I am pretty sure that biscuits and gravy from Hardee’s is one of the first solid foods that I ate as an infant. I used to go with my grandfather frequently as Hardee’s was his favorite breakfast spot. Well the Hardee’s closed and my grandfather passed on, but my love of the classic breakfast dish never faded.
Restaurant B&G just isn’t the same as homemade in our opinion so my dad would make B&G for us occasionally. Then in about the 8th grade I took over and I have been cooking it up for my family ever since. In fact, it is the most frequently requested dish when my parents and sister come to town for the weekend. That was the case this morning!
Making a homemade gravy (of any kind) is very simple, and inexpensive. A little bit of leftover grease from a previously made meal or, in the case of this dish, the browned bits and grease of sausage with flour is all you need for a base. A simple gravy dish like this can be carried over to ground beef and served over noodles or mashed potatoes for an easy weeknight meal.
So here is it, “Jenna’s famous Biscuits and Gravy!”
First what you need: Pillsbury FROZEN biscuits, either Butter flavor or my favorite Southern Style, and Jimmy Dean’s Regular or Sage breakfast sausage. Now, I know what you’re thinking…why not make your own biscuits its probably so much better? And you’d be right, IF you have a stellar biscuits recipe. Maybe one handed down by your family or one that you created on your own. But if you don’t have a perfect recipe use the frozen Pillsbury, instead of anything else. The frozen variety rises up much better and all around tastes better than a Bisquick mix or even the kind in the pop tubes. It’s also quick and simple when you have a house full of hungry guests in the morning. 🙂
Start by cooking the biscuits according to package directions. The other thing I love about the frozen variety is that you can easily cook as many biscuits as you need instead of having so many left over…because a leftover biscuit just isn’t that good anyway.
After you get the biscuits in the oven, start browning your sausage. After the sausage is about half cooked, add the salt and pepper. Sprinkle a little bit of cajun seasoning on it. Continue cooking until cooked through. DO NOT DRAIN!!!
Add the flour to the greasy seasoned sausage and stir until fully mixed in and cook for about a minute while you get your milk measured. You want the flour to fully soak up the grease and get the bits of sausage coated. This is where all of your flavor comes from and you don’t want your gravy to taste like flour, ick.
Pour the milk in and stir frequently until the gravy begins to thicken and bubble. You can add more milk as needed to either thin out the gravy or to simply stretch for more people.
Just about the time the gravy is perfect and begins to bubble your biscuits will be done. Again, add more milk about 2 TB at a time to thin if needed. Your gravy will continue to thicken as it stands so you may need to add more milk if, like in my house, I am done cooking but everyone else is still in bed!
Enjoy!!
Recipe:
Biscuits and Gravy
Ingredients
- 8 Pillsbury FROZEN Biscuits Southern Style or Butter
- 1 lb Jimmy Dean Sausage Regular or Sage
- 1/4 c Flour
- 2 c Milk Plus more if needed
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Cajun Seasoning
Instructions
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Cook biscuits according to package directions.
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Brown ground sausage until half cooked through, then add salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning.
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Continue cooking the sausage through, DO NOT DRAIN!
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Add the flour and stir until fully incorporated and all of the grease has been soaked up.
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Add milk, and cook on med-low heat until bubbly and thickened.
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(Optional) Add 2TB of milk at a time to thin gravy, if needed.
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Serve over warm biscuits.
We also like to add some shakes of hot sauce over the gravy, if you want to kick the heat up a notch!
Enjoy!
