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Sheet Pan Bangers with Smoky Crispy Potatoes and Charred Sweet Onion
15 min
1 hr 10 min
1 hr 25 min
Serves: 3 to 4
A sheet pan roast is one of the best ways to get a full dinner out of a single pan, and the whole thing lives or dies on timing. Potatoes need a head start to crisp up properly, while onions and sausages will dry out or scorch if they ride the full bake. Stagger when each one hits the pan and you land tender-crisp onion, juicy bangers, and deeply golden spuds all finishing at the same moment.
I made this with Scratch Meats bangers and yellow Yukon Golds. To push the flavor a little further I leaned smoky on the potatoes and folded leftover garlic paste into the onion, then hit the sausages with a quick spray of Graza right before they went in.
Steps
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Toss the potatoes directly on a large sheet pan with the olive oil, a good pinch of kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, a heavy dusting of smoked paprika, and a little garlic powder. Spread them in a single layer so they roast instead of steam, and bake for 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes get their head start, cut the sweet onion into thick wedges. Thin slices will burn, so keep them chunky. Toss the wedges with the same salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder mix, then work in the garlic paste so every wedge is coated. If your bangers are thick, prick them a few times with a fork so they don't burst.
- At the 20 minute mark, pull the hot pan and flip the potatoes. Scatter the seasoned onion wedges across the pan, then nestle the bangers right on top of the onions and give them a quick spray of Graza. Keep everything in a single layer. If it's looking crowded, move to a second pan so nothing steams.
- Return the pan to the oven and roast for 25 minutes. Eight bangers hold more cold mass than a quick sheet-pan timeline assumes, so they will need longer to come up to temp. Keep going another 25 to 30 minutes, turning the bangers once or twice, until they hit an internal 160°F, the onion edges are charred and sweet, and the potatoes are deeply golden and crisp. Total oven time lands around 70 to 75 minutes.
Notes
- Timing is the whole recipeThe 20-minute potato head start is non-negotiable. That's what gets you a crisp exterior instead of pale, soft wedges, and it lines the potatoes up to finish exactly when the bangers hit temp.
- Go light on the oilI made this again and the one thing I'd change is the oil. Two tablespoons is a ceiling, not a target. Too much and the potatoes and onions steam in the slick instead of crisping, so you land golden-soft instead of golden-crisp. Use just enough to barely coat, toss with your hands so every piece gets a thin film, and leave the pan looking a touch dry. The crunch comes from dry heat and contact with the metal, not from a puddle of oil.
- Nestling the bangers on the onionslets the sausage fat baste the onion as it renders, which is where most of that charred-sweet flavor comes from. Don't bury them under the potatoes.
- Swap freelyRussets crisp even harder if that's what you have, and a red onion works in a pinch. The smoked paprika and garlic do the heavy lifting either way.
- On the bangersThese are from Scratch Meats, a small North Portland sausage maker working out of the old Kenton meatpacking district. Everything is hand-made from locally sourced meat, just meat, seasoning, and salt, and you can find them at Portland farmers markets. The quality of the sausage carries this whole dish, so it's worth seeking out a real butcher's banger over a supermarket pack wherever you are.
