Kale Colcannon
You're going to love these Irish mashed potatoes with kale. This colcannon recipe is the perfect side dish for St. Patrick's Day. So creamy and delicious!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
If you’re like me, you might think of mashed potatoes as holiday-only food. And if you’re like me, you might often wish for more holidays that call for mashed potatoes.
Today, I’m happy to introduce you to one more excuse to eat mashed potatoes. Meet colcannon! Colcannon is Irish mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage.
So, in case you need more justification to pull out your potato masher—these mashed potatoes have greens in them.
Did you know that St. Patrick’s Day is coming right up? Let’s make some colcannon!
Colcannon Recipe Notes
I based this colcannon recipe on my great-grandmother’s old-school mashed potatoes. Her recipe calls for cream cheese and sour cream instead of milk (or cream) and lots of butter. I’m obsessed with its tangy flavor and creamy texture, and I don’t want mashed potatoes any other way.
I assumed these ingredients would produce an untraditional twist on colcannon, but maybe I was wrong. I just found an Irish song about colcannon on Wikipedia that mentions “pickled” cream. Apparently pickled cream is buttermilk, which is similarly tangy. Maybe cream cheese and sour cream aren’t such crazy substitutions after all.
The Colcannon Song
Here are the first few lines of the song “Colcannon”, also called “The Skillet Pot”:
Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?
With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.
Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake
Of the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make?
Wondering specifically what to serve with colcannon? Unfortunately, I don’t have any Irish entrées, but this roasted carrot, chickpea and farro dish would pair well with it.
Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day recipes? You definitely don’t want to miss my Irish coffee recipe.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager to hear from you.
Kale Colcannon
You’re going to love these Irish mashed potatoes with kale. This colcannon recipe is the perfect side dish for St. Patrick’s Day. So creamy and delicious! Recipe yields 8 modest side servings, or 6 medium.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt*, divided
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for garnish
- 1 large bunch kale, preferably Tuscan/Lacinato, ribs removed and chopped into small, bite-sized pieces (3 to 4 cups)
- 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 4 ounces (½ cup) sour cream
- 3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion, divided
Instructions
- To prepare, pull the cream cheese out of the fridge and let it warm up on the counter while we cook the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into even chunks about 2” in size (see photos).
- Place the potato chunks in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt, and enough water to cover the potatoes by 1 to 2 inches.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Continue cooking, reducing the heat as necessary to prevent overflow, until the potatoes are easily pierced through by a fork, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Carefully drain off all of the water and leave the potatoes in the colander for now.
- Return the empty pot to the stove over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Once melted, add the chopped kale. Cook, stirring often, for 2 to 4 minutes, until the kale has wilted and turned dark green. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Remove the pot from the heat and add the drained potatoes. Mash the potatoes and kale until the potatoes reach your desired consistency (I like mine a little chunky, but you can mash them completely smooth if you prefer).
- Add the cream cheese, sour cream, remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mash it together until the mixture is mostly combined, then add 2 tablespoons of the green onions and stir until everything comes together.
- Transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving bowl. Top with a couple pats of butter and the remaining tablespoon of green onions. Serve while warm.
Notes
*Salt note: If you’re using regular table salt instead of fine sea salt, scale back a bit. You can always add more salt, to taste, at the end.
Change it up: You can easily substitute chard, collard greens or cabbage for the kale.
Make it dairy free/vegan: I haven’t tried this, but I think these potatoes would be good if you cooked the kale in olive oil, and stirred in 1 to 1 ½ cups vegan sour cream in place of the cream cheese and sour cream combination. Skip the extra butter.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I will try to veganize this and let you know how it turns out. Sounds good!
Please do, Maggie!
Delicious. And leftovers great the next day: cold with veggie sausages.
I make this vegan all the time! I use Kate’s vegan sour cream recipe, and grab either Trader Joe’s or Tofutti’s dairy free cream cheese. It’s one of my absolute FAVORITES!!! No one (including carnivores) could tell it was vegan on Thanksgiving!!! And they all asked for the recipe!!!
Thank you for sharing, Michelle! I’m excited you enjoyed it with my vegan sour cream.
Well these look pretty amazing! I’ve never heard of Colcannon or had any veggie, other than peas, in my mashers. I think they would also make a perfect side dish for Easter. I am going to veganize them with your vegan sour cream recipe. Will let you know how it goes!
