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A pot of freshly made Colcannon
Place of origin Ireland
Main ingredients Mashed potatoes, kale or cabbage
Cookbook: Colcannon  Media: Colcannon
Colcannon recipe on a bag of potatoes



Colcannon is traditionally made from mashed potatoes and kale (or cabbage), with milk (or cream), butter, salt and pepper added. It can contain other ingredients such as spring onions, leeks, onions and chives. There are many regional variations of this dish.[1] It is often eaten with boiled ham or Irish bacon. At one time it was a cheap, year-round staple food,[2] though nowadays it is usually eaten in autumn/winter, when kale comes into season.[3]


The Welsh dish cawl cennin, despite the somewhat similar sound of the expression, is etymologically unrelated to colcannon, and is a leek soup, literally "broth (of) leeks."[5]


The song "Colcannon", also called "The Skillet Pot", is a traditional Irish song that has been recorded by many artists, including Mary Black.[4][6] It begins:

Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?

The chorus:

And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot.

See also[edit]


  2. ^ Irwin, Florence (1986). The Cookin' Woman: Irish Country Recipes. Blackstaff. ISBN 0-85640-373-3. 
  3. ^ Molyneux Kale
  4. ^ a b Allen, Darina (2012). Irish Traditional Cooking. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. p. 152. ISBN 9780717154364. 
  6. ^ "The Black Family" CD, 1986, Dara Records, DARA CD 023

External links[edit]