This recipe for Irish Bangers and Mash is coated in a wonderful rich onion gravy and served over the best mashed potatoes. It’s so easy to make and is a perfect weeknight meal for the entire family. Great on Saint Patrick’s Day or all year round!
Once I spot those corned beef packets at the market around early February, I get all excited, and then spend the next two months making my slow cooker corned beef and cabbage, corned beef hash, and Reuben Sandwiches…unit we’re all tired of them. (Just kidding…we never get tired of them.) Nonetheless, this year I thought I would try something new, like this Bangers and Mash. It’s a ridiculously uncomplicated and simple meal that it’s almost unforgivable I hadn’t made it sooner.
Even though my husband is of Irish (and French) descent, he doesn’t know squat about Irish food, so I nabbed this recipe from my friend Caitlin who is 100% Irish and definitely knows her way around the kitchen!
What is Bangers and Mash
Bangers are sausages and Mash refers to mashed potatoes. The name came about during World War I when there were meat shortages, so the sausages were made with a lot of water or dried bread, causing them to burst (with a bang!) while cooking. Bangers and Mash is a widely popular pub dish in Ireland and the UK, but it’s so easy to recreate at home!
This dish is very inexpensive and only requires pretty modest ingredients, so you really want all the elements to shine.
Recipe Notes
- Use the best quality sausages. If you’re lucky enough to find some Irish sausage, grab them! They have am herbal, peppery flavor to them that is awesome. If not, use a good quality pork sausage. Even bratwurst would be ok.
- The onion gravy is key and the secret behind a great Bangers and Mash recipe. Homemade onion gravy is a must here!
- Beef broth, Guinness beer, and wine. I’ve seen recipes where the gravy is made with either beef broth or Guinness beer and a 1/4-1/2 cup of white or red wine. I chose just to use beef broth, but I have no doubt wine or beer would be terrific, too. If you do use wine, add it after the flour in step 3 and let it reduce before adding in the beef broth.
- For added flavor, a little mustard and/or Worcestershire sauce would be great additions to the gravy.
If you’re looking for an easy, hearty meal, look no further! Bangers and Mash is quintessential comfort food and is practically effortless to make.
Other Irish inspired dishes
Recipes to make for Saint Patrick’s Day!
- Shamrock Shake (McDonald’s Copycat)
- Pistachio Cake
- Grasshopper Parfaits
- Shamrock Wonton Crackers
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
How to make this Bangers and Mash Recipe
Bangers and Mash
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 pork sausage links
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large sweet onion ( , halved and thinly sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (, minced)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- salt and pepper (, to taste)
- the best mashed potatoes (, for serving)
- sweet baby peas (, for serving)
Instructions
- Warm oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add sausages and cook, until browned all over and cooked through (rolling frequently to prevent burning), about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from the pan.
- Add butter; once bubbly, add in the onion and stir to coat. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent, golden, and begin to caramelize.
- Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add flour and mix through until completely combined.
- Add about 3/4 cup of beef broth and mix into the onion so it becomes a sludge. Then add remaining beef broth and mix until combined.
- Simmer, stirring, until the gravy thickens but is slightly thinner than you want - it will thicken more as it sits.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer the cooked sausages back to the pan just to warm through.
- To serve, mound some mashed potatoes on a plate, top with 2 sausages, drizzle with gravy, and some sweet baby peas on the side. Yum!
Notes
- Use the best quality sausages. If you’re lucky enough to find some Irish sausage, grab them! They have am herbal, peppery flavor to them that is awesome. If not, use a good quality pork sausage. Even bratwurst would be ok.
- The onion gravy is key and the secret behind a great Bangers and Mash recipe. Homemade onion gravy is a must here!
- Beef broth, Guinness beer, and wine. I’ve seen recipes where the gravy is made with either beef broth or Guinness beer and a 1/4-1/2 cup of white or red wine. I chose just to use beef broth, but I have no doubt wine or beer would be terrific, too. If you do use wine, add it after the flour in step 3 and let it reduce before adding in the beef broth.
- For added flavor, a little mustard and/or Worcestershire sauce would be great additions to the gravy.
Nutrition
Other Notes
You mentioned that the bangers have a peppery flavor; does that mean they’re spicy? As in hot?
TIA!
Hi Debbie! I was saying if you can locate real Irish sausages, they have a nice peppery flavor. No, not spicy. I just used regular pork sausage links, though.
Love the background info you give with each recipe.
Thanks, Mom!