Anna Louise A sausage traybake is the dinner that proves you do not need to do much to eat extremely well. Good sausages, a handful of robust vegetables, a sticky glaze of honey and mustard, and one tin in a hot oven for forty minutes — that is the entire recipe.
The cleanup afterwards is one tin and a knife. The result is something genuinely satisfying and completely delicious.
Mary Berry’s sausage traybake recipe is built around the principle that a traybake only works if everything in it is chosen for its ability to cook evenly at the same temperature in the same time.
Sausages at forty-five minutes, red onion and pepper at forty-five minutes, new potatoes at forty-five minutes — they all fit together perfectly.
The honey and wholegrain mustard glaze caramelises around everything in the final ten minutes, tying the whole traybake into something with a coherent, deeply satisfying character.
This is the weeknight dinner I make when I want something properly good without spending more than ten minutes in active preparation.
The Traybake Principle — Everything Must Cook at the Same Rate
The reason traybake dinners fail is usually that the ingredients cook at different rates. Sausages that are done before the vegetables, vegetables that are raw when the sausages are perfect — a traybake is not simply throwing things in a tin. It requires choosing ingredients that genuinely cook in the same time and at the same temperature.
In this recipe, every element is chosen for its compatibility. New potatoes at 200°C for forty-five minutes: perfectly tender. Red onion at 200°C for forty-five minutes: soft, golden, slightly caramelised.
Red pepper at 200°C for forty-five minutes: tender and slightly charred at the edges. Good quality pork sausages at 200°C for forty-five minutes: deeply golden, cooked through. Everything works in the same tin at the same temperature.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Sausage Traybake
For the Traybake
- 8 good quality pork sausages
- 500g baby new potatoes, halved
- 2 red onions, cut into wedges
- 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into large chunks
- 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into large chunks
- 200g cherry tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Honey Mustard Glaze
- 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 2 tbsp runny honey
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
To Finish
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley or basil, roughly torn
- A little extra olive oil to drizzle
How to Make Mary Berry Sausage Traybake — Step by Step
Step 1 — Preheat and Prepare
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Line a very large roasting tin — approximately 38x30cm — with baking parchment or foil. Use the largest tin you have. A crowded tin produces steamed, pale ingredients rather than golden, roasted ones.
Step 2 — Prepare the Vegetables
Place the halved baby new potatoes, red onion wedges, pepper chunks, and unpeeled garlic cloves in the large tin. Drizzle over the olive oil. Scatter over the dried oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat everything evenly. Spread in a single layer — the potatoes cut-side down for the best golden surface.
Step 3 — Add the Sausages
Nestle the sausages among the vegetables, distributed evenly across the tin. They should be in contact with the base of the tin rather than resting on top of the vegetables.
Step 4 — Initial Roast
Roast for 25 minutes. The vegetables should be starting to soften and colour and the sausages should be beginning to brown.
Step 5 — Add Cherry Tomatoes and Glaze
Remove the tin from the oven. Scatter the cherry tomatoes among the sausages and vegetables.
Mix the wholegrain mustard, honey, olive oil, and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Spoon or brush the glaze generously over the sausages — coat every surface of each sausage. Drizzle any remaining glaze over the vegetables.
Step 6 — Final Roast
Return to the oven for a further 20 to 25 minutes until the sausages are deeply golden and sticky, the vegetables are tender with caramelised edges, and the cherry tomatoes have collapsed and blistered.
Step 7 — Finish and Serve
Scatter with fresh parsley or torn basil. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Serve directly from the tin at the table — this is a completely acceptable and very appealing way to serve a traybake.
My Top Tips For Best Mary Berry Sausage Traybake
Use the largest tin you have. Overcrowding is the enemy of a great traybake. Ingredients that are piled on top of each other steam rather than roast. If your largest tin is not big enough for everything in a single layer, use two tins.
Put potatoes cut-side down. The flat, cut surface of the halved new potatoes in contact with the hot tin gives a golden, slightly crispy base that is far better than the rounded skin-side on the tin.
Add cherry tomatoes in the final 20 minutes only. Cherry tomatoes collapse and become jammy within twenty to twenty-five minutes at 200°C. Added from the start, they would disintegrate completely. Added in the final stage, they are blistered, slightly collapsed, and intensely flavoured.
Apply the glaze in the final 20 minutes. The honey in the glaze burns if it is in the oven for the full forty-five minutes. Applied in the final twenty to twenty-five minutes, it caramelises beautifully without burning.
Use good sausages. The sausage is the centrepiece. A high-meat-content pork sausage from a butcher or a reputable brand gives a completely different result from a cheap supermarket alternative.
Serving Suggestions
Directly from the tin at the table — the most natural presentation for a traybake and the most honest. With crusty bread to mop the sticky, caramelised juices. With a simple green salad alongside for freshness.
How to Store Mary Berry Sausage Traybake
In the fridge: Store covered for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 180°C oven for fifteen minutes.
In the freezer: Freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven.
Mary Berry Sausage Traybake Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Line a very large roasting tin.
- Place potatoes cut-side down, onion wedges, pepper chunks, and garlic in tin. Drizzle with oil. Scatter herbs, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Spread in a single layer.
- Nestle sausages among vegetables evenly.
- Roast 25 minutes until vegetables beginning to colour and sausages beginning to brown.
- Mix glaze ingredients. Scatter cherry tomatoes over the tin. Brush glaze generously over sausages — drizzle remainder over vegetables.
- Return to oven 20–25 more minutes until sausages are deeply golden and sticky, vegetables are tender and caramelised, tomatoes blistered.
- Scatter fresh herbs. Drizzle extra olive oil. Serve from the tin.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use different vegetables?
Yes — courgette, red onion, mushrooms, beetroot, butternut squash, and parsnip all work well. Choose vegetables that cook to tenderness in forty-five minutes at 200°C.
Can I use different sausages?
Yes — Italian fennel sausages give a Mediterranean character. Chicken sausages give a lighter result. Merguez gives a spiced, North African character. The method is the same for any sausage.
Can I add beans to this traybake?
Yes — drain a tin of cannellini or butter beans and add with the cherry tomatoes in the final twenty minutes. They absorb the sticky glaze and become extraordinarily good.
Can I make this the night before?
Assemble everything in the tin, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Roast as directed the next day — add five minutes to the cooking time if starting from cold.
Can I use large potatoes instead of new potatoes?
Yes — peel and cut into 3cm chunks. Par-boil for eight minutes first to ensure they cook through in the same time as the sausages and other vegetables.
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