Ten Family Meal Ideas with Sausages

Last week I shared a post on meal ideas with Leftover Roast Chicken, and it has been incredibly popular. Presumably this is due to us having less access to ingredients and products due to social distancing; and most people trying to make the most out of the food they do have – which is in turn reducing food waste.

If like me, you have kids and are either stuck home working and home-schooling, or you are just stuck home then you may also feel like you’re on a feeding conveyer belt, as feeding a family of people three times a day, with snacks on top does feel a little relentless. Many people will also be feeling the pinch and some more, so providing three meals a day for their family may be proving to be a bit of a struggle.

I’ve pulled together this post to give you a list of ten simple recipe ideas that will make a lunch or dinner meal for your family using the simple sausage – a relatively cheap meat source which is popular with most children. I hope it helps provide some meal inspiration – we love all of the below and I will be revisiting some of them myself in the coming weeks.

Feel free to message if you are unsure about what to substitute an ingredient for, but these are just the basis for meals, so feel free to tweak to your family’s personal tastes, and of course, to what you have to hand at home. Stay safe everyone, and stay home.


1. English Breakfast for Dinner

Everyone loves a fry up right? Well if you’re struggling for ideas for dinner, a fry of sausages, bacon, eggs, beans, tomatoes, hash browns, mushrooms and a fried slice will go down well with most. If you’re lazy and/or calorie counting you can also do it as a ‘baked breakfast’ by cooking most of it in an oven-proof dish in a hot oven. I would suggest sticking to the frying pan for the mushrooms though as otherwise they turn to mush but this is a great ‘lazy’ alternative when the cooking demands have beat you.

English Breakfast

2. Cumberland Sausage Pasta

I made this for the first time last week as I’d bought a load of lovely Cumberland sausages from our local butchers, and the children wanted pasta, and it’s an absolutely banging, low-maintenance recipe. It’s light but creamy and has a gentle heat running through it too; the recipe is here.

Cumberland Sausage Pasta

3. Sausage Casserole

Everyone’s casserole dish is slightly different, but my preference is to gently fry off and slightly brown the sausages and some chopped bacon or pancetta first then add to the casserole dish (or slow cooker) with diced onion, minced garlic, sliced peppers, a handful of red split lentils, a tin of chopped tomatoes, and the tin filled with water and a chicken stock cube, 1 tbsp tomato puree, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, lots of seasoning (salt and pepper, and some dried thyme or rosemary), a splash of balsamic vinegar and cook away for a couple of hours. Served with buttered bread this is a winner, every time.

4. Posh Dogs

The thing that makes these ‘posh’ is just using a decent sausage and not those tinned, plasticy hot dogs that many a child love and which I avoid like the plague. Use finger rolls, hot dog buns, flat breads, pitta or a sliced baguette – whatever you can use, and pile up with all your favourite ‘dog’ fillings, whether that’s fried onions, mustard, ketchup, grated cheese or whatever weird and wacky things you like. They’re fun finger food and the kids will love them.

Posh Dogs

5.Toad in the Hole
A bit like the Sausage & Mash combo, everyone loves the classics and with more time on our hands, why not. Mine love a Yorkshire pudding, and they love sausages so this is an absolute winner. My version is here.

Toad in the Hole

6.Jamie Oliver’s Easy Sausage Carbonara

Shamelessly stolen from Jamie Oliver’s Five Ingredients book a few years back I cooked this for the first time, and it’s become a family favourite and super easy too.

The link on Jamie’s website is here: Sausage Carbonara but for clarification, for the four of us we double up on the pasta and use two eggs. Also if you haven’t got Parmesan in stock, fear not, use any hard cheese, I’ve used Cheddar before now but even a Red Leicester would work. I’ve also used dried thyme before when we haven’t had parsley.

7.Smoky Sausage & Bean One Pot
Another one that I usually make for breakfast or brunch but which doubles up as an excellent dinner choice either served on toast, or with buttered bread. The recipe can be found here.

Smoky Sausage & Bean One-Pot

8. Giant Sausage Rolls
Use my recipe here, and just make four big sausage rolls and serve with salad, chips or whatever you fancy. Or make the smaller ones and prepare a picnic plate or 'party plate' with a few chicken nuggets, cocktail sausages and dolly sandwiches for an easy meal.

Sausage Rolls

9. Sausage & Red Wine Linguine

Another pasta dish, but completely different to the other two; this one is tomato based and made rich by the addition of just a couple of tablespoons of red wine (whichever you have open) and if you only drink white wine, try that instead or a drop of Port.

