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Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy Recipe (New River Gorge)

By: Author Bram Reusen

Posted on Last updated:

Vegetarian biscuits and gravy recipe inspired by: New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia.

An absolute classic in Appalachian cuisine, biscuits and gravy are popular all throughout the South. It’s the ultimate breakfast comfort food, a great way to start a day of national park adventures. The biscuits and gravy recipe below was inspired by New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, an area characterized by rolling hills, rivers, forests and its own distinct food culture.

I’ve put my own twist on this iconic Southern dish, though, and made it a bit healthier.

Instead of the traditional pork sausage gravy, this is a vegetarian gravy with plant-based sausage. Instead of biscuits made with buttermilk and butter, these are light-yogurt-based biscuits.

This greatly reduces the fat content of this biscuits and gravy recipe inspired by New River Gorge National Park. Additionally, I’ve also incorporated a few actual vegetables and herbs in this gravy.

Yet, even without the butter and pork sausage, these healthy biscuits with vegetarian gravy burst with flavor.

The biscuits are still crunchy on the outside and amazingly soft on the inside, while the gravy has wonderful layers of depth thanks to “extra” ingredients like fresh garlic, sage and thyme.

So, thanks to the added vegetables and herbs, and the absence of butter and pork, this is a recipe for biscuits and gravy that you shouldn’t feel bad about making regularly. There’s significantly less saturated fat in this vegetarian biscuits and gravy recipe.

Biscuits and vegetarian sausage gravy recipe

Also, it’s absolutely worth mentioning that this is a super-easy breakfast recipe to make while camping in a national park, too.

You don’t necessarily need an actual oven to make biscuits—it’s entirely possible to make biscuits over a campfire in a large cast-iron pot with a lid. For the gravy, all you need is a large pan. A phenomenal national parks breakfast idea, in other words!

New River Gorge Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Servings: 4
  • Calories per serving: 427

This New River Gorge National Park-inspired recipe for biscuits and vegetarian gravy contains affiliate links. You can read more about our Terms of Use / Disclosure here.

Necessary Kitchen Tools

Biscuits and vegetarian gravy
Yield: 4 servings

New River Gorge Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Inspired by New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, this recipe is a healthier twist on biscuits and gravy, one of the absolute comfort food classics in Appalachian cuisine. Instead of pork, this recipe uses plant-based sausage, while the traditional buttermilk is replaced by low-fat yogurt.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups + 1/4 cup flour, separated
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 1/4 cup low-fat yogurt
  • 14 ounces savory ground Impossible Sausage
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sage, chopped
  • 1/2 tablespoon thyme, chopped
  • Olive oil

Instructions

Biscuits

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Combine the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, sugar and cream of tartar in the mixing bowl.
  3. Add yogurt to the bowl and mix until you get a dry dough.
  4. Use your hands to make eight flattened balls, known as drop biscuits. They don't have to be perfectly round at all. Put them on an oiled baking sheet (you can also use parchment paper).
  5. Bake in the oven until they're golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Homemade yogurt biscuits for biscuits and vegetarian gravy

Vegetarian Gravy

  1. Heat pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  2. Add onions and garlic, stirring until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the plant-based sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon if necessary. Stir until browned and cooked, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add 1/4 cup of flour and stir until combined.
  5. Pour in the milk and stir to mix well. When the mixture is smooth, add the parsley, sage and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  6. Let the vegetarian gravy simmer until you get your preferred thickness, about 5-10 minutes.
  7. Serve right away over the hot biscuits. Enjoy!

Biscuits and vegetarian gravy recipe

Notes

Note 1: I used a 14-ounce package of savory Impossible Sausage as the plant-based sausage for this gravy, but you can use any type of ground plant-based sausage in this recipe.

Note 2: The number of servings specified for this vegetarian biscuits and gravy recipe is set at 4, or two biscuits per person. However, this makes for very generous portions. You'd be able to serve 6 up to 8 people with this recipe by using smaller portions. The nutrition information below is based on 4 (large) servings. If you're making 8 servings, so one biscuit per person, divide all those nutritional numbers by two.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 427Total Fat 20.9gSaturated Fat 5.1gCholesterol 15mgSodium 963mgCarbohydrates 36.8gFiber 4.1gSugar 15.3gProtein 27.8g

A general nutrition calculator was used to determine the nutritional information of this recipe, which is meant solely as an indication of the dish's nutritional values. Depending on specific ingredients, quantities used and/or serving size, the ultimate dish you end up making may have different nutritional aspects. Please consider the information provided here only as guidance and not as an absolute fact.

© Bram
Cuisine: Breakfast / Category: Recipes
If You Decide to Make This Healthier Version of a Classic Biscuits and Gravy Recipe at Home, Feel Free to Tell Everyone About It Below! Happy Cooking!

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