• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Somebody Feed Seb
  • Home
  • VEGANUARY
  • MAINS
    • MEAT & POULTRY
    • FISH & SEAFOOD
    • PASTA
    • RISOTTO
    • SALADS & BOWLS
    • SOUP
    • VEGETARIAN
    • VEGAN
    • BUDGET
  • SOURDOUGH
    • ACTIVE STARTER
    • DISCARD
  • DESSERTS & BAKES
    • CAKES & TORTES
    • TARTS & PIES
    • CHEESECAKE
    • COOKIES, BISCUITS, BARS
    • DESSERTS
    • SMALL BAKES
  • BREAKFAST
  • SIDE DISHES
menu icon
go to homepage
  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT ME
  • CONTACT
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • RECIPES
    • ABOUT ME
    • CONTACT
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » MAINS » MEAT & POULTRY

    Irish Colcannon with Bacon

    Published: October 12, 2020 · Updated: April 27, 2022 by Ieva · This post may contain affiliate links · 9 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Sometimes we fancy simple home-cooked comfort food. For us, there is nothing better than a cheap and cheerful Irish Colcannon with bacon and a soft-set egg. This meal offers great flavours and a variety of textures to please anyone!

    This recipe started with a summer barbeque. We had a lovely smoky, grilled feast in the garden with all the traditional sides including potato salad and a Cabbage Slaw. At the end of it, we had some new potatoes and some sweetheart cabbage left to use. And that’s how our version of Colcannon was born!

    Take Me To
    • What is Colcannon?
    • Tips and Tricks
      • Best Cabbage to Use
      • Cooking the Cabbage
      • Type of Bacon
      • Poaching an Egg
    • What To Serve With Colcannon?
    • Other Bacon Recipes

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost for you! Thank you!

    What is Colcannon?

    Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish, typically made with mashed potatoes and either cabbage or kale. Irish Colcannon is normally served with either ham or sausages and sometimes a fried egg. The name of the dish was first recorded in history by a Welsh traveller William Bulkeley. Spookily, he first had this dish on a Halloween night in Dublin… So if you are making this Irish Bacon Colcannon for Halloween, why not drizzle it all with some spicy chilli sauce for the spooky effect!

    Tips and Tricks

    Best Cabbage to Use

    It is a straightforward recipe with everyday ingredients and simple methods. To start, just boil some potatoes. Shred and boil the cabbage. Almost any cabbage will do: we tried it with white, green, savoy and sweetheart cabbage and they all taste great in this recipe. We opted for sweetheart cabbage on this occasion!

    Sweetheart cabbage being thinly sliced with a chunky knife.

    Cooking the Cabbage

    If there is one mistake I would try to avoid is overcooking your cabbage. We love a bit of cabbage crunch in our colcannon, so you may want to adjust the cooking time depending on the size of your cabbage shreds and the type of cabbage you’re using. We find that sweetheart and savoy cabbages take less time than white or green cabbage.

    Boiled cabbage in a colander draining.

    Type of Bacon

    You can use either streaky or back bacon rashers for this recipe. Just make sure it is crispy. Adding oil to the pan may not make it any healthier but really helps with the crispiness and browning.

    Poaching an Egg

    Once you’ve mixed all the colcannon ingredients together, and your bacon is nice and crispy, all you need to do is poach yourself a perfect egg. If you’ve not done this before, here’s a guide on how to have a lovely round soft-set poached egg that will have an oozing yolk when you cut into it: How to Poach a Perfect Egg?

    Two eggs poaching in a pan with hot water.

    And here you have the modern colcannon with bacon topped with a runny poached egg! Enjoy it anytime you have some leftover cabbage. These Irish potatoes and cabbage can be easily halved or doubled, just make sure to poach eggs in separate pans if poaching more than 4.

    What To Serve With Colcannon?

    We designed this Colcannon recipe with Bacon as the main dish, which is equally delicious and filling. However, if you are feeding a hungry crown, why not make a couple of delicious and healthy side dishes to go with it. We would recommend the following:

    • Fried Tenderstem Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon (Garlic Broccolini)
    • Spring Greens with Lemon & Thyme
    • Quick Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

    Other Bacon Recipes

    If you like salty smoky bacon, we don’t blame you. For other delicious ideas for recipes using bacon, have a look at some of our all-time favourites below:

    • Gluten-Free Zucchini Pancakes with Bacon and Eggs
    • Tarte Flambée with Bacon and Asparagus
    Irish Concannon on a white plate topped with fried bacon and a poached egg.

