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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.

Patties on a wood board with gravy

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.

A fork full of colcannon

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.

Pouring onion gravy over banger and mash

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!

Yield: 6

Bubble and Squeak

5 Bubble and squeak on a board with onion gravy

Leftover mashed potato is mixed with leftover cabbage and cooked in butter until browned.

Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 7 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 cups (768 grams) leftover mashed potatoes
  • 2 cups (256 grams) cabbage
  • 1 tablespoon (15 grams) salted butter

Instructions

  1. To a large bowl add the mashed potato and cabbage. Mix until the cabbage is well mixed.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 266Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 7mgSodium 719mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 4gSugar 4gProtein 5g
© Culinary Ginger
Cuisine: British / Category: Dinner Ideas