Bangers and Mash (Sausage with Onion Gravy)
This is a very simple but incredibly comforting dish popular in Britain and Ireland. It may be a simple dish of potatoes, sausage and gravy but my recipe is very flavorful. A great dish to serve with a pint of cold beer and maybe a few veggies on a side.
Homemade fluffy mashed potatoes, pork sausage, and delicious onion gravy can’t get much more comforting. This dish has all the key elements of a cozy dinner at home… or at a pub? There is not an Irish restaurant or a pub around me that doesn’t offer it on the menu.
But you know what pubs don’t have? They don’t have the desire to make it as delicious as possible that you do at home. The secret is always in the flavor!
To get the most delicious results, I make my onion gravy extra tasty by adding some beer, using bone broth, and making sure to get a good sear on sausages and onions. Because, as you may know, the “fond” (aka delicious browned bits left behind after searing meats and vegetables) is where A LOT of flavor lies!
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I made this for my husband and some friends on St. Patrick’s Day and everyone loved it!”
What Kind Of Sausage To Use In Banges and Mash?
- Fresh pork sausage is best to use in this classic British dish. Main idea is to use mild flavored pork sausage so it doesn’t overpower the whole dish.
- Cumberland pork sausages is the most common type used but may be hard to find outside of the UK.
- Do not use Italian sausage because the seasoning in it is very distinct and will not work with this dish.
How To Make Bangers and Mash – Tips and Tricks
- Hot Tip: you can prepare mashed potatoes the day before or at the same time as the sausage. Preparing it before can save you quite a bit of time.
- There are quite a few tips you can read about on my mashed potatoes recipe but the most important ones are use right potatoes, start cooking with cold water, season cooking water and save some cooking water.
- Sauté sausage over medium-high heat until it gets a browned on the outside and then lower the heat to medium-low to cook until just done.
- Use the same pan to make the gravy because it will have the delicious fond left in the pan that will get incorporated into the onion gravy.
- Sauté onions and garlic until browned. (More flavor!)
- Pour in the beer slowly! Keep stirring and slowly pour in beef stock. Slowly stirring while pouring in liquids and then while gravy thickens will help not get lumps in the gravy.
- Cook sausage and gravy together for a couple of minutes, flip each sausage and cook for another minute or so.
Serving Suggestions
- Feel free to add some fresh crisp veggies on the side! Peas, sauteed green beans or Haricots Verts, sauteed or roasted asparagus, broccoli all are good options.
- Fried Cabbage, creamed spinach, and cheesy Brussels sprouts are a more comforting side dish option.
What Does The Name Mean?
This dish has been around for decades and carries its intriguing name from the World War era. During that time, they had to make sausage cheaply so they added higher amount of bread and breadcrumbs as a filler.
That created a lot of extra moisture inside the sausage casing so the sausage would pop while it was cooking. That’s how “bangers” got its name, because the sausage would “bang” while cooking.
Even though sausage doesn’t explode in a pan anymore, it still carries the whimsical name.
Make Bangers and Mash Gluten Free
- Bangers and Mash can be very easily made gluten free. First of all, check the sausage packaging and make sure it’s gluten free.
- Second, use gluten free all-purpose flour to thicken the gravy.
- As far as the beer, you can use gluten free beer or just omit that and use more beef stock.
- Note, some brands of gluten free all-purpose flour don’t thicken as well. I recommend 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour for the best substitute.
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Bangers and Mash Recipe
Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes:
- 3 lbs Yukon or Idaho potatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup cooking water
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup whole milk little more if needed
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Sausage:
- 8-10 pork sausages (other raw sausage if preferred but not Italian or flavored)
- 2 tbsp canola oil for cooking
Onion Gravy:
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 large Vidalia onion
- 3 garlic cloves pressed
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour*
- 1/2 cup red ale*
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
Mashed Potatoes:
- Wash potatoes and cut them in half or fourths and add it to a pot. Pour in cold water to fill the pot with enough water to cover potatoes comfortably with about 1-inch over potatoes.
- Cook potatoes with some salt, pepper, and bay leaves until fork-tender. Drain off most of the water but save about 1/4 cup of cooking water to mix into the mashed potatoes.
- Discard bay leaves.
- Add butter, milk, garlic powder, and mash it until smooth. (Or leave potatoes a little chunky is you wish.) Taste potatoes to see how much salt and pepper to add and mix well.
- (If potatoes look a little too thick, add a little more milk and mix.)
Sausage:
- Preheat a large cooking pan over medium-high heat and add oil. Saute sausage until it gets browned on the outside and then lower the heat to medium-low.
- Cook until sausage is just done and take it out of the pan. Set it aside while you prepare the gravy.
Onion Gravy:
- In the same pan, add a couple of tablespoons of butter and let it melt. Add onions sauté until browned. Mix in pressed garlic and sauté until fragrant.
- Sprinkle flour over the onions and mix until onions are evenly coated. Continue to stir the onions slowly and pour in the beer.
- Keep stirring and slowly pour in beef stock. Stir until the gravy is smooth and starts to thicken.
- Add Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper and let the gravy come to a simmer.
- Once it’s thickened, nestle the sausages back into the gravy. Cook sausage and gravy together for a couple of minutes, flip each sausage and cook for another minute or so.
- Serve sausage and gravy over mashed potatoes.
Video
Notes
- *Gluten Free Notes: check the sausage packaging and make sure it’s gluten free. Second, use 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour to thicken the gravy. As far as the beer, you can use gluten free beer or just omit that and use more beef stock.
- Storing: store leftovers in the air-tight food storage container and I recommend that you store the onion gravy separately. Make sure to store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
More Irish Recipes To Make
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in February 2020.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I made this for my husband and some friends on St. Patrick’s Day and everyone loved it!
I added boiled broccoli in the recipe, it was tasty. Thank you for sharing the recipe and tips to add veggies too.
Thanks, Paul! Broccoli does sound good with this recipe! 🙂