Bangers and mash with Guinness gravy is my go-to meal for St. Patrick’s Day, but it’s also a great meat-and-potatoes option for cold, wet weather. This easy, comfort food recipe takes the classic combination of sausages and potatoes and tops it off with a rich, flavorful Guinness gravy. Serve with your favorite spicy mustard and pair it with a pint of Guinness! With nearly 70,000 shares on Pinterest, it is easy to see why this bangers and mash is a readers’ favorite.
A St. Patrick’s Day Dinner
St. Patrick’s Day is upon us once again, so it’s time to dust off this recipe for Guinness gravy and turn your basic bangers and mash into something worthy of a celebration. Not that bangers and mash isn’t enough of a reason to celebrate, but on St. Patrick’s Day, it tastes even better with Guinness.
A classic comfort food dish commonly found throughout Ireland and England, bangers and mash consists of sausage links, mashed potatoes, and homemade gravy. While it’s often served with mushy peas and onion gravy, which you can find in my recipe for pork chops and mustard shallot gravy, today, we are making it with an onion-free Guinness gravy.
This year, for St. Patrick’s Day, forget the green food. Instead, turn your friends green with envy when they find out what you had for dinner. Even better, double the recipe and invite them to join you!
What You’ll Need
The ingredients for making bangers and mash have been divided into three main components: the mash, the bangers, and the gravy. The gravy has the longest list of ingredients, including Worcestershire sauce, yellow English mustard, and Guinness. Each ingredient is important for building the flavor we want for this delicious gravy.
Featured Ingredient: Bangers aka Sausages
If you aren’t British or Irish or have close friends who are, you may be wondering why they call sausages bangers. Bangers got their name from the sausages produced during World War 1 when food shortages forced the use of fillers, and rationing meant they tried to stretch the casings as far as possible. As these tightly packed sausages cooked, the fillings expanded, causing the tight casings to burst and the sausage to pop out of its casing with a bang. They started calling them bangers and over 100 years later, the name has stuck.
While bangers make for a fun name, banging is not exactly what you want to happen while cooking your sausages. Sausages today aren’t typically overstuffed, and often the ends are left loose, but if yours are sealed off, you can prevent your bangers from banging by gently piercing them with a fork before cooking.
Truly traditional bangers and mash are made with an English or Irish-style pork sausage, like a Cumberland or Lincolnshire sausage. Here in the US, I seem to only be able to find them around the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. Since I enjoy this meal year-round, I often make mine with a lightened-up version of turkey or chicken sausage.
Whether you are choosing pork, chicken, or turkey, make sure that you buy sausage in links, not patties or loose ground sausage. If you can’t find a classic banger, avoid sweeter flavored sausages, like apple or maple, and look for something with garlic, onion, herbs, or even cheese as the main flavor. The sweeter flavors don’t work as well with the Guinness in the gravy.
If you want to make your own sausages from scratch, try this Irish Sausage recipe from Kitchen Dreaming.
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- Official Guinness Glasses
- Small saucepan
- Balloon whisk
- Lidded frying pan
- Potato masher
- Large saucepan
How to Make Bangers and Mash with Guinness Gravy
This recipe is divided into three different components that are served together to make the final dish. The mashed potatoes form the base, the bangers are nestled into the mash, and then it’s all covered in a glut of Guinness gravy. Delicious!
Making the Sausages
For this version, I am working with raw sausages and cooking them on the stove. Place the sausages in a cold pan and add water so that it covers half of the sausage. Cover and place on the stove over a medium flame. Bring the water to a boil, then adjust the flame to maintain a simmer. It will take about 10 minutes for the sausages to cook through to an internal temp of 155ºF. Drain excess water, then brown the sausages over a medium flame.
The Mash aka Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are a pretty standard staple, and everyone has the opinion that their way is the right way. In my opinion, real mashed potatoes should have the occasional lump of potato in them, they should be creamy, not too thick, and not too thin. If you don’t agree, by all means, make them the way you like, but if you want to try them my way, read on!
When I make mashed potatoes, Yukon gold or white potatoes. These types of potatoes have thin skins and a semi-waxy and semi-starchy flesh that I find makes for a creamier mash. Removing the skins is optional, keep them on if you want or peel them if you want. Either way, give your potatoes a good clean with a soft-bristled brush to remove any dirt and be sure to cut out any eyes, bruising, or other imperfections.
