Our Traditional Irish Colcannon recipe (potatoes + cabbage) comes straight from the family archives in County Cork Ireland. Otherwise, known as The People’s Republic of Cork. It’s a place of absolute beauty and where you’ll discover Irish cooking at its finest.
Colcannon is the perfect dish for St. Patrick’s Day. Leave it to the Irish to dream up a cream enriched potato dish! There are many variants as there are Irishmen, ours is conventional fare made up of potatoes, thinly sliced cabbage, kale, green onions, milk, butter, cream, salt, and pepper.
But we did cheat a little using the Instant Pot! Who doesn’t love the fact you can cook an entire meal in a couple of hours as opposed to an entire day. You know I love cooking and spend my days in the kitchen, but sometimes we just have to jam it out and this was one of those days!
Plus we made our Guinness Braised Corned Beef and then used the drippings to cook the mash. Literally an entire meal in a pot, perfect!
Yes, in fact many recipes call for kale! Older versions trace back to using green cabbage (as ours does) but Kale is a great choice as well.
Chef’s Tip: You can also swap out the green onions for white onions, shallots or leeks if you prefer.
How to Make Colcannon on the Stovetop
- Boil the potatoes: Add the whole scrubbed potatoes to a medium heavy-bottomed pot and cover with cold water by an inch. Add 2 tablespoons of Kosher sea salt, and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes pierce easily with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a colander.
- Cook the cabbage with butter: Return the pot to the stove and set over medium-high heat. Melt a Tablespoon of butter in the pot and once it’s hot, add the cabbage. Cook the cabbage for 3-4 minutes, or until wilted and have released some moisture.
- Mash the potatoes with milk or cream and greens: Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle. Slip the skins off of them and dice into chunks, add to the pot. Pour half of the warm cream in and mash the potatoes + cabbage, and green onions, adding more cream as necessary until the desired consistency is reached. Mash will be “lumpy”. Season with Kosher sea salt and pepper to taste.
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How to Make Traditional Irish Colcannon
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs medium sized Idaho Potatoes, whole + washed + skin on
- 8 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, whole
- 1/2 cup (123 ml) heavy cream
- 1 medium head green cabbage, cored + roughly chopped
- 3 cups kale, washed + roughly chopped
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 2 cups stock from cooking corned beef, or stock of your choice
- Kosher sea salt + freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add potatoes to Instant Pot with cooking stock, cover with lid, ensuring that the valve is set to sealed, press manual and set the cook time to 15-minutes.
- While the potatoes cook. Warm butter, milk, cream and a few cracks of black pepper over low heat in a small saucepan.
- After the timer goes off allow natural release for 5 minutes and then vent. Remove potatoes from the instant pot with tongs and set aside until cool enough to handle.
- Add thinly sliced cabbage into the Instant Pot, replace the lid, ensuring that the valve is set to sealed, and set to manual high pressure 6 minutes.
- As the cabbage cooks, slip the skins off of the potatoes and cube. Set aside.
- Once the cabbage is done, press Cancel on the IP, safely do a Quick Release by opening the valve to "Vent". After all of the pressure has been released open the lid. Scoop out the cabbage and set aside.
- Pour the excess stock into a container and reserve for corned beef. Add the potatoes, cabbage, sliced green onions, and half of the cream mixture back into the Instant Pot. Using a hand masher, mash the Colcannon adding more cream until the desired consistency is reached, it should be "lumpy".
- Serve warm with a knob of butter on top if desired and seasoned with Kosher sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Notes
- Prep time is approximate.
- Mash only until Colcannon is blended, there will be "lumps".
- Best eaten the same day but can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.
Creative Recipe Inspiration
Indulge in the rich flavors of Ireland with this hearty Guinness Braised Corned Beef recipe. Tender corned beef brisket is slowly simmered in a savory mixture of Guinness stout, aromatic vegetables, and traditional spices.
Indulge in the rich and decadent flavors of our Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey’s Frosting. This moist and flavorful chocolate cake is infused with the deep, malty notes of Guinness stout, giving it a unique and indulgent taste.
Step Into My Kitchen!
Hey there, fellow food enthusiast! Welcome to Mean Green Chef, where every dish tells a story and every recipe is a labor of love. I’m thrilled to share a bit about myself and the journey that led me here, stirring pots and sprinkling spices for over three decades!
Angela, what if I don’t have an instapot for the cabbage? What would you use instead?
No Problem Pauline! Preheat your oven to 275°F/135° layer the ingredients as stated into a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or pan wrap the top of the pot tightly with heavy-duty foil then place the lid on top. Bake for 4 hours, pull and check for tenderness. it should be done within that time but depends on the cut itself you may need an additional hour or so. After it’s tender then you can place it on a sheet pan and broil it to crisp up the top side, about 5 minutes. Pull from the oven, tent with foil and allow it to sit for 15 minutes to rest. The slice and serve 🙂
I have been looking for recipes to cook on St.Paddys day. This looks really delicious, and I love to cook in my instant pot. Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing!
This is a classic St. Paddy’s dish, Rochelle. And it’s super easy even if you make it on the stovetop too! Thanks so much 🙂
This looks delicious. I love to learn about recipes from all over the world and this looks like an easy recipe to try out. Thank you for sharing.
This looks like a great dish for St. Patrick’s day! I’ve never had colcannon.
This looks so so so delicious!!! I can’t wait to make this soon, the recipe is very easy to make.
I love visiting your blog! Your recipes are just brilliant! My wife and I love trying them out! Keep up the good work
Wow, thank you so very much you made my day! If you ever want to see anything specific please let me know. 🙂