Irish Mashed Potatoes, also known as Colcannon, make the perfect Thanksgiving side dish that’s full of flavor but still easy to make and GLUTEN FREE too.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Irish
Keyword Gluten Free Side Dishes
Prep Time 15minutes
Cook Time 15minutes
Total Time 30minutes
Servings 4serves
Calories 211kcal
Author Marie Roffey
Ingredients
5mediumpotatoespeeled and quartered
6tablespoonsbutterdivided (4:2)
¾cupgreen onions finely sliced (scallions)
1clovegarliccrushed
2cupssavoy cabbagefinely shredded & packed
½cupwhole milk
Salt + pepper
1tablespoonbutter
Instructions
Cover potatoes with cold water in a medium saucepan and add a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil over medium high heat, reduce to a simmer and boil for 7 minutes (or until soft enough for a fork to poke into them easily).
Drain the potatoes, then return to the saucepan over very low heat for 30-40 seconds, shaking every so often, to steam off any residual moisture. Set aside.
Using the same saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) of butter over low-medium heat. Hold back 2 tablespoons of green onions and add the rest to the saucepan with the garlic and saute for about 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes until the cabbage has softened.
Turn the heat to low. Add potatoes and mash them, gradually mixing them into the other ingredients.
Once the potatoes are mashed and all mixed through, add the milk and stir it in until it is all absorbed into the potatoes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and salt and pepper to taste and mix through.
Serve, dotted with the extra butter and green onions scattered on top.
Video
Notes
Peel the potatoes – chunks of skin are not pleasant to eat
Cold water - Potatoes always work out best when placed in cold water and then brought up to the boil.
Salt the water – I always make sure to salt the water when boiling potatoes as some (not all) of that salt will get absorbed by the potatoes adding to the flavor.
Cook until just fork tender – if you cut your potatoes no larger than 1.5 inches, and turn the water down to a simmer as soon as it boils, you should have perfect fork tender potatoes in around 7-8 minutes.
Dry them out – this is the most important step in my opinion. Many a mashed potato fails because the potatoes are full of water, caused by boiling for too long or not drying them out. How do you dry them out? Simple. Once you’ve drained the cooked potatoes, return them to the saucepan. Over low heat, cook them for another 30 seconds, shaking the pan often. This will steam away any excess moisture.
Don’t add too much milk or butter – just enough to get a creamy texture and good flavor.
Don’t over-mash – if you mash potatoes too long, you’ll end up with potato slop and no one goes back for potato slop.