Colcannon is a typical Irish dish made with mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale. I knew the cabbage variety, but never knew it’s also known to be made with curly kale. We have a similar dish in the Netherlands and the question now arises… who was first? To be honest, I don’t care.

Winter dish

Irish or Dutch, it really doesn’t matter. Colcannon is a delicious, hearty dish mainly eaten during the cold winter months (although I’ll happily eat this all year round). In the Netherlands, it’s often eaten with smoked sausage. But it’s also good with meatballs and gravy or a beef stew.

Preparation is also slightly different. While in the Irish recipes, the kale is just slightly cooked, separate from the potatoes, we cook the kale together with the potatoes. It gets much softer that way and the taste of the whole dish gets more profound. I added a little twist by adding crispy bacon bits and cream cheese.

Ingredients

300 g finely cut curly kale

1,5 kg potatoes (peeled ca. 1 kg)

250 g bacon

200 g cream cheese

100 g butter

salt/pepper/nutmeg to taste

Instructions

Peel the potatoes and cut into roughly same-sized pieces (so they cook evenly).

I use pre-cut kale, but if you’re using whole leaves, make sure to remove the hard stems and cut the kale into thin strips.

Put potatoes in a large cooking pot and top with the kale.

Add a generous amount of salt and completely cover in water.

Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are done.

While the potatoes and kale are cooking, cut the bacon into thin strips and fry until crispy. I don’t use any added fat, as there will be more than enough fat coming out of the bacon. Leave bacon and bacon fat in the pan until ready to use.

Drain the potatoes and kale well and put them back into the pan.

Add butter, cream cheese and season with salt, pepper and nut meg. Start with just a little bit of seasoning, you can add more later to taste.

Mash it all up and then fold in the bacon pieces and the bacon fat.

Season to taste.

Enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

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Curly Kale Colcannon with Bacon

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 6 - 8 servings

Author Nicole

Ingredients

• 300 g curly kale
• 1,5 kg potatoes* ca. 1kg peeled
• 250 g bacon
• 200 g cream cheese
• 100 g butter
• salt/pepper/nutmeg to taste

Instructions

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into roughly same-sized pieces (so they cook evenly).

2. I use pre-cut kale, but if you’re using whole leaves, make sure to remove the hard stems and cut the kale into thin strips.

3. Put potatoes in a large cooking pot and top with the kale.

4. Add a generous amount of salt and completely cover in water.

5. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are done.

6. While the potatoes and kale are cooking, cut the bacon into thin strips and fry until crispy. I don’t use any added fat, as there will be more than enough fat coming out of the bacon. Leave bacon and bacon fat in the pan until ready to use.

7. Drain the potatoes and kale well and put them back into the pan.

8. Add butter, cream cheese and season with salt, pepper and nut meg. Start with just a little bit of seasoning, you can add more later to taste.

9. Mash it all up and then fold in the bacon pieces and the bacon fat.

10. Season to taste.

Recipe Notes

*I love red skinned potatoes. They are not the floury kind you usually use for mashed potatoes, but I like these best when it comes to flavor.