Cast Iron

Sara's Famous Sausage-Apple Gravy

by:
November  1, 2010
4.3
3 Ratings
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

This recipe is an adaption of a Sausage-Apple Gravy recipe found on the Box Tops for Education website. I have altered the recipe by adding hot sauce, diced onion, whole milk instead of skim (who needs to watch their calories), more butter, shortening and used sausage with a hint of sage for more flavor. This gravy would be wonderful on open face biscuits, pancakes, grits, etc. Enjoy! - Table9 —Table9

Test Kitchen Notes

A very substantial, stick-to-the-ribs gravy that would definitely work on biscuits, grits, mashed potatoes and even a poached egg or two on toast. Although I did make one small change (I diced the apples to a ½-inch size so that I could have a bit in every bite), the gravy is well-constructed and easy to make. The sweetness from the apples helps to balance out the salty meatiness of the sage sausage without overpowering it. Not just for Southerners anymore, I recommend putting this on that list of "To Do" recipes as soon as possible. – Stockout —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3/4 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
  • 3 tablespoons Shortening or Bacon Drippings (If you are really feeling Southern)
  • 1 Medium Granny Smith Apple, cored and 1" diced
  • 1/2 cup Diced Vidalia Onion
  • 1 pound Ground Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage (Tennessee Pride is also a good option)
  • 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 3 cups Whole Milk
  • 1 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • dash Ground Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon Hotlanta Hot Sauce (Award Winning Hot Sauce out of Atlanta)
  • 1/2 tablespoon Chopped Fresh Sage for Garnish (optional)
Directions
  1. Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat and melt Unsalted Butter.
  2. Once Butter is melted add Diced Yellow Onion. Cook approximately 7 minutes until onion is transparent. In the same pan add apples and cook approximately 5 minutes until tender, but with a crisp bite. Remove, cover and keep warm.
  3. Using same skillet, increase heat to medium-high and crumble in sausage (to get the best crumble use a mash potato masher). Cook until no longer pink, do not drain.
  4. Add Shortening, All-Purpose Flour, Kosher Salt and Cracked Black Pepper. Cook, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until Flour begins to brown.
  5. Slowly add milk, stir mixture continuously with the whisk so gravy does not get clumpy.
  6. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for two minutes stirring continuously until gravy thickens. Stir in Diced Apples, Dash of Cayenne Pepper and Dash of Hotlanta Hot Sauce.
  7. Garnish with chopped sage (optional)
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2 Reviews

Table9 November 11, 2010
Thank you so much for choosing to test out this Southern gravy! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family has for the last decade. I promise it will be a hit in North Carolina...Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Stockout November 11, 2010
Hey Table9, I am looking forward to testing your recipe. I can see that a Southern influence is indeed an integral part of your recipe and since I am on my way to North Carolina next week, I will be interested to see how 'they' like it as well as me.