With fall approaching and dreams of cooler mornings, I’m thinking about one of my favorite things to make and eat when I was in the army – hamburger gravy over biscuits. Or, as we colloquially called it, “SOS” – “Sh*t On a Shingle.” Back in WWII when SOS was named “SOS,” it was made by serving creamed chipped beef gravy over toast. The toast was the shingle and the gravy was the “you know what.” People still call chipped beef gravy on toast, “SOS,” but when I was in the army we usually served hamburger gravy over biscuits. That was our SOS. You could probably call that “SOB,” but you might not get away with it, if you know what I mean.
You may have seen a hamburger gravy recipe that calls for draining the fat from the ground beef after cooking and replace it with butter. Just for the record, we did not use butter for hamburger gravy in the army. The roux for this gravy is created using the fat off the ground beef and flour. Now, if you want to use butter, go ahead, drain your beef and throw some butter in there before adding the flour. It’s perfectly acceptable to do it that way. That’s just not how we made it in the mess hall.
Military Comfort Food
There’s nothing better on a cold morning than hearty breakfast. A fluffy biscuit or two smothered in ground beef gravy eaten alongside 300 of your closest friends. It definitely satisfies the Southern half of my roots. SOS is perfect for camping, a forced march, or when you know you’re going to need a lot of energy to sustain you until later in the day. Honestly, though, I don’t do many forced marches these days. But, you never know, you may have to. That, or chop wood or chase the dog. Something like that.
I like to top my biscuits and gravy with two over easy eggs. My husband gets really crazy when I make SOS. He makes a big pile of biscuits and gravy which he smothers with grits. Then he adds eggs on top. He was in the army a lot longer than I was. So, he’s wild like that.
In the mess hall we made gallons of creamy ground beef gravy in a large stationary pot attached to the floor. The pot was so big, the shorter cooks had to use a step stool in order to be able to reach inside to stir the gravy. That we never had any SOS left over after chow is a testament to how much people loved it. Despite its less than respectful name, it really is military comfort food. Luckily, it’s much easier to make creamed ground beef gravy at home on the stove than it was in the mess hall. There are never any leftovers at home, either.
Do you have memories of SOS in the military? Have you made this hamburger gravy recipe? Let me know in the comments below. And, don’t forget to share this recipe with 300 of your closest friends.
How about some Southern Buttermilk Biscuits to go with your gravy?
Ingredients Needed for Creamed Ground Beef Gravy
Ground Beef
Milk
Flour
Beef Bullion Cube
Salt
Pepper
Worcestershire Sauce
US Army Hamburger Gravy (SOS)
Course: Main, BreakfastCuisine: SouthernDifficulty: Easy6
servings5
minutes25
minutes202
kcalI made this SOS recipe more times than I can count when I was a cook in the army, albeit in much larger quantities. It’s always been a favorite of military, veterans, and civilians alike. It will quickly become a favorite of yours. It’s true comfort food.
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
2 cups milk (may need more)
1/4 cup flour
1 cube beef bouillon
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Directions
- Crumble and cook ground beef in a large skillet on low medium heat until it is no longer pink.
- When beef is cooked, do not drain. Sprinkle flour over the top of the beef and stir to coat meat evenly with the flour and soak up the fat in the pan.
- Add milk and bouillon cube. Stir until milk has thickened and bouillon cube has dissolved and has been evenly distributed in the gravy. If gravy is too thick, add more milk a bit at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
- Stir in Worcestershire sauce.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve hot over biscuits, toast, grits, hash browns, or whatever else suits your fancy.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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