↑

Will Cook For Smiles

The Best of Homecooking

  • Home
    • About Me
    • Work With Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Subscribe!
  • Recipes
    • Popular Posts
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Healthy Dishes
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Sandwich
    • Cauliflower
    • Drink
    • Cocktail
  • How To
  • Instant Pot
    • Instant Pot Main Dishes
    • Instant Pot Side Dishes
    • Instant Pot Soups
  • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Chicken
    • Beef
    • Seafood
    • Pork
    • Chili
    • Pasta
    • Slow Cooker
    • Vegetarian
  • Dessert
    • Cheesecake
    • Cake
    • Cookies
    • Chocolate
  • Holidays
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Super Bowl Recipes
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Cinco de Mayo
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • BBQ
    • 4th Of July
    • Fall Recipes
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas Dinner
    • Christmas Baking
    • Holiday Leftover Recipes
    • New Year’s
Home » Dinner » Bangers and Mash

Bangers and Mash

Created: February 7, 2020 Updated: March 8, 2021 by lyuba 2 Comments

1.3K shares
Jump to Recipe

Bangers and Mash is a comforting and simple dish of homemade mashed potatoes topped with pork sausage and onion gravy. It’s a comforting British and Irish dish made with simple ingredients but it’s so rich and heartwarming. A great dish to serve with a pint of cold beer and maybe a few veggies on a side. 

small collage

WHAT IS BANGERS AND MASH

Bangers and Mash is a British and Irish classic that is widely popular. 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. 

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. 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. I get a kick out of telling my dinner guests the name of this dish and watching their reaction. After they are done laughing for about 5 minutes, I offer the actual explanation. Bangers and Mash is a fun conversation starter and delicious, comforting dinner all in one. 

PIN THIS RECIPE

ingredients for sausage and gravy

HOW TO MAKE BANGERS AND MASH

Mashed Potatoes

It doesn’t get much more homey that soft and fluffy mashed potatoes. You can prepare potatoes the day before or at the same time as the sausage. Preparing it before can save you quite a bit of time. 

Cut potatoes in half or fourths, place them into a pot, and add cold water. Cook potatoes with some salt, pepper, and a couple of bay leaves until fork-tender. Strain off most of the water but save about 1/4 cup of cooking water to mix into the mashed potatoes. Discard bay leaves through.

Add butter, milk, some more seasoning and mash it until smooth. (Unless you like you potatoes chunky, then leave some chunks behind.) If potatoes look a little too thick, add a little more milk and mix. 

potatoes in a pot

Sausage

Saute sausage over medium-high heat until it gets a browned on the outside and then lower the heat to medium-low. Cook until sausage it 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 saute onions and garlic until browned. 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.

sausage cooking in the pan

WHAT VEGETABLES TO ADD

If you want to see a little green on your plate full of comfort food, these vegetables will be great:

Peas

Sauteed Green Beans

Sauteed Asparagus

Broccoli

Fried Cabbage

making onion gravy

HOW TO MAKE IT 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.

Note, some brands of gluten free all-purpose flour don’t thicken as well, so you may been to use an extra tablespoon or two.

sausage over potatoes and gravy

MORE IRISH RECIPES TO TRY

Colcannon – Irish Mashed Potatoes

Oven Baked Corned Beef

Instant Pot Corned Beef

Reuben Sandwich

Shepherd’s Pie

Irish Beef Stew

sausage in onion gravy

If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!

Connect with Will Cook For Smiles!

Be sure to click below and follow me on my social media, so you never miss a recipe.

   

Don’t forget to sign up for email, so you won’t miss any new recipes.

PIN THIS RECIPE

Bangers and Mash

Bangers and Mash is a comforting and simple dish of homemade mashed potatoes topped with pork sausage and onion gravy. 
Print SaveSaved! Rate
Course: dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Irish
Keyword: gravy, mashed potatoes, onion gravy, sausage
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 1191kcal
Author: lyuba

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
US Customary - Metric

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

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 a slight variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 1191kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 85g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Cholesterol: 209mg | Sodium: 1857mg | Potassium: 2303mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 719IU | Vitamin C: 46mg | Calcium: 177mg | Iron: 14mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles

long collage of food in the dish and pan

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

1.3K shares

Filed Under: Dinner, Potatoes, Sausage, St. Patrick's Day

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.

Comments

  1. Paul says

    February 10, 2020 at 7:04 am

    I added boiled broccoli in the recipe, it was tasty. Thank you for sharing the recipe and tips to add veggies too.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      February 11, 2020 at 9:28 am

      Thanks, Paul! Broccoli does sound good with this recipe! 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

Soup Recipes

spooning some beef soup from a bowl

Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

closeup of Italian wedding soup topped with shaved Parmesan

Italian Wedding Soup

closeup image of crab soup in a bowl centered in a photo

She Crab Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Chicken Meatball Soup

closeup of top view of Cioppino in a bowl

Cioppino – Seafood Stew

A bowl of white bean soup is presented with a spoon on a countertop.

White Bean Soup

vegetable broth in two canning jars next to fresh carrots, garlic, and celery

Vegetable Stock

Our Popular Recipes

Apple Walnut Broccoli Salad

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

pasta sauce in a glass jar next to Instant Pot

Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce

closeup view of the martini with olives in a glass

Dirty Martini

White BBQ chicken sub on a wooden table with a small glass dish holding white BBQ sauce in the background as viewed close up

White BBQ Chicken Subs

scooping prepared macaroni salad with a wooden spoon

Our Favorite Macaroni Salad

Top Rated Recipes

The Best French Toast

Cauliflower Parmesan Crisps

Christmas Cheesecake (Cranberry Jam White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake)

Avocado Salmon Rice Bowl

round decorative bowl filled with apple pie bread pudding topped with ice cream and a fork leaning on the side of the bowl viewed close up.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Smores cheesecake on a wooden table

S'Mores Cheesecake Recipe

Sides

30 Min

Pasta

Salads

Breakfast

Drinks

Soups

Gluten Free

FEATURED ON:

featured on

[cp_popup display="inline" style_id="32674" step_id = "1"][/cp_popup]
The Best Classic Tiramisu

The Best Classic Tiramisu

January 14, 2023
Tiramisu...
Baked Ham with Orange Honey Ham Glaze

Baked Ham with Orange Honey Ham Glaze

December 2, 2022
This...
Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

August 11, 2022
Chicken...
Pad See Ew

Pad See Ew

August 10, 2022
Pad...
Chicken Meatballs

Chicken Meatballs

July 15, 2022
These...
Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush

July 1, 2022
Baba...
Painkiller

Painkiller

June 30, 2022
A...
Truffle Fries

Truffle Fries

June 28, 2022
Truffle...
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

June 21, 2022
Thai...
Strawberry Daiquiri

Strawberry Daiquiri

June 16, 2022
The...
Privacy Policy
©2023, Will Cook For Smiles. Design by Pixel Me Designs