The classic English dish toad in the hole is made with bratwurst sausages, and a simple bread pudding then topped with mustard-onion gravy. This is a perfect meal when you are looking for something a little different.
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Welcome to Mitten Movie Night the Royal Wedding Edition! I decided to make a classic English dish for this special occasion.
I hadn’t had toad in the hole before I knew that it was going to be something that I would love. Meat, onions, carbs…GRAVY!!! Of course, I had to add some Michigan appeal to this dish by using beer brats made with Founder’s Dirty Bastard Craft Beer. We eat these a lot during the Summer and they worked great in this recipe.
So after going through about a million recipes, I settled on this one from Cooking Channel TV for Toad in the Hole with Mustard-Onion Gravy.
One of the oldest breweries lager beer and savory bread pudding pairing
The beer: Yuengling Traditional Lager from Yuengling.
Nothing like a traditional lager that pairs well with literally any meal.
The ingredients and why they make this recipe great
This toad-in-the-hole recipe has-
- Bratwurst. For this recipe, I used a craft beer-infused bratwurst from our local grocery store. Although the sausages bake in the oven for 45 minutes, I still brown them on all sides in a bit of oil in a pan before adding them.
- A simple batter for bread pudding. All-purpose flour, salt, milk, and eggs are whisked together and added to a dish with the sausages placed on top. As it bakes, the grease from the sausage is soaked up by the bread.
- Browned onions with mustard thickened to a gravy. Top the sausages with a simple gravy made in less than 10 minutes.
Visit YouTube for a video of how to make this Toad in the Hole
How to make toad in the hole step-by-step
For the pudding batter, it’s just flour, salt, eggs, and milk. In one bowl add the flour and salt. In another bowl add the milk and eggs then whisk to combine. Slowly add the milk and egg mixture to the flour whisking it together to make a batter.
Simple enough but then the trick seemed to be what you do with it once the ingredients are mixed together. Half the recipes said to just keep it out on the counter for 10-30 minutes. The other half said that you had to keep it in the refrigerator overnight or at least a few hours to set. What I did was make the batter and put it into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take the batter out of the refrigerator to warm up a bit while cooking the sausage.
Make sure to let the batter come to close to room temperature before adding it to the baking dish, depending on what baking dish is used you could risk the dish breaking from adding the cold batter, then adding it to a hot oven.
Brown the sausages in a skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Brown all sides which take about 8 minutes but don’t worry about cooking all the way through. Reserve any oil in the pan for the gravy.
Grease the baking dish with butter or shortening. Make sure to get every part of the inside of the pan to make sure that it’s easy to remove and doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Pour the batter into the pan and top with the sausages.
Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
How to make mustard-onion gravy step-by-step
For the gravy, use the reserved oil you left from cooking the brats and add the thinly sliced onions. Using very low heat cook them down slowly for about 5 minutes.
To the onions add the flour and stir to coat. Now add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Continue cooking down until it thickens to a gravy consistency.
Take out the toad in the hole from the oven. Slice and serve topped with the onion gravy.
Tips & Variations
- Not a bratwurst fan? You can make this with smoked sausages, little smokies, or a vegetarian toad in the hole with vegetarian sausages.
- It is important to make sure to properly grease the baking dish so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom and sides. I used wax paper to wipe the pan with vegetable shortening.
Storage
Add the leftovers and breading into one covered container and the gravy in another. Eat within 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or reheat the toad in a hole in the oven or air fryer and the gravy on the stovetop. The leftovers are great for breakfast!
It is not recommended to freeze this recipe.
More comfort food recipes with gravy
And here you are……
From our home in the Bottom Left of the Mitten to yours ~ Enjoy!
Toad In a Hole
Equipment
- whisk
- two large bowls
- spatula
- 9×9 baking dish
Ingredients
Toad In The Hole
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 18 ounces beer brats I used Open Acres Dirty Bastard Beer Brats
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Mustard-Onion Gravy
- 1 medium yellow onion sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
Instructions
Toad In The Hole
- To one bowl add the flour and salt.2/3 cup all purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- In another bowl add the milk and eggs then whisk to combine. Slowly add the milk and egg mixture to the flour whisking it together to make a batter.1 cup milk, 2 eggs
- Keep batter on the counter for 10-30 minutes or keep in the refrigerator up to overnight if you like.
- Take the batter out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Brown the sausages on all sides in a pan on the stove with oil. Don't worry about cooking all the way through. Reserve any oil in the pan for the gravy.18 ounces beer brats, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Grease a non-stick 9×9 baking dish with butter or shortening. Add the batter to the pan, then top with the browned sausages. and top with the sausages.
- Add the dish to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
Mustard-Onion Gravy
- Use the reserved oil you left from cooking the brats and add the thinly sliced onions. Using very low heat cook them down slowly for about 5 minutes.1 medium yellow onion
- To the onions add the flour and stir to coat. Now add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Continue cooking down until it thickens to a gravy consistency.1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 cup beef broth, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- Take out the Toad In The Hole from the oven. Slice and serve topped with gravy. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Tips for making this recipe:
- If you do not want to brown the sausages before adding them to the batter, add 10 minutes to the baking time.
- Do not drain the grease after the dish cooks, the grease will soak up in the batter as it cools.
- Use 1 tablespoon of butter if you didn’t reserve the grease from cooking the sausages to saute the onions for the gravy.
- To store: add the toad in the hole to a covered container, and the gravy into another separate container. Put into the refrigerator and eat within 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds.
Originally published in May of 2018. Updated photos in September of 2022, made slight adjustments to the baking process.
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Last Updated on March 25, 2023 by [email protected]
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