You could use a jar of tomato pasta sauce if you like, but I like to make my own, which is really simple, diced onion and minced garlic cooked in a little olive oil until soft, then add the red wine, and a tin of chopped tomatoes and some herbs – oregano, rosemary or thyme work here, as would basil.

Make the sausages into meatballs, as above, and fry off in a different pan, till cooked through, add the sauce, and then the cooked linguine with a little of the pasta cooking water to loosen and help the sauce to fully coat the pasta. Grate over some Parmesan or Cheddar and that’s it.

10. Sausage & Mash 
This meal needs no introduction, whether you like pork, chicken, beef or even vegetarian sausages there is something hugely comforting about a plate full of sausage and mash, with for us, fried onions, peas, gravy and heaps of mustard. No recipe or introduction needed.

Sausage and Mash

Cumberland Sausage Pasta

This is a really hearty and delicious meal made using herby Cumberland sausages. You could of course use a Lincolnshire or another herby sausage if that's what you have handy; as we are all making adaptations and substitutes right now as part of reducing our shopping during social distancing.

This pasta is creamy but has a warmth running through it from chilli and from roasted red pepper; it really is comforting and especially if topped with heaps of cheese.

Cumberland Sausage Pasta

The below serves four.

Here's how:

• 300g penne or whatever pasta you have
• 3-4 Cumberland Sausages
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 roasted red pepper (I use jarred, but you could just roast your own then peel off the skin once charred)
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes (use a fresh red chilli or cayenne pepper if you don't have)
• 1 heaped tbsp creme fraiche (use single or double cream if you don't have)
• 20g Parmesan (Use Cheddar if you don't have)
• Handful fresh parsley (use dried if you haven't got fresh and switch for thyme or rosemary if you don't have parsley)
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Pinch of salt and black pepper

Firstly pop a large pot of water on to boil with a pinch of salt for your pasta and cook according to the packet instructions until 'al dente' or just cooked, still with a little bite and not mushy.

Now drizzle the olive oil into a large frying pan or wok, and place on a low to medium heat.

Dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the pan to saute. Chop the roasted pepper into small pieces, and set aside.

Meanwhile, remove the skins from the sausages and roll small pieces of the sausage meat into small balls. Once these have all been done add to the pan or wok with the dried chilli flakes and cook through, turning the balls to ensure they are cooked all over and all the way through.

Once satisfied these are cooked through, (test one of the biggest ones by cutting into it) add the roasted red pepper and cook for a minute or two. Then add the creme fraiche and stir and allow to cook for another minute or two. 

During this time grate the cheese - and maybe some extra to add to each plated up bowl of pasta. Roughly chop the parsley too, and set aside for a minute.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain, retaining 1-2 tbsp of the cooking water and add to the sausage sauce, tossing to ensure each piece of pasta gets a good coating, add the pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed. Season generously with black pepper and just a pinch of salt.

Now add the 20g of Parmesan or whichever hard cheese you are using and the chopped parsley and stir again before dishing up. Enjoy! 

Smoky Sausage and Bean One Pot

This is a great weekend breakfast or brunch recipe with some buttered bread or toast and makes a nice change from a greasier fry up, pancakes or whatever your usual fodder is.

I've experimented with this recipe and here I have used Heck Chicken Chipolatas which are 99 calories for two, but have also used with ordinary pork chipolatas (delicious) and if you're vegetarian or even vegan you could make this with some Quorn or other veggie sausages too - a great all rounder.

A portion of the below comes in at 416 calories and the below serves three adult portions (or in our case two adults and two small people).

I use chipotle paste to inject a lovely smoky flavour here as well as a fresh green chilli for some heat - omit the chilli if you're not keen on spice.

Smoky Sausage and Bean One Pot

Here's how:

• 12 Heck Chicken Chipolatas
• 1/2 tin baked beans (I use Heinz)
• 1 tin red kidney beans
• 1 carrot
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 shallots
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 green chilli
• Spray of fry light spray

You can grill the sausages if you prefer - but I throw them into the pan, skillet or wok I'm using first to cook through, then remove from the pan.

Whilst the sausages are cooking I prepare everything else. Firstly mince the garlic, finely dice the onion and slice the chilli. Peel and grate the carrot (this is to give the sauce an extra veggie goodness without small people realising!). 

Once the sausages are out of the pan; add the shallots, chilli and garlic and saute until soft. 

Now add the tomatoes and carrot and season. Allow to cook out for five minutes.

Now add all of the beans, and the chipotle paste and cook for a further few minutes. 

Return the sausages to the pan and cook for a further ten minutes until the sauce is bubbling away and smells beautifully smoky.

Serve with sliced bread and butter. Enjoy!