    Irish Colcannon with Bacon

    Filling Irish potatoes and cabbage with a twist! True comfort food with the addition of crispy bacon and an elegant poached egg will please everyone in the family! And it is extremely cheap to make as well…
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 45 minutes mins
    Course Lunch, Main Course
    Cuisine Irish
    Servings 4 people
    Calories 310 kcal

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 750 g new potatoes halved
    • 400 g cabbage (white or sweetheart) trimmed and finely shredded
    • 6 spring onions
    • 10-12 rashers bacon (smoked or unsmoked)
    • 25 g butter
    • 2 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
    • 4 eggs
    • oil vegetable, rapeseed or sunflower
    • vinegar

    Instructions
     

    • Boil your potatoes for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
    • Whilst potatoes are cooking, put your shredded cabbage in another large pan, pour boiling water over the cabbage and cook for about 5 minutes, until just tender.
    • Heat a tablespoon of oil and fry eight rashers of bacon until crispy. Set aside. Then cut up the remaining two rashers into small pieces and fry for 3-4 minutes until slightly coloured.
    • Add the cabbage and spring onions to the frying pan with the bacon and heat through, stirring.
    • Drain the potatoes, add butter and season, then crush roughly with a masher. Stir the cabbage, bacon and spring onions (reserve some for decoration) into the crushed potatoes. Stir in the mustard. Cover with a lid and keep warm over a very low heat. This is your colcannon.
    • To poach the eggs, crack the eggs into the gently simmering water with a splash of vinegar and poach for 3 mins. For instructions on how to poach a perfect egg, see the notes below.
    • Spoon the colcannon onto four plates or bowls. Arrange the crispy bacon on top (2-3 rashers per portion).
    • Take the eggs out from the water with a slotted spoon and place on top. Season with black pepper and some spring onion.

    Notes

    Here’s an article on How to poach an egg?

    Nutrition

    Calories: 310kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 11gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 179mgSodium: 221mgPotassium: 1083mgFiber: 7gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 680IUVitamin C: 77mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 3mg
    Keyword Colcannon Recipe With Bacon, Colcannon with Bacon, Irish Colcannon, Irish Colcannon Recipe, Irish Potatoes and Cabbage
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    Pin for Pinterest.

    More MEAT & POULTRY

    • Cream of Mushroom Chicken in a black bowl, served with mashed potatoes and asparagus.
      Easy Cream Of Mushroom Chicken
    • Chicken rogan josh curry in a black bowl with yoghurt on top.
      Easy Chicken Rogan Josh
    • Santa Fe Salad with chicken being drizzled with the spiced dressing.
      Santa Fe Salad
    • A piece of Hong Sue chicken and veggies being picked up wth black chopsticks.
      Hong Sue Chicken

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lubna

      December 20, 2020 at 1:51 pm

      5 stars
      Its a new recipe. I always love to read about new recipes and history revolving around the recipe. The recipe sounds great.

      Reply
      • Ieva

        December 20, 2020 at 8:15 pm

        Thanks, Lubna!

        Reply
    2. Kate

      May 02, 2021 at 5:14 pm

      5 stars
      Loved the flavor of the bacon with colcannon! So good together.

      Reply
    3. Mahy

      October 23, 2021 at 9:50 am

      5 stars
      This will be the first time I make it. Definitely excited about the result!

      Reply
    4. Amanda Wren-Grimwood

      August 01, 2022 at 6:41 pm

      5 stars
      Definitely a comforting meal and the perfect brunch dish. There’s something about fried cabbage and potatoes that I can’t resist and my family loved this version.

      Reply
      • Ieva

        August 02, 2022 at 6:27 am

        That’s a brilliant idea to serve it for brunch! 🙂

        Reply
    5. Julia

      November 13, 2022 at 11:10 am

      5 stars
      Delicious dish that we love to serve for dinner even more, thanks for recipe!

      Reply
      • Ieva

        November 13, 2022 at 7:16 pm

        You are most welcome, Julia!

        Reply
    6. Dannii

      January 13, 2023 at 8:53 am

      Now this is my kind of comfort food. So easy to make too.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Author of the blog holding a fork with spaghetti on it.

    Hi, I am Ieva – the face behind this blog. I live in North Wales with my husband Seb and our golden retriever Sawyer. It’s safe to say that I live and breathe food: from researching and reading about food to creating new recipes and growing vegetables to use in my cooking.  The great thing is, Seb appreciates all the good meals that are also essential at his worst ‘hangry’ moments! Somebody HAS to feed Seb…

    More about me →

    Seasonal Recipes

    • A stack of pumpkin oatmeal pancakes with butter on top on a small brown plate.
      Pumpkin Oat Pancakes (Gluten-Free)
    • Cream being poured onto apple and blueberry crumble.
      Apple and Blueberry Crumble
    • Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust decorated with torched Swiss meringue.
      Pumpkin Cheesecake With Gingersnap Crust
    • A slice of apple crumble cheesecake on a small brown plate.
      Apple Crumble Cheesecake

    Trending Recipes

    • lithuanian pink soup in a brown bowl in a saucer on a wooden table.
      Lithuanian Cold Beetroot Soup a.k.a Pink Soup
    • Tenderstem Broccoli with garlic in a frying pan garnished with slices of lemon.
      Fried Tenderstem Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon (Garlic Broccolini)
    • The first slice coming out of the no-bake biscoff cheesecake decorated with llotus biscoff biscuits.
      Irresistible No-Bake Biscoff Cheesecake (6 Ingredients)
    • Crispy Chicken Filled Steamed Bao Buns on a black tray on a rustic wooden table.
      Sticky Crispy Chicken Bao Buns
    Featured in image with brand names and websites Somebody Feed Seb has been featured in.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Somebody Feed Seb