Sausage and Onion Pan Gravy with Buttery Mash
Golden seared pork sausages and sweet onions in a quick pan gravy, piled over buttery mashed potatoes. A hearty, comforting dinner that comes together on the stovetop.
- Total
- 50 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 35
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Searing · Deglazing
- Savory
- Comforting
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 3 cm chunks. Put them in a large pot, cover with cold water by 2 cm, add 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until a knife slides in with no resistance, 15 to 18 minutes.
~18 min
Salting the water seasons the potatoes from within and raises the boiling point slightly, helping them cook evenly.
-
While step 1 cooks
While the potatoes boil, heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the pork sausages in a single layer and cook, turning every few minutes, until browned all over and cooked through to 71°C/160°F, 12 to 15 minutes. Lift them onto a plate.
~15 min
Searing the sausages in a single layer builds a browned crust through the Maillard reaction, creating fond that flavors the gravy.
Let the sausages brown undisturbed for the first few minutes before turning, so they build a crust and leave the fond that gives the gravy its depth.
Searing Pat sausages dry and leave them undisturbed in a hot pan to develop a deep brown crust; moving them too early prevents browning.
-
Add 20 g butter to the pan with the sausage fat. Add the onions sliced 5 mm thick and cook over medium heat, scraping up the browned bits, until soft and golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
~10 min
Scraping up the browned bits dissolves the fond into the onions, deepening the gravy's flavor and preventing burning.
Deglazing Add liquid and scrape the pan's browned bits while they are still hot; if the fond is burnt, discard it to avoid bitter flavors.
-
Pour 500 ml water into the pan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in 3 tbsp gravy granules and 0.5 tsp black pepper. Simmer until the gravy thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, 3 to 4 minutes.
~4 min
Simmering the gravy allows water to evaporate and the granules to hydrate, thickening it so it clings to the sausages.
-
Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Add the remaining 40 g butter and 120 ml milk, then mash until smooth. Season with salt to taste.
~5 min
Mashing hot potatoes prevents gluey texture because cold starch granules rupture unevenly and absorb butter and milk poorly.
Mash the potatoes while they are still steaming hot; cold potatoes turn gluey and the butter and milk absorb less evenly.
-
Return the sausages and any resting juices to the pan and simmer in the gravy for 2 minutes, until heated through. Spoon the sausages and onion gravy over the mashed potatoes.
~2 min