Best Traditional British Bangers Recipes

TRADITIONAL BRITISH BANGERS

Steps:

• Knead together the pork, veal, fat, and bread.
• Stir the salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, thyme, marjoram, sage, onion powder and lemon peel into the egg, and then knead into the meat mixture.
• CHEF'S NOTE: At this point, I fry a small sausage patty and taste it so that I can adjust the seasonings, because the recipe so far is fairly mild.
• Firmly stuff the mixture into the prepared hog (sausage) casings.
• Prick any air pockets with a pin.
• Poach, broil, grill, or fry them before serving.
• Serve the bangers, drowned in nice thick onion and mushroom gravy, with a heap of mashed potatoes.
• The raw sausages can be refrigerated for 3 days, cooked sausages for 1 week.
• They can also be frozen (raw, poached, or broiled) for 3 months.

ULTIMATE BANGERS AND MASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Make the onion gravy in advance. See our recipe for the BEST onion gravy.
• To Make the Mash: Place the potatoes in a pot of water and add the salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a steady simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until they potatoes are just tender when pierced with a knife. Be careful not to over-boil them. Thoroughly drain the potatoes and place them back in the empty pot set over very low heat just to maintain warmth. If using a ricer or food mill (this creates the most optimal texture), run the potatoes through it now while they're hot. If using a hand masher mash the potatoes while they're hot. (Avoid using an electric mixer or food processor. See blog post for explanation.) Mash the potatoes until fluffy and you've reached the desired degree of smoothness. Be careful not to over-mash or the potatoes will become gluey. Use a spoon to stir in the butter. Once melted stir in the hot milk gradually, allowing time for the potatoes to absorb the liquid after each addition. Add more hot milk as needed to achieve desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• To Prepare the Sausages: While the potatoes are boiling place the sausages in a baking dish with a little oil and roast the sausages for about 10 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. (Alternatively you can fry the sausages but baking them creates an especially nice crispy outer shell with a juicy interior.) For sausage-making enthusiasts we highly recommend our Homemade British Bangers.
• To serve, place a mound of mashed potatoes on each plate, lay the sausages on the mashed potatoes and top with onion gravy. Peas are a traditional side.

TRUE BANGERS AND MASH WITH ONION GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
• Cook the sausage links in a skillet over medium-low heat until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side; transfer to an oven-safe dish and move to the preheated oven to keep warm.
• Place potatoes into a saucepan over medium heat, cover with water, and boil gently until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Mix in 1/4 cup of butter, milk, dry mustard, salt, and black pepper; mash until fluffy and smooth. Set aside.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; cook the onions until translucent and just starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Pour in the beef broth and red wine; boil the mixture down to about half its volume, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. To serve, place a sausage onto a serving plate with about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. Pour the onion gravy over the sausage and potatoes.

CLASSIC BANGERS AND MASH

Steps:

• Place the potatoes in a pan, and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, leaving the potatoes in the pan.
• Meanwhile, stir the bouillon cubes into the warm milk until dissolved. Stir the milk mixture and butter into the potatoes. Mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy.
• Heat the cooking oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Prick the sausages in a few places with a fork, and place them into the skillet. Cook, turning often, until golden brown and juices run clear, 12 to 15 minutes depending on thickness. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels.
• Using the same skillet, add the onion rings. Cook and stir over medium heat until the onions are golden, but still crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Heat the gravy in a pan over medium heat.
• To serve, scoop the potatoes onto a large serving plate. Arrange the sausages over the potatoes, top with the onions, drizzle with gravy, and sprinkle with oregano.

BANGERS

Steps:

• Cut pork and veal into 1-inch cubes and set aside.
• Rinse salt off fatback thoroughly, then soak in warm water for 20 minutes. Remove.
• Toss pork, veal, fatback, sage, garlic powder, salt, lemon zest, thyme, onion powder, mace, nutmeg, and pepper together very well and cover. Set in a refrigerator overnight for 12 hours.
• Pass all meat through a meat grinder. Lightly knead a couple of times, but everything should be close to blended evenly already. Cover and return to the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, thoroughly rinse out casings, passing water through the interior. Let soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
• Knot one end of casing and slide the other end over a sausage stuffing attachment on your stand mixer. Feed cold ground meat into casing on medium-low speed. If it gets too warm it is a pain to feed into the casings.
• Twist into links of desired size as casing fills. Tie off other end after final link.
• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pan-fry sausages until browned and no longer pink in the centers, turning as needed, 10 to 15 minutes.

ONION GRAVY FOR BRITISH BANGERS AND MASH

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in the melted butter until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low. Cover the pan and cook until onions are caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
• Stir flour into the caramelized onions and cook for 1 minute.
• Pour red wine, chicken stock (see Editor's Note), Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce into the onion mixture; simmer until sauce is thickened, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

TRADITIONAL HOMEMADE ENGLISH OXFORD SAUSAGES - OXFORD BANGERS!

Steps:

• Mince or very finely chop the pork and veal. Put the minced meat in a large mixing bowl and add the suet, breadcrumbs, lemon rind, nutmeg and herbs. Mix together and season to taste. Add the lightly beaten egg to the mixture and mix well with a fork until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined and bound together.
• With floured hands, form the mixture into sausage shapes. Coat each sausage in flour, shaking off any excess.
• Cook the sausages under a hot grill, turning frequently, until evenly browned and cooked through.
• Serve the sausages with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable as a main meal, or with grilled bacon and tomatoes for breakfast.