Hardee's Sausage Gravy
A copycat of the sausage gravy served over Hardee's split biscuits: thick enough to sit on the biscuit rather than run off it, pale rather than beige, and peppered much harder than most home versions. One skillet, five pantry ingredients, 30 minutes.
Ingredients
The Gravy
- 1 lb bulk pork breakfast sausage sage-forward, not links
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk warmed slightly, if you can
- 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt added at the end, to taste
For Serving
- 8 biscuits warm and split, homemade or canned
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives chopped, optional
Equipment
- Large skillet
- Slotted spoon
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Whisk
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
Instructions
Brown the Sausage
- Cook the sausage: Put the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat and break it apart with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 8 minutes, until no pink remains and the crumbles have taken on real color.
- Lift it out: Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Leave every bit of fat and every browned scrap in the pan, because that fond carries most of the flavor.
Make the Roux
- Cook the flour in the fat: Melt the butter into the drippings, sprinkle in the flour, and whisk constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. It should go from wet sand to a smooth paste and smell toasty rather than raw. Do not let it brown.
Build the Gravy
- Add the milk slowly: Pour in the first half cup and whisk it into the roux completely before adding any more. Lumps form here and nowhere else, and they are caused by pouring too fast at the start.
- Simmer and thicken: Bring the pan to a gentle simmer and keep whisking. It will look thin for several minutes and then thicken all at once, usually 5 to 8 minutes in. It is ready when a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a trail that holds for a second.
Season and Serve
- Return the sausage: Stir the crumbles back in with the black pepper and the garlic powder, then simmer on low for 10 minutes so the flavors marry. Taste, add the salt, and taste again.
- Serve hot: Split the warm biscuits, ladle the gravy over them, and scatter chives and extra black pepper on top. Serve straight away, because cold biscuits chill the gravy on contact.
Notes
Season at the end. Breakfast sausage brands range from mild to very salty and the gravy reduces as it simmers, so add the salt in the last two minutes.
Thickness: the gravy thickens off the heat and much more in the fridge, so pull it a shade looser than you want it on the plate.
Storage: keeps 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat over low heat with a splash of milk, whisking, and never at a hard boil.
Freezing: up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and whisk hard over low heat if it separates. Freeze the gravy and the biscuits separately.
Substitutions: hot sausage for more heat, turkey sausage plus 2 extra tablespoons of butter for a leaner pan, or a cornstarch slurry in place of the roux for a gluten-free version. Nutrition values are an estimate.
Thickness: the gravy thickens off the heat and much more in the fridge, so pull it a shade looser than you want it on the plate.
Storage: keeps 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat over low heat with a splash of milk, whisking, and never at a hard boil.
Freezing: up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and whisk hard over low heat if it separates. Freeze the gravy and the biscuits separately.
Substitutions: hot sausage for more heat, turkey sausage plus 2 extra tablespoons of butter for a leaner pan, or a cornstarch slurry in place of the roux for a gluten-free version. Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 335kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 720mg | Potassium: 320mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 420IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 165mg | Iron: 0.8mg