Colcannon with bacon
Irish buttery mashed potatoes folded with cabbage and green onions and crowned with crispy bacon, cozy and filling for very little money.
- 45 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.94 a serving
- 490 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 russet potatoes, about 2 lb
- 6 slices bacon
- ¼ head green cabbage, about 4 cups sliced
- 4 stalks green onions, sliced
- ¾ cup milk
- 3 tbsp butter, plus more to serve
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 490 calories, 12 g protein, 48 g carbs and 29 g fat, and costs about $1.94 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No green cabbage? Red cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the potatoes and cut them into 2-inch chunks. Put them in a large pot, cover with cold water by an inch, and add 1 teaspoon salt.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
15 to 18 minutes, until a fork slides through a chunk with no resistance.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 16 min
While they cook, cut the bacon into ½-inch pieces and cook it in a large over medium for 8 to 10 minutes, until . Scoop it onto a paper towel.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Cook bacon until it’s crisp and no longer translucent.
the cabbage and cook it in the bacon fat over medium for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and sweet. Stir in the green onions for the last minute.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
the potatoes and put them back in the warm pot. Add the milk, butter, the rest of the salt and the pepper, and mash until smooth.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Dolly’s tip: Warm the milk for 30 seconds in the microwave first if you can. Cold milk makes the mash gluey.the cabbage into the potatoes.
Fold. Folding means mixing gently by scooping from the bottom and turning it over the top, instead of stirring hard. It keeps light mixtures airy and soft things like berries or herbs in one piece.
How you’ll know: You use slow, wide strokes and stop as soon as there are no streaks left.
Spoon into bowls, make a little well in each, drop in a pat of butter, and scatter the bacon over the top.
Dolly’s tip: In Ireland you dip each forkful into the melted butter pool. Nobody will stop you.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
