Today we have a simple and super delicious Brown Butter Colcannon recipe for St Patrick’s Day! We’re big potato lovers over here so this creamy mashed potato dish was a no brainer for us. We can’t stress how easy it is to make and it only requires a handful of ingredients.
We also love how this dish is able to sneak in some vegetables too, so it’s a win-win on both ends! If you’re not a fan of kale you can substitute spinach or even cabbage! You also don’t have to limit this to St Patricks Day, it makes an amazing side dish all year round!
What is Colcannon?
Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish of creamy mashed potatoes stirred together with hearty greens, such as cabbage or kale, stirred into it. It’s a hearty and inexpensive dish that can be eaten year round.
Our version uses brown butter, because we think it makes everything better but especially potatoes! The nutty flavor really takes this dish over the top in the best way!
How to Make Brown Butter Colcannon
Ingredients
Process
- Place oil in a large skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add oil and onions and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add kale and garlic and continue to sauté for 5 to 6 minutes. Deglaze pan with water or stock and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook kale and onions until all the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove mixture from heat and set aside.
- Place butter into a small pot and place over medium heat. Cook butter for about 5 minutes or until melted, browned with a nutty flavor. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Place potatoes in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover potatoes. Stir in a handful of salt. Place pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Boil potatoes until fork tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Remove potatoes from heat and drain water from pot.
- Using a potato masher, begin to mash the hot potatoes.
- Pour butter (reserving 2 tablespoons) and cream into the potatoes and continue to mash. Season with salt and pepper.
- Mash until desired consistency has been achieved. Gently stir in onion and kale mixture until just combined. Drizzle reserved brown butter over potatoes. Serve.
Tools You Will Need
- cutting board
- knife
- liquid measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- sauté pan
- small saucepan
- medium pot
- wooden spoon
- potato masher
What to Eat with Colcannon
Colcannon is traditionally eaten with boiled ham, Irish bacon and corned beef. It’s such a versatile side that we love eating it with a variety of other dishes. Some of our favorite things to serve with colcannon are:
- Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Garlic Butter Lamb Chops
- Seared Ribeye Steak
- Spatchcock Chicken
- Standing Rib Roast
Making Ahead and Freezing Colcannon
Our brown butter colcannon can be stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 3 months. Just scoop colcannon into an airtight container and place in freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to reheat, slightly thaw, enough to scoop into a pot. Add 1/2 to 1 cup cream to pot and simmer on low, stirring as the colcannon melts, until mixture is smooth. Season with salt and pepper as needed and serve.
If you love this dish we have a couple other fun St Patrick’s Day recipes worth checking out like our Corned Beef Hash Eggs Benedict and our Irish Soda Bread.
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Brown Butter Colcannon
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 yellow onion diced
- 1/2 bunch kale stemmed and torn into pieces
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 peeled and chopped russet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place oil in a large skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add oil and onions and sauté for 3 to4 minutes.
- Add kale and garlic and continue to sauté for 5 to 6 minutes. Deglaze pan with water or stock and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook kale and onions until all the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove mixture from heat and set aside.
- Place butter into a small pot and place over medium heat. Cook butter for about 5 minutes or until melted, browned with a nutty flavor. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Place potatoes in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover potatoes. Stir in a handful of salt. Place pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Boil potatoes until fork tender, 12 to 15 minutes, remove from heat and drain water from pot.
- Using a potato masher, begin to mash the hot potatoes. Pour butter (reserving 2 tablespoons) and cream into the potatoes and continue to mash. Season with salt and pepper.
- Mash until desired consistency has been achieved. Gently stir in onion and kale mixture until just combined. Drizzle reserved brown butter over potatoes. Serve.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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This recipe looks like a traditional Dutch recipe named boerenkool stamppot (kale mash). We also put some cheese and small pieces of bacon in it and eat it together with a sausage.
Yum, that sounds awesome!
I doubled this recipe today and it came out great! I halved the heavy cream and it still came out so rich and decadent. I also added extra greens. So delicious!
Yes, please! Potatoes and greens are exactly what I want to eat right now–and actually on most other occasions too. :) Yay!
Carbs for life! This is amazing and the nuttiness of brown butter works perfectly!
Mashed potatoes with hearty greens sounds delicious!! Love this!
Oh you are combining a lot of my favorite things here! I had never even heard of colcannon before. Anything with browned butter is just the best.