Meat-free sausage and mash

Sausage and mash (a.k.a bangers and mash in the UK) is one of the best-known Britain and Irish dishes. The name banger is believed to come from WW1 when meat shortages meant sausages often had extra water in which caused them to sometimes burst in the pan while cooking. I am genuinely amazed by the creativity of Brits, they always come up with such humorous food names. (Spotted dick, bubble and squeak, toad in the hole… etc.)

A classic sausage and mash is served with rich onion gravy and peas, however, unsurprisingly my version has added mushrooms because I LOOOOOVE mushrooms on everything. If you’re not so keen on mushrooms then feel free to leave them out. This is an ultimate comfort food recipe, simple and sure to please everyone, especially on a cold and grumpy winter evening.

Also, if vegan sausages doesn’t cost a fortune in your city (you can get them for just £1 a pack of 4/6 vegan sausages in London), this is a low-cost recipe.

The recipe requires you to prepare quite a few things at the same time. But don’t panic if you are a newbie to the kitchen. Most of the preparations are very straightforward. You should able to cook the whole meal within 40 minutes if you are good at time management and multi-tasking.

So here goes…

First, peel and cut the potatoes into quarters.

Place them into a large pot with boiling water. Ideally, the water should come to at least 3cm above the potatoes.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook at medium heat until tender – this should take around 20 minutes.

Meanwhile pan fry or oven grill the sausages. Turn occasionally until all sides are browned evenly and then set aside.

Thinly slice the mushrooms and onion.

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan, add the minced garlic and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the garlic has turned slightly golden in colour.

Add the sliced onion and stir-fry for another 3-5 minutes.

Drop in the mushrooms and continue to stir-fry gently until the onion is beautifully caramelised.

Add the bouillon, salt, bay leaf, dark soy sauce and 300ml water – mix well. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium and then cover and cook for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of warm water and then pour it slowly into the pan. Cook for another couple of minutes, stirring continuously, until the gravy has thickened to your preferred consistency.

I know it may sound a bit odd adding dark soy sauce to a British dish but for this recipe I use it as an vegan alternative to ingredients like bovril to add that lovely brown colour.

By this time the potatoes should be tender and nicely cooked. Drain the water from the pot and add vegan butter, almond milk, salt and pepper. Mash well with a fork or potato masher until smooth.

Lastly, boil the peas in water in a small saucepan for 3-4 minutes and then drain. Add vegan butter, salt and pepper and stir to coat.

Now we’ve got all our tasty meal components cooked it is assembly time!

Split the mash into 2 equal portions and place on your dinner plates. Then add 2 sausages to each plate, pour over your gravy and sprinkle the peas on top (or put them on the side if you prefer).

Garnish with parsley. Delicious when warm.

This recipe was created for Veahero, a cool new (free!) meal planning platform for vegans and vegetarians.

If you have followed and made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and take a picture, tagging it with #k33_kitchen and share it on Instagram! I’d be very excited to see what you come up with. Cheers, hope you enjoy my recipes!