- Recipes By Region
- American Food
- Southern Food
- Southern Sides
Trending Videos
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 25 mins
Servings: 4 servings
49 ratings
Write a Review
Add a comment
The term "sawmillgravy" comes from early logging camp food and old-time sawmills. It was originally made with cornmeal, bacon drippings, milk, and seasonings. This resulted in a somewhat gritty gravy; in fact, rumor has it that the loggers would accuse the cooks of putting sawdust in the recipe!
This gravy can be made with bacon and bacon drippings as well as sausage. This version is a sausage gravy, a breakfast tradition in the South. The base is a roux, making the gravy thick and creamy. It is up to you whether to add the chunks of breakfast sausage back into the gravy; it will bring interesting texture and wonderful flavor, but if you prefer a smooth gravy you can leave it out.
Sawmill gravy is the perfect addition to a Southern-style breakfast. Serve withsplit and buttered biscuits or creamy grits.
Ingredients
1/2 pound sausage
3 tablespoons fat, from cooking the sausage
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk, light cream, or half-and-half
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Biscuits or grits, for serving
Steps to Make It
Gather the ingredients.
In a heavy skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage, breaking up and stirring until no longer pink. Remove the sausage to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Leave 3 tablespoons of drippings in the skillet. If there aren't 3 tablespoons left, add some butter, shortening, or bacon drippings to make 3 tablespoons.
Place the skillet back over medium heat and sprinkle the flour over the drippings. Cook, stirring constantlyuntil the roux is lightly browned.
Gradually add 1 cup of the milk. Stir to loosen any bits of cooked sausage from the bottom of the pan.
Taste and season with salt and pepper; keep stirring until the gravy has thickened. Add more milk or cream as needed to reach the desired consistency.
Add the sausage to the gravy, if desired.
Serve and enjoy on top of biscuits.
Tips
- Although this is a relatively easy gravy to make, you will achieve better results if you follow a few tips. First, make sure to measure the amount of fat left in the pan after cooking the sausage; if it is more than 3 tablespoons, your gravy will end up being greasy. If it is less than 3 tablespoons, and you don't add any other fat, then the roux will be too dry and the flour will probably burn.
- After sprinkling over the flour, it is important that you cook it long enough to remove the raw flour taste; 1 to 2 minutes is usually long enough, but then continue stirring and cooking until the mixture begins to turn brown.
Recipe Variation
- To make a sawmill gravy with bacon,fry 4 to 6 strips of bacon in the skillet and leave 3 tablespoons of drippings. Proceed with the recipe and serve the gravy with the chopped up cooked bacon, if desired.
- Southern Sides
- Pork Sausage Recipes
Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
---|---|
273 | Calories |
21g | Fat |
10g | Carbs |
10g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
×
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings: 4 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 273 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 21g | 27% |
Saturated Fat 8g | 39% |
Cholesterol 45mg | 15% |
Sodium 596mg | 26% |
Total Carbohydrate 10g | 4% |
Dietary Fiber 0g | 1% |
Total Sugars 5g | |
Protein 10g | |
Vitamin C 0mg | 1% |
Calcium 120mg | 9% |
Iron 1mg | 4% |
Potassium 417mg | 9% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Recipe Tags:
- Pork Sausage
- gravy
- lunch
- southern
Rate This Recipe
I don't like this at all.It's not the worst.Sure, this will do.I'm a fan—would recommend.Amazing! I love it!Thanks for your rating!