Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy
Browned pork sausages served over fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes and finished with a thin, deeply savory red wine and beef broth onion gravy. A cheap, traditional supper that only asks for genuinely good sausage.
- 4 links pork sausage
- 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons milk (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 6 cups beef broth
- 2 cups red wine
- Preheat your oven to 200°F (95°C) — this low temperature is just for holding the sausages warm once they're browned, not for cooking them further, so don't worry that it seems too low.
- Cook the sausages in a skillet over medium-low heat until well browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer them to an oven-safe dish and slide them into the warm oven while you finish the rest of the dish.
- Place the cubed potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until a fork slides easily into the potatoes, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes well and let them sit in the hot, empty pot for a minute or two to steam off any excess moisture — skipping this step is the most common reason mash turns out watery. Mix in the butter, milk, dry mustard powder, salt, and pepper, then mash until smooth and fluffy. Set the mash aside, covered, to keep warm.
- Melt the tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they turn translucent and just begin to catch a little color at the edges, about 8 minutes.
- Pour in the beef broth and red wine, bring to a boil, and let it simmer until the liquid has reduced down to about half its original volume, roughly 10 minutes. This long reduction is what concentrates the gravy's flavor, so don't rush it even though the gravy will still look quite thin and liquidy when it's done — that's traditional, not a sign it needs more time. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To serve, divide the mashed potatoes among plates and top with the warm sausages, then pour the onion gravy generously over both.
Chef's Note: Bangers and mash gets its name from the old habit of sausages bursting, or "banging," in the pan as they cooked over too-high heat — a good reminder to keep the heat at medium-low here so yours brown evenly instead of splitting. This is genuinely humble food, and it depends more on the quality of your sausage than any technique in the recipe, so it's worth splurging on a proper butcher's banger if you can.
True onion gravy is meant to be thin and pourable rather than thick like a Thanksgiving-style gravy, so resist the urge to add a flour or cornstarch slurry to bulk it up — the reduction alone is what gives it its depth. If you'd like a thicker gravy anyway, simply reduce it a little further than the recipe calls for, keeping in mind it will concentrate in saltiness as it goes.
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