Sausage Gravy
Sausage Gravy is a delicious and easy-to-make breakfast dish that is perfect for any occasion. It is made with ground breakfast sausage, flour, milk, salt, and pepper.
Sausage Gravy is a delicious and easy-to-make breakfast dish that is perfect for any occasion. It is made with ground breakfast sausage, flour, milk, salt, and pepper.
- Carbohydrate 56.0996058903977 g
- Cholesterol 435.351506460865 mg
- Fat 182.565882447834 g
- Fiber 0.991708349309594 g
- Protein 94.7828511565366 g
- Saturated Fat 68.4741295432793 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1244g)
- Sodium 3628.01814061582 mg
- Sugar 55.1078975410881 g
- Trans Fat 15.2692194484948 g
- Calories 2270 calories
Step-by-step
- Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Set aside, leaving the drippings in the skillet.
- Mix bacon grease into the sausage drippings. Reduce heat to medium, combine with flour, and stir constantly until mixture just turns golden brown.
- Gradually whisk milk into skillet. When the mixture is smooth, thickened, and begins to bubble, return the sausage to skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Making a stable milk-based sauce requires managing starch gelatinization and fat emulsification simultaneously inside a heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet. A skillet with high thermal mass prevents the temperature drops that cause flour to clump when cold dairy hits the pan. Constant agitation during the flour-cooking phase breaks apart raw starch granules, eliminating the chalky taste that ruins unrefined gravies. Maintaining medium heat ensures the starch molecules swell properly without scorching the proteins in the rendered pork fat.
Combining bacon grease with sausage drippings provides the exact lipid volume needed to coat four tablespoons of flour evenly. If the fat ratio drops too low, the roux will dry out, burn instantly, and lose its thickening power before the milk is ever added. Whisking the milk in a slow, steady stream forces the liquid into suspension rather than allowing heavy pools to form around dry flour pockets. Pouring cold milk directly into hot fat creates thermal shock, which splits the emulsion; tempering the liquid slightly or adding it gradually prevents this separation.
Simmering the finished mixture for fifteen minutes allows the starches to fully hydrate and trap the dairy liquids within a coherent matrix. Reducing the heat during this final phase keeps the milk solids from scorching against the bottom of the pan. Stir frequently with a flat-bottomed wooden spoon to scrape up any proteins that attempt to stick to the metal surface. Proper viscosity is achieved when the liquid coats the back of a spoon and leaves a clear path when drawn through with a finger.
Adjusting this batch size up or down requires maintaining the exact one-to-one volumetric ratio of flour to fat to ensure proper thickening. Halving the recipe works safely in standard ten-inch pans, but doubling the volume demands a twelve-inch or larger vessel to maintain adequate surface evaporation. Leftovers store safely in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days, though gentle reheating requires a splash of water or milk to reconstitute the broken starch bonds.
