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Bangers and Mash with Stout Onion Gravy is a traditional quick and easy dinner made from sausages, buttermilk mashed potatoes, and a savory gravy loaded with onions.
This recipe originated from the British Isles and can be made with any kind of sausage. The Irish Stout adds intense flavor to the sausage and the gravy.
Why this recipe works:
The stout onion gravy take this meal over the top and is what ties everything together. Guinness was my stout beer of choice and the onions really added to the flavor of the gravy.
You don’t need to worry about the alcohol because it all gets cooked away, so this is a recipe that anyone can enjoy.
The sausages are crisp on the outside. The mashed potatoes are full of flavor and thick enough to hold the gravy. Make this recipe extra Irish by cooking up Colcannon.
I love making this recipe for St. Patrick’s Day, but it makes an outstanding dinner any time of year.
How to make it:
This is a three part recipe: sausages, gravy, mashed potatoes.
- Because the recipe starts with raw sausages, you have to ensure they get cooked through. I used a saute pan with a lid. I like to give them a good sear on the outside, but the lid helps steam the sausages and cook them all the way through.
- By adding Irish stout to the pan and then covering it, the stout evaporates into steam. This not only helps cook the sausage, but it infuses that intense dark flavor into the meat and makes it more tender.
- To cook the gravy, you’ll brown sliced onions in butter. Adding a little flour and allowing that to cook will help thicken it. Deglaze with more stout beer and then add beef broth.
- The mashed potatoes are made by boiling peeled potatoes. Once they’re soft, you’ll mash them with butter and buttermilk.
Cooking tips:
- Sometimes it’s easier to find sausages that are pre-cooked. You can use these as well. Just ensure they get heated through.
- You can use any kind of beer. Stout tastes great with the onions, but a nice wheat ale would also work.
- The less frequently you stir the onions, the better they will brown.
What does bangers and mash mean?
Bangers means sausage. Mash means mashed potatoes.
You might be wondering what vegetable goes well with bangers and mash? Peas. When in doubt, always throw on some peas. Especially if you have mashed potatoes and gravy for them to stick to.
Why is it called a banger?
I found an interesting article that discusses the origins of some popular foods.
I’ve known sausages have been referred to as bangers because they pop when they cook. Now, we all know that a good sausage or hot dog will split when it’s cooked, but does it really pop?
The article states that “The sausage, one of the oldest types of processed food in history, can be traced back to ancient times. British pork sausages have been mass produced since the 19th century.
After the outbreak of World War I, food shortages led to a dramatic reduction of meat, of any sort, in sausages.
Instead, producers packed them out with scraps, cereal and water, which caused them to pop and hiss when cooked on shovels over open fires in the trenches of northern Europe — hence ‘bangers’.”
Bangers and mash: English or Irish?
The answer is both.
It’s typical “Pub Grub” you might find anywhere in the British Isles including Great Britain and Ireland. It’s a relatively easy dinner to make either for a family or in large quantity if serving a crowd.
If you want to make this meal specifically Irish, use an Irish stout like Guinness to cook the sausage and gravy like I did for this recipe.
If you want to make this meal specifically British, just serve plain sausage with flavorless mashed potatoes. I kid! I kid! Well, sort of.
Love recipes using stout beer?
You wouldn’t believe that I actually don’t enjoy drinking stout beer based on the number of recipes I’ve made using stout beer, but it is outstanding in both savory and sweet recipes!
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Irish Cheddar Stout Bread
- Irish Stew
- Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Guinness Chocolate Sauce
- Guinness Chocolate Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!
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Equipment
Ingredients
bangers:
- 1 pound sausage uncooked bratwurst recommended
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 ounces stout beer I used Guinness
mashed potatoes:
- 3-4 russet potatoes peeled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
stout onion gravy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium sized onion sliced thin
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup stout beer I used Guinness
- 1 cup beef broth
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
sausages:
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add sausages and stout. Cover with lid and crack just to allow enough steam to escape. Cook covered for about 10 minutes, turning half way through.
