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Bangers and Mash
Updated Jan. 25, 2024
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- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
- 1pound uncooked pork sausage links, such as sweet Italian sausage or bratwurst (4 to 6 links)
- 2pounds russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch chunks (3 to 4 potatoes)
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- Black pepper
- 1large yellow onion, cut in half through the stem and very thinly sliced crosswise
- 3garlic cloves, minced
- 1teaspoon minced fresh thyme, or ½ teaspoon dried
- 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1½cups beef broth
- ¼cup dry red wine, white wine or beer
- 1tablespoon cider vinegar
- ¾cup whole milk, plus more as needed
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- Chopped fresh parsley, for serving (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Cook the sausages: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Using a fork, prick the sausages in a few places, then add them to the skillet and cook, turning occasionally, until browned all over, about 4 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook until sausages are fully cooked, 4 to 6 minutes more. (An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a sausage should read 155 degrees.) Transfer to a plate; set the skillet aside, reserving the pan drippings.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, cook the potatoes: Place the potatoes in a large pot. Fill with water, add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot.
- Step 3
Make the onion gravy: Return the skillet used to cook the sausages to the burner over medium heat. Add the onions to the drippings, along with a tablespoon or two of oil if the pan looks dry. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (Lower the heat if the onions begin getting too dark.) Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more.
- Step 4
Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it begins to brown on the bottom of the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually pour in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Add the wine, along with ½ teaspoon salt, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the gravy is reduced and thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, and season with black pepper and more salt, to taste.
- Step 5
Return the sausages to the skillet, along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Toss to coat them in the gravy, and cook over low heat just until heated through. Turn off the heat.
- Step 6
Add the milk, butter and 1 teaspoon salt to the cooked potatoes. Mash until smooth, adding more milk if the potatoes seem dry. Season with more salt and pepper, to taste.
- Step 7
Serve the mashed potatoes, sausages and gravy in shallow bowls, topped with fresh parsley, if desired.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
A view from England. I wouldn't use olive oil to fry the sausages, it will break down and lose it's flavour and it's a waste. Bacon fat or beef dripping would be better or a neutral vegetable oil. Wine in the gravy is also a waste although beer would work well. When you say beef broth I assume you mean a beef stock cube? Most of which are pretty nasty, you would be better off using the water you cooked the potatoes in with some added vegetable stock powder. I would increase the amount of onions
Jolly Posh is a US company that makes outstanding bangers. I've ordered them several times....great English banger flavor and texture. They are expanding their inventory to include other UK products. Bangers and mash are a hit!
As a Southern cook who grew up watching her mother make all kinds of gravy, using broth or stock cubes is entirely unnecessary, especially if you've cooked your sausages in bacon drippings. Howard's tip to use the potato water is spot on. And, just be sure to cook the flour adequately.
I cooked this almost exactly as the recipe specified. I did take the advice to use a neutral vegetable oil instead of olive oil, and I wish I had gotten more onions. The red wine made a great addition to the gravy. I used Johnsonville Irish O'Garlic sausages and the meal was a winner with both my wife and my daughter.
You can NEVER have enough onions, according to my husband.
If you live in the Chicago area, especially if you live near Midway Airport or in Tinley Park or near an Irish foods store, get your sausages from Winston's Sausages. Here is their website. https://winstonsmarket.net/winstons-sausage/
Thank you! I miss proper English bangers and could not imagine using a 'sweet Italian sausage' as a Banger.
“ Using a fork, prick the sausages in a few places”—yes, if you want them to “bang”. Use a pin if you don’t want them to explode.
I'd suggest that especially with Russets, cleaning and just halving them lengthwise, with the skins on, is a terrific alternative. In addition, 3/4 cup of milk seems too much to add when mashing – unless you like weak and uninspired mash. Finally, I add finely chopped yellow onion to the potatoes before mashing. I don't like the taste of parsley too much so I prefer to use spring onion or scallion for final garnish.
This is a different kind of gravy; it has a distinct beef flavo(u?)r. Usual ingredients for the base would be either Bisto, Oxo (beef) cubes, or Bovril. The last two are hard (impossible) to find in the US because of restrictions on imported beef products due to BSE. I think they're exempt, but remain unimported.
I made a few changes based on what I had on hand and some of the other comments: I used duck fat to saute the sausages, doubled the onion, opted for red wine out of the alcohol options, and instead of beef broth I used the same volume of water and a little bit of powdered vegetable gravy mix- it was delicious!
I followed this recipe verbatim. I found that the addition of 1 tablespoon of vinegar changed the nature of this dish. Because of the vinegar, the sauce developed a "sweet and sour" quality I normally associate with certain Asian dishes. Hence, I would cut back on the vinegar, adding only 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to enliven the sauce.
Wegmans has fully cooked bangers, so I used them. Flavor was more like bratwurst than Italian sausage. Was a great cold weather meal!
Amazing recipe! Made exactly as listed with a few notes. First, my sausages took a touch longer to cook. I checked with a meat thermometer to get them close to finished. You put them back in the sauce after so it’s okay if they’re not fully done. The sauce came out great! I didn’t use as much vinegar, just a touch to brighten. Used better than bouillon with homemade veggie stock as the base. Overall, this dish was perfect and will make again! Served with potato purée to celebrate St. Patrick’s!
A tablespoon of salt in the potato cooking water and a teaspoon of salt in the final product. That's a bit much. There's no need for random amounts of salt in the potato cooking water and the mash should be seasoned with both salt and pepper to taste.
Made as directed using Whole Foods fresh bratwurst and chicken broth. The gravy was delicious and the suggested broccoli will be a regular.
St. Patrick’s Day and you suggest a British classic?????
St Patrick was British so he’ll forgive you.
As others have noted: Less milk for the potatos. Try adding a hint of ground mace or nutmeg to the mash. I used ghee instead of olive oil and more onion than the recipe called for. Enjoyed.
I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of the use of a neutral oil instead of olive oil. I was able to find "British-style" bangers at our local specialty grocer here in the US. I allowed the browned bangers to cook over low simmer in the finished gravy (covered) for 5-10 minutes while I finished the mash and cooked some peas. This way everything was piping hot when plated. For beef broth I used Better than Bouillon and eliminated the salt. Tasty!
As an alternative to the potatoes, cook some brown rice adding diced sweet onions at the end before removing rice from the burner and covering the pan while making the gravy. Stirring in some butter is good idea. Serve the sausages over the rice topped with the gravy.
Made it with local bangers from Stone Cross Farm. No open red or white wine so subbed hard cider. And drank the rest ;). Delicious!
I love bangers and mash; it's a comfort food. If you don't have beef broth around, chicken will do fine, if you have no broth at all you can get good flavor in the gravy by adding some herbs like thyme and sage and dashes of soy sauce and Lea and Perrin's. I never used wine or beer in the onion gravy, but will try it sometime. This is not a famously healthy meal, but it is a great meal imo. Enjoy!
I'll admit this probably isn't the world's healthiest dinner, but we love it and that counts for something. (It doesn't seem terribly unhealthy.) I make it just like this recipe, but don't add red wine or vinegar. And if I don't have any beef stock around I usually do have chicken stock and that adds flavor too. I sometimes find English banger type sausages to use, but often use a good brat. This dinner comes together quick, which is important (to me), and the ingredients are usually around.
I would take "a view from England's" recommendation to eschew olive oil with about as much seriousness as I take England's contributions to superior culinary culture.
I wouldn’t serve peas. Our tradition was stewed tomatoes, using some of the juices to help make the gravy along with the potato water. Make sure the sausages are well browned for the best gravy.
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