English Bubble and Squeak with crisp golden potato, cabbage and carrots in a skillet beside a simple fried egg.
England

Bubble and Squeak (Potato Skillet)

Crispy English potato and cabbage fried from leftovers.

Servings 6
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Difficulty Easy
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • about 4 cups thinly sliced Savoy or green cabbage
  • about 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more for the cooking water
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 700 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 225 g Savoy or green cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 200 g carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 40 g unsalted butter
  • 15 ml vegetable or sunflower oil
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more for the cooking water
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold salted water and bring to a boil.
  2. Cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes, then add the carrots. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
  3. Add the cabbage and cook everything together for another 5 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are tender and the cabbage has softened.
  4. Drain the vegetables thoroughly. Return them to the hot pan for a minute over low heat, shaking occasionally, to drive off excess moisture.
  5. Add the butter, salt and black pepper. Mash everything together, leaving some pieces of cabbage and carrot visible. Bubble and Squeak shouldn’t look like vegetable purée.
  6. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the potato mixture and spread it into a thick, even layer.
  7. Gently press the mixture down with a spatula and cook without fussing for 6-8 minutes. You want a properly browned crust underneath.
  8. Loosen the edges, then turn the mixture over in several large sections rather than attempting one heroic skillet flip.
  9. Press the sections back together and cook for another 5-7 minutes, until the second side develops plenty of crisp, golden patches.
  10. Spoon onto warm plates and serve immediately, making sure everyone gets some of those browned edges. They’re the whole point.

Cultural Context

Bubble and Squeak has been part of English cooking since at least the 18th century, but it didn’t always mean fried potatoes and cabbage. Early versions paired cooked beef with cabbage, and potatoes entered later. By the mid-20th century, the vegetable-based version had become familiar, likely helped along by meat shortages and rationing during and after World War II. Its enduring appeal is less about a fixed recipe than a practical idea: take yesterday’s cooked food, fry it until crisp and make lunch much more interesting.

Fun Fact

The name reflects the sounds the mixture makes while frying: bubbling fat, squeaking vegetables and, presumably, a cook hoping the whole thing releases cleanly from the pan. English food naming has never been shy about sound effects.

Cook’s Tip

This dish was built for improvisation, so treat the ingredient list as just a starting point. Swap the carrots for cooked peas, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, leeks or other leftover vegetables. Keep potatoes as the base because they hold everything together.

If your mash already contains plenty of butter or milk, reduce the added butter. For a dairy-free version, use olive oil or plant-based butter.

You can also chop and add leftover roast meat, echoing older versions of the dish. Avoid very wet vegetables unless you drain them well first.

Trivia

Bubble and Squeak wasn’t originally a potato dish at all. An early 1806 recipe by Maria Rundell used cabbage and slices of roast beef. Potatoes joined the party later, proving that even very traditional dishes sometimes take decades to change their minds.

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