This healthy sausage gravy draws inspiration from southern-style country pepper gravy and turns boring ground chicken into a flavorful base for thick and creamy biscuit dressing. Unlike traditional sausage gravy, this healthy sausage gravy has nearly 5x more protein than fat! And if you pair it with my Greek yogurt biscuits, there’s no doubt you’ll be shredded by lunchtime.
How to Make the Sausage Gravy
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? My recent recipe for homemade chicken breakfast sausage has been a hit. So instead of making patties, this sausage gravy calls for the same sausage recipe crumbled.
Can I get a yay for zero handling or making patties?
Sausage note: If you don’t want to mix the spices for your own breakfast sausage, you could use reduced fat pork sausage like in my egg and chorizo breakfast casserole or maybe even pre-cooked turkey sausage crumbles like in my breakfast chili.
Aside from the chicken sausage, you’ll only need 4 additional ingredients—light butter, flour, white or black pepper, and skim milk (or any milk).
And that’s it. Cook the sausage, stir in the flour and pepper, then add milk and cook until you have thick, super savory healthy sausage gravy!
Making Healthy Biscuits and Gravy
Like I mentioned in the intro, I used my Greek yogurt biscuits recipe to make gravy pillows. They are easy to make, buttery and fluffy, and have just 3 grams of fat each.
If you go the Greek yogurt biscuits route, you may want to double the biscuit recipe to match the amount of gravy this recipe makes. And if you’d rather spend your saved calories on real-deal biscuits, I won’t judge you for it.
And there are always options like the Carbquick biscuits I used in my hot honey oven baked chicken biscuits recipe.
Final Recipe Notes
Don’t sweat perfection in this recipe. It’s difficult to mess up.
If your healthy sausage gravy is too thin, keep cooking over a low heat (or add a bit more flour). Or if it’s too thick, add a bit more milk. The gravy will continue to thicken as it cools so keep that in mind when serving.
You can always season later. If you’re sensitive to spice, start with half the amount of pepper and add as needed when the gravy is ready. There’s even some wiggle room with the spices in the breakfast sausage recipe that I covered in the original sausage recipe.
And finally, the 3 primary healthy sausage gravy ingredients have all kinds of wiggle room. Something like whole milk or adding a bit of butter will make the gravy even creamier. On the other hand, something like almond milk will reduce the calories even further but you may not need as much.
The flour acts as a thickener and absorbs any remaining oil and fat in the pan before adding the milk. I haven’t tested any other flours, but my guess is they’d work just fine, too.
What I’m trying to say is, it’s all gravy, baby. Have fun!
Healthy Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
For the Breakfast Sausage
- 1 lb Ground Chicken, 97/3
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2-1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt, or 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp Rubbed Sage
- 1/4 tsp Allspice
- 2 Tbsp 24g Swerve Brown, or a brown sugar substitute
For the Gravy
- 2 Tbsp 28g Light Butter
- 1/4 C 30g All Purpose Flour
- 1-2 tsp Ground White Pepper*
- 3 C 720mL Skim Milk, or your choice of milk
Instructions
- Mix the spices for the breakfast sausage together in a small bowl while you heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground chicken to the skillet, using a spatula to finely crumble. Add the spices about halfway through cooking, stirring until the chicken is evenly coated. Continue cooking until the chicken is fully cooked and crumbled.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the butter, flour, and white pepper to the chicken, stirring until no longer visible.
- Gradually add the milk and continue cooking for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gravy thickens. Once the gravy is as thick as you'd like, reduce the heat to its lowest setting to keep warm. (If the gravy thickens too much as it cools, you can add a bit more milk.)
I love food, especially breakfast food. This sausage gravy has allowed me to eat my favorite food and maintain abs. I make a big bowl just as directed for meal preps, it is just as good the next few days as the first.
I am really surprised by how easy it is to make this gravy and how good it is! It’s the perfect comfort food that was easy to fit into my day! The greek yogurt biscuits also looked daunting, but were so easy and on point! I definitely recommend making both!
This is by far my favorite recipe of yours! Perfect blend of spices and so creamy! I made it for my friend and she loved it.
This combo is too legit to quit. It’s fire – literally (spicy) and figuratively. Super grateful to have found a tasty and healthier version of this classic. I highly recommend giving it a try!
Biscuits and gravy is a pretty foreign concept in Canada, but after having it on my US travels, I knew I needed more in my life and this recipe delivers exactly! Tastes just as amazing as I remember, and much easier to fit into the macro tetris!
Super delicious recipe! Love a healthier gravy alternative!
Adding the flour to the meat first makes making gravy simpler than the old fashioned way.
Can substitute turkey sausage*
Can use Lactaid (still works!)
Sometimes I mix a little white pepper gravy package (using the portion size not the whole packet) to the flour if I’m being lazy and just want a quick flavor add.
For a more savory dish, add 1Tbs of sugar instead of two! I find that two makes it very sweet and my guests always comment on that as well. Great recipe though!
I recently discovered this recipe and absolutely love it!! My family enjoys camping and this is now a staple for all camping trips, but we make it at home too. Everyone always loves it. When camping I make the biscuits in a lodge pot on a low grill. Amazing! Thanks!
That sounds awesome. Happy trails!
I made this just now. It’s good but a little too sweet for me, so next time I am going to use less sweetener. But it’s awesome.
This is delicious!! I had Penzeys sausage seasoning so I used that instead of the spice mix with the ground chicken. Made with 2% milk and it is so good!!!!!