I know y’all remember when I made biscuits a few months back. I know because I been gettin’ a whole bunch of requests for gravy since. It seems there’s a lot of red-blooded Americans out there that know that biscuits ain’t shit without gravy. I heard you. And I agree. So here’s how to make gravy, a.k.a. sausage gravy. a.k.a. white gravy, a.k.a. cream gravy, a.k.a. country gravy.
I don’t know any more A.K.A.s for it but if you do, pass them on to me. That will help when I get to work on my Gravy Compendium.
But this is one of the very first things I remember learning. My dad used to make chicken-fried steak with cream gravy (minus the sausage, of course) and I marveled at how fast he could whip up some gravy without even using a recipe. Turns out, it was easy enough for a nine year old to master. And if my spastic, clumsy, fairy-tale-reading, magic-fox-believing-in, nine-year-old self could make gravy, I know you can, too.
And something awesome that you may not realize about gravy, is that gravy is essentially a bechamel! That is correct. Learn to make gravy and you are one-quarter of the way to mastering all four of the classic French “mother sauces”. Actually, even closer, since three out of the four are based on making a roux and using that to thicken your sauce. Think about that. Gravy’s looking a helluva lot cooler now, isn’t it?
Since gravy is so flexible, this is more about technique than qualitative measurements. As long as you have a whisk and a 5-minute attention span, you can make gravy. I plomise.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, sausage/bacon grease, or lard (or 3-4 T butter)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk, or fake milk
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper
- Heat your fat over medium to medium-low heat until melted and warm. Sprinkle the flour over the fat and use a whisk to stir that around. You will almost immediately have a very thick paste in your skillet or pot. This is what’s called the roux (that’s French!).
- Continue stirring it slowly with the whisk for 30 seconds to a minute. You can cook it longer if you want a darker roux, but for cream gravy (and a bechamel) you want to keep it “blonde”, which is a very light brown in the world of roux.
- Okay, now, keep stirring while you add about ½ c of your milk in a slow stream. Then whisk it faster to get the milk incorporated. It will be like really thick, sludgy gravy now. Make sure you whisk it fast enough to break up any lumps.
- Add another ½ c of milk and whisk again to incorporate.
- Add your salt and pepper.
- Now you can add the last of the milk, whisk, then turn the heat down very low and let the gravy simmer until it’s the consistency you want. (If it gets too thick on you, just add a tablespoon or two of milk at a time until it thins out again.)
- Serve it!
If you want a real sausage gravy, fry up some pork sausage crumbles and remove from the skillet. Make the gravy with the sausage drippings and then add the sausage chunks back in. Serve over split biscuits.
The LEARN TO COOK Book is Here!
By popular demand, Learn to Cook is now available in print! Over 300 pages of knowledge between two soft covers.
Learn To Cook is designed to get you cooking for yourself like a civilized human being! Drawing from a lifetime of cooking and over two years experience making instructional cooking videos, author Hilah Johnson has produced a beginners’ cookbook for today’s young adults. The casual, straightforward style will appeal to anyone with a sense of humor and the focus on fresh, simple recipes will appeal to anyone who loves to eat. The book includes chapters on menu planning, knife skills, grocery shopping and more, plus a comprehensive spice chart and over 150 recipes from breakfast to dinner to snacks in between.
I create short-form, educational, and occasionally hilarious cooking videos geared towards beginner and intermediate cooks, as well as people who are just looking for simple, low-cost recipes. Everything is made from scratch, people!
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
cool video. you mention that you dont want to eat toomuch fat in the winter. doesnt autin have only 2 seasons hot and hotter? there is no winter in texas. only kidding. seriously the accent was hilarious to this ohioan. we only have to drive to kentucky to get great sausage with biscuits and gravy
No way, Matt! Sixty degrees is cold to me! I be bundlin’ UP!
P.S. Now you will make your own gravy and save gas money going to Kentucky.
Yay, So happy to see you put the sausage back in the gravy.
Hell yeah, Steve! Ain’t no party like a sausage party ’cause a sausage party don’t stop.
Awesome! I loved the singing and the song and your gravy too girl!
Thanks, Bonnie!
Three cheers for gravy! Finally, my homemade biscuits won’t be shamefully naked on the plate. Thanks Hilah.
Your biscuits NEED gravy pants!
Haha! I loved that song!
Thanks, Thomas Andrew! So do I.
Nice job! I think I’m a pretty good Iroooooon Chefff, but I suck at making gravy:(
I grew up with my Mom making it every weekend, at least, and the last time I tried (6 mo) ago…it was horrible…haha.
I will give it another go! Thanks Hilah!
Try again! What sucks about it? Do you get the lumps?
Yeah, lumps
I’ll try again and report back! 
lol. “so i can continue to please you, visually” this recipe is close to my own grandma’s. good work!
Thanks, Tony! I’m trying!
