Traditional Bubble & Squeak Recipe {With a Poached Egg} - Clean Eating with kids (2024)

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This traditional Bubble and Squeak recipe is the breakfast I’d choose if I had to pick my favorite. It’s comfort food at it’s best: crispy edged potatoes mixed with buttery veggies, fried (or baked) and then topped with a poached egg (or two).

Traditional Bubble & Squeak Recipe {With a Poached Egg} - Clean Eating with kids (1)

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Bubble And Squeak For Breakfast

Is this a breakfast recipe? A dinner or lunch recipe? I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter a huge amount. It’s properly delicious and I make it on a pretty regular basis.

I tend to make a batch of this and we’ll have it a couple of times through the week if there’s time, or cook it up for an easy dinner. Either way, everyones happy. Bubble and squeak’s an easy way to get vegetables into the kids without a fuss, and this recipes gives them a potion of their daily veggies before they’ve even got on the school bus. Nice :)

Bubble & Squeak Cakes

Bubble and Squeak cakes are the way I serve this most often, especially if we’re having it for breakfast. I make the patties just a little bigger than the poached egg and then sit the poached egg on top of it. Then when the kids cut the egg open, they get the delicious runny yolk on top of the bubble & squeak cake. It’s like self-saucing, which is a hit in this house, be in with breakfast, lunch or dinner!
You can make the patties what ever size you like, as long as it fits in a frying pan. Bigger patties are harder to turn and tend to break up, but even if they do, it’s fried potato: you won’t get any complaints if the patties a little broken up.

Bubble & Squeak In The Oven

Sometimes we have this for dinner, in which case I prefer to cook this in the oven, for the simple reason that everyone has a bit more at dinner time, and having a big family, it would take too long to fry the patties individually. Just spoon the whole batch into a tin and bake for 30 minutes on a medium heat.

(Tip/ make sure you fluff up the top of the potato before it goes into the oven so you still get the crispy potato bits. There’s a chance you’ll get complaints if you forget this step!)

Traditional Bubble & Squeak Recipe {With a Poached Egg} - Clean Eating with kids (2)

More Clean breakfast recipes:

  • Breakfast scones
  • Oat Bran blueberry muffins
  • Clean eating breakfast smoothie

How To Make Bubble & Squeak

Bubble & Squeak started life as a way to use up leftovers from the night before’s dinner. You’d usually have a potato of some sort left over, mashed, roasted or boiled. Then you’d take the leftover veggies and mix them with the potato. Then you’d fry it all up, and have it for breakfast the next day.

But, like many recipes that were originally meant to just use up the leftovers, Bubble & Squeak has taken on a life of it’s own and is now made as a dish in it’s own right.

I would say that if you’ve got roasted veg left over, or a few roast potatoes from a roast going spare, use them for this recipe. Oven baked veggies add a little extra to this, as do a few roasties, but if you’ve not got them and want to get a batch of this made, it’s just as delicious if the veg haven’t been roasted first.

Bubble & Squeak Recipe

Ingredients

Makes 12 patties

  • 6 Floury Potatoes – Mashed
  • 1 Carrot – Sliced or julienned
  • ½ Cup Cabbage – I use Savoy Cabbage
  • ½ Onion – Medium
  • Salt & pepper to season
  • Butter – 2 x small knob
  • Olive oil for frying (optional)
  • 6 eggs – poached

Process

  • Peel and boil your potatoes until fully cooked
  • While the potatoes are boiling, fry your vegetables on a low heat, with a knob of butter. You want them to be fully cooked through, if they start to brown as they fry, all the better!
  • Once the potatoes are fully cooked, drain and put back in the pan ready to mash. Season, add the remaining butter and mash until the potatoes completely smooth
  • Mix in your veggies, and then let the whole mixture cool down
  • If you want to save the mixture for the week, once it’s totally cooled down, cover and put in the fridge. If you’re cooking it straight away, once cooled, either transfer the mixture to an oven dish like this one, or shape your patties ready for frying
  • For frying – heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan and add your patties once the oils hot. Fry on each side for 2 minutes until crispy on the outside and hot all the way through. Serve each patty with a poached egg on top
  • For oven baking – Rake the top of the dish with a fork to spike the potato so it can crisp up. Oven bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately

Bubble & Squeak Recipe To Print & Keep

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Traditional Bubble & Squeak Recipe

This breakfast recipe is comfort food at it’s best: crispy edged potatoes mixed with buttery veggies, fried (or baked) and then topped with a poached egg (or two).

Course Breakfast, Clean Eating, Fast

Cuisine Clean Eating

Keyword bubble and squeak

Servings 6 people

Author Stephanie

Ingredients

  • 6 Large Potatoes, peeled
  • 1 Carrot sliced, julienned or grated
  • ½ Onion Finely sliced
  • ½ Cup Savoy cabbage Finely sliced
  • Salt & pepper To taste
  • 2 knob almond butter To taste
  • Olive oil For frying
  • 6/12 Eggs Poached

Instructions

  • Peel and boil your potatoes until fully cooked

  • While the potatoes are boiling, fry your vegetables on a low heat, with a knob of butter. You want them to be fully cooked through, if they start to brown as they fry, all the better!

