Biscuits and Gravy

Mamaw’s house, Mom’s house, or my house…Biscuits and Gravy are always a favorite meal!

It’s my opinion that buttermilk biscuits and gravy is one of the top 10 best southern meals. Tall, flaky layers of buttery biscuit dough with a warm ladle of homemade gravy on top…heaven! Homemade buttermilk biscuits are also easier to make than you might think. With just a few ingredients and elbow grease, you can whip these up in less than 15 minutes.

What You’ll Need

• For the Biscuits:
  • Butter
  • Self-Rising Flour
  • Buttermilk
• For the Gravy
  • Grease from Breakfast Meat or Oil
  • Self-Rising Flour

Tools You’ll Need

• Cast Iron Skillet
• Rolling Pin
• Measuring Cup
• Biscuit Cutter

How to Make This Recipe

1. Cook your breakfast meat. The residual grease from the meat will be used to make the gravy. If you don’t want meat with it, you can skip this step and just use canola oil, vegetable oil or lard.
2. Next, make the biscuits. Grate frozen butter into flour in medium bowl. Freeze 10 minutes. Make a well in the center of mixture, add buttermilk and stir 15 times. The dough will be slightly loose. If it seems too dry, add 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk (see tips and substitutions note).
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press the loose pieces of the dough together into a ball.
4. Create layers by either the “Pat and Fold” or “Pat and Stack” method.
   • Pat and Stack: Press or roll the dough to ½-inch thickness. Score the dough into 4 equal sections, and stack the 4 together. Once stacked, press to ½-inch thickness. Cut with a 2 ½” floured round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring as needed. 
   • Pat and Fold: Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a ¾” thick rectangle (about 9”x 5”). Fold dough in half so short ends meet. Repeat rolling and folding process 4 more times. Roll dough to ½” thickness. Cut with a 2 ½” floured round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring as needed. 
5. Place dough rounds on a parchment paper-lined pan or buttered cast iron skillet. Bake at 475ºF for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter. 
6. While the biscuits are baking, make the gravy in a medium skillet on medium-high. Ensure there is ¼ cup grease in the pan. If your meat didn’t produce ¼ cup, add canola oil to that amount. Whisk flour into the grease and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add 1 cup milk to the mixture and whisk quickly. This initial mixture will thicken and cook quickly. Once well combined, add an additional cup of milk and stir until well combined. Allow mixture to come to a light simmer then turn heat to low-medium. As mixture thickens, add remaining ½ cup milk and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer 3-5 minutes.

Tips and Substitutions

• When using White Lilly flour, 1 cup of buttermilk is sufficient for forming a cohesive dough ball. However, other flour brands might need an additional 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk to come together.
• If you don’t have self-rising flour on hand, you can make it with all purpose flour. For 1 cup of self-rising flour, you can substitute with 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt.
• The biscuits can be baked in either a cast iron skillet or parchment paper lined pan for optimal crunchy bottoms.
• Gravy is a food that personal preference has a lot to do with. You can adjust seasonings to your taste and add liquid to the consistency you like most.
• If you thin the gravy out too much, you can whisk into the gravy a cornstarch slurry which is 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 2 teaspoons milk. Allow the gravy to cook and thicken for 3-5 minutes.

More Recipes Like This

• Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits
• Easy Whipping Cream Biscuits
• Autumn Honey Butter Biscuits

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4.88 from 8 votes

Homemade Biscuits and Gravy

Homemade Biscuits and Gravy are always a favorite Southern comfort food in our house. Fluffy buttermilk biscuits made simple with self rising flour and a creamy gravy. It's a tried-and-true meal everyone loves.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: bread, Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: breakfast, brunch

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 381kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

 

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Biscuits

• ½ cup butter frozen 10 minutes
• 2 ½ cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup chilled buttermilk well-shaken
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted

Gravy

• 1 pound breakfast meat of choice
• ¼ cup grease/oil (residual from breakfast meat…add oil to make up to ¼ cup)
• ¼ cup self-rising flour
• 2 ½ cups 2% milk

Instructions

For the Biscuits:

• Preheat oven to 475ºF. 
• Grate frozen butter and toss with flour in a medium bowl, chill 10 minutes. Make a well in the center of mixture, add buttermilk and stir 15 times, dough will be slightly loose. Add 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk if the dough seems to dry. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball.
• Create layers by either the “Pat and Fold” or “Pat and Stack” method.

  Pat and Stack: press the dough to ½-inch thickness, score the dough into 4 equal sections, and stack the 4 together. Once it’s stacked high, press the dough down to ½-inch thickness. Cut with a 2 ½” floured round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring as needed. 

  Pat and Fold: Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a ¾” thick rectangle (about 9”x 5”). Fold dough in half so short ends meet. Repeat rolling and folding process 4 more times. Roll dough to ½” thickness. Cut with a 2 ½” floured round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring as needed. 
• Place dough rounds on a parchment paper-lined pan or buttered cast iron skillet. Bake at 475ºF for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter. 

For the Gravy:

• Cooking the breakfast meat in a large skillet. You will want the residual grease to be ready for making gravy as the biscuits are baking. Reserve the cooked meat crumbles to meal prep a casserole recipe.
• Make the gravy in a medium skillet on medium-high. Ensure there is ¼ cup grease in the pan. If your meat didn’t produce ¼ cup, add canola oil to that amount. Whisk flour into grease and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add 1 cup milk to the mixture and whisk quickly. This initial mixture will thicken and cook quickly.
• Once well combined, add an additional cup of milk and stir until well combined. Allow the mixture to come to a light simmer then turn heat to medium-low.
• As mixture thickens, add the remaining ½ cup milk and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer 3-5 minutes.

Video

Notes

•  
• When using White Lilly flour, 1 cup of buttermilk is sufficient for forming a cohesive dough ball. However, other flour brands might need an additional 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk to come together.
• If you don’t have self-rising flour on hand, you can make it with all purpose flour. For 1 cup of self-rising flour, you can substitute with 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt
• The biscuits can be baked in either a cast iron skillet or parchment paper lined pan for optimal crunchy bottoms.
• Gravy is a food that has a lot of personal preference. You can adjust seasonings to your taste and add liquid to the consistency you like most.
• If you thin the gravy out too much, you can whisk into the gravy a cornstarch slurry which is 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 2 teaspoons milk. Allow the gravy to cook and thicken for 3-5 minutes.
• The biscuits will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for about four days. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze for 1 to 2 months. 
• The gravy will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days or in the freezer for 1 to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and reheat on the stove over low heat until simmering. 

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Nutrition

Serving: 1biscuit + ½ cup gravy | Calories: 381kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 8.5g | Fat: 23g

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