If you’ve been at work all day and come home frazzled, the last thing you want to do is stand in the kitchen and cook! This 5 minute easy sausage and mash recipe really hits the spot and is foolproof.
Using your microwave, you can keep a couple of store cupboard items ready to hand, so you can make yourself a 5 minute meal on a budget. In the past I’ve tried a supermarket ready meal for one of sausage and mash – and found that the mash was very disappointing, like wallpaper paste, so this recipe is my easier and cheaper version of that dish! 
These ingredients aren’t hard and fast, you can make adjustments, so the ingredients list below shows you the outline idea!
What I used:
- Vegetarian sausages – I used the Linda McCartney’s Vegetarian Sausages based purely on their colour. They look brown straight out of the pack, so perfect for the microwave! Quorn sausages, on the other hand, are a light pink colour, but you can use these instead if you either don’t mind the colour, or are happy to smear them with a brown sauce to colour them. If you want meat, you can buy Microwave Sausages, by Walls, which are ready cooked and just need microwaving – they’re really meaty and tasty.
- Instant mash. You can microwave your own mash, by microwaving a raw potato as if you were making a baked potato. Equally, you can use frozen mashed potato (available in most supermarket freezer cabinets), but I like to keep a box of instant mash in the cupboard as it’s got a long life and doesn’t take up valuable freezer space.
- Frozen peas. I’ve always got frozen peas in the freezer as they are so cheery to plonk on the plate. Plus, they are just as nutritious as fresh peas. You can, equally, use tinned peas, or even mixed veg.
- Instant gravy. I keep a carton of instant gravy granules in the cupboard. An alternative is to freeze leftover gravy from other meals you’ve made.
Method:
- Get the kettle on the boil!
- Place two frozen vegetarian sausages into a microwave dish and microwave for one minute.
- Pour peas into a mug, about half way up (or less/more, depending how many you like) and pour boiling water to the top of the mug, stir and leave.
- The sausages should have pinged by now, so turn them over and put back into the microwave for another minute.
- Place the instant mash into a jug/bowl of appropriate size (you choose the portion), add a knob of butter or margarine if you wish. Pour boiling water over the powder and mix up with a fork to the correct consistency.
- Drain the water from the peas and top up with fresh boiling water, stir and stand for about a minute. Drain the peas and put them in the microwave for 20 seconds to heat through as you remove the sausages from the microwave.
- Mix 1-2 teaspoons (I find one is enough) of instant gravy granules with boiling water and stir. It thickens as it stands, so stir it, then leave it for 30 seconds and see if it needs a bit more water.
- Scoop the potato out onto a plate (I find it more comforting to use a bowl), place the sausages on the plate. Add the hot peas, pour the gravy over the top!
It’s that simple. In under 5 minutes you’ve a whole microwave meal for one ready to eat, at under half the price of buying a supermarket ready meal for one – and it’s tastier.
Serves one – but can easily be doubled up, or more!
50p Dinners:
This sausage and mash makes it into the 50p Dinners category because it’s possible to make this at 40-50p/portion!