- After they've cooked for 10 minutes, remove lid and allow the liquid to reduce a bit and coat the sausages. When the liquid is almost gone, lower heat to medium low and continue cooking with the lid on, rotating occasionally, until evenly browned and cooked through, about another 10 minutes.
gravy:
- In a separate pot, heat butter over medium high heat. Add sliced onions and cook until slightly brown and fragrant, 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and allow to cook 2-3 minutes.
- Add stout and scrape bottom of pan to deglaze. Add beef broth and allow to simmer until no longer foamy, 10-15 minutes.
potatoes:
- In large pot cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Cook until soft. Drain and add butter and buttermilk. Mash to your preferred consistency.
- To serve, top potatoes with sausage(s) and top with as much gravy as your heart desires.
Notes
Cooking tips:
- Sometimes it’s easier to find sausages that are pre-cooked. You can use these as well. Just ensure they get heated through.
- You can use any kind of beer. Stout tastes great with the onions, but a nice wheat ale would also work.
- The less frequently you stir the onions, the better they will brown.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in March 2015 and has been updated with information and cooking tips. Don’t worry – I would never change the recipe!
this was SO good.. I made it exactly and it was perfect. Perfect method too… I will be making it again
Glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment, Mildred! krissy
Great recipe. I added 1-2 tsp if maple syrup and Traegered my sausages… so good!!!
Becoming a new St. Patrick’s day tradition in our house!!
Made this today with Trader Joe’s Irish Bangers. It was fantastic!
Thanks Krissy!
I made this recipe and much to my dismay the gravy was virtually unservable. It looked perfect – onions beautifully caramelized, gorgeous color, perfect consistency- but it was unbelievably bitter. I’m thinking just WAY too much beer… Or maybe I just chose the wrong type of beer (it was an Irish stout). I had to re-make the gravy using another recipe ?
Sorry it didn’t work for you! We really loved it, but it just may be personal preference when it comes to the dark beer.
Made this tonight for St Patrick’s Day dinner. My gravy was very thin and a little on the bitter side. I think next time I’ll use less Guinness and more broth to balance it a bit. Maybe I’ll try the brown sugar trick from the comments, too. But once the gravy was on the sausage and potatoes it lost a lot of the bitterness it had in its own and turned out to be really good. I used actual bangers, and served it with Irish soda bread. It was great and will definitely be made again and again. I just need to find a way to thicken up the gravy a touch without ruining it. (Gravy is not my forté.)
I made this dish last night warmed it up this morning and took it to work for a potluck. Got lots so positive comments on how good this dish was. Will definitely make this again.
I just served this recipe up and LOVED IT! I did make a few adjustments due to my husband’s dietary requests. First, I sautéed the onion in olive oil instead of butter. I used turkey brats to make it a little healthier. In the potatoes, I didn’t use butter, but instead used half a cup of sour cream, a splash of milk, salt and pepper to taste, and fresh chives from our garden. It was delicious and I will definitely make this again!
Holy smokes – that sounds amazing! Thanks for the comment!!! -Krissy
I think this is a wonderful recipe. I’m wondering if I’ve doing something wrong though: both the temps for the bangers and the gravy seemed WAY too high. The sausages burnt, and the 3 ounces of stout evaporated in couple of seconds, with just burnt sugars and no liquid to cover the sausages. I ended up turning the temp way down and using much more stout and ended up kind of boiling them, which seems like a valid way to do it, as you would boiling brats in beer. Also, medium high for the gravy quickly burnt the butter and then ended up burning the flour. The gravy ended up being bitter, I think because of this.
I do want to emphasize this is an excellent recipe and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the amounts of any ingredient except the beer in cooking the sausages. I’m curious to see what your thoughts are on this, especially if I didn’t do something right. I realized ovens are different, but medium high seems like more than just adjusting a knob a little.
Thanks again for the great recipe!
Hi Stephanie, I sadly have a pretty horrible gas cooktop and my “high” might be equivalent so someone else’s medium low. Sorry it burned, but glad you were able to make it work! -Krissy
I love this recipe. The only thing I changed is when sautéing the onions, I sprinkle a couple spoonfuls of brown sugar. It makes the stout gravy awesome.
What an awesome suggestion, Gail! LOVE IT! -Krissy
Oooooh thanks for the suggestion!
does the brown sugar take away the bitterness in the gravy