Southern Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy: The Sunday Breakfast Standard
This authentic Southern recipe is easy-to-make and will be your go-to breakfast favorite!
Biscuits and gravy is the Sunday-morning anchor of Southern American breakfast. The combination came together in the late 1800s, when bulk breakfast sausage became cheap and biscuits had been a Southern staple for generations. The pairing is built for cold mornings, hard work, and large appetites. One plate carries enough calories for a half-day of farm labor, which is exactly what the dish was designed for. Today it is just as common in diners from Atlanta to Asheville as it is in farmhouse kitchens.
Quick Reference
- The Southern standard: tall, flaky buttermilk biscuit split open, topped with creamy sausage gravy.
- The biscuit secret: cold butter, cold buttermilk, and minimal handling. Overworked dough makes tough biscuits.
- The gravy secret: pork sausage fat is the foundation. Flour and milk build on it.
- Best sausage: bulk breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean original or a local butcher’s blend). Not links.
- Best biscuit cutter: a glass turned upside down works if you do not own a round biscuit cutter.
- Best served: within 30 minutes of finishing. Reheating works but the biscuits never quite match fresh.
Why Biscuits and Gravy?
Southern Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy Recipe
Makes 8 biscuits and enough gravy for all of them. Serves 4 generously.
Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (or White Lily for true Southern texture)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 1¼ cups cold buttermilk, plus more for brushing
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
- Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter (or rub in with your fingertips) until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal with some pea-sized lumps. Do not over-work; visible butter chunks make flaky biscuits.
- Pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a wooden spoon just until the dough comes together. Some dry spots are fine.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat (do not roll) to ¾-inch thickness. Fold in thirds like a letter, then pat to ¾-inch thickness again. This builds layers.
- Cut with a 2½-inch biscuit cutter pressed straight down (do not twist; twisting seals the layers).
- Place biscuits on the baking sheet with sides touching for soft-sided biscuits, or spaced apart for crispy sides.
- Brush tops with buttermilk.
- Bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown and risen.
Sausage Gravy Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk, warmed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne (optional but classic)
- Pinch of dried sage (optional)
Instructions:
- In a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, crumble the sausage and cook until browned and broken into small pieces, 8-10 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle flour over the sausage and stir to coat. Cook 1-2 minutes; the flour should smell toasted, not raw.
- Slowly whisk in warm milk, ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
- Bring to a simmer. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until thickened to gravy consistency.
- Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and sage. Taste and adjust.
- Ladle generously over split warm biscuits.
Tips for the Best Biscuits and Gravy
- Everything cold for biscuits. Cold butter and cold buttermilk are the difference between flaky and dense. Some bakers freeze the butter for 15 minutes before using.
- Don’t over-mix. Stir just until the dough comes together. Visible chunks of butter and dry spots are good.
- Don’t twist the biscuit cutter. Press straight down and lift straight up. Twisting seals the edges and prevents rising.
- Bulk sausage, not links. Loose bulk sausage browns into the crumbly texture that defines the gravy. Removing casings from links is more work and produces a different result.
- Warm the milk. Cold milk poured into hot fat splatters and seizes. Microwave for 1 minute first.
- Lots of black pepper. Sausage gravy should be peppery enough to wake you up. Use coarsely ground pepper, more than feels reasonable.
What to Serve With Biscuits and Gravy
Fried eggs (over easy is classic), home fries or grits, fresh orange juice, and a strong cup of coffee complete the plate. Some Southern households add a fried green tomato or a piece of country ham on the side. The drink is up to you, but coffee is the historical pairing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my biscuits come out tough?
Over-mixing the dough develops gluten and toughens the texture. Stir just until combined. Cold butter, cold buttermilk, and minimal handling are the three rules of tender biscuits.
Can I use regular milk instead of buttermilk?
Yes, but the texture suffers. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the baking soda for extra lift and produces a more tender crumb. In a pinch, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of regular milk and let sit 5 minutes.
Why is my gravy lumpy?
Cold milk added too fast. Warm the milk and pour in slowly while whisking. If lumps form, pass the gravy through a fine-mesh sieve or hit with an immersion blender.
Can I make biscuits and gravy ahead?
Both reheat okay but neither matches fresh. Biscuits warm in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes. Gravy reheats on the stove with a splash of milk to thin. If serving guests, time everything for 10 minutes before sitting down.
What is sawmill gravy?
A near-synonym for white sausage gravy. The name comes from the lumber-camp tradition of feeding it to mill workers. Some old recipes use bacon fat instead of sausage fat as the base.
Edward Higgins
Edward Higgins is a freelance writer, artist, home chef, and avid fly fisherman who lives outside of Portland, Maine. He studied at Skidmore College and Harvard University. His article 10 Best Edible Insects appears in the 2020 Farmers' Almanac.
- Edward Higgins
- Edward Higgins
- Edward Higgins
- Edward Higgins
What can I use to replace the buttermilk
What can you use instead of buttermilk
Great recipe ?
Please……please reccomend a good sausage..have a hard time finding it . Most are on the dry side or have hard gristle like pieces all through it…so frustrating !
Hi Joyce, We agree that getting terrible sausage (breakfast sausage or other) with gristle in it can ruin any dish. There are a few things you can do. You can ask your grocery store butcher grind up some pork (tell him you’re making breakfast sausage) and you can follow a trusted recipe (we like this one: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ba-breakfast-sausage)
It’s really trial and error with brands. Do you have any local farms you could reach out to? We have a local sausage maker in Lisbon who uses only quality ingredients.
I know it’s a couple of years late, but if you have access to it (or are willing to order at least 5 bricks of it at a time and freeze what you don’t need yet), the best sausage by far is Neese’s Country Sausage. I feel bad for people who can’t get it at their local supermarkets, but I’m not one of those people. If I ever move somewhere that it’s not available, I would not hesitate to order bulk bricks of the stuff. It really is that good, and never once have I gotten any gristle or bone or had issues with it being too dry. I actually fry my eggs in the grease left from cooking the sausage.
Thanks for the tip, Jody. We just found their web site and may have to give it a try!
Hello WOrld
Try adding some parmesan cheese at the end….you will be delighted with the flavor boost….it doesn’t take that much for real enhancement. This is coming from a 55 yr old Georgia girl who came up eating sausage gravy and biscuits her entire life.
Onions, poultry seasoning, Cayenne, or anything you want to try will just make it yours. I adjust almost every recipe after the 1st time. Personal preferences always take presidence.
I love sausage gravy & always ad 1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning. That little bit really adds to the gravy.
You never put onions or cayenne pepper in southern gravy. Unless it’s for supper with country fried steak or something. And as everyone else said you use the sausage or bacon or fatback to provide the grease to make the gravy but don’t leave them in the pan.
I know. I just love breakfast.