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English Breakfast Recipes

Bubble & Squeak Recipe

Bubble & squeak cooked until crisp and deeply golden.

Bubble & squeak is a traditional British dish made from cold leftover potatoes and greens, most commonly cabbage. It is what happens after a proper Sunday roast, when yesterday’s vegetables are turned into something crisp, savoury and worthwhile. Proper bubble & squeak is fried slowly and left undisturbed long enough to form a deep golden crust. Soft, soggy versions are just wrong.

This recipe assumes you are starting with leftovers from a Sunday roast, because that is the point of the dish. Bubble & squeak works best when the vegetables have cooled fully and firmed up before they ever hit the pan. If you start warm, you get softness. If you start cold and cook patiently, you get crust.


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: Serves 4


Ingredients

  • Cold cooked potatoes, roughly mashed
  • Cold cooked cabbage, finely chopped
  • 1 large onion, finely sliced
  • Butter, plus a little cooking fat or oil
  • Salt and black pepper

Optional additions: leftover carrots, peas or Brussels sprouts.


Instructions

  1. Mix the cold potatoes and cabbage together in a bowl. Keep it rough. This is not mash. Season properly with salt and black pepper and stop as soon as it comes together.

  2. Put a heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add butter and a small amount of fat or oil, then the sliced onion. Cook slowly until soft and lightly coloured. You want sweetness, not colour.

  3. Add the potato and cabbage mixture to the pan. Press it down firmly into an even layer so it makes full contact with the pan. Then leave it alone. This is not the moment to interfere.

  4. Cook without stirring until the underside forms a deep golden crust. This will take at least eight to ten minutes. You should hear gentle sizzling and the occasional squeak from the pan. That sound matters.

  5. Once a crust has formed, turn sections over rather than flipping the whole thing. Press down again and repeat the process. One or two turns is enough. You are building crust, not breaking it.

  6. Serve cut into wedges or rough slabs. If it collapses when you cut it, it was not cooked long enough.

Bubble & squeak belongs on a proper English breakfast plate alongside bacon, sausages and eggs because it is part of the same domestic tradition. It also stands on its own with cold roast meats and pickles. However it is served, it should be properly cooked. Bubble & squeak should be deeply browned, structured, crispy, and cut cleanly. If it is pale, soggy, or soft, it has failed.

If you are interested in history, heritage and recipes of the traditional English breakfast, check out our official English Breakfast Handbook, lovingly produced by the English Breakfast Society.

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