  • Once the potatoes are fully cooked, drain and put back in the pan ready to mash. Season, add the remaining butter and mash until the potatoes completely smooth

  • Mix in your veggies, and then let the whole mixture cool down

  • If you want to save the mixture for the week, once it’s totally cooled down, cover and put in the fridge. If you’re cooking it straight away, once cooled, either transfer the mixture to an oven dish like this one, or shape your patties ready for frying

  • For frying– heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan and add your patties once the oils hot. Fry on each side for 2 minutes until crispy on the outside and hot all the way through. Serve each patty with a poached egg on top

  • For oven baking– Rake the top of the dish with a fork to spike the potato so it can crisp up. Oven bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately

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Traditional Bubble & Squeak Recipe {With a Poached Egg} - Clean Eating with kids (2024)

FAQs

What is the English dish bubble and squeak made of? ›

Bubble and squeak is a British dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the "great peasant dishes of the world".

Why do my bubble and squeak fall apart? ›

Use a floury potato for the mash. The potatoes and vegetables need to be very well drained and the potatoes roughly mashed. Do not add milk etc., if there is too much moisture then the bubble & squeak patties will break apart.

Does bubble and squeak contain egg? ›

Add the beaten egg to the mashed potato, then mix in the cabbage, spring onions and bacon with the pan juices. Season. Melt the rest of the butter and oil in the frying pan and swirl to cover the surface. Add the potato mixture and level the top, pressing it down lightly.

What goes well with bubble and squeak? ›

A great leftover recipe that can be made with any vegetable leftovers. Serve with a poached, fried or scrambled egg and crispy bacon or with poached smoked haddock fillets or grilled trout. Pop them in the freezer at the end of step 4 for a delicious snack on another day.

What does bubble and squeak contain? ›

Bubble and squeak is a fried British dish made with potatoes and cabbage. It's quite similar to the Irish colcannon. Bubble and squeak, which often contains meat such as ham or bacon, is traditionally made on Monday with the leftovers from Sunday's dinner or on Boxing Day with leftovers from the Christmas feast.

What is the English term bubble and squeak? ›

The origins of the name bubble and squeak are not known, but there is a reference in the "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" from 1785: "Bubble and squeak is beef and cabbage fried together. It is so-called from its bubbling up and squeaking while over the fire."

Is bubble and squeak Irish or English? ›

Bubble and Squeak dates back to the 18th century in England and is probably the most famous dish for being made out of leftovers. It started out with cooked beef in its ingredients, but during Second World War rationing it became more common to just have the mashed vegetables.

What is another name for bubble and squeak? ›

The dish's name supposedly derives from the noises made when the ingredients are fried. Similar dishes, also based on fried vegetables, include colcannon (Ireland) and rumbledethumps (Scotland).

How to flip bubble and squeak? ›

Halfway through the cooking, flip it over using a fish slice, or like a pancake if you're brave. If it breaks don't worry, just push it back together. Let it crisp up on the underside then nick a bit and taste it.

How to make bubble eggs? ›

You want the pan oiled but no oil sitting in the pan (this makes the eggs bubble). Crack egg(s) in pan and cook for 3 minutes uncovered (add seasonings — optional — at this time).

Can I freeze homemade bubble and squeak? ›

Heat a 5mm depth of oil in a large frying pan and shallow-fry the cakes in 2 batches for 2 mins each side, turning carefully. Drain on kitchen paper and transfer to a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Cool, cover and chill or freeze. Will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to a month.

Can you buy frozen bubble and squeak? ›

M&S Bubble & Squeak Cakes Frozen 500g.

What is the best bubble mix? ›

1 cup Fairy dishwashing detergent. 2 1/3 cups water. 1/3 cup glycerine (available from pharmacies) Empty drink bottles with lids for storage of your bubble liquid.

What do the British call bubble and squeak? ›

Cabbage is approximately 92% water, per Healthline, which releases as the cabbage wilts, bubbling and sputtering in the hot pan. The appeal of the name 'bubble and squeak' is a matter of opinion, but if you don't fancy it, you can always call the dish by its Scottish name, 'rumbledethumps' (via Britannica).

Is bubble and squeak a southern thing? ›

Bubble and Squeak is a tasty British hash made from potatoes and cabbage similar to colcannon, named for the noise it made while cooking.

Where did bubble and squeak come from in England? ›

Bubble and Squeak dates back to the 18th century in England and is probably the most famous dish for being made out of leftovers. It started out with cooked beef in its ingredients, but during Second World War rationing it became more common to just have the mashed vegetables.

Why are leftovers called bubble and squeak? ›

The dish's name supposedly derives from the noises made when the ingredients are fried. Similar dishes, also based on fried vegetables, include colcannon (Ireland) and rumbledethumps (Scotland).

Is bubble and squeak part of an English breakfast? ›

This is a traditional post-Christmas breakfast dish - but don't wait until then to make this. Excellent if served as part of an English breakfast with bacon and eggs, or as a light supper dish."

What's the difference between bubble and squeak and Colcannon? ›

Colcannon is mashed potatoes and chopped cabbage and usually chopped ham or bacon. Bubble and squeak is mashed leftover potatoes and chopped cabbage mixed up and fried as single round cake, and then sliced and served usually at breakfast.

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