Southern country gravy is a classic white gravy recipe made with bacon grease, flour, milk, salt, and black pepper. This homemade white country gravy comes together in less than 10 minutes and is perfect for biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, pork chops, and chicken fried steak.
If you've never made homemade country gravy before, you'll be surprised by how simple it is. With just a handful of pantry staples, you can make a rich, flavorful gravy that tastes like it came straight from a Southern diner.
Why You'll Love This Country Gravy
- Easy recipe: This homemade country gravy comes together in about 10 minutes with simple ingredients.
- Versatile: Use bacon grease, sausage drippings, poultry drippings, or butter depending on what you have on hand.
- Classic comfort food: Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dinner.
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What Is Country Gravy?
Country gravy, also known as white gravy, pepper gravy, sawmill gravy, or country-style gravy, is a milk-based gravy made from fat, flour, milk, salt, and black pepper.
Unlike brown gravy, which is made with broth or stock, country gravy uses milk as the primary liquid. The result is a rich, creamy gravy that pairs especially well with biscuits, fried chicken, pork chops, and other Southern comfort food favorites.
Country Gravy vs. Sausage Gravy
Country gravy and sausage gravy start with many of the same ingredients, including flour, milk, salt, and black pepper. The biggest difference is that sausage gravy contains cooked breakfast sausage, while country gravy is made without sausage.
Traditional country gravy is often made with bacon grease, butter, or other pan drippings. Southern sausage gravy uses browned pork breakfast sausage as the fat source and includes sausage crumbles throughout the gravy. Both are delicious served over homemade biscuits and are Southern breakfast staples.
Ingredients
- bacon grease - or unsalted butter, see variations below
- flour - all-purpose flour
- milk - whole or 2%
- salt - for flavor, add more to taste
- black pepper - coarse ground black pepper
See the recipe card for quantities.
Bacon Grease Tips
This bacon gravy recipe starts with ¼ cup bacon grease. You can render bacon fat fresh by frying 5 to 8 slices of bacon, though the quantity will vary widely depending on the cut and fat content of the bacon selected.
You can make the gravy in the same large skillet that you fried the bacon in for extra flavor. The cooked bacon bits in the bottom of the pan will add flavor.
Alternatively, bacon grease can be filtered and stored in an airtight container (such as a wide-mouth mason jar) in the refrigerator for up to three months. Strain the grease with a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter to remove the bacon bits. Many Southerners store bacon grease on the counter, but food safety experts recommend against this practice.
Instructions
Heat the bacon grease in a saucepan on medium-low heat.
When the bacon grease is hot, whisk in the flour one tablespoon at a time to prevent lumps from forming, stirring constantly. Cook the flour mixture for about 1 to 2 minutes.
Tip: Cooking the flour mixture for a couple of minutes eliminates the taste of flour from the finished gravy. Follow this tip for best results.
Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture, quickly whisking to combine until smooth.
Stir in the salt and pepper now or at the end. Increase to medium heat.
Heat the mixture, stirring constantly until the gravy thickens to your desired consistency. It will take about 5 minutes for the gravy to come to a low simmer and thicken.
Tip: The gravy is ready when it drizzles off a wooden spoon in a thick, consistent stream. There should be no lumps. The gravy will thicken more as it cools. If the gravy becomes too thick, add a splash of milk.
Once the gravy is thick, remove it from the heat. Add more salt or pepper to taste.
What to Serve with White Gravy
Southern country gravy is incredibly versatile. Try one of these tasty dishes.
- Crispy fried chicken or chicken tenders
- Chicken-fried steak and gravy
- Homemade buttermilk biscuits and gravy
- Breakfast casserole
- Fried pork chops
- Turkey
- Breakfast potatoes
- Breakfast potato hash
Substitutions
- Other drippings - Bacon grease can be substituted with other pan drippings (such as sausage or poultry drippings) in a 1:1 ratio.
- Butter - Bacon grease can be substituted with butter in a 1:1 ratio. I recommend ¼ cup unsalted butter so you can control the salt content at the end. You can also partially substitute bacon fat with butter if desired. Melt the butter, then add the flour to the melted butter and continue the recipe as written.
- Milk - This recipe is best with whole milk or 2% milk for a rich gravy, though you can make this with low-fat milk or dairy-free milk if desired.
FAQ
Gravy can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Southern gravy is a white country gravy made with pan drippings (usually bacon, sausage, or poultry) or butter, flour, whole milk, salt, and pepper.
📖 Recipe
Southern Country Gravy
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup bacon grease or unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper coarse ground
Instructions
- Heat the bacon grease in a saucepan on medium-low heat.
- When the bacon grease is hot, whisk in the flour one tablespoon at a time to prevent lumps from forming, stirring constantly. Cook the flour mixture for about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture, quickly whisking to combine until smooth.
- Stir in the salt and pepper. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until the gravy thickens to your desired consistency. It will take about 5 minutes for the gravy to come to a low simmer and thicken.
- Once the gravy is thick, remove from the heat. Add more salt or pepper to taste.
Notes
- Cooking the flour mixture for 2 minutes eliminates the taste of flour from the finished gravy.
- The gravy is ready when it drizzles off a wooden spoon in a thick, consistent stream. There should be no lumps. The gravy will thicken more as it cools.
- Bacon grease can be substituted with other pan drippings (such as sausage or poultry drippings) or unsalted butter in a 1:1 ratio.
Nutrition
Food safety
- After opening, raw bacon should be used within 7 days or frozen.
- According to the USDA, it is difficult to cook bacon to a precise temperature, but if the bacon is cooked crisp it is considered safe.
- It is best practice to store leftover bacon grease in the refrigerator.
Colette says
I used this recipe. My boyfriend really enjoyed it. I just need to sell him on making biscuits from scratch.
Kelsey Smith says
I hope you win 😆
Kings Daughter says
This Gravy had the perfect consistancy.
I used 1 cup of water and 1 cup of milk as I was almost out of milk it still tasted amazing the other thing I added was 1/4tsp of cayenne / this ĝravy was perfect for mash potatoes and chicken tenders supper.
Kelsey Smith says
That sounds wonderful, I'm so happy it worked so well for your dinner. Sign me up for some mashed potatoes and chicken tenders, I'm in!
CHARLETNEWTON says
IT'S ONE AMAZING RECIPE, FULL OF INCREDIBLE PREPARED WITH CARE, AND A MUST HAVE, DELICIOUS JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF EVERYTHING, THANK YOU, YOUR THE BEST.