Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

This biscuits and gravy recipe is simple and delicious, the perfect dish for National Roots Day (December 23).

Where Did Biscuits and Gravy Originate?

It all started out in the American Revolutionary War— when the Europeans moved to America. Food supply was in extreme shortage, so people had to find something easy to make, that was also cheap and suitable for long-time storage.

Soon, the idea of having biscuits with a creamy, sausage sauce came to them. These were common parts of their meals and didn’t cost too much.

To make it even more convenient, people found a way to store biscuits for longer— baking them twice. Although it made the biscuits harder and less fluffy, it did make the dish more accessible at the time.

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From such a simple idea, biscuits and gravy recipes are now a staple of the southern states of America.

Gravy for This Recipe

Even more special than a typical meat sauce, this sausage gravy is made from well-seasoned sausage meat and dairies. Traditionally, the gravy is made using store-bought sausage, but we’re making it from scratch for the sake of healthy eating.

All you have to do is add a handful of spices, seasonings, white wine vinegar, and white wine. After one hour in the fridge, it becomes aromatic sausage meat that’s ready to be turned into gravy.

Ground pork is the traditional choice for the gravy. We used 84% lean ground pork because it’s easy to find, and the meat-fat ratio is perfect for flavor and texture.

You can substitute ground pork with ground beef if you prefer.

Is Biscuits and Gravy Healthy?

We checked the nutritional values of popular biscuits and gravy recipes online, and they don’t follow our healthy eating guidelines.

We saw that most biscuits and gravy recipes online have way too much saturated fat and sodium. The main reason for this is what they use in their recipes— store-bought buttermilk biscuits and ready-made Italian sausages.

We tried to recreate the dish with those ingredients, playing around with the ratios a little. However, the samples turned out either healthy or satisfying, never both.

So, as a last resort, we decided to make everything from scratch. The dish is tasty and complies with our healthy eating guidelines.

• Calories: the dish yields around 450 calories each serving. According to our guidelines, women (18-45) should consume 2100 calories per day and men of the same age should consume 2700.
• Saturated fat: considered a controversial type of fat, saturated fat should be moderately consumed. Each serving of our dish has 7.5 grams of saturated fat, within what’s recommended for a meal— 4-11 grams.
• Sodium: it’s recommended that individuals (18-45) should have no more than 2300 milligrams of sodium a day. This recipe only has 540 milligrams of sodium each serving, less than 30% of that amount.

1. How Many Calories?

Our biscuits and gravy recipe yields about 450 calories per serving. For a wholesome, nutritious 600-calorie breakfast, we recommend one of our healthful drinks— pomegranate blueberry juice, to go with it.

The saturated fat for this dish is around 7.5 grams, which is a little more than what we recommend (7 grams). For lunch and dinner, you might want to have less saturated fat— more vegetables, less meat and dairy.

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2. Carbs

The amount of carbohydrates (as well as fat and protein) in this recipe is 18-30% of your daily intake. It might not be low-carb or keto-friendly, but it’s definitely more wholesome than sugary cereal.

Nutrition

This southern staple has many of its nutrients from pork, the most commonly consumed meat worldwide. It contains all of the necessary amino acids, and is one of the most complete dietary sources of protein.

Besides protein, pork is also loaded with a lot of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin Bs:

• Thiamine: known as vitamin B1, thiamine plays an important role in various bodily functions.
• Vitamin B12: an important nutrient for blood formation and brain function. It’s typically found in animals and only fortified plant foods.
• Vitamin B6: important for the formation of red blood cells.
• Niacin: or vitamin B3, serves many functions in the body and is important for growth and metabolism.

In addition to B vitamins, selenium is an element that’s abundant in pork. It’s an essential element in enzymes and is considered an antioxidant.

Pork is also rich in zinc. Moderate zinc intake can lead to a healthy brain and immune system.

Although pork contains less iron than lamb or beef, it is also a reliable source of this mineral. It’s famously known for helping blood transport oxygen across the body.

What Ingredients to Buy

Let’s save your time and have a quick look at what we’re going to need in this biscuits and gravy recipe.

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For the meat, the required ingredients are ground pork, white wine, white wine vinegar, spices, and parsley. We believe nutmeg, fennel, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper are already in most pantries.

To make the biscuits, you need to grab a few other things besides all-purpose flour, butter, salt, and sugar.

