This is another one of those “comfort food” for my husband recipes: Biscuits and Gravy in a Pie Iron.
Granted, we could just cook up biscuits and gravy at the campsite. But where’s the fun in that? We love camp cooking with our pie irons and realized after the Camp Cooker Chicken Pot Pie that we could create other saucy dishes in a pocket. Biscuits and Gravy in a Pie Iron was the next experiment, and it works!
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Who doesn’t love food cooked over a campfire? Actually, we know a lot of people who don’t and we just have to feel sorry for them. Because we love to cook over a campfire, especially in a pie iron. These are sometimes called camp cookers, pudgy pies, or even hobo pies, but we use the term pie iron. Whatever you choose to call it, know that these trusty tools make extremely delicious food cooked over the campfire.
What we love about Biscuits and Gravy in a Pie Iron:
- Comfort food for breakfast
- Less mess and fuss
- Can be mild or spicy
The Ingredients making Biscuits and Gravy in a Pie Iron:
- Ground sausage (mild or spicy or a mix)
- Vegetable oil (optional)
- Flour (for the gravy)
- Milk (again, gravy)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Crushed red pepper (optional)
- Cooking spray (to prevent sticking)
- Biscuits (in a tube, jumbo sized if possible)
- Hot sauce (again, optional)
The Process Part One (making the gravy at home):
While technically all of this *could* be done at the campsite, we prefer to make the gravy in advance, at home, in our kitchen, with easy cleanup. No, this is not cheating. This is called being prepared.
- In a large skillet, crumble and brown your ground sausage over medium-high heat, roughly 8 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently.
- Drain, reserving the drippings, and place sausage aside.
- Measure out 1 tablespoon of drippings, supplementing with cooking oil if necessary. Return to skillet.
- Add flour to skillet, stirring with wire whisk until well blended. Cook over medium heat until browned, roughly 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Gradually add milk; cook until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, stirring constantly.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and return sausage to skillet. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, crushed red pepper if using.
- Allow to cool slightly, then pour into a waterproof container (suitable to take camping) and refrigerate.
The Process Part Two (making the pies at the campsite):
- (Optional) Preheat your pie irons over the fire while getting your supplies ready. We recommend multiple square pie irons for this recipe.
- Gently reheat your gravy in a skillet over low heat.
- Spray the insides of your pie irons.
- Open your tube of biscuit dough.
- On a clean surface, lay out your biscuits.
- One at a time, gently stretch and flatten a biscuit to about 4 inches, and then place it inside your pie iron.
- Spoon some gravy, roughly 3-4 tablespoons, onto your dough.
- Gently stretch another biscuit and place over the gravy.
- Pinch together to seal the dough.
- Close pie iron carefully and place over campfire.
- Cook over fire, flipping occasionally, until dough is cooked. Time needed will depend on how hot your fire is. We start with five minutes on each side and then start checking. It usually takes us about 20 minutes to be done.
FAQ and How to Customize:
Q. Why is my gravy too thin?
A. Typically gravy ends up too thin due to a measuring mistake. Either you have added too much milk, or not enough flour. To fix this, mix equal parts of flour and milk, we recommend 1 tablespoon of each, in a small bowl. Whisk this in slowly and continue to cook until thickened.
Q. Why is my gravy too thick?
A. This is typically also due to a measuring mistake and is even easier to fix. Simply add more milk, whisking it in a little at a time, until the gravy is the consistency you want.
Q. Why is my gravy lumpy?
A. If the milk is added to the gravy before your roux (the flour and the fat) has been cooked, the flour will mix with the milk and form clumps. To avoid this make sure to cook your roux properly, then add the milk.
Q. Can I make this gluten free and/or dairy free?
A. Short answer is yes you can. To make it gluten free, skip the flour and use cornstarch as your thickener. If you need to avoid dairy, you can use almond or cashew milk. You might also be able to use other dairy free milks, but we do not have experience with them.
Q. How do I make my sausage gravy spicier?
A. We offer two suggestions for this. If everyone wants a spicier gravy, start with a spicy seasoned sausage. However, if only some people enjoy their gravy spicy, place some hot sauce on the table for everyone to add as much (or as little) as they want.
Q. Can I use something other than pork sausage?
A. While you can use chicken or turkey sausage to make the gravy, they are lower in fat so you will need to supplement your drippings with more oil or some butter. Bacon fat is also good for the drippings but if you are avoiding the pork sausage…you probably want to avoid the bacon as well?
Equipment needed
- Skillet: You will need a skillet to either make or reheat your sausage gravy prior to baking it in the pie iron. We use either our cast iron pan from Lodge (when using the grill) or our lightweight nonstick skillet (when using our stove).
- Pie iron(s): We have two cast iron double pie irons, two cast iron single pie irons, and two aluminum single pie irons. Pie irons also come in a variety of specialized types such as circles, hamburger (round with slots for draining grease), hot dog/bread baker, and (hard to find) waffle versions. Most of our pie irons come from Rome. We recommend a square single for this recipe.
- Heat resistant gloves: If you are going to be working around a fire, at some point you will probably get burned. These gloves can help prevent that.
More “Comfort Food” Recipes to Enjoy
- Camp Cooker Chicken Pot Pie
- Dutch Oven Chili with Cornbread
- Sausage with Peppers, Onions, and Potatoes
Biscuits and Gravy in a Pie Iron
Equipment
- Camping Stove
- Skillet
- Pie Irons
Ingredients
Sausage Gravy
- 1 lb ground sausage mild or spicy
- vegetable oil optional
- 6 tbsp flour
- 3 cups milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- crushed red pepper optional
Pie Iron Biscuits
- cooking spray
- 1 tube biscuit dough
- hot sauce optional
Instructions
Making the Gravy at Home
- In a large skillet, crumble and brown your ground sausage over medium-high heat, roughly 8 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently.
- Drain, reserving the drippings, and place sausage aside.
- Measure out 1 tablespoon of drippings, supplementing with cooking oil if necessary. Return to skillet.
- Add flour to skillet, stirring with wire whisk until well blended. Cook over medium heat until browned, roughly 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Gradually add milk; cook until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, stirring constantly.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and return sausage to skillet. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, crushed red pepper if using.
- Allow to cool slightly, then pour into a waterproof container (suitable to take camping) and refrigerate.
Making the Pies at the Campsite
- (Optional) Preheat your pie irons over the fire while getting your supplies ready. We recommend multiple square pie irons for this recipe.
- Gently reheat your gravy in a skillet over low heat.
- Spray the insides of your pie irons.
- Open your tube of biscuit dough.
- On a clean surface, lay out your biscuits.
- One at a time, gently stretch and flatten a biscuit to about 4 inches, and then place it inside your pie iron.
- Spoon some gravy, roughly 3-4 tablespoons, onto your dough.
- Gently stretch another biscuit and place over the gravy.
- Pinch together to seal the dough.
- Close pie iron carefully and place over campfire.
- Cook over fire, flipping occasionally, until dough is cooked. Time needed will depend on how hot your fire is. We start with five minutes on each side and then start checking. It usually takes us about 20 minutes to be done.
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