Monday night is typically leftovers night for us, typically as a hangover from Sunday dinner which always results in the cooking of way too much food for whoever might be invading our home on that particular weekend.

My favourite type of left-over night comes following the traditional British sunday roast dinner which, if I’m lucky, means there’s a great opportunity for making Bubble and Squeak the next day either as part of breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Today, is one of those lucky days.

Bubble and Squeak is a traditional which consists of potatoes and some type of green vegetable, usually cabbage but sometimes brussel sprouts and if you’re feeling adventurous, any other kind of vegetable can be substituted or mixed in combination.

Bubble and Squeak Recipe & Cooking Instructions

Cooking this dish is easy, you’ll need the following ingredients:

- Approx 1lb of left over boiled, mashed or roasted potatoes 

- Approx 1/2lb - 1lb of left over cabbage or brussel sprouts

- A little butter or oil

- salt and black pepper if desired.

(you can adjust the quantities in your recipe for bubble and squeak to suit your personal taste as desired, some people like half as much cabbage as potatoes, some like half and half.)

Now, either mash, or rough chop the potatoes…personally I use left over roast potatoes and rough cut them into bitesize chunks but traditionally you mash the potatoes. Chop or break up the cabbage into bitesize pieces too and mix both these together, adding a little salt or pepper to the mixture if desired.

Then, add a little oil or butter to a frying pan or skillet and heat on a medium heat.

When the oil/butter is heated, add the cabbage and potatoes and form into a patty and let cook.

You might hear the distinctive squeak which gives bubble and squeak half of its name around this point. The ‘bubble’ part probably comes from the first stage of cooking the potatoes and cabbage which are typically boiled.

When the bottom of the patty turns a golden brown colour you’ll need to flip it over to cook on the other side…and then, you’re done.

Bubble and Squeak is typically served with cold meats (more leftovers from Sunday Lunch) and pickles as an evening meal but is also often served with breakfast with eggs, baked beans, fried tomatoes, sausages, bacon, and perhaps black pudding…a typical fry-up with the bubble and squeak replacing the potatoes or hash browns.

Alternative Bubble and Squeak Recipes

There are lots of alternative ways to cook this very versatile dish. Traditionally, although this has been phased out, the left over cooked beef used to be minced up and added to the Bubble and Squeak and this is still an option you can try. You can also add corned beef or bacon bits for a little extra flavour.

Although cabbage is the traditional vegetable used to partner the potatoes in bubble and squeak, you can also use brussel sprouts, or a combination of other vegetables. Throwing a finely chopped onion into the mix adds a little extra flavour too as will throwing in a few of your favourite herbs and spices.

Experiment, it’s fun…and of course, you do not need left overs to make this dish either, just boil the cabbage and cut into pieces and boil and mash the potatoes and away you go. It’s just more traditional with leftovers.

Some Bubble and Squeak Trivia

‘Bubble and Squeak’ is also used in cockney rhyming slang to describe a Greek person (geddit? Bubble and Squeak -> Greek) and is often shortened to just ‘Bubble’ as in ‘Nick the Bubble’ meaning ‘Nick the Greek’. Anyone who saw the movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (and if you haven’t, then do so) might remember Nick the Bubble as a dodgy Greek geezer…now you know what the ‘Bubble’ bit means.

The history and origins of bubble and squeak are not too clear but it seems the original recipes consisted of beef and cabbage mixed and fried, which later became beef, potatoes and cabbage or just potatoes and cabbage as it is vastly more often found today.

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