These Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy can only be described as warm, flaky, buttery clouds of greatness topped with creamy, well-seasoned sauce done easily at home in your own oven.
This recipe for biscuits and homemade vegetarian gravy is simple and satisfying. It’s one of my all-time favorite vegetarian recipes breakfast or brunch (along with this Savory French Toast Casserole).
Find out my tips for making the best buttery, flaky biscuits at home easily without any fancy gadgets. As a busy mom who doesn’t want to settle for subpar food, I appreciate a recipe that doesn’t overcomplicate things.
Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy Ingredient Highlights
The key to the buttery flavor in these is actually grating your butter with a food processor or cheese grater and leaving those flakes of butter whole in your dough.
That way, they melt into your biscuits in the oven creating that buttery taste in every bite.
But grating a stick of melting butter can be frustrating. Freezing your butter will allow you to grate it and keep those pieces of butter solid while you integrate it into your dough.
You can make this recipe vegan with plant-based butter and non-dairy milk. The dough is already egg-free, so it’s super easy to veganize!
Tips and Tricks for Simple Meatless Biscuits and Gravy
How to Make Simple Butter Biscuits
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and milk.
Use a hand mixer on high to bring the dough together. It will be super crumbly. Then, use clean hands to bring the dough together, pushing in any excess flour.
The age-old question— how can you make flaky biscuits? That flaky texture that you love in a biscuit comes from layering butter throughout the dough!
It’s best to roll it out on a floured surface until it’s about 1/2 inch thick. Layer on half of the butter, fold it over and roll it out again.
Add the rest of the butter, and fold again, so you are left with a 1-inch dough that’s roughly rectangular in shape.
The idea is to fold the layers of frozen butter right into the dough so that as the bake, the butter melts and gives you those super buttery, flaky, layered biscuits.
It’s important that the butter is safely rolled inside the dough. If any butter is left towards the top or bottom of the surface of your biscuits, they will melt onto your baking sheet in the oven.
Now you’re ready to shape your biscuits!
You don’t need fancy cookie cutters or biscuit molds for these babies! Use what you’ve got! I use mason jars to cut out my little biscuits.
Then, just place them on a lined baking sheet and bake at 425°F for about 15 minutes until they start to brown.
How to Make Easy Vegetarian Gravy for Biscuits
This is a simple meatless milk-based gravy that thickens in the pot. The best way to get a nice, thick gravy where all the spices and seasonings are perfectly integrated is by starting off with a seasoned roux.
Just heat the butter, flour, and all the seasonings and spices and mix together to form a thick paste.
Then, add the milk and continue to heat. Whisk until everything is well-combined and you’re left with a thick gravy.
How to Properly Store and Reheat Leftover Biscuits and Gravy
These biscuits will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 1-2 days and in the refrigerator for about 1 week.
You can also opt to freeze them for up to 2 months. Just make sure they are stored properly in a freezer-safe bag
It’s best to reheat biscuits in the oven at 325°F for about 5 minutes if in the refrigerator or 10 minutes is frozen. You can also use the microwave for 30 seconds or the toaster oven.
Just know that the microwave may take away from your flaky texture.
The gravy will last in the refrigerator covered for about 1 week, and can easily be reheated in the microwave on high for 30 seconds, or over medium heat on the stove until heated through.
If you’ve gobbled up all your biscuits, but still have extra gravy, here are some ideas for using up extra gravy:
Southern Comfort Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION PIN PRINT RATEIngredients
Biscuits
- 1 stick unsalted butter, frozen then grated
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk (dairy or unsweetened non-dairy)
Vegetarian Gravy
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper for a little spice (optional)
- 1 sprig fresh scallion for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat.
- Freeze a stick of butter for at least 30 minutes before getting started. I usually throw a stick in the freezer the night before. Grate butter with a cheese grater or food processor and set aside.1 stick unsalted butter, frozen then grated
- Add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk to a large mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer on high to blend together until it starts to form a dough.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar, tightly packed, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ¾ cup milk
- Use clean hands to form the mixture into a ball, working in any excess flour. Add a handful of flour a clean surface to roll out your dough. You can use your hands to flatten it or a rolling pin. Flatten it into roughly a rectangular shape about ½ inch thick.
- Add half of the grated butter evenly on top of your flattened dough and fold it over so the butter is enclosed inside the dough. Roll it out one more time, add the rest of your butter and fold again. The idea is to fold two distinct butter layers into the dough.
- Use a cookie cutter, glass cup, or mason jar to cut out 12 biscuits. Line your biscuits up on your prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 13- 15 minutes until they start to brown on top.
Vegetarian Gravy
- To a pot over medium heat, add butter, flour and spices/seasonings and whisk to form a thick, seasoned roux.3 tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 pinch of cayenne pepper for a little spice
- Add milk and continue to heat and whisk until smooth and well-combined.2 cups milk
- Continue to heat and thicken until desired consistency is achieved. Serve hot over biscuits. Garnish with fresh scallions for a little freshness and crunch (optional).1 sprig fresh scallion for garnish
Pro Tips
- You want your grated butter flakes to remain intact in your dough, so be careful not to overmix.
- You don’t need molds to shape your biscuits—I use a mason jar!
- Use a whisk for your gravy to avoid clumps.
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14 thoughts on “Southern Comfort Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy”
Delicious! I doubled the seasoning though.
More seasoning is NEVER a bad idea!! SO happy you enjoyed!
I like the way you put the ingredient quantities at each step, The gravy was disappointing. I had to double the milk to get it to pour. It was too thick and I spent too much time getting the lumps out. I will stick to milk first and add cornstarch to thicken.
Hi Don!! I’m glad you liked that feature– makes it so much easier to follow the recipe! Sorry the gravy didn’t turn out how you hoped, but glad you were able to adjust. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback!
Question, I want to make this for Easter. Is this something I need to make just before we sit down to brunch? Or can I make it at my house and transport it to another house?
What is your recommendation?
You can absolutely make it ahead of time! I like to reheat it on the stove, but you could even reheat it in your friends/family members microwave- just note it may thicken up a bit when you reheat it so I would keep some extra milk on hand in case you have to thin it back out. Hope this answers your question! Happy Easter!
I made it and it was delicious. All the non veggies in my household loved it too! Quick and easy and very tasty.
So glad you enjoyed, Jill! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know 🙂
Hello! Thank you so much for this recipe. I am a broke vegetarian who cannot afford fake meat, so this recipe was worth digging for! It was delicious, thank you!
I can SO relate! So glad you enjoyed, Kaye 🙂
I only made the gravy and used pilsbury biscuits you put in the freezer in the blue bag and it was awesome with a glass of milk
Absolutely nothing wrong with a little shortcut 😉 So glad you enjoyed, Justin!
Marley I recently had vegetarian gravy and biscuits and enjoyed it very much. Today I decided to see how it might be made, I like your recipe the best. You don’t use the fake meats, you just make delicious gravy. Thank you for the recipe, the result is delicious and it’s just what I was looking for. Thanks again, Marley!
Thank YOU for taking the time to leave your feedback. I totally agree- sometimes less is more. So glad you enjoyed!