This Colcannon recipe is the perfect St. Patrick’s Day dish (or any other day you’re craving true comfort food)! It is a traditional Irish dish combining creamy mashed potatoes with sweet cabbage and fried onion. It’s the ultimate cozy side.

bowl of Colcannon Recipe with butter on top

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Flavor: Buttery, savory, and slightly sweet from the cooked cabbage and onions.
Swaps: You can use kale instead of cabbage, but I prefer the softer and sweeter taste of cabbage.
Serving Suggestions: Colcannon is traditionally topped with melted butter – because let’s be honest, mashed potatoes and butter are a match made in heaven. This dish is great served with corned beef or glazed honey ham.

baking potatoes , leeks , cabbage , butter and cream with labels to make Colcannon Recipe

Ingredient Notes and Swaps

Potatoes: You’ll need a good starchy baking potato. My favorite choices are Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes. Once boiled, mash them with lots of butter, and light or heavy cream. While it’s not traditional, you can also add sour cream or cream cheese to taste.
Cabbage: Green cabbage becomes tender and sweet when fried with butter. However, you can substitute curly kale (about 1lb) or savoy cabbage if you prefer.
Onion: Fried onions pair beautifully with mashed potatoes. Use a white onion, a green onion, or try leeks for an extra-special dish. Leeks are mildly flavored and look like extra-large scallions.
Butter & Bacon: Could anything be better? I love the flavor bacon adds, although it’s not a traditional addition. If I have it on hand, I add it, but if I don’t, this colcannon recipe is equally delicious with just butter.
Variations: Swap in parsnips for part of the potatoes for a sweet twist. For extra richness and savoriness, cook the vegetables in bacon drippings and fold in crispy bacon at the end.

How to Make Calcannon

Cook the potatoes in a large saucepan until fork-tender and drain well.
Mash the potatoes with cream and butter (full recipe below).
Soften the onion, leeks, and cabbage in a skillet. Season.
Stir the cabbage mixture into the potatoes and top with butter.

Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley, chives, and/or crisp bacon.

adding cooked cabbage to potatoes to make Colcannon Recipe

Mash and drain the potatoes to prevent them from turning watery.
Warm the cream before adding it to the potatoes so they are smooth.
Mash gently and stop once smooth to prevent a gluey texture. A ricer makes them extra fluffy.
Cut cabbage into small, even pieces so it remains tender and folds into every bite.
Leeks hide grit between layers, so slice first, then rinse in a bowl of water.

close up of Colcannon Recipe with butter

What to Do With Leftover Colcannon

Fridge: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or in the freezer for 2 months.

Reheat: To reheat it, place it on the stovetop with a little cream to keep the consistency of the mashed potatoes.

Leftovers: Can be used to top shepherd’s pie, turned into crispy potato patties, or turned into a delicious baked potato soup .

More St. Patrick's Day Recipes

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image of Everyday Comfort cookbook by Holly Nilsson of Spend With Pennies plus text

4.96 from 135 votes

Author Holly Nilsson

Colcannon

Author Holly Nilsson

Servings 8 servings

Creamy mashed potatoes folded with buttery sautéed cabbage and onion for a cozy, classic Irish side.

Save Rate Print

Servings 8 servings

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Equipment

Ingredients

▢ 3 pounds russet potatoes or baking potatoes, peeled & quartered
▢ 1 white onion or 2 leeks
▢ ½ head green cabbage about 6 cups
▢ ½ cup half and half or heavy whipping cream, warmed
▢ ¼ cup salted butter plus 3 melted tablespoons
▢ salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until fork-tender.
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the onion or leeks, and cabbage. Dice the white onion into ½-inch pieces or slice the white and light green parts of the leeks thinly and rinse well. Cut the cabbage into 1-inch pieces.
Melt ¼ cup of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion or leeks and cabbage in the butter until the onion is translucent and the cabbage is tender.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and return them to the warm pot. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher, adding cream and 3 tablespoons melted butter. Season with salt and pepper.
Gently fold the mashed potatoes, cabbage, and onions together.
Top with additional melted butter if desired.

Video

Notes

If desired, replace 1lb of potatoes with 1lb of parsnips. Russet potatoes are nice and starchy and make great mashed potatoes, Yukon gold is another good choice. Potatoes can be mashed with a masher or potato ricer.

Kale can be added to the cabbage or used in place of cabbage in this dish.

To Add Bacon: We love the flavor bacon adds to colcannon, so we often use it in place of butter to fry the onions/leeks and cabbage.

If you love bacon, cook 4-6 slices of bacon in a pan until crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the bacon drippings.
Cook onion or leeks and cabbage in the bacon drippings until the onion is translucent and the cabbage is tender.
Mix the bacon, cabbage, and onions with the mashed potatoes per the recipe above.

Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days and in the freezer for 2 months.

4.96 from 135 votes

Nutrition Information

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Irish

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