The Perfect Milk-To-Flour Ratio To Avoid Runny Sausage Gravy

Nothing brings a plate of biscuits together like rich, creamy sausage gravy. And any Southern chef worth their salt should be able to whip up a great sausage gravy, no problem. Chef Treeven Dove is corporate brand executive chef at the popular Southern inspired brunch restaurants Milk & Honey, located across DC, Virginia, and Maryland. In an interview, Dove told Daily Meal the guidelines for great sausage gravy, beginning with the ideal milk-to-flour ratio.

"The milk to flour ratio should be [...] 1 cup of flour to 3 cups of milk. Any less milk will be too thick and any more would be too runny," says Dove. Some sausage gravy recipes may only call for milk as the dairy element, but Dove prefers to add something else. They told us that "the best dairy for sausage gravy is both milk and a touch of cream. The milk creates the traditional mother sauce which is a béchamel and the heavy cream coats the sausage in a luxurious way."

For the best results, Treeven Dove recommends cooking the sausage with the gravy. "A common mistake when making gravy is adding the sausage at the end which throws off the texture balance of the gravy," they explained. Dove told us that "to avoid a runny sausage gravy, you must start by cooking your sausage with your roux (butter and flour)." 

Not every recipe calls for butter as an added fat, but using this sweet, creamy addition is one of the best tips to upgrade a classic sausage gravy. "The richness of the sausage cooked in the flour and butter creates the structure for a creamy gravy," says Dove. Bigger sausage crumbles, drenched in an extra-creamy gravy make for more satisfying bites.

If the sausage makes your gravy too fatty, you can add a little bit of cornstarch to rescue a greasy gravy. A slurry of equal parts cornstarch and water should thicken it up well, with a little whisking.