Oh yes! Let me know what you think with the vegan sour cream. Thank you, Dani!
I love this dish and usually make it with cabbage. If you use carrots it’s called Hutspot. It always great to up the nutrition and I love the garnish of spring onions which made the colcannon presentation pop!
Thanks for sharing, Heide!
Hi Kate! I make this often, but with a twist: I form the potato mixture into patties, then FEB them (flour, eggs, bread crumbs – panko) then shallow fry them. They are delicious with a little extra crunch on the outside. I then put them on a cookie sheet and freeze them and put them in a zippered bag to take out as needed. Reheat in the oven and yum! Haven’t made them in a while, so thanks for bringing it back into my head and I will make it soon!
Thanks for sharing your take, Rose!
Rose, so appreciate your comment. I was just wondering if this recipe might be freezer friendly in any way.
Wonder if alternatively once could take the original recipe and scoop it into silicone muffin cups and freeze portions?
Hi Jessica, did you mean to reply to me? Or were you hoping Kate would reply? If the former, as mentioned in my comment, I freeze mine and it freezes beautifully. Once thawed, though, the patties really need to be heated in an oven (vs. say, a microwave) so the Panko crumb coating really crisps up. I don’t see why you couldn’t “scoop and freeze”, but you might want to ask a pro like Kate and not “just” a home cook like me. Good luck!!
Hi all, this dish is always served with fish in Ireland. AND we always add a big knob of butter on top of the potatoes!!!!
cheers
Jackie
Thanks for sharing, Jackie!
I’m interested to try your version! I came across the recipe “Irish Veg Stew with Kale Colcannon Mash” from Irish cooks & brothers David & Stephen Flynn (“The Happy Pear”) on Jamie Oliver’s site. You can serve the mash alongside the stew or drop some right in for yummy goodness!
Let me know what you think, Beth!
This looks crazy good. i wish i could have this “colcannon” for lunch today!!
Make it and have it tomorrow! :)
This comment is not about this recipe but I don’t know where else to leave you a note. Can you post a scalloped potato recipe sometime soon?
I will add it to my suggestion list, Annie!
What recipe plug in do you use!? I love your blog and style!
Hi! It’s called WP Tasty and I customized the display myself. :) Glad you like it!
SO good! We had it tonight with veggie Swedish meatballs and salad. My son (who is a sworn enemy of kale) said that he liked it!!! He even asked if I could make it again! Hooray! You are a genius!
Hooray!! This dish has that power. :) Thank you for your review!
These look delicious! I love finding ways to make our St. Patrick’s Day food “green” in healthy ways! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Jennifer!
Another winner recipe. I made it vegan and used cabbage and Yukon potatoes instead of russets, because that’s what I had on hand. I think a drier potato like russets are the better choice but dang, it was still delicious. Next time, I’m using kale, too
Thank you for sharing, Jeanne!
The family loved this version of Colcannon…it had a nice tang and was a good addition to our potluck dinner. Next time I will half the recipe for just my husband and I. Thank you for posting it in time for St. Paddy’s Day!
You’re welcome, Mary!
Hi Katie!
I’ve been getting your recipes for a few months now, I think.
Tho’t it was time I ‘made your day’ and wrote you! ~ LOL
I made the fresh potatos and kale dish, and LOVED IT! Thank you!
We get our kale around these parts, in huge packs of already washed and cut… I use it for my green drink.. usually. But it’s become boring after months – and I’m so glad, as it made me try your mix.. I need the greens, bcz WITH them, I don’t have diabetes anymore! WithOUT them, it’s right back! LOL…
I love how you chat, like writing a letter with the recipes, as I live alone, am now getting old (had a stroke and cancer in the last 1.5 yrs – over them both, mostly, now) and it feels like you are some company, come for coffee in the AM… lol.
Thanks tho. I never had time to cook as a divorced working mom, (My kids now ignore me, the gist of that being that they feel I ‘ignored’ them, while I worked too much to bring them up…) and my mom wouldn’t let me in the kitchen as a girl, so you are actually giving me cooking hints… TEACHING me how to cook, almost.. Thanx for that too..
