Have you tried colcannon with Irish cheddar? This Irish take on mashed potatoes is really good and goes with anything. There are so many things you can do with potatoes, especially when making side dishes. Fries! Mashed potatoes! Uh…how about more fries?
Yes, there is no shortage of potato-related ideas luckily, but one thing I love to do with the humble potato is make colcannon. This is basically mashed potatoes with cabbage and cheese. It’s important to use a good cheese and tasty butter, and I’ve found the Kerrygold brand to be perfect here. In fact, I often add a little extra butter and cheese to the mix.
Irish Colcannon Potatoes Add-Ins
Along with the cabbage and cheese, I add milk, salt, onion, butter and black pepper, and those are all the ingredients you’re going to need to get that Irish flavor just right.
As for toppings, why not crumble some bacon on top or add some green onions or chives for a splash of color? Serve this with anything from sausages or pork chops to steak, chicken or even a hardy fish like cod or salmon. Yes, the bacon does complement the fish believe it or not!
Cabbage… or Kale?
Some people might want to try kale instead of the cabbage and that’s also fine (of course the Irish are more associated with their cabbage than their kale. But these days you’ll find ‘anything goes’ so simply add your favorite green veggies).
Serve colcannon with Irish cheddar cheese instead of your usual plain mashed spuds, and see how everyone loves the cheese and bacon additions. In fact, this tastes so good I bet your kids won’t even notice you sneaked that cabbage in there – try it and see!
Colcannon with Irish Cheddar
Colcannon with Irish cheddar is a side dish from Ireland. It’s made with potatoes, cabbage and plenty of milk and butter, all mashed together in creamy perfection. I especially like it topped with crumbled bacon.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900g) unpeeled chopped red potatoes
- ¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 chopped yellow onion
- 6 tablespoons salted butter (not margarine!)
- 10 oz (285g) finely shredded green cabbage (or kale)
- 4 oz (115g) shredded Kerrygold Irish cheddar cheese
- Black pepper, to taste
Optional Ingredients
- Extra salted butter
- 4 crumbled cooked bacon strips
- 4 chopped chives or 2 chopped green onions (spring onions), green part only
Instructions
- First boil the potatoes for 20 minutes or until tender in lightly salted water.
- While the potatoes are cooking, you can sauté the yellow onion in the butter in a large pan for 10 minutes or until tender.
- Now add the cabbage (or kale) to the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- When you’ve done that, the potatoes should be just about tender.
- Drain the cooked potatoes and mash in their skins, pouring in the milk and adding salt as you mash.
- Add the cabbage mixture to the potatoes, then stir in the cheese and grind in some black pepper.
- You can either serve the colcannon like this, or make a well in the middle then add butter so it can melt in there.
- Also sprinkle on some bacon and/or chives or spring onions if liked.
Notes
- Colcannon should be served piping hot for the best results, and this side dish goes with pretty much everything. This creamy mashed potatoes recipe includes cabbage, cheddar cheese, milk, onion, and more, and we like to add bacon and green onion or chives on top, although that is up to you. Try it both ways and I bet you prefer the ‘with bacon’ option!
- This is a very simple side dish and it complements all kinds of meals; colcannon is just as pleasing with a steak or pie as with corned beef or a nice piece of brisket. This recipe makes quite a lot but I promise you won’t have any leftovers!
- The best salted butter I’ve ever tasted is Kerrygold salted butter. I like to use Irish cheddar too, which you can probably find at the grocery store, but sub sharp or vintage cheddar if you want.
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