Toad-in-the-hole is the ultimate nostalgic comfort food – and it’s easier than you might think to get it right.
For those not in the know, toad-in-the-hole is simply pork sausages cooked with a batter until it puffs up around the sausages.
It’s an excellent cheap meal, using only simple ingredients, and is perfect served with a big pile of peas on the side. (Or, pro tip, try it with Salt and Pepper Courgettes on the side – so good!)
I love my toad-in-the-hole with onion gravy, and I’ve included the recipe for that here. It really does make the dish!
The Ingredients
- Flour, milk and eggs – these ingredients make your batter. It’s best made a little while in advance so that it can rest – I make mine an hour or two beforehand and leave it at room temperature until I’m ready to cook.
- Sausages – use good quality sausages – this recipe is all about the flavour of the sausages. I like to make mine with Cumberland sausages from my local butcher.
- Vegetable oil – cooks the sausages and gets nice and hot to get the batter cooking.
- Red onions, butter, flour, bay leaf, thyme, beef stock – these ingredients make your onion gravy. You can use brown onions rather than red if you like. Feel free to use a beef stock cube to make your beef stock – just dissolve a cube in hot water.
Top Tips
- Keep the oven door closed During the cooking time, don’t open the oven door. If you do, your batter might not rise. It’ll still be delicious, though.
- If your gravy is too light If your gravy is too light in colour for you, one way to darken it is to add a couple of drops of dark soy sauce. Do this before you add salt so that you don’t over season it.
- If your gravy is too thick Add a little more stock, whisk and check the consistency. You can add as much extra stock as you need to make it the thickness you like.
Toad-in-the-Hole With Onion Gravy
Sausages cooked with a golden fluffy batter and a rich onion gravy.
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Ingredients
- 140 grams plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 180 ml milk
- 6 large sausages
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the gravy
- 2 red onions
- 25 grams butter
- 25 grams plain flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 600 ml beef stock
Instructions
- Put the flour in a bowl and crack in the eggs. Whisk them together until fully combined. Gradually add the milk, whisking all the time, until all of the milk has been incorporated and you have a thick batter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C.
- Put the sausages in an ovenproof dish and pour over the oil. Cook for 15 minutes until golden.
- Remove from the oven and quickly pour over the batter. Return to the oven for 30 minutes until puffed up and golden.
- Meanwhile, to make the gravy, peel and finely slice the onions. Melt the butter over a low heat, add the onions and cook gently for 10 minutes until soft.
- Stir in the flour, then gradually add the stock, stirring all the time, until you have a thick gravy. Add the bay leaf and thyme and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- To serve, dish up sausages and batter onto plates with a big pile of peas, and pour over the gravy.
More sausage recipes:
- Festive Sausage Rolls
- Creamy Sausage Gnocchi
- Sausage and Broccoli Pasta
- Sausage and Cranberry Spaghetti
- Smoked Cheese Sausage Rolls
- Sausage and Hash Brown Pie
a British classic! so comforting