Colcannon (Mashed Potatoes & Cabbage)

Colcannon is one of those recipes that I didn’t know existed until I looked for new things to do with cabbage. Boiled cabbage is pretty uninspiring (pronounced gross) so I thought most cabbage recipes would be as well. This authentic Irish dish changed my mind and now Colcannon is on our holiday menu for St. Patrick’s Day!

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Why I Love This Recipe?

Mashed potatoes are delicious, so that’s a no-brainer. However, the addition of cabbage and green onions really ups the nutritional punch of this recipe, making it much healthier than Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes. Adding vegetables to starchy foods is always a plus, and gives your mouth something interesting to chew on. The modest additions of butter, milk, and greek yogurt add a lot of flavors while keeping it healthy.

Ingredients & Equipment

Ingredients for Colcannon

• Potatoes: Take this any way you wish. Russets make some of the best mashed potatoes if you peel them. If your not a fan of peeling potatoes, used red or gold and leave the skin on. We called this dirty mash when I was little.
• Cabbage: This recipe uses standard green cabbage, you because of the Irish. Red cabbage would make a beautiful dish and should cook the same.
• Onions: choose your favorite and cook them until sweetened. Green onions cook the fastest and have the lightest flavor, but you could also use sweet onions, leeks, or shallots to change up the dish or use what’s on hand.
• Butter: I suggest Kerry Gold Butter for authenticity and flavor, butter adds a nice silkiness to mashed potatoes without adding weight.
• Heavy Cream: Or Whipping cream, this is a standard addition at our house to mashed potatoes. Adds creaminess with a bit of sticky as well.
• Plain Greek Yogurt: Add this sparingly, but it makes a great substitute for sour cream.  The protein content is higher, so it’s better nutritionally. Too much and it’ll make the dish a bit sour.

Equipment

• Stock Pot: Something big enough to hold a bunch of water and potatoes. Everyone should have one of these for big meals.
• Colander: Perfect for draining the water from potatoes. Necessary for pasta, potatoes, and boiled veggies.
• Saute Pan or Skillet: Big with high sides, this is where you’ll saute the veggies. I use a Calphalon 3qt. saute pan and it works brilliantly.
• Big Mixing Bowl: Big enough to hold all the ingredients. I need more of these, but our space is limited in our tiny kitchen.

Preparation

Preparing This Traditional Irish Dish

Colcannon is very easy to prepare. There are basically three steps to making this recipe:

Cut the Vegetables

• Peel the potatoes if you want to, and cut them into chunks. I suggest always peeling Russet potatoes, any other potatoes it is optional.
• Chop the Cabbage. To do this, quarter the head and cut out the middle stem. It is hard and not pleasant to chew on. Then slice the cabbage into thin ribbons, sort of like you would slicing a ham.
• Chop the onions. For green onions, simply cut them horizontally into 1″ sections. For any other onion type, dice into small pieces using your favorite method.

Cook the Ingredients

Boil the potatoes. Add the potatoes to boiling, salted water. The salted water helps flavor the potatoes as they cook. Boil for 20 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.

Saute the cabbage and onions. Over medium heat, melt some butter in your skillet until melted and sputtering. Saute the cabbage for 3 minutes and then add the onions. Saute for another 3 minutes and remove to a plate. The cabbage should be cook, slightly wilted, with crispy edges. The onions should be softened.

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Combine the Ingredients

In a big bowl mash the potatoes with cream, butter, salt, and pepper. You want your potatoes creamed to perfection before adding the veggies. Add the cabbage and onions after the potatoes are mashed to your liking, and stir to combine. The texture should be creamy potatoes studded with bits of cabbage and onion for texture. Serve hot and enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Type of Potatoes are Best for Colcannon?

Traditional potatoes used for Colcannon are russet potatoes. Russet potatoes mash nicely and become quite fluffy, but make sure to peel them before boiling. Red potatoes and gold potatoes can be used with the skins on, my family calls these dirty potatoes. The skin adds a bit of texture and added nutrition to the dish. Red and gold potatoes however mash with a denser, gluey texture, so adjust it with more cream and butter to lighten it up a little.

Should I Put Meat in My Colcannon?

Pork can be added to colcannon in the form of bacon or ham. I made it optional since the dish is quite good without it, and basically a full meal with it added in. If you add it, follow these guidelines to make sure the dish stays wonderful:

• Ham: Slice the ham thin and dice the ham like the green onions. The goal is to get a similar consistency.
• Bacon: Cook the bacon to extra crispy before adding it to the Colcannon, and dice it like the onions. The bacon will reabsorb moisture and get soggy, so the extra crispiness is an attempt to avoid that.
• Both: Both types of meat are quite salty and will add a nice salty flavor to the dish. Add any meat ingredient before salting the dish to avoid oversalting.

Do I Need to Peel the Potatoes for Colcannon?

Peeling the potatoes is entirely up to your preferences. I suggest peeling Russets always since the skin is thicker and a bit gritty. Red and Yukon Gold Potatoes can be mashed with the skin on, and it adds a bit of texture to the mash. As long as you cut everything into chunks before boiling, it will cook the same.

Should I Salt the Water for Boiling Potatoes?

Potatoes are very absorbent and will absorb some salt as they cook in salty water. However, they are also dense enough to not allow the salt in until the end of cooking as the texture softens. So, the trick is to properly salt the water so osmosis does most of the work. Long story short, add at least 1 Tbsp. of salt to each quart of water (4C) for boiling. This is still pretty dilute, and won’t be “salty like the sea” which is recommended by some. However, since we are mashing the potatoes, we can, and will add more salt later.

What Goes Good With Colcannon?

This dish is best-served family-style with meat, vegetables, and maybe a sauce. I accidentally made a Bechamel sauce to go with it the first time I cooked it, and it was great. Maybe pair it with a Perfectly Cooked Pork Tenderloin!. If you added meat to the potatoes, it is probably a full meal in itself and should be good to go.

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