Bubble and Squeak Recipe
Bubble and Squeak gets its quirky name from the sounds it makes while cooking. Traditionally, it turns leftover mashed potato and cabbage from a British roast dinner into something delicious—fried up in butter until golden and crisp.
Table of contents
This bubble and squeak recipe closely resembles Irish colcannon (see pic below), which mixes mashed potato and cabbage. Unlike colcannon, which is served like mashed potato, bubble and squeak gets cooked again after mixing.
What is Bubble and Squeak?
Bubble and Squeak has 2 meanings. The one I know is that it came from the sounds the ingredients make as they cook, the other (which I’m no so sure about) is the noises your stomach makes after eating it.
History
This dish traces back to 1770, when it originally included meat—boiled beef, to be exact. Around 1951, cooks began leaving out the meat and started using only potatoes and vegetables, a tradition that continues today.
English Sunday dinner leftovers
Depending on what you served with your roast dinner, you can use any combination of ingredients—just make sure potato remains the star of the dish. My mother taught me to mix everything together, then put it in a pan with melted butter and cook it until the potato browns.
Now, this does not make for prettiest of dishes when made this way. For the sake of presentation, I form the mix into patties and shallow fried in a pan. Food should look appetizing after all.
If you don’t have the leftovers to make these potato patties, I have been known to make the potatoes and cabbage just so I can enjoy this dish. There’s no real traditional way to serve bubble and squeak but on this particular occaision I made British bangers and gravy (picture above).
If you’ve made this Bubble and Squeak Recipe or any other recipe leave a comment below. I love to hear from my readers!
Bubble and Squeak
Ingredients
- 6 cups 768 grams leftover mashed potatoes
- 2 cups 256 grams cabbage
- 1 tablespoon 15 grams salted butter
Instructions
- To a large bowl add the mashed potato and cabbage. Mix until the cabbage is well mixed.
- Take 1 cup of the mix and shape into patties. You can flour your hands if they are too sticky. Repeat until all the mix is used.
- Add the butter to a sauté pan over medium heat. Once melted and bubbling cook the patties until browned about 2-3 minutes, turned and repeat.
What sauce or gravy do you serve these with I see you have one in the pics thank youÂ
The gravy from the pictures is my onion gravy that I serve with my bangers and mash. The recipe link is below. Let me know if you have any other questions, enjoy.
https://culinaryginger.com/bangers-and-mash/
Is the cabbage cooked or are. My mother used to make mashed potato patties, but not with cabbage. I love pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes, so I know I will love this.
This is an old British recipe using leftover mashed potato and cabbage so yes, the cabbage is cooked.
This is an old British recipe using leftover mashed potato and cabbage so yes, the cabbage is cooked. Please come back and let me know how you like it.
I’m so glad I found this recipe. I made them yesterday from leftovers and their just like my mum used to make. 2 yums 🙂
This is wonderful. I need to make these soon.
I love that you made them into tidy patties. I usually just mix it all up in the pan and looks messy. Going to try this.
Thanks so much
Love authentic recipes like this one! Such a cool name, too! Pinned!