An epicurean adventure to: Australia
This devilled sausages recipe has been fine-tuned for the perfect balance of savoury, sweet and spice. It's meaty, rich, comforting and flavoursome.
Devilled sausage is one of Australia's most popular dishes and who can blame them? It's divine!
Cooked in one pot and taking less than 30 minutes to make, means this is the ideal mid-week family meal. Serve with a helping of creamy mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food experience.
We kick our Devilled Sausage recipe up a notch by adding a few extra spices like cumin and ground coriander, plus a generous helping of fruit chutney - yum and more yum!
What are Devilled Sausages?
Devilled sausages is a particularly popular dish in Australia and New Zealand. Beef or pork sausages are cooked in a tangy, sticky sauce with a kick of heat, a hint of sweetness and a whole lot of flavour.
Some notable ingredients found in most devilled sausage recipes are cayenne pepper, brown sugar, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.
For more comfort food, why not try this aromatic beef curry with coconut milk and butter rice or easy South African bobotie with basmati yellow rice?
Jump to:
- What are Devilled Sausages?
- Fast facts - Australia
- Why you'll love these devilled sausages
- Key ingredients and substitutions
- How to make devilled sausages: Step-by-step
- Variations
- Make it vegetarian
- How to cook sausages - for beginners
- What to serve with devilled sausages
- Storage and re-heating
- More recipes popular in Australia:
- FAQ
- More recipes that take 30 minutes or less to make
- Recipe
Fast facts - Australia
| Location | Australia is located in the southern hemisphere and is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. It is surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and it shares maritime borders with Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Zealand. |
| Language | English is the official language of Australia. However, due to its multicultural society, more than 200 languages are spoken by its diverse population, including Indigenous Australian languages and immigrant languages. |
| Population | Circa 25 million people. |
| Trivia | Have you heard about drop bears? You have been conned! Drop bears are mythical creatures often joked about in Australia. They are said to be large, vicious mammals that drop from trees to attack people. However, it's all part of an elaborate prank. The story was created to entertain and trick people, including American soldiers stationed in Australia during World War 2 and the Vietnam War. These tales include advice on deterring drop bear attacks, such as placing forks in your hair, spreading Vegemite behind your ears, urinating on yourself and speaking only in an Australian accent. |
Why you'll love these devilled sausages
- Can be prepared in under 30 minutes.
- Budget-friendly meal.
- A crowd-pleasing dish and bound to become a family favourite.
- The ultimate comfort food, especially on a cold night.
- Easily scalable to the amount of portions you need. Make a double batch and freeze for another night!
- Can be made with either pork or beef sausages.
- Incredibly easy to make, no special skills required and far superior to packet mixes.
- Can be served with various side dishes.
- Freezes well, ideal for batch cooking.
- One-pan dish.
- If you love bangers and mash, this is next level!
Key ingredients and substitutions
Sausages
Opt for good-quality sausages, either beef or pork.
We personally recommend Cumberland or Lincolnshire sausages, but you're free to choose other pork or beef sausages available to you. Really, any type of sausages tend to work well for this recipe.
You can also use chicken sausages or vegetarian sausages. Simply replace the beef stock with chicken stock or vegetable stock.
Onion
Red, white, brown onion or shallots all work perfectly for this recipe, so feel free to use whichever you have on hand.
Beef stock
You make the beef stock from scratch or use beef stock cubes or stock powder.
We typically use two Oxo beef cubes dissolved in 250ml of boiled water.
Spices
This recipe features a medley of flavourings, with cayenne pepper being a prominent one.
Adding ¼ teaspoon of cayenne will give you a mild, warming simmer. If you prefer milder flavours, exercise caution when adding any extra cayenne.
Alternatively, you can leave it out completely if you prefer a heat-free dish that the whole family can enjoy.
Some folks enjoy adding curry powder to their recipe. If you decide to include curry powder, we suggest omitting the cayenne pepper or adding just a pinch.
The dried thyme can be replaced with chopped, fresh thyme.
Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce can be replaced with the same quantity of soy sauce in this recipe.
Dark brown sugar
You can use light brown sugar as a replacement for dark brown sugar.
Tomato paste
If you don't have any tomato paste on hand, you can replace it with tomato sauce.
Fruit chutney
A fruity chutney gives a beautiful tang and fruitiness to the dish. You can use any chutney like mango, peach or even red onion.
We highly recommend including chutney.
Oil
Choose any oil commonly used for cooking in your household, such as olive oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil.
How to make devilled sausages: Step-by-step
- To the 250ml beef stock, add ALL the sauce ingredients: Thyme, cumin, ground coriander, mustard powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, dark brown sugar, tomato paste and mango chutney.
Give it a good stir and set aside.
- In a small bowl, add the cornflour and just enough cold water to make a slurry (about 2-3 tablespoons of water). Set aside.
- Heat a little oil in a large frying pan (or large pot). Fry the sausages over medium heat until cooked through and browned on all sides.
Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside.
- Fry the sliced onion in the same pan with the remaining meat juices. Once the onions start to soften, add the sliced apple and the garlic.
- Keep frying over medium heat until the onions and apple have taken on a light golden colour.
- Add the can of chopped tomatoes and the beef stock mixture. Stir through for about 1 minute.
- Add the cornflour and quickly mix this in with the sauce. Cook over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken and reduce, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the sausages to the sauce and simmer until heated through.
- Serve on a bed of creamy mashed potato and a few extra spoonfuls of the delicious sauce. Add a sprinkle of parsley or coriander leaves if you wish.
Variations
- Use chopped, fresh tomatoes instead of canned.
- Add a squeeze of BBQ sauce.
- Add extra vegetables like chopped bell peppers along with the onions.
- Swap the cayenne pepper with chilli flakes.
- Add a couple of bay leaves to the sauce.
