Biscuits & Gravy

Southern Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

This biscuits and gravy recipe is a classic Southern American breakfast: warm, tender biscuits split open and covered with thick, peppery sausage gravy.

First, one important translation problem. An American biscuit is not a cookie, cracker, or wafer. It is a small savory quick bread, usually made with flour, butter or another fat, baking powder, and milk or buttermilk. A good one is tall, tender, flaky inside, and lightly browned outside.

Biscuits are deeply associated with Southern cooking, where they show up with butter and jam, fried chicken, ham, sausage, and especially sausage gravy. The gravy is traditionally made from the fat left after browning pork breakfast sausage, thickened with flour and milk, seasoned heavily with black pepper, and served with the sausage still in it.

Our version keeps that Southern biscuits and gravy formula intact. Ordinary ground pork gets seasoned with William’s Mill Pork Whisperer, browned into crumbles, and turned directly into the gravy.

The result is exactly what a good biscuits and gravy recipe should be: buttery bread, savory sausage, creamy gravy, and enough black pepper to wake the whole thing up.

American biscuits and gravy with pork sausage gravy

Pork Whisperer Biscuits & Gravy

Flaky homemade American buttermilk biscuits covered with rich, peppery pork sausage gravy. William’s Mill Pork Whisperer turns ordinary ground pork into the seasoned breakfast-sausage crumbles that make this Southern classic what it is.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Breakfast or Lunch
Cuisine: American, Southern
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Buttermilk Biscuits
  • 300 g all-purpose flour
  • 15 g baking powder
  • 3 g baking soda
  • 5 g fine salt
  • 115 g very cold butter cut into small cubes
  • 240 ml cold piimä or buttermilk
  • 15 –30 ml additional piimä only if needed
  • Melted butter for brushing optional
Pork Sausage Gravy
  • 500 g ground pork preferably around 20% fat
  • 18 ml William’s Mill Pork Whisperer about 3½ tsp
  • 35 g all-purpose flour
  • 600 ml whole milk
  • Freshly ground black pepper generously, to taste
  • 15 g butter only if the pork does not render enough fat
  • Salt only if needed

Equipment

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Pastry cutter, fork, or your fingertips
  • Rolling Pin optional
  • Biscuit cutter or drinking glass
  • Baking tray
  • Large frying pan or cast-iron skillet
  • Whisk or wooden spoon

Method
 

Make the Biscuits
  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C conventional / 200°C fan. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Add the very cold butter. Cut or rub it into the flour until you have a mixture of coarse crumbs with some larger, flattened pieces of butter remaining.
  4. Pour in the cold piimä and gently mix until a shaggy dough begins to form. If dry flour remains at the bottom, add a little more piimä.
  5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press it into a rectangle.
  6. Fold the dough into thirds, turn it, gently flatten it again, and repeat the fold 2–3 times. This simple folding technique helps create flaky layers. Keeping the butter and dairy cold and avoiding excessive mixing are important parts of making tender, layered biscuits.
  7. Pat the dough to approximately 2–2.5 cm thick.
  8. Cut into approximately 8 biscuits. When using a round cutter, press straight down rather than twisting.
  9. Arrange the biscuits on the prepared baking tray.
  10. Bake for approximately 12–15 minutes, until risen and golden brown.
  11. Brush the tops with a little melted butter if desired.
Make the Pork Sausage Gravy
  1. While the biscuits bake, place the ground pork in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Sprinkle over the Pork Whisperer and break the pork into small crumbles while it cooks.
  3. Continue cooking until the pork is browned and fully cooked. Leave the rendered fat in the skillet.
  4. If the pork is very lean and there is almost no fat in the pan, add the optional butter.
  5. Sprinkle the flour directly over the pork and fat.
  6. Stir well and cook for 1–2 minutes so the flour loses its raw taste.
  7. Gradually pour in the milk while stirring continuously.
  8. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 5–8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the gravy is thick and creamy.
  9. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
  10. Taste before adding additional salt. Pork Whisperer is already seasoned, so you may not need any.
Serve
  1. Split the warm biscuits in half.
  2. Spoon a generous amount of hot pork sausage gravy over each biscuit.
  3. Finish with another grind of black pepper.
  4. Serve immediately.

Notes

Don’t drain the pork. In traditional sausage gravy, the rendered pork fat is useful. It combines with the flour to create the roux that thickens the milk into gravy. Traditional versions commonly build the gravy directly from sausage drippings, flour, and milk.
The gravy will continue to thicken as it cools. If it becomes too thick, stir in a splash of milk.
For proper American biscuits, cold butter matters. Those small pieces of butter melt in the oven and help create the flaky texture.
The biscuits are best served fresh from the oven. The gravy can be refrigerated and reheated gently with a little additional milk.

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