Vegetable Dishes
Bubble and Squeak
The great British leftovers fry-up: cold mashed potato and cooked cabbage or Brussels sprouts mixed with softened onion and smoky bacon, pressed into a big cake and fried in butter until a deep golden crust forms on both sides.
- Serves 4
- Ready in 30 min
- Uses leftovers
- Serve with a fried egg
- British
Method
Melt half the butter (30 g) with the oil (1 tbsp) in a large non-stick or well-seasoned frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the bacon (100 g) for 3–4 minutes until crisp, then add the onion (1 onion) and cook for 6–8 minutes until soft and golden.
Add the greens (300 g) and fry for 2–3 minutes to warm through and pick up some colour.
Tip the contents of the pan into a bowl with the potato (500 g), season well with salt and pepper and mix roughly; leave some streaks of green and white.
Melt the rest of the butter in the pan. Spoon in the mixture and press it into a flat cake about 3 cm thick. Cook without moving it for 6–8 minutes, until a dark golden crust forms underneath; you will hear it bubble and squeak.
Slide the cake onto a plate, turn the pan upside down over it and flip both together. Cook the second side for 5–6 minutes. Alternatively, keep breaking it up and turning it so you get lots of crispy bits.
Cut into wedges and serve hot, topped with fried or poached eggs (4 eggs) if you like, with brown sauce or leftover gravy.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
Rate this recipe
Tried it? Rate it.
The readers’ average appears here once 5 readers have rated it.
One vote per recipe per browser, and you can change it. We keep only the stars: no name, e-mail or IP address. How ratings work
See also
Chef’s notes
- Cold potato fries best: freshly made warm mash is too soft to crust.
- Shape the mixture into 8 small patties for neater portions; dust them in flour and fry for 4 minutes on each side.
- Any leftover roast vegetables work: carrots, parsnips, swede and kale, as Jamie Oliver suggests.
- For a vegetarian version, leave out the bacon and add a pinch of smoked paprika.
How this recipe was developed
We compared bubble and squeak from BBC Good Food, Jamie Oliver and the most-rated version on Allrecipes.
- Sprouts or cabbage. BBC Good Food’s version (4.4/5 from 73 ratings) uses leftover sprouts or cabbage with cold mash; we allow either.
- Bacon and onion. BBC Good Food and Allrecipes’ Bubble and Squeak (4.6/5 from 225 ratings) both fry bacon and onion first.
- Fat for flavour. BBC Good Food fries in duck fat, goose fat or butter; Jamie Oliver uses butter and herbs. We use butter with a little oil so it does not burn.
- One big cake or many small. Jamie Oliver crushes the mixture into the pan and lets it crisp; we give both a single cake and patties.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Good Food (Paul Merrett): Bubble & squeak (4.4/5, 73 ratings)
- Jamie Oliver: Bubble & squeak
- Allrecipes (Doreen Friesen): Bubble and Squeak (4.6/5, 225 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.