Instant Pot Bangers and Mash is an easy one-pot dinner. Juicy sausage and mashed potatoes drenched in a rich onion gravy flavored with Guinness make this dinner a perfect comfort food meal. Make this classic Irish dinner for St. Patrick’s Day or serve it as a delicious weeknight family meal.
Ireland doesn’t always have a reputation for producing culinary masterpieces, but there is a lot more to Irish food than just adding green coloring to a dish. This is a classic Irish Pub Meal, just like Irish Nachos.
Easy dinners like Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage or Instant Pot Lamb Stew are newer takes on old favorite Irish dinners. So try an Irish-inspired dinner this week.
Bangers and mash is classic English and Irish pub food. The simple combination of sausage and mashed potato is topped with tasty and creamy onion gravy.
Using the Instant Pot to make bangers and mash makes it an easy one-pot dinner. The sausages cook in the gravy while the potatoes steam resulting in an easy 30-minute dinner!
Why are the Sausages Called Bangers?
During World War II food rationing led to a lot of filler being added to sausages in Great Britain. The filler, especially when it was water, would make the sausages pop and bang as they cooked, leading to them being called bangers.
What Kind of Sausage are Bangers?
The most traditional kind of sausage used in bangers and mash is Irish sausage which combines pork with breadcrumbs and flavors like mace for a unique flavor. Cumberland beef sausage is also commonly used in Britain.
A few years ago I noticed that my local Wegmans grocery store was carrying Irish-style bangers and you can also buy bangers online. These sausages are perfect for this dish and they make a delicious St. Patrick’s Day dinner with authentic flavor.
But even if you can’t find Irish bangers you should still make this recipe! I made bangers and mash for years with just standard pork sausage or Italian sausage. You can use any kind of good-quality sausage.
While pork is the most traditional sausage meat used for the meal beef, lamb, or chicken sausage could also be used. I probably wouldn’t use spicy sausage.
Key Ingredients
For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below
In addition to the bangers, the remaining ingredients are
Potatoes – Red potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, or russet potatoes all will work fine in this dish, although russet potato will probably need to be peeled. Two pounds are plenty to serve four people.
Beef broth – The broth combines with the Guinness to make the gravy.
Guinness Stout – The Guinness gives the gravy a deeper and richer taste and makes the dish seem more Irish. But the beer will give the gravy a little bit of bitterness, and you can use all beef broth or substitute a different kind of beer.
Pantry staples of onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and cornstarch round out the recipe.
How to Make Instant Pot Banger and Mash
1. Prepare the Potatoes
Dice the each potato into cubes of about 3/4 of an inch size. I used red potatoes and left the skins on because I hate peeling. But you could peel them if you prefer.
Put the potato cubes in an Instant Pot steamer basket and set them aside for a few minutes.
2. Brown the Sausage and Onion
Turn the Instant Pot on Saute and let it heat for a couple of minutes. Then add the oil, onions, and sausage. Cooking, stirring the onion, and turning the sausage for about 5 minutes.
The onion should soften and the sausage should brown slightly. After 5 minutes stir in the garlic and turn off the Instant Pot.
3. Deglaze the Instant Pot
Pour the beef broth in the Instant Pot and stir to remove any browned bits of onion or sausage from the bottom of the inner pot. If you don’t remove browned food from the bottom you might get a burn error when the Instant Pot comes under pressure.
If you need to take the sausage out of the Instant Pot and put them on a plate to make sure there is nothing stuck to the bottom. Personally, I have never had much issue with sticking with this recipe, but check to be sure.
4. Bring the Instant Pot to Pressure
Add the Guinness and the Worcestershire sauce to the Instant Pot. Then put a trivet in Instant Pot and set the steamer basket with the diced potato on top.
Put the lid on the pressure cooker, making sure the seal is in place and the pressure valve is closed. Set the Instant Pot on Manual, high pressure for 8 minutes cook time. It will take about 10 minutes for it to reach pressure.
5. Finish the Gravy and Mashed Potatoes
Once the Instant Pot has finished let the pressure release naturally for at least 5 minutes. After that, you can release the remaining pressure manually.
Take the steamer basket of mashed potatoes out and dump it in a serving bowl along with the cream and butter. Use tongs to transfer sausages to a serving platter. Let the potatoes and sausage sit for a minute while you finish the onion gravy.
Mix a couple of tablespoons of cold water into the cornstarch and add the mixture to the onion gravy. Stir, then put the Instant Pot on saute and stir again. Cook until the cornstarch thickens the gravy, 2-3 minutes.
While the gravy cooks use a potato masher to mash the potatoes and mix the butter and cream in. Serve the sausage with the mashed potato and top them off with the onion gravy.
What to Serve With Bangers and Mash
The most authentic side dish for bangers and mash is green peas. But since my family and I dislike peas that doesn’t work for us. But some kind of easy green vegetable is a great choice for serving with this dish. We like air fryer green beans or sauteed zucchini.
How to Store
Store leftover bangers and mash in the refrigerator for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
Why Use the Instant Pot?
I’ve been serving bangers and mash to my family for years, and in fact, originally posted a recipe for it on my blog 9 years ago. We love the taste of sausage served with creamy potatoes and rich gravy. But the recipe didn’t become frequent in our meal rotation until I started making it in the Instant Pot.
I like to use the Instant Pot because it makes bangers and mash a one-dish meal, all made in the pressure cooker. It isn’t really any quicker to make in the Instant Pot, but it is easier because it all cooks together and is ready all at once.
I also strongly prefer to make mashed potatoes by steaming them in a pressure cooker and haven’t made them any other way since I got my first Instant Pot. So if I am using the Instant Pot anyway for the potatoes I might as well cook the sausage too.
Looking for more Irish recipe ideas? Try Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage, Instant Pot Lamb Stew, Guinness Brownies, or Air Fryer Corned Beef!
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Bangers and Mash Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potato
- 2 Tablespoons oil
- 6 Irish bangers or other sausage
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup Guinness
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes into cubes about 3/4 of an inch. Peel if desired. Put the potatoes in an Instant Pot steamer basket.2 pounds potato
- Set the Instant Pot on Saute mode and let it heat for 2 minutes. Add the oil along with the bangers, garlic and onion. Stir, turning the sausage occasionally for 5 minutes.2 Tablespoons oil, 6 Irish bangers, 1 large onion, 1 clove garlic
- Turn the Instant Pot off and add the beef broth. Stir to deglaze the Instant Pot, making sure there are no bits of onion or sausage stuck to the bottom. Add the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce.1 cup beef broth, 1 cup Guinness, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- Put a trivet in the Instant Pot and place the steamer basket with the potatoes on top. Put the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the seal is in place and the valve is closed.
- Set the Instant Pot for Manual, high pressure for 8 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for pressure to be reached.
- When the pressure cooker finished let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Then do a quick release of the remaining pressure.
- Take the potatoes off the trivet and put aside for a few minutes. Place the sausages on a serving platter.
- Mix the cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of cold water to form a cornstarch slurry. Stir it into the Instant Pot. Turn the Instant Pot on Saute mode and let it cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes to thicken the gravy.
- Add the potatoes to a bowl along with the milk, butter, salt and pepper. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes.4 Tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Serve the sausage and potatoes with the onion gravy.
Notes
- If you can’t find Irish bangers use another mild flavored sausage.
- You can use all beef broth if you don’t wish to use Guinness to make the gravy.
- I test and make my recipes in a 6 quart Instant Pot. A different model or size of pressure cooker might give you different results.
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
