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Bangers with Onion Gravy

By Steve Dunn

Published on December 5, 2022

Time

1 hour

Yield

Serves 4 to 6

Bangers with Onion Gravy

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1½ pounds Cumberland sausage (6 links)2 onions, halved and sliced thin (3 cups)½ cup water plus 1 tablespoon, divided2½ cups beef broth 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme ½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary 1¼ teaspoons sugar 1 tablespoon Marmite ½ teaspoon pepper ¼ teaspoon table salt 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Before You Begin

If Cumberland sausage is unavailable, you can substitute bratwurst or any mildly spiced fresh pork sausage. Marmite, a British yeast extract, is sold at most grocery stores. For the best-tasting gravy, cook the onions until a dark fond forms in the skillet. Serve the sausages and gravy with our Fastest, Easiest Mashed Potatoes.

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Arrange sausages in pan and cook, turning once, until browned on 2 sides, about 5 minutes. Move sausages to 1 side of skillet. Add onions, evenly distributing around bottom of pan, and nestle sausages on top. Add ½ cup water and immediately cover. Cook, turning sausages once until they register between 160 and 165 degrees and onions have softened, about 10 minutes.
  2. While sausages cook, whisk broth, Marmite, mustard, thyme, and rosemary in 4-cup liquid measuring cup until Marmite dissolves.
  3. Transfer sausages to plate and tent with aluminum foil. Make sure onions are spread evenly; cook without stirring until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes (if onions have not browned, increase heat to medium-high). Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and well browned, and dark fond forms on bottom of skillet, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Stir in sugar, pepper, and salt and cook for 1 minute.
  4. Add broth mixture, increase heat to medium-high, and bring to boil. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom and sides of skillet and stirring back into sauce, until sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Combine cornstarch and remaining 1 tablespoon water in small bowl. Whisk cornstarch mixture into sauce and cook until sauce is glossy and has consistency of heavy cream, about 2 minutes.
  5. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Bangers with Onion Gravy

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By Steve Dunn
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Time

1 hour

Yield

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

Ingredients

Ingredients

Why This Recipe Works

Great bangers and mash with onion gravy, the iconic British pub staple, revolves around plump, well-browned links napped with an ultrasavory sauce. Searing the sausages ensured that the links developed attractive, flavorful browning; steaming cooked them through gently so that they were plump and juicy. Adding the onions (thin-sliced so that they softened quickly) to the pan to steam with the sausages jump-started their cooking. Continuing to sauté them after the sausage came out further softened them and caramelized their sugars; doing so also developed a deep, flavor-packed fond on the bottom of the skillet. Deglazing the pan with a highly seasoned beef broth captured the fond, and simmering the onions in the broth tenderized them more and concentrated the flavor of the gravy. A cornstarch slurry and butter, whisked in just before serving, gave the gravy the requisite viscosity, shine, and richness.

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Before You Begin

If Cumberland sausage is unavailable, you can substitute bratwurst or any mildly spiced fresh pork sausage. Marmite, a British yeast extract, is sold at most grocery stores. For the best-tasting gravy, cook the onions until a dark fond forms in the skillet. Serve the sausages and gravy with our Fastest, Easiest Mashed Potatoes.

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Arrange sausages in pan and cook, turning once, until browned on 2 sides, about 5 minutes. Move sausages to 1 side of skillet. Add onions, evenly distributing around bottom of pan, and nestle sausages on top. Add ½ cup water and immediately cover. Cook, turning sausages once until they register between 160 and 165 degrees and onions have softened, about 10 minutes.
  2. While sausages cook, whisk broth, Marmite, mustard, thyme, and rosemary in 4-cup liquid measuring cup until Marmite dissolves.
  3. Transfer sausages to plate and tent with aluminum foil. Make sure onions are spread evenly; cook without stirring until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes (if onions have not browned, increase heat to medium-high). Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and well browned, and dark fond forms on bottom of skillet, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Stir in sugar, pepper, and salt and cook for 1 minute.
  4. Add broth mixture, increase heat to medium-high, and bring to boil. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom and sides of skillet and stirring back into sauce, until sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Combine cornstarch and remaining 1 tablespoon water in small bowl. Whisk cornstarch mixture into sauce and cook until sauce is glossy and has consistency of heavy cream, about 2 minutes.
  5. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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