Bangers & Mash
Proper bangers and mash — golden oven-baked sausages, buttery creamy mash and a red wine onion gravy that’s been slowly caramelised and reduced down into something deeply rich and glossy. One of those dinners that earns its time on the stove.
The onion gravy is the centrepiece. The onions go into butter with a little sugar and cook for 30 minutes until they’re jammy and deeply golden before the red wine goes in to deglaze, then rosemary, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar all go in and simmer down together. Cold butter stirred in at the very end gives it a glossy, restaurant-quality finish.
The mash uses a ricer or masher, warmed milk and softened butter — the ratio here gives you something smooth and creamy rather than stiff or gluey. Use a floury potato like Kestrel, Russet or Yukon Gold for the best result. Start the gravy first — everything else fits around it.
Bangers & Mash
COMFORT · DINNER · EASY
The Gravy Makes This One
Honestly, the gravy is what makes this recipe. A proper red wine onion gravy — deep, glossy, slow-reduced — turns simple bangers and mash into something you'd order at a pub and pay good money for. And the mash isn't just a side here; it's built to soak up every bit of that gravy, so every forkful gets the full hit of flavour.
This is proper comfort food — the kind a lot of us grew up eating. Sausages, creamy mash, a rich gravy poured over the top. Nothing complicated, nothing you need a special occasion for, just a genuinely satisfying dinner.
Get the gravy going first — it's the longest part of the recipe by far — then work through the rest while it simmers away and does its thing. By the time the onions have caramelised and the gravy's reduced down, the sausages are cooked and the mash is ready to go.
Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy
Ingredients
Bangers & Mash
- 10 ml Olive Oil
- 8 High-quality Pork Sausages
- 1 kg Kestrel, Russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes
- 100 g Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 150 ml Full Fat Milk, Warmed
- Salt & Pepper
- Flat-Leaf Parsley
Onion Gravy
- 42 g Unsalted Butter, Cubed
- 2 Brown, Thinly Sliced
- 4 g Granulated Sugar
- 125 ml Red Wine
- 3 Sprigs Rosemary
- 500 ml Beef Stock
- 10 ml Worcestershire Sauce
- 10 g Dijon Mustard
- 15 ml Balsamic Vinegar
- 8 g Cornflour or Starch
- 15 ml Cold Water
- 28 g Unsalted Butter to Finish
- Salt & Pepper
Method
Bangers & Mash
- Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Place the sausages on the tray, drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 10 minutes on each side until golden brown. Alternatively, cook them in a pan over medium-high heat for 4 minutes on each side. For crispy skin, bake in the oven.
- Peel the whole potatoes and place them in a large saucepan or pot. Fill it with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by an inch. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 22-24 minutes until soft but not falling apart. Drain the potatoes through a colander.
- Mash the potatoes using a ricer or masher until smooth. Add warmed milk, butter, salt, and ground white pepper, then mix well until creamy.
Onion Gravy
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and sugar, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring regularly, until caramelised.
- Increase the heat to medium-high, add the red wine and rosemary, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Add beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the rosemary.
- Add balsamic vinegar and whisk the cornflour (starch) with cold water. Then gradually add it to the pan, whisking constantly until thickened. Simmer for another minute or two. Stir in the cold butter until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add more mustard if you like.
Serving
- Spoon a generous bed of mash onto each plate. Place sausages on top and pour over the onion gravy. Garnish with flat-leaf parsley.
