-half. Whole milk makes for a creamier gravy, but you can use 2% or 1%.
You can also omit or add more Worcestershire sauce. My mom always used in the her chipped beef gravy to compliment the beef and cut through some of the richness of the sauce. I think it does the same for the sausage gravy, but it is not traditional.