Make it vegetarian
You can very easily make this into a delicious veggie meal by swapping the meat sausages for veggie sausages and the beef stock for vegetable stock.
How to cook sausages - for beginners
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the sausages, making sure they are not touching each other. It's important to leave enough space between them for the heat to circulate and ensure even cooking.
- Cook for around 8 minutes, turning them around every 2 minutes to ensure even browning. Watch the heat, if they are browning too quickly, turn the heat down.
- You can partially place a lid over the pan to keep the heat in and avoid any oil splatters. Don't place the lid on fully though as you will end up boiling the sausages instead of frying them.
What to serve with devilled sausages
- Mashed potatoes.
- Sweet potato mash.
- Cauliflower rice.
- Polenta.
- Chips or wedges.
- Couscous.
- Fried, cubed potato.
- Crusty bread.
Storage and re-heating
Fridge Storage:
- Allow the devilled sausages to cool completely.
- Transfer the leftovers to an airtight container.
- Store in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Freezer Storage:
- Ensure the devilled sausages have cooled down completely.
- Place the leftovers in a freezer-safe container.
- Label the container with the date for reference.
- Store in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
Reheating:
- For fridge-cold sausages, reheat leftovers in a microwave-safe dish or saucepan over medium heat until heated through.
- If reheating from frozen, thaw the sausages in the fridge overnight before reheating using the same methods as above.
- Make sure the sausages are piping hot throughout before serving.
More recipes popular in Australia:
FAQ
It refers to the strong spices usually added to the dish. Back in the 18th century, strong spices were referred to as 'devilled' in association with the devil and all things hot and hellish.
Other devilled sauce recipes you may have heard of before are devilled meatballs and devilled eggs, the latter probably being the most famous of them all.
Yes, it's gluten-free. Just check the packaging of the sausages to ensure no bread crumbs have been added. You can serve this with a gluten-free side like rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes or cauliflower rice.
There are indeed many devilled sausages recipes out there containing curry. Add a teaspoon of curry powder and leave the cayenne pepper out.
Devilled sausages are a dish that is popular in many English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The origin of the dish is not entirely clear, but it is thought to have developed in the United Kingdom in the 18th or 19th century.
However, it's far more popular in Australia. They have developed it into their own and fine-tuned it. It's our honest belief it's the Aussies we have to thank for this delicious dish.
Devilled sausages and curried sausages are very similar in that both dishes typically use sausages as a primary ingredient, but they are not exactly the same.
Devilled sausages are made with a tangy, mildly spicy tomato-based sauce, whilst curried sausages are made with a sauce containing curry powder or curry paste.
Further to that, the spices used in each dish may differ. Devilled sausages are typically made with mustard, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper, while curried sausages are made with spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric and ginger.
Both dishes are delicious in their own right though!
We would classify it as 'mildly' spicy. You can adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking. The recipe calls for a ¼ teaspoon cayenne, which gives a gentle simmer but won't blow your socks off. Add more with caution.
Yes, you can! Start by browning the sausages, followed by the onions, apples and garlic. Mix all the rest of the ingredients in a large jug and pour over the sausages and onions. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
For this recipe, it's 1168 calories per portion.
More recipes that take 30 minutes or less to make
Recipe
The very best devilled sausages
Ingredients
- 12 pork or beef sausages
- 220 grams onion - sliced finely, equivalent to a large onion or two medium onions
- 100 grams apple - peeled, cored and thinly sliced. This equates to about one apple
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 can chopped tomatoes - 400g
- 1 heaped tablespoon cornflour
- oil, for frying
For the sauce
- 250 millilitres beef stock - we use 2 x Oxo beef cubes on 250ml
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- few grinds black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons fruity chutney - like mango or peach
Instructions
Prep the sauce and cornflour
- To the 250ml beef stock, add ALL the sauce ingredientsGive it a good stir and set aside.250 millilitres beef stock
- In a small bowl, add the cornflour and just enough cold water to make a slurry (about 3 tablespoons of water). Set aside.1 heaped tablespoon cornflour, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon mustard powder, ½ teaspoon salt, few grinds black pepper, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 tablespoons fruity chutney
Let's start cooking
- Heat a little oil in a large pan. Fry the sausages over a medium heat until cooked through and browned on all sides. Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside.oil, for frying, 12 pork or beef sausages
- Fry the sliced onion in the same pan with the remaining meat juices. Once the onions start to soften, add the sliced apple and the garlic. Keep frying over a medium heat until the onions and apple have taken on a light golden colour.220 grams onion, 100 grams apple, 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- Add the can of chopped tomatoes and the beef stock mixture. Stir through for about 1 minute.1 can chopped tomatoes
- Add the cornflour and quickly mix this in with the sauce. Cook over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken and reduce, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the sausages to the sauce and simmer until heated through.
- Serve with creamy mashed potato.
**Nutritional data disclaimer**
Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is calculated by a third party and we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We try our best to give you the most accurate information, but we do not take responsibility for errors that may be present. Also, the nutritional value of the recipe may change depending on the exact brands and products used. We recommend that you consult with a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian for personalised advice on your dietary needs.
Nutrition
For food safety advice, including guidance on food allergies
Peter says
Just made this is definitely a keeper very yummy
Thanks
Maretha Corbett says
Hey Peter,
Hoorah! So pleased you enjoyed it and thanks for the feedback! We hope these devilled sausages bring you many more tasty meals ahead!
Maretha.
Ruth Madden says
You are right! These are the best devilled sausages EVER. truly scrumptious! I think I could eat these sausages every night.
Maretha Corbett says
Oh wow, thank you, Ruth! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe — it’s a go-to favourite for us too, especially when those chilly nights start to roll in.
Your kind words mean the world. Thanks again!
Maretha x