Biscuits and Italian Sausage Gravy are a favorite treat. Comfort food for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Find out about my secret ingredient!
When I was in college, one of my friends introduced me to another girl, Biba Hughes, who would become my best friend. I dated her brother, I got the father/daughter talk from her father because my father had died, and I was privileged to be in the kitchen with her mother, who made the absolute best food. One of our favorites was Biscuits and Sausage Gravy. Her mother made the best and still does. Mine is good, but Jeanne Hughes has some mother thing going that just makes hers the best.
What Type of Sausage?
Jeane always used Italian sausage, because she wanted to make it a real treat for her family.
Italian sausage is known for its bold and distinctive flavors. The combination of herbs, spices, and fennel seeds gives Italian sausage its signature taste, making it a perfect ingredient to incorporate into biscuits and gravy. The rich, savory notes of the sausage pair beautifully with the creamy gravy, creating a symphony of flavors that will leave you craving for more.
Biscuits
Before you start making the Italian sausage gravy, be sure and make my Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits. You can use the buttermilk leftover from making butter to use in your biscuits.
If you feel like making something other than homemade biscuits, rest assured you can also use canned biscuits. Thickly sliced sourdough bread would also make a nice base for the gravy.
If you want to make this gravy for lunch or dinner, it’s also very good on mashed potatoes or rice.
Substitutions
If you want to make this and don’t have Italian sausage available, you can use bulk sausage and add the missing ingredients, garlic, and fennel seed.
If you don’t want to use pork sausage, you could use a good Italian chicken sausage like the one at Aldi, Never Any! Chicken Sausage, Mild Italian Style. I like my Italian sausage on the spicy side, so I add extra fennel seeds and chili flakes.
The Secret Ingredient
Ssh! The secret ingredient is an old one you have probably seen at the grocery store’s spice aisle many times. It’s *Lawry’s Lemon Pepper. Yes, there are other lemon peppers out there, but this one the grated lemon peel is superior and it’s what Jeanne always used. It’s good on fish, too!
Email Me the Recipe
Italian Sausage Gravy
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 4 Never Any! Chicken Sausage Italian
- 1 teaspoon Fennel seed
- ½ teaspoon Chili flakes
- 2 tablespoon Flour
- 1 cup Milk
- ½ teaspoon Lawrys Lemon Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon *Ham base
- 4 Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
Instructions
- Mise en place
- Because the sausage is pre-cooked, it must be broken up for gravy. If you don't have a food processor, you can slice or chop the sausages instead.
- 4 Never Any! Chicken Sausage ItalianPut the sausages in the food processor and process them until they look like ground meat.
- 1/2 teaspoon Chili flakes, 1 teaspoon Fennel seedPut the ground sausage into a cast iron skillet. Add the chili flakes and fennel seed and sauté on low until the fennel is fragrant and the sausage has started to brown.
- 2 tablespoon Flour, 1/2 teaspoon Lawrys Lemon PepperReduce the heat and add the flour and Lemon Pepper. Sauté until the flour is combined with the sausage.
- 1 cup Milk, 1/4 teaspoon Ham baseAdd the milk and stir until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the ham base and stir that in thoroughly. Continue to cook until the gravy is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. You can add more flour by the teaspoon if it's not thick enough or add milk if it's too thick.
- 4 Flaky Buttermilk BiscuitsServe the gravy over flaky buttermilk biscuits.
Thank you for the good writeup. It was easy to make and very good.