Loved the song! I make my gravy similarly, but I use a sauce pan to fry the sausage. I put the pepper in while it’s cooking, add the flour to the sausage and grease (and if the sausage is too lean I add bacon grease) until it’s kinda pasty and then just keep pouring in milk till it’s the right thickness. I’ve never added salt tho, hafta try that next time. I get lazy on the biscuits tho and use english muffins and usually put an over easy egg on it before pouring some gravy over it.
Great technique, Vince! And good tip on English muffins – kind of like American-style eggs benedict.
pretty close, but you forgot to add extra black pepper so you have the little black flakes floating around in the gravy. it’s great that you didn’t add any salt. it made me hungry. maybe we should make that for grandma next time we go out there. she’d really appreciate that. y’all send me the lyrics to that song, it’s a good song. dad
don’t forget. that pepper has to be freshly ground, I mean you wouldn’t wanna use pepper ground by someone you don’t even know, would you?
I certainly would NOT, Vince! Blech!
Do you remember teaching me how to make gravy?
My memory is like the old gray mare, but I can remember this was at Campsite #2 and I was facing north.
It’s a wakin bakin makin bacon morning
It’s a wakin bakin makin bacon day
Jackie’s at the stove, she’s fryin bacon
Me, I’m sittin twistin up a J
Thaddeus is sitting there, he’s doin nothin
He look like he need something to do
It’s a wakin bakin makin bacon morning
I’m feelin fine, how are you?
I’m feelin fine, how are you?
I’m feelin fine, how are you?
Awesome! Thanks, hon!
Hi Hilah,
I’ve watched your cooking videos a few times but thought I would comment this time. I keep meaning to practice my gravy making (in the past I got a lumpy paste, got mad, and gave up), your video was a reminder that it ain’t exactly rocket surgery. I’m sure next time will be better.
The song was funny. It was the first time I’ve heard you sing. You have a nice voice, and you are so visually pleasing. I have a cousin in Austin. If I ever visit we’ll try to catch your act.
Keep up the good work. Happy Thanksgiving.
John
Hi John! Yes, your next gravy trial will be perfect, I bet. Try it on Thursday and let me know how it goes. Holler at me if you’re ever in Austin, okay?
-h
I love you. Would you marry me? Seriously this is my favorite meal of all time!
I felt the same way about my Daddy making cream gravy and now I make it for the hubs all the time.
Aw, that’s sweet. Thanks for commenting, Anastasia!
I love this episode and I watch it when I’m sad. My friends here in Oregon always thought I made up my accent until I showed them this video. You’re my kind of people. Keep cookin.
Hi Linda! I’m glad to be of service to you when you are sad. Where’re you from?
I live in Portland now but I grew up in Clute/Lake Jackson.
Oh, cool! I used to love going down to Brazoria when I was a kid.
Yumm! I made your buttermilk biscuits (heart shaped for V Day) and this gravy for my fam this morning! Big hit! I am from Kentucky and my Nanny used to make sausage gravy (before she got all healthy
). I live in Portland, OR and I think I’ve tried the biscuit and gravy at every restaurant here, but nothing was quite like Nanny’s. This comes so close and it makes me smile! Thanks!
Aww, Amber! That is such great news! My granny used to make biscuits and gravy, too, and there was nothing like it! I’m so happy to help you find your happy gravy place.
Hilah, my youngest likes to pour my gravy down the toilet and watch as I try desperate to clean up the greasy mess. Yeah, my kid is a sadistic little fucker. What should I do?
Hey Jessie! Thanks for writing!
Do you ever watch Nanny 911? Might want to check that out . Or The Dog Whisperer.
hi hilah i kinda think that your gravy is’t looks like yummy to me
Hey Hilah, I just found your show last week on Blip.tv, I have watched just about evry episode over the past few days. tonight I made pork chops and gravy for the first time. Tomorrow I’m gonna make waffles – Thanks for making cooking fun
Hey John!
Thanks for writing! I’m really happy your pork chops and gravy turned out. Have a great time with the waffles!
Glad to have you here, buddy.
-hilah
HILAH!!!!! I’m in a bit of a pickle (yeah I just said that.) I live in a small Alberta town and they are stupid grocery stores and they don’t sell sausage meat in a tube (all we got is packs of Italian Johnsonville Sausage Meat and that is NOT good for a sausage gravy) so I am wondering if you had a lovely recipe for a nice sausage, particularly for those of us who are meat grinder impaired. It would be incredibly lovely of you if you perchance had one.
Stephen, if you have a butcher shop nearby you can get a pork butt (aka Boston Butt) and have them grind it for you. See if they also carry Leggs Old Plantation sausage seasoning, if they do just follow the directions on the package. If not google sausage seasoning recipes, I just found a bunch of them. Try to find one that contains ground sage.
Hi Stephen! Well, that is sad news indeed! Like Vince said, yes, if you can get some ground pork, do that. I’ve made breakfast sausage once before and this is what I used:
1 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried ground sage (again, like Vince said, this is the important spice to make it taste “breakfasty”)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Just mix it all up with your hands. You could also add red pepper flakes for more heat or a little brown sugar for some sweet. Hope that works for you!