Like – ‘blending’ a bit of the veggie soup to make a sauce! Wonderful news! and cutting the potatoes in chunkies to cook faster.. Wow! I didn’t know! ..And mixing the potatoes with the kale! What a treat! Thank you so much! This poor old lady appreciates you sooooooo much! I am subscribed for life!! ~
Love you, Dear Girlie!! ~ Sonlit
Thanks for commenting, Sonlit! I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipes and blog content.
Sonlit, hope this reaches you, as it’s a response to a 2019 post you made to Cookie & Kate’s Kale Colcannon recipe. Like you, in my 70’s, I’m learning so many tips from Kate’s recipes. Reading your post here made me smile. Had to share that my mom never let me help her in the kitchen either; yet when I got married & would call about how to make this or that, she’d comment “weren’t you paying attention watching me in the kitchen all those years!”
And thank you, Kate, for all your recipes!
I made this for my family’s Christmas dinner and everyone loved it. My sister-in-law said, “These potatoes are unreal!” Super simple to make too, which is a huge plus on Christmas. The only swap I made was spinach for kale, because my brother did the grocery shopping and he didn’t know what kale was. Haha!
Made this last night. Due to a potato shortage at the grocer, I used potatoes, white sweet potato & celeriac. For the same reason used curly kale. Also made it vegan w/ vegan butter & sour cream. It was delicious. The vegan sour cream added a tang that went so well with the root vegetables and kale. Husband requested a bit more garlic next time, but that would be the only change. Thank you for the fabulous recipe!
Way to be creative, Jennifer! I love it. I appreciate your comment and review.
First recipe involving Kale that I actually was able to get some of my kids to eat! Thank you! :) I personally found it delicious.
Holy cow–these mashed potatoes are delicious!! I veganized them by subbing in the vegan sour cream and adding a tablespoon of vegan butter at the end. I’ve been obsessed with them since I whipped them up. They are, without a doubt, the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever made and perhaps ever eaten. Thank you!
I’d like to add that my Thanksgiving was spent in the house with my dog, who does a great job on floor clean-up duty. I didn’t let the fact that I had to fly solo this year deter me from making a number of dishes, almost all of which were inspired by your incredible selection. I have been following you for years and am always impressed by the stellar recipes that you churn out. Thank you for sponsoring my 2020 Thanksgiving, Kate! Please keep making waves in the kitchen and inspiring us all.:)
Just made this and had to rush over to leave a comment! So tasty and unique. Will definitely be making these – even if it’s not St. Patty’s Day!
Wonderful, Rose! Thank you for your review.
Was good. Used power greens Might add power greens to my mashed cauliflower next.
Being Irish, of course the meat to pair with Colcannon is Lamb or if that’s too expensive or unavailable, use mutton. You probably have already gotten tons of responses noting this. And cabbage is traditional since it’s so much more available in Ireland than kale.
In Australia we ate mashed potatoes almost every day as a dinner staple. Lol. Weird that you need a holiday to eat potatoes.
The day after St. Patrick’s Day but close enough and this was fantastic! I had one bag of kale left from our summer CSA and what a great use of that kale. Will remember that this summer when we are swimming in kale and potatoes! Thanks!
This was so good. I’ve made colcannon with savoy cabbage before, but never kale. Was looking for a recipe to use up kale from the garden, and disguise it, as hubby always insists he hates it!
I’m in the UK so some of these might not be familiar, but I subbed Naturli vegan butter, Philadelphia vegan cream cheese and Oatly vegan creme fraiche. All worked perfectly.
Served it with a soysage and lentil stew. Hearty, warming food for a very stormy day here
Thank you for sharing how you made this, Yvonne! I appreciate your review.
A variation from my German friend. She adds sauerkraut to the mashed potatoes…it is lecker!
She said her mom always made this dish but isn’t sure if it is a common recipe in Germany.
I got some sausages from Fieldroast with apples. So I’ll make this, the sauges and some oven roasted cabbage
This is amazing. I’ve now made it twice, and we (hub & I)love it. I have cut it down so that I make it for 2 and it seems nearly foolproof. Thank you!
The biggest insult to colcannon ever. It is a travesty and nothing like the real thing. Why the devil would ye put garlic and cheese and onions in it?? Why do AMericans always insult us irish by trying to change our culture? Call it whatever ye like but please don’t insult us by alling this colcannon
Call it kailkenny then, so it’s Scottish. Make it or not. most reviews said it was delicious.
Call it kailkenny then, so it’s Scottish. Make it or not. most reviews said it was delicious.