Knoxville's signature Appalachian biscuit, made with hometown White Lily 9-percent-protein soft red winter wheat flour milled here since 1883.

White Lily flour was founded by J. Allen Smith in Knoxville in 1883, named for his wife Lillie. The low-protein soft wheat flour became the Southern biscuit standard for over a century. Pete's Coffee Shop on Union Avenue has served the canonical Knoxville version since 1986. The International Biscuit Festival on Market Square each May anchors the city's biscuit calendar.

Where to eat White Lily Biscuits with Sausage Gravy in Knoxville

4 editor picks for White Lily Biscuits with Sausage Gravy in Knoxville, ranked by editorial score. All Knoxville signature dishes · White Lily Biscuits with Sausage Gravy across every city.

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Make it at home

Serves 445 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 2 cups White Lily self-rising flour
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and diced
  • 3/4 cup whole buttermilk, cold
  • 1 pound bulk pork breakfast sausage
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups whole milk
  • Black pepper and salt to taste

Method

  1. Heat oven to 475 F. Place a cast-iron skillet in the oven to heat.
  2. Cut cold butter into flour using a pastry cutter or your fingers until pea-sized pieces remain.
  3. Pour in buttermilk and stir with a fork until just combined. Do not overwork.
  4. Turn dough onto a floured surface, pat into a 3/4-inch thick round, and cut 8 biscuits using a 2.5-inch round cutter pressed straight down without twisting.
  5. Place biscuits touching each other in the hot skillet. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until golden.
  6. While biscuits bake, brown sausage in a heavy skillet, breaking it up with a spoon. Sprinkle all-purpose flour over the cooked sausage and stir 1 minute.
  7. Whisk in milk gradually and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season aggressively with black pepper and salt.
  8. Split warm biscuits and ladle gravy over the top.

Editor tip. White Lily flour is the canonical low-protein biscuit flour; substitute King Arthur cake flour if you can't find it. Never twist the cutter.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Pork.