Chop the potatoes into roughly equal-sized chunks so that they cook more evenly. Keep in mind that smaller chunks of potatoes cook faster, while larger chunks of potatoes will take more time. Submerge them in cold water, cover them and bring them to a boil. Drop the heat to maintain a gentle boil and cook until they are fork-tender. Drain the water, then mash with a potato masher. Add the butter and remaining ingredients, cover and let the butter melt, then stir to combine. Add salt and pepper as desired, then taste before serving.
Making Guinness Gravy
When I make gravy, it always starts with a classic butter and flour roux, and this Guinness gravy is no exception. This gravy takes about 15 minutes to make and is so popular that it has its own post with a lot more details about how to make Guinness gravy with lots more information and troubleshooting details.
It gets its name from the addition of Guinness, a dark stout with a creamy finish. As always, when cooking with alcohol, if you don’t like the flavors when you drink it, you probably won’t like the flavor when you cook with it. To omit the Guinness, just replace it with an equal part of beef broth.
Bangers and Mash Video
Making Bangers and Mash with Fully Cooked Sausages
If you can only find fully cooked sausages, you will need to rearrange the cooking order to ensure everything is done on time. Be sure to check the cooking time on the packaging for your sausages. Many chicken and turkey sausages are sold fully cooked and only need to be heated through, which means they will take about half the cooking time.
When working with fully-cooked sausages, start your potatoes first, as outlined in the recipe below, but wait to start the sausages until the potatoes have five minutes left. Finish the potatoes while the sausages are browning and the gravy is being kept warm.
Bangers and Mash with Guinness Gravy Recipe
Bangers and mash with Guinness gravy takes the classic combination of sausages and potatoes and upgrades it with a rich, flavorful Guinness gravy. This comfort food meal is delicious any day but has become my go-to meal for St. Patrick’s Day. Flavorful sausage and creamy potatoes topped with rich Guinness gravy are a delicious addition to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration. To serve, layer the potatoes on the bottom, add two sausages on top, then top off with a generous pour of gravy. I like mine with a bit of yellow English mustard, like Colemans, on the side.
How to Store and Reheat
Leftovers can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for two to three days. It’s better to store and reheat each component separately. For best results, reheat using the stovetop.
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Bangers & Mash with Guinness Gravy Recipe
Bangers and mash with Guinness gravy upgrades the classic combination of sausages and potatoes with a rich, flavorful Guinness gravy. This comfort food meal is delicious any day, but has become my go to meal for St. Patrick's Day.
4.3 stars (40 ratings)
prep: 10 minutes minutes
cook: 20 minutes minutes
total: 30 minutes minutes
servings: 2 servings
author: Renee N Gardner
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Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes
- 3 yukon gold potatoes (about 1.25 lbs)
- 3/8 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Sausages
- 4 raw sausage links**
Guinness Gravy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup beef stock
- 1/2 cup Guinness draught
- 1 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon English style yellow mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
The Potatoes
Chop the potatoes into 1" cubes and place into a medium sized pot. Add cold water to cover potatoes by 2". Cover with lid and set the pot to boil over high heat.
Once the pot boils, remove the lid, lower the temperature to medium and continue to boil until the potatoes are tender and fall apart with a fork. About 12 minutes.
Drain potatoes and return to the pot. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper.
Mash potatoes to desired consistency and stir to incorporate seasoning. Cover and keep warm.
The Sausages**
Place the sausages in a medium to large size skillet. Add enough water to come halfway up the side of the sausages. Cover and place over a medium heat. Bring to a boil then drop to a medium low heat and simmer until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees, about 15 minutes.
Remove the lid, turn the heat back up and allow any remaining liquid to boil off. Brown the sausages for 1 – 2 minutes per side, then remove from heat and allow to rest.
The Gravy
Meanwhile, start the gravy. Melt the butter over medium heat then whisk in flour. Allow it to cook for about 1 – 2 minutes, whisking constantly.
Slowly whisk in Guinness and beef stock. Add mustard, worcestershire, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Once the gravy thickens, drop the heat to low, cover and keep warm.
Serve each portion with half the potatoes and two sausages links. This recipe makes just over 1 cup of gravy, which is just slightly more than we use for two people.
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Notes
**The instructions as written for the sausages are for raw sausage from the butcher. If you are using precooked sausages, follow the instructions on the packaging.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Calories: 708kcalCarbohydrates: 74gProtein: 20gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 19gPolyunsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 1700mgFiber: 7gSugar: 5g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.
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