Champ
Creamy mashed potato beaten with scallions and milk, served with a pool of melting butter.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- Easy
Champ is one of the simplest and best potato dishes of Northern Ireland and Ireland: floury potatoes mashed with milk that has been infused with chopped scallions (spring onions). It is a close cousin of colcannon, which uses cabbage or kale instead.
Serve it the traditional way, heaped in a bowl with a well in the middle for a knob of butter to melt into.
Ingredients
- 1kgfloury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1bunch of scallions (spring onions), about 8, finely sliced
- 150mlwhole milk
- 75gsalted butter, plus extra to serve
- salt and ground white pepper
Equipment
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- Potato masher or ricerHow to chooseShop on Amazon UK(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
- Small saucepanHow to chooseShop on Amazon UK(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
Method
- 1
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–20 minutes until completely tender. Drain well and leave to steam dry for a minute.
Photo: Ssemmanda will · CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - 2
Meanwhile, warm the milk with the scallions over a low heat for 5 minutes. Mash the potatoes with the butter until smooth, then beat in the milk and scallions. Season, pile into warm bowls and top each with a knob of butter.
Photo: Deans Charbal · CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
If it goes wrong
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Mash is gluey | Overworked, or waxy potatoes | Use floury potatoes and mash by hand, not in a processor |
