Dinner Tonight: Bubble and Squeak Recipe

By
Blake Royer
Blake Royer is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Blake Royer
Blake Royer is a former chef, food blogger, and food writer who contributed recipe ideas and Chicago-based content to Serious Eats from the website’s earliest days.
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Updated Oct. 02, 2018

When I woke up from my tryptophan-induced slumber last Friday, my mind turned to a bulging fridge of leftovers. As usual, there seemed to be more food left over than was actually served on Thanksgiving. It was over an idle slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast that Bubble and Squeak came to me.

What the heck is bubble and squeak? Glad you asked. It's a traditional British dish invented to make use of the leftovers from a Sunday roast. But it works equally well on this side of the pond. Shredded green cabbage is sweated with some onions in butter, then mixed in with the leftover mash to be shaped into patties, browned in butter, and eaten ravenously. It's similar to an Irish dish called colcannon, made up of mashed potatoes and boiled cabbage and butter.

Most anything could be added to the potato mix, including a bit of stuffing or other leftover sides. It can also easily be made from scratch to become a terrifically cheap meal. Following a recipe from April Bloomfield of The Spotted Pig, I topped mine with a fried egg.

Recipe Facts

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Total: 45 mins
Serves: 4 servings

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Ingredients

  • 1 pound green or Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced/shredded

  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

  • 6 tablespoons butter

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds leftover mashed potatoes, or 1 pound potatoes, boiled and mashed

  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and add the onions with a good pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until soft, then add the cabbage. Cook for an additional 15 minutes until the cabbage is tender.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes with the cabbage mixture, stirring thoroughly to combine. Adjust the seasoning, then mold into 4 patties.

  3. Heat the remaining butter in the same skillet and fry the patties until brown. Transfer to an oven-proof dish and heat through in the oven as the patties come off the skillet. Multiple skillets can be used to expedite things.

  4. When all the patties are in the oven, fry 4 eggs in butter. Serve with freshly cracked black pepper.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
327 Calories
22g Fat
30g Carbs
5g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 327
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 22g 28%
Saturated Fat 12g 59%
Cholesterol 47mg 16%
Sodium 834mg 36%
Total Carbohydrate 30g 11%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 33mg 167%
Calcium 72mg 6%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 654mg 14%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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