I grew up in the South, where homemade biscuits with sausage and gravy are staples. Occasionally, I crave the nostalgia of this comforting dish, but my health choices mean I have to do things a little differently. If you’re reading this article, I’m assuming you’re also concerned about fresh-milling grains for maximum nutritional value, eating gluten-free to manage health conditions such as celiac disease, autoimmune thyroiditis, or gluten intolerance, and choosing cleaner meats, or at least curious about them.
Perhaps you check the product label and ingredient list and conclude you can do better on your own. Well, you’re not alone. You’re in the right place for both recipes and education about these things. This Biscuits & Gravy recipe is one you can feel good about putting on the breakfast table.
Ingredients & Substitutions
First, we start with all-purpose, fresh-milled flour; it will be used in the biscuits and the gravy. Then we use high-quality, gluten-free breakfast sausage. So, let’s talk about the ingredients in this recipe.
Flour Matters
This isn’t a wheat flour-based biscuit recipe, as you’ll find most traditional biscuit & gravy recipes do contain gluten. This recipe is made with fresh-milled flour, clean bison meat, and a touch of raw cheese, though I use 1/2 cup of cheese rather than the original recipe’s full cup. But the best part is, these Gluten-free Cheddar Cheese Drop Biscuits are so good, you won’t notice a difference from the traditional variety.
This is the flour I use: Fresh Milled Gluten-Free Cup4Cup Flour Blend Recipe. This recipe calls for two cups (280g) of it. It’s composed of brown rice, white rice, sorghum, starches, and psyllium husk powder for binding. I use this flour blend in my cookies, pasta, and biscuits alike. I haven’t tested commercial gluten-free flour replacements in this recipe, but feel free to try them and let us all know how they turn out by leaving a comment.
Types of Sausages
You can use any variety of store-bought breakfast sausages for this dish. It’s best to stick with ground meat over sausage patties, breakfast sausage links, or dinner sausages, though. You’ll want to check the ingredient label on sausage products for sources of gluten and other ingredients you’d rather avoid. I use Force of Nature Bison Breakfast sausage in this recipe. Their product line is explicitly labeled gluten-free, soy-free, and dairy-free. We don’t eat pork sausage (or any other pork products); instead, we opt for bison, a venison-beef mix, or chicken breakfast sausages. I prefer the bison in this dish because of its higher fat content, which adds heartiness to the classic meat gravy.
Preparing & Baking
Now for the fun part, let’s talk about how to prepare the biscuits and meat gravy. I begin by freshly milling grains with my NutriMill Harvest to produce flour, then add the required tapioca starch, arrowroot powder, and psyllium husk powder. Once the flour is prepared, I measure out two cups (280g) of flour as the base of the biscuit recipe.
If you already have a gluten-free flour blend on hand, start there. Then mix in baking powder and salt for leavening. Cut in butter, honey, milk, and cheese. I use a Bosch Universal Plus Mixer, which is ultra convenient; with its large capacity, I can easily double or triple this recipe. I let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Save $20 off Mixers through NutriMill with code VINTAGEVIRTUES
Meanwhile, while the dough is resting, I preheat the oven to 425 and start the sausage gravy. To prepare gravy, saute 1lb of ground breakfast sausage over medium-high heat. If you’re doubling or tripling the recipe, adjust the meat weight accordingly. Once the meat is mostly cooked, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the gluten-free flour mixture over the meat and continue sautéing.
Once the flour is mostly absorbed, add the seasonings, mix well, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Begin adding 2 1/2 cups of milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, while constantly stirring. Set aside, or keep warm on the lowest warm setting. If the gravy begins to thicken too much, you can loosen it up with a couple of tablespoons of milk.
After 15 minutes of the biscuit dough resting, remove it from the refrigerator. Divide the dough into eight equal portions and drop them onto a cast-iron pan or baking sheet, with the biscuits just barely touching. I use an ice cream scoop to measure and drop dough. Bake the biscuits in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes. I bake mine for the full 15 minutes, but oven times may vary.
Breakfast Sausage Biscuits & Gravy: Homemade & Gluten-Free
Equipment
- 1 Bosch Universal Plus Mixer Use code VINTAGEVIRTUES for $20 off at https://nutrimill.com/VINTAGEVIRTUES
Ingredients
Biscuit Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free flour I use my Fresh Milled Gluten-Free Cup4Cup Flour Blend (280 g)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (12 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (1.5 g)
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey (12 g sugar or 21 g honey)
- 7 tablespoons unsalted cold butter cubed (100 g)
- 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk (180 ml)
- 1 large egg (50 g without shell)
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (55 g)
Bison Gravy Ingredients
- 1 lb. Ground Bison Breakfast Sausage
- 1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend (35g)
- 2 1/2 cups milk (600g)
- 2 tsp ground sage (2g)
- 1/2 tsp salt (3g)
- 1/4 tsp pepper (1.5g)
Instructions
To Prepare Biscuits:
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C)
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar or honey. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and egg.
- Cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, fork, or clean hands until crumbly..
- Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, about 1/4 cup at a time, mixing gently until incorporated.
- Fold in the shredded cheddar cheese.
Note: I use the Bosch Mixer and just add all ingredients, in order with excellent results.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes to allow it to fully absorb the liquid.
- Scoop the dough into 8 drop biscuits and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 12–15 minutes, or until the tops are set and lightly golden.
To prepare gravy:
- Saute 1lb of ground breakfast sausage over medium-high heat.
- Once the meat is cooked through, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the gluten-free flour mixture over the meat and continue sautéing.
- Once the flour appears mostly absorbed, add in seasonings, mix well, and decrease the heat to medium-low.
- Begin adding 2 1/2 cups of milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, while constantly stirring, until thickened about 5-7 minutes.
- Set aside, or keep warm on the lowest warm setting. If the gravy begins to thicken too much, you can loosen it up with a couple of tablespoons of milk.
Tips & Storage Notes
To serve biscuits and gravy, slice warm biscuits in half, with the insides facing up. Ladle fresh, warm gravy over the biscuits and serve! We enjoy these with sides of scrambled eggs, canned cinnamon-pear or cinnamon-apples, and other classic breakfast favorites, including a warm mug of coffee.
If you have leftovers, store the biscuits and the meat gravy separately in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Or, the freezer for up to 2-3 months. Use refrigerator- or freezer-safe containers. I prefer to store them in glass containers in the fridge. To reheat, add meat gravy to a frying pan or pot with a couple of tablespoons of milk, reheat gently over medium-low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. To reheat biscuits, set an oven or airfyer toaster oven to 400 degrees and reheat for 3-5 minutes.
If you’d like a visual of how to make this biscuits & gravy recipe, be sure to check out the video below. For more community support & recipes, subscribe to this blog and join Fresh Milled Flour | Gluten Free Grains on Facebook.
Affiliate Disclosure
This post includes affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps offset the extra cost of recipe testing and allows me to continue sharing free recipes made with whole foods.
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