Colcannon
Buttery mashed potato folded with kale or cabbage and spring onions, served with a well of melting butter.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- Easy
Colcannon is one of the best-loved dishes of the Irish kitchen: floury potatoes mashed with milk and butter, then folded through with greens. It is a traditional dish at Halloween, when small charms were once hidden in the bowl as fortune-telling tokens.
Kale and cabbage are both traditional. Kale gives a deeper green flavour; savoy cabbage is sweeter and softer.
Ingredients
- 1kgfloury potatoes, such as Rooster or Maris Piper
- 250gkale or savoy cabbage, tough stalks removed, shredded
- 4spring onions, finely sliced
- 150mlwhole milk
- 75gsalted butter, plus extra to serve
- salt and ground white pepper
Equipment
Shop links are affiliate links (disclosure).
- Potato masher or ricerHow to chooseShop on Amazon UK(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
- Small saucepanBrowseShop on Amazon UK(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
- Chef's knifeHow to chooseShop on Amazon UK(affiliate link, opens in a new tab)
Method
- 1
Peel the potatoes and cut into even chunks. Put in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15–20 minutes until completely tender.
Photo: Ssemmanda will · CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - 2
Meanwhile, melt a knob of the butter in a frying pan and cook the shredded kale or cabbage for 3–5 minutes until just tender and still bright green.
Photo: Evan-Amos · CC0 - 3
Warm the milk in a small pan with the spring onions for 2–3 minutes to soften them.
Photo: Chen Zhao · CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - 4
Drain the potatoes well and leave to steam for a minute, then mash until smooth with the rest of the butter.
Photo: Renee Comet (photographer) · Public domain - 5
Beat in the milk and spring onions, fold through the greens and season well. Pile into a warm dish, make a hollow in the top and drop in a generous knob of butter to melt.
Photo: TheCulinaryGeek from Chicago, USA · CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
Tips
Leftovers: shape cold colcannon into patties and fry them in butter until crisp: excellent with a fried egg.
If it goes wrong
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Mash is gluey | Waxy potatoes, or over-worked in a processor | Use floury potatoes and mash by hand or with a ricer |
| Watery colcannon | Potatoes or greens not drained well | Let the potatoes steam dry and squeeze excess water from the greens |
