Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Copycat Sawmill Gravy
This delicious restaurant gravy recipe is ready in just 20 minutes!
This thick and creamy Cracker Barrel copycat country store sawmill gravy will turn any meat-based meal into gravy heaven. It's definitely one of our favorite copycat recipes from restaurants that we've ever tried.
This Cracker Barrel copycat recipe tastes just as delicious as your favorite restaurant's gravy; so, now you can enjoy all that gravy goodness without leaving your home.
Plus, it's surprisingly easy to whip together and requires less than ten ingredients. Don't be surprised if all the gravy at the dinner table disappears in a flash!
Loving this? Check out this Crispy Country Fried Steak!
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Preparation Time10 min
Cooking Time10 min
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sausage patty grease
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 sausage patty
- 1/2 cup bacon bits
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Sawmill Gravy Recipe
Instructions
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Cook sausage patty in a small frying pan. Remove patty and allow to cool. Once cool, crumble or cut into small pieces.
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Add flour to the sausage grease and stir until combined.
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Add milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until bubbling and thick.
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Add salt and pepper.
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Add crumbled sausage and bacon bits.
Don't Forget the Biscuits!
We love this sawmill gravy with a few different meals (hello, fried chicken and mashed potatoes!). But biscuits and gravy probably takes the top prize. So, be sure to check out our test kitchen recipes for biscuits!
These Secret Recipe Buttermilk Biscuits practicaly melt in your mouth.
Or go for a more rustic feel with these classic Cast Iron Skillet Biscuits.
Did You Know?
This Cracker Barrel gravy recipe is definitely at the top of the list of the best copycat restaurant recipes! There are hundreds of these charming country restaurants, but their food still follows the same principles it did in the beginning. Cracker Barrel humbly began in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee when Dan W. Evins opened the first Cracker Barrel Old Country Store on Highway 109. Little did Evins know that in the next thirty years, Cracker Barrel would grow to be a nationwide chain.
Within a decade, Cracker Barrel had 13 restaurants in the southern United States, mostly owned by Evins' friends. By 2000, there were more than 420 locations throughout the U.S. In 2010, they formed their own charity, Cracker Barrel Cares. They then launched their own collection of licensed products to sell in their stores, so you can make all of your favorites at home! As of 2015, Cracker Barrel had more than 630 locations in at least 42 states. That's a lot of cornbread!
Why is it called "sawmill gravy?"
This recipe dates all the way back to pre-Civil War America, where lumberjacks in Appalachia needed a hearty breakfast to get them through the workday. This gravy was often served in logging camps, earning it the name "sawmill gravy."
Sawmill gravy is also called country gravy, cream gravy, or white gravy. It's often made with sausage, but it can be made with bacon as well!
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bactchan 2051144
Aug 09, 2015
Recipe was not quite store accurate but that has more to do with matching their meat products than the actual recipe. That said, it was AMAZING and I had a hard time keeping my tasting spoon out of the finished product. Nota bene One pound of Tennessee Pride sausage will create enough grease for this recipe, and makes the finished product suuper flavorful you may find you don't need to add any salt at all to the end product.
codcut
May 15, 2014
To singingcelt, Your truly rude. Keep your ignorant comments to yourself. Disliking something is fine, but your snarky comment went over board. Shame on you.
singingcelt 708229 9
Sep 14, 2013
This gravy is the most vile, gross tasting gravy I've ever had. Why the hell would anyone ever want to replicate this slop?
MartieG
Nov 07, 2013
If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. And while saying nothing take some cooking lessons.
grumpy
Aug 02, 2014
YO, numbnuts. This is a SIMPLE medium WHITE sauce with sausage and bacon added. HOW DID YOU SCREW IT UP? BURNT THE FLOUR DIDN'T YOU.
lawsons 9071998
Dec 17, 2012
Red Eye gravy and Sawmill gravy two different gravies. Sawmill is a milk, flour and grease gravy and Redeye is grease and coffee gravy.
Recipe Warrior
Mar 14, 2011
@L Graham: Thanks for your feedback! Your version of this recipe also sounds delicious. - RecipeLion Editors
L Graham
Mar 11, 2011
I have to more or less agree with BILOXIPAT. My grandma always made Red-eye Gravy after cooking pork sausage patties, but instead of adding hot water, she added hot coffee. It was wonderful on top of sausage on biscuits!
BILOXIPAT
Jul 26, 2010
True Sawmill (or Red-eye) Gravy is made after cooking ham. You keep the drippings, add hot water, salt and pepper, and stir till the grease and water blend. Pour over split biscuits. What you are describing above is "Milk" gravy. (I know 'cause my dad and his family before him owned a sawmill during the Depression.)
sms48146 5877269
Jan 05, 2012
My Dad always made his 'red eye' gravy with strong black coffee just as his southern Mama did hers. But Cracker Barrels delicious 'sawmill' gravy IS 'milk' gravy and their re eye gravy is 'without' milk.
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