First, go round the butter aisle and look for vegetable shortening. We need butter for the fragrance, but since it has lots of saturated fat, vegetable shortening is a great alternative.

Then, instead of buttermilk, grab the buttermilk blend. It’s a lower-fat version of buttermilk, yet still keeps the flavor of the original.

Finally, you’ll need cold water to bring together the dough, and seasonings for flavor.

And for the gravy, after sauteing the marinated pork with butter, you’ll add flour, milk, salt, and pepper. Then a dash of cayenne pepper for a little spiciness.

Although we do have a honey butter biscuit recipe, its fat content is too much to pair with this gravy. So, we’ll show you another version of the biscuits.

Can You Freeze It?

Freezing both the biscuits and gravy for later use is a great way to save time and effort.

You can freeze a large batch of biscuit dough divided into portions, and bake it whenever you want. It will take 20 minutes to bake, as the dough needs time to thaw in the oven.

As for the gravy, keep it as separate portions, sealed in Ziploc bags. It’s best used within a week.

What to Serve with

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One biscuit and half a cup of gravy sure look fulfilling, but it’s only 75% of the calories you need for breakfast. Make a glass of pomegranate blueberry juice to fill in that calorie gap.

Pomegranate Blueberry Juice

Made by juicing the fruits together, this drink looks stunning with its deep red hue and the added infusion of rosemary. It’s refreshing and satisfying to sip in-between bites.

Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

5 from 2 votes

I love a good biscuits and gravy recipe. Who wouldn't love some flaky buttery biscuits with warm savory gravy? It only takes 45 minutes, but since there are quite a few steps, it might be a good idea to make this ahead of time.

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• cook TIME 20 mins
• prep TIME 25 mins
• total TIME 1 hr 15 mins
• INACTIVE TIME 30 mins

• COURSE Breakfast, Main Course
• CUISINE American
• SERVINGS
  4

  servings
• CALORIES 450 kcal

INGREDIENTS

1x2x3x

• For the biscuits
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter (frozen)
• 1 tbsp vegetable shortening (frozen)
• 2 tbsp buttermilk blend
• 3/4 cup water (ice-cold)
• 1 medium egg yolk
• For the sausage
• 6 oz 85% lean ground pork
• 3/4 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp parsley
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 2 1/2 tsp white wine (Sauvignon Blanc)
• For the gravy
• 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Image instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

2

In a bowl, combine 6 oz pork, spices, and seasonings (3/4 tsp fennel seeds, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground pepper, 1 1/2 tbsp parsley, 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp garlic, 1 tsp white vinegar, 2 1/2 tsp white wine), and refrigerate it for 30 minutes, covered.

3

Add 1 tbsp cold butter, 1 tbsp shortening, 1 1/2 cups flour, 2 tbsp buttermilk blend, seasonings (1/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsp sugar, 3/4 tsp baking powder) to a food processor and pulse. Stop when you see small lumps.

4

Place the mixture in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cup cold water and mix well with a fork until a dough forms.

5

Place the dough onto a floured working surface and roll it out. Dust the dough with a little flour if it’s too wet.

6

Use a 4-inch round cutter to cut out four pieces of dough and remove the excess dough. The biscuits come out nicer this way.

7

Slide the tray into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Brush egg yolk onto each biscuit and bake for another 5 minutes.

8

Meanwhile, melt 1/2 tbsp butter in a pan. Add the marinated ground pork and cook for 5 minutes or until all of the fat renders out.

9

Add 2 tbsp of flour and stir for 1 minute. Pour 1 1/4 cups milk in and season it with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes on low heat.

10

Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp cayenne and serve.

NUTRITION

Nutrition Facts

Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 450Calories from Fat 162

% Daily Value*

Fat 18g

28%

Saturated Fat 7.5g

47%

Trans Fat 0.1g

Polyunsaturated Fat 3g

Monounsaturated Fat 5.8g

Cholesterol 89.4mg

30%

Sodium 539.5mg

23%

Potassium 338.2mg

10%

Carbohydrate 52.9g

18%

Fiber 1.8g

8%

Sugar 12.6g

14%

Protein 17.6g

35%

Vitamin A 486IU

10%

Vitamin C 2.7mg

3%

Calcium 135.5mg

14%

Iron 3.2mg

18%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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