These are the Best Southern Biscuits and Gravy! With only 5 simple ingredients, they are creamy, silky, peppery and filled with tons of flavor. Pile them on top of flaky golden biscuits. They truly are the BEST!
This post was originally published in May 2018 – I’ve since updated the photos and tweaked the recipe.
Biscuits and gravy in the South is basically the equivalent of pasta in Italy. It’s one of the biggest breakfast staples we have here in the South.
Similar to making your own homemade pasta, making homemade gravy is truly a form of art. It took me many tries to get it right – but now, I never even have to measure the ingredients. Whatever amount feels right, I put it in and it always turns out great!
For this recipe – please use my Flaky Homemade Biscuits recipe. It is delightful and goes PERFECTLY with the gravy.
Why This Gravy is So Special:
This recipe is so near and dear to my heart because it’s the very first recipe that my Mom ever taught me how to make. Sure, she probably taught me how to make grilled cheese and how to boil water and what not – but this is first, passed down from generation to generation, a recipe that my Mom taught me.
It was passed down from her Mom’s Mom and probably even further back than that. One thing that I know to be true is that it’s always been cooked in a cast iron skillet.
In addition, you always have to mix the flour in something called a Blue Willow Bowl.
It’s just tradition in our family. Isn’t it funny when you’re a kid how you roll your eyes at things like that? But now that I’m older, I’m ALL in on learning about my family’s history, culture, traditions and alll of those good things.
Unfortunately, my Nana passed away when I was only 3 so I never got to hear her perspective on this delightful meal. However, my great Aunt Edith, who we dubbed as “Big Nanny” was around until I was 16. She was a down to earth, hard working Southern woman who tended to her farm until she was 90+ years old. She was an expert gravy maker.
It is my go-to recipe for holiday breakfasts, special occasions and anytime I want to treat my husband.
It’s delightfully creamy, savory with a little bit of spice and the ultimate breakfast meal.
So, let’s get to the gravy then, shall we?
Ingredients You Need:
- Whole milk
- All purpose flour
- One pound of bacon
- Salt and pepper
- Biscuits (homemade or store-bought)
Simple enough, right?
Best Gravy Making Tips:
Let me go ahead and forewarn you that not every batch of gravy will turn out the same. It depends on your bacon of course how much flour and milk you add. There have been times when mine has come out more of a white color – other times, like for these photographs, it turned out darker.
However, I promise you the flavor will always be dynamite! It’s rich, you can taste the fat of the meat but never overwhelmingly so, and it’s always so creamy!
You will find exact measurements and instructions on the recipe card below, I’ll just give you a quick run down here.
Start off by mixing your flour in a small bowl with salt and pepper. Pour your milk in a measuring cup so it’s easily accessible. Cook the bacon in a cast iron skillet. Once it’s through cooking, move it to a plate but keep all of the grease in the skillet.
Keep the skillet on medium heat.
Add in your flour and begin stirring until the grease and flour have incorporated together. For more grease, you’ll need more flour and vice versa. You want all of the flour to soak up the grease. Once that’s done, add in your milk and begin stirring immediately! Stir, stir, stir! I know it may seem arduous, but it won’t last long. Soon, your gravy will begin to thicken!
My mom always taught me to immediately take the gravy OFF of the heat once you begin to see bubbles start popping up. It will continue to thicken as it cools a little bit.
In the meantime, your biscuits are probably golden, hot and ready to eat! Here’s a little Southern pro-tip for you: Instead of just dividing your biscuits in two and then dousing the gravy on them, I was always taught to tear my biscuit up into bite size pieces and then load your plate up with tons of gravy. Oh yes.
It makes it SO good plus you get a bite size piece of delightful biscuit loaded up with gravy every single dang time.
Add salt and pepper to taste and you’re ready to eat! Get ready for a mouthful of delightful gravy with the best flavors. So creamy and rich! Load up your biscuits with gravy and chow down!
What to Eat with Biscuits and Gravy:
To make this a full breakfast, I would recommend adding some scrambled eggs, of course a generous side of bacon and a hot cup of coffee!
I just wanted to end this post by saying THANK YOU to the most wonderful mother in the world for teaching me how to make this delicious meal. I’m not sure if you’ll ever know how special it is to me!
