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    Bangers and Mash with Caramelized Onions

    Updated February 25, 2025 / By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    Warm your belly with this hearty British pub food recipe for classic bangers and mash. We use mild pork sausages, but you can use your favorite sausage from the grocery or butcher.

    Bangers and mash with gravy and caramelized red onions on a plate

    More of our favorite UK inspired dishes
     

    Traditional Bangers and Mash Recipe

    Years ago, it became a tradition for us to make bangers and mash every year around St. Patrick’s Day. This savory, filling, delicious bangers and mash recipe gets a boost from the addition of sweet roasted garlic in the mashed potatoes, and savory oven-caramelized red onions. We encourage you to perfect our Bangers and Mash recipe with our Roasted Onions, Classic Mashed Potatoes, and Fried Shallots.  For another pub favorite, try our Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe! 

    Quartered red onions, pork sausage links , beef stock, sausage, butter, flour & mustard

    Ingredients For Bangers And Mash With Gravy

    • Bangers! Best sausage for bangers and mash? We like to use mild pork sausages, but most any sausage you love will work here

    • Butter

    • Flour

    • Beef stock

    • Red onions

    • Brown sugar

    • Red chili flakes

    • Balsamic vinegar

    roasted red onions on a baking sheet seasoned with brown sugar, red pepper flakes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt
    pork sausages cooking in olive oil in a skillet
    gravy being made in a skillet with butter and flour
    homemade gravy being whisked in a skillet made with flour, butter, salt and pepper

    How to Make Bangers and Mash

    The “bangers” portion of any bangers and mash recipe is actually the fastest piece of the puzzle. Start by making the Mashed Potatoes—and then move on to the onions, gravy and bangers.

    1. Make the oven-caramelized red onion wedges. These are different from caramelized onions cooked on the stove top. Tossed with sugar, chili flakes and balsamic vinegar, these roasted red onions are sweet and savory and baked on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

    2. Focus on the bangers! Fry the sausages in a large skillet until they’re cooked all the way through–160° on a meat thermometer, about 20 minutes.

    3. Make a quick gravy. We use the sausage drippings to whisk up a quick, beef stock-based gravy for our bangers and mash. Some bangers and mash recipes call for an onion gravy, but instead we incorporate the onion-y element in the form of those rich, oven-caramelized onions.

    4. Assemble! Top a big scoop of those creamy mashed potatoes with a couple of perfectly juicy bangers, a pour of gravy and caramelized onions to finish. Serve with a pint of your favorite ale!

    gravy, sausage and caramelized onions being tossed together in a skillet
    a plate of bangers and mash with caramelized onion with homemade gravy

    How to Store Leftovers + Tips

    • Why is it called bangers and mash? The word “banger” doesn’t refer to any one type of sausage. Rather, a “banger” is a British slang term for sausage that probably came into use around the time of the first world war, when rationing was in effect. These sausages had a tendency to burst (bang!) when cooked in a hot pan.

    • We’ve got plenty of recipes to make this St Patty’s Day, like our Sausage, Kale and Potato Skillet Dinner, Irish Cream Liqueur, Irish Apple Cake Donuts with Whiskey Glaze, and best for last–our Baileys Chocolate Bundt Cake.

    • Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for up to three months.

    a plate of bangers and mash with caramelized onion with homemade gravy

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    Bangers and Mash with Caramelized Onions Recipe

    Updated February 25, 2025

    By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    • Serves:  8
    • Prep Time:  40 min
    • Cook Time:  1 hr 20 min
    • Calories:  686
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    Description

    Warm your belly with this hearty British pub food recipe for classic bangers and mash. We use mild pork sausages, but you can use your favorite sausage from the grocery or butcher.

    Ingredients

    Oven Caramelized Onions

    • 2 red onions, peeled and cut into 8 intact wedges each
    • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
    • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
    • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt

    Sausage & Gravy

    • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 2 pounds pork sausage (8 links)
    • 4 tablespoons salted butter
    • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
    • 2¼ cups beef stock
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
    • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
    • 1 recipe Garlic Roasted Mashed Potatoes

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the center position.

    2. Make the caramelized onions. Place the onion wedges in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, pepper flakes, olive oil, balsamic and salt. Pour the sauce over the onions and toss to coat all over. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and turn the onions, to ensure even caramelization. Return to the oven and bake until the onions are caramelized, about 25 minutes more. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet.

    3. Meanwhile, make the sausage. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Once the oil is glistening, add the sausage and cook, turning often until the pork registers 160° on a meat thermometer, about 20 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a plate.

    4. Add the butter to the same skillet. As the butter is melting, scrape the brown bits loose from the bottom of the skillet. When the butter has melted, whisk in the flour and cook, whisking, until a thick paste is formed, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the beef stock, salt and pepper.

    5. Serve the sausage over mashed potatoes, covered in gravy and garnished with caramelized onions.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories 686
    • Protein 39 g
    • Carbohydrates 80 g
    • Total Fat 45 g
    • Dietary Fiber 7 g
    • Cholesterol 37 mg
    • Sodium 655 mg
    • Total Sugars 18 g

    Bangers and Mash with Caramelized Onions

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

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    • Sharon

      This email arrived in the nick of time...thought about onions to go with the bangers & mash, oven caramelization most helpful. Also, might as well guild the lily and make gravy, half of family is vegetarian; Better than Bouillon makes veg beef - have to source from Amazon, not available locally. Thanks!

      Hope you enjoyed Sharon!

    • Wendy

      I am a vegetarian and very sure there a lot of people who doent eat meat or fish.Your recipes look really lovely. but you dont seem to do very much for us veggies.I know the sausages and onion recipe can turn into a vegetarian dish.So please for all the vegetarian could think of us for a chang.Thanks.

      Hi Wendy if you go to our "recipes" page and then select "vegetarian" from the dietary drop down we have quite a few vegetarian recipes. Hope you find something that interests you! Here's the link to our vegetarian page https://themodernproper.com/recipes/dietary/vegetarian

    • Michael

      How can you "stir" the onion wedges when they are simply laid out on a baking sheet? Makes no sense.

      Toss/flip/move them around : )

    • Jocelyn

      This was seriously delicious! Followed the recipe exactly. It is definitely a recipe I'll make again!

      Yay! So glad to hear that! We make it every year at St. Patty's day but should probably add it to the menu more often!