Dairy-Free Sausage Gravy is a slightly modified version of my Uncle Clyde's Sausage Gravy. The best sausage gravy I had was made by Uncle Clyde. Sausage gravy isn't my favorite thing, but I really like Uncle Clyde's version. He uses margarine as the fat in his gravy. He just has that special touch that makes the gravy so yummy. Anything Uncle Clyde or his wife, Nancy, make is delicious!
My husband enjoys sausage gravy, but because he is dairy-free, sausage gravy is off limits for him. So, I wanted to make him a Dairy-Free Sausage Gravy. I used Uncle Clyde's recipe to make a dairy-free version for Jeff.
Sausage gravy is typically made with milk. To make Dairy-Free Sausage Gravy, you can be make it with water, almondmilk, cashewmilk or soy milk. Your gravy won't be too flavorful if you use water, so I recommend soy milk, almondmilk or cashewmilk. We don't notice a difference in the flavor when using almondmilk or cashewmilk. However, the color is a brown shade as opposed to a gray shade when using milk.
It seems to me that a common issue with sausage gravy is that it tastes like flour. Sausage gravy will taste like flour if the flour and grease mixture isn't cooked long enough. You want to cook the flour and grease mixture a few minutes, until you have a light brown roux and it begins to smell a little nutty. A roux, pronounced "roo", is a thickening agent made with equal parts of fat and flour. A roux is added to gravies, soups and stews to thicken the liquid without having lumps.
I don't recall my mother making sausage gravy when I was growing up. I asked her about it one day, and she said she doesn't like sausage gravy too much and always made a hamburger gravy instead and served it over toast. That was a good meal! My Dad was in the Army, a WWII veteran, and he loved hamburger gravy over toast, which was a traditional military meal. This recipe can be used to make hamburger gravy, just substitute hamburger for the sausage.
In order to complete the meal for my husband, I made dairy-free biscuits, an altered version of my Uncle Leon's Cloud Biscuits. Uncle Leon is another one of my Mom's brothers. Mom, Uncle Leon and Uncle Clyde all learned their gravy making techniques from their Mother, who was an amazing cook.
This recipe makes a rich, thick gravy that my husband has given the thumbs up!
I hope you enjoy the Dairy-Free Sausage Gravy!
Dairy-Free Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound sausage patties
- 1/3 cup sausage grease You can use grease, butter or margarine
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter You can use butter or margarine, if you don't want a dairy-free gravy.
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour You may use less flour, or need more flour, depending on how much grease you have after frying the sausage.
- 3-4 cups Soy Milk or Almondmilk You can use milk, if you don't want a dairy-free gravy.
- salt, to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fry the sausage in a skillet. Remove the sausage, leaving the grease in the skillet. If you prefer to use just butter, you can drain the grease.
- Break 4-5 sausage patties up into little pieces and set aside.
- Add vegan butter to skillet, if desired. Stir until dissolved into grease.
- Over medium heat, add a tablespoon or so of flour at a time to the skillet, stirring constantly. Once the flour is dissolved and not lumpy, add more flour until you have a paste. You should add enough flour so that all of the grease and butter is soaked up. Continue stirring for another minute or two. The mixture should become a darker color and begin to smell nutty.
- Add about a 1/2 cup of the soy milk to the skillet, stirring constantly. Slowly add more soy milk, about a 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly each time. Continue to add soy milk, stirring constantly, until the flour is dissolved into the soy milk and the gravy thickens. This process could take 10 or so minutes.
- Add the sausage pieces to the gravy. Adding the sausage will thicken the gravy. If the gravy is too thick, add a little more soy milk.
- Add the salt and pepper, if desired.
- Spoon the gravy over biscuits and serve immediately.
‘Looks great! ‘Must try this!