I hope you guys make this recipe and love it! See the recipe card below for the full recipe and all of my favorite tips and tricks. XO – Haylie
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Everything Bagel Breakfast Sandwich
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
The Best Southern Biscuits and Gravy!
These are the Best Southern Biscuits and Gravy! With only 5 simple ingredients, they are creamy, silky, peppery and filled with tons of flavor. Pile them on top of flaky golden biscuits. They truly are the BEST!
Ingredients
- 8-10 homemade biscuits (see my recipe above - can also sub store bought!)
- 1 and 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 lb bacon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Make the biscuits (either homemade or according to package directions).
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Begin cooking the bacon in a cast iron skillet on medium heat.
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Mix the flour and a large pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl with a fork. Try and smooth out all of the lumps in the flour. Set aside. Measure out the whole milk and set aside.
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Once the bacon is done cooking, remove it from the skillet to a plate and set aside. Keep all of the grease inside the pan. My 1 lb of bacon rendered about 2/3 cup of grease.
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Keep the skillet on medium heat. Slowly add in the flour to the grease in the pan, begin stirring immediately with a whisk or a wooden spoon, making sure the flour and the grease is combined. Once fully incorporated, begin slowly adding the milk and stirring.
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Continue to stir the milk and flour mixture until fully combined, making sure there are NO lumps in the mixture. Seriously, DON'T STOP STIRRING! (Lol)
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Keep stirring until it begins to thicken and you see bubbles popping up, indicating it's done. Take IMMEDIATELY off of the heat once you see the bubbles begin to pop. This should take anywhere from 3-5 minutes.
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The gravy mixture will continue to thicken as it cools. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over the biscuits. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
NOTE: Depending on how much grease the bacon yields, you may be required to add more flour to soak it all up. Start with 1/4 cup and go up if need be. My bacon rendered 2/3 cup of grease. So, with that ratio, 1/3 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of milk was perfect. Remember to go with your GUT! If you think it needs a little bit more flour, add it! If you think it needs a little more milk because it's too thick, add it in!
My dear precious daughter. You have brought me more joy than you can ever realize. My heart is overflowing with love for you and brother. I am beyond grateful to have such wonderful amazing humans call me mama. Thank you for being my baby bird. I love you with all my heart.
Haylie-
I was looking on your site for a side dish for Memorial Day but had to comment here.
This is such a sweet testament to your mother! I can’t wait to try your gravy even tho’ my feller makes his a little differently and it’s very yummy also!
My mother died when I was 11 so my father taught me to cook, or maybe I should say he encouraged me to cook! He cut this biscuit recipe out of a NC Farm Bureau magazine one day and now it’s my go-to method if I’m feeding others (now I make mine GF with a more complicated recipe).
Try them and let me know what you think!
Mom’s Quick and Easy Biscuits
2 cups self-rising flour (or plain flour with 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder & 1
tsp. salt per cup of flour)
1/2 pint whipping cream
That’s all the ingredients needed. Preheat oven to 400-425 degrees. Add whipping cream a little at a time to the flour. Add just enough water to rinse out the carton. Mix ingredients but don’t overmix. Pat out dough into a circle on a floured surface. Don’t overhandle dough! Cut out biscuits. Bake until lightly brown.
This is awesome, Ms. Moss! Thanks for letting me know this recipe. I am definitely going to try it out and let you know how it goes! Hope you had a happy Memorial day!
Mmm!! This is so good! Thanks for the recipe 👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you, Mary! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Haylie,
Thank you so much for the recipe! My momaw took her fabulous recipes to the grave and not realizing as a kid one day I would want to make these fabulous tasty dishes for my own family. It is a right of passage to know how to make these traditionally generational passed meals. I have started my recipe box for my girls. I live in the north now but southern blood runs deep in my veins and I always said, “you can take the girl out of the south, but you can’t take the south out of the girl.” Thank you for sharing, I will be looking for you on Pinterest!
Tanesa Sanchez
Tanesa! This review absolutely made my day. It is a right of passage indeed…and I love the recipe box idea! And SO true…you can take the girl out of the South, but never the South out of the girl! Love it 🙂 Have a blessed day! -Haylie