Colcannon Soup (Irish Potato Soup)

Colcannon Soup is an Irish Potato soup that is made with cabbage. Don't go running for the door yet! It's delicious, really delicious. Think of a luscious, thick and creamy potato soup, only better! You only need a few ingredients and less than 30 minutes to whip up a batch of this soup and, even if you aren't a cabbage fan, something really magical happens in this soup!

It can be made in your pressure cooker or stovetop and directions for both cooking methods are in the printable recipe. Personally, I like to use my Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper to make the soup. I like the ease of pressure cooking because I don't have to watch over the pot of boiling potatoes. So, grab your Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi and let's get to making some delicious Irish Colcannon soup!

Colcannon soup is the perfect side dish for your Corned Beef & Cabbage on St. Patrick's Day! If you want to experience the BEST corned beef and cabbage, try this recipe: Ninja Foodi Corned Beef & Cabbage

The glaze is everything, so don't skip that on the corned beef!

Ingredients & Substitutions

You only need a few ingredients to whip up a pot of colcannon soup, but if there is an ingredient you don't have, don't like, or can't have, there are usually substitutions and I go over some of them below.

Potatoes

Potatoes are the star of the show and you want to pick a variety that the Irish would consider a floury potato. In the US, the most popular floury potato is the Russet potatoes and that is what I use in this recipe.

That isn't to say that you can't use other types of potatoes, like golden potatoes or red potatoes. They will certainly work, but the texture is going to be slightly different. Sometimes waxy potatoes like Yukon gold can become a little pastey when they are blended and, since the potatoes are usually smooth in this recipe, I prefer using the Russets. A mix of golden or red potatoes and Russets would also work nicely. If you love the buttery flavor of a golden potato, use half golden and half Russet and I'll bet the soup will be perfect!

If you want to make a low carb version of this, I would follow my recipe for cauliflower mash and add the cabbage and leeks, enough liquid to make the soup, butter, and cream.

Vegetables

This is where things are a little vague and sometimes even controversial. When you ask what vegetables go into the traditional Irish dish called colcannon, everyone has their own opinion. People get fiesty over it too. In 2021, my recipe for colcannon went viral on Facebook and oh boy, did I get an earful!

I'm only part Irish and I've never been to Ireland, so I listened politely to everyone and went on and kept making it like I like it! That is what I want you to do. Only use the ingredients you love and you will love the soup!

My grandmother, who was born in Ireland, only put green onions in her colcannon. However, most Irish people you ask will say that green cabbage is a must when making colcannon. I happen to agree that cabbage is a must in this colcannon soup recipe. It's what sets it apart from an ordinary potato soup with green onions or chives. There is something really magical about the way the cabbage works with the potato soup to provide just enough texture and a very mild cabbage flavor to the soup. It's absolutely delicious; however, if you really don't want to use the green cabbage, you don't have to. It's your soup, make it how you are going to love it.

You can use other types of cabbage, if you prefer. Savoy cabbage would work just fine, but I would stay away from red or purple cabbage unless you want to have a pink soup.

You can also use leftover cabbage and just skip the cabbage cooking step in the recipe, slice it thin and add it to the soup after the potatoes are blended and before the cream is added.

Leeks are another ingredient that some people use in colcannon and that I happen to love and included in both my mashed potatoes version and soup version of colcannon. If you aren't familiar with the flavor of leeks, they have a very mild onion flavor. If you don't want to use the leeks, then consider using a sweet white onion, but only use about ¼ cup because it is a much stronger flavor and you don't want to overpower your soup.

I do also use green onions in this recipe, but only as a garnish. I really like the texture of them on top of the soup. You could also use an entire bunch of green onions in place of the leeks in the soup and cook the green onions with the cabbage.

Liquid

I used chicken broth in this recipe just to add a boost of flavor. You can use chicken stock or a chicken broth or even water and chicken bouillon. Make sure you adjust your salt if you are using a well-seasoned stock or broth and especially if you are using bouillon mixed with water. Bouillon tends to be pretty salty. If you aren't sure how much salt to cut out, don't add any extra and season with salt to taste at the end of making the soup.

You could also use a vegetable stock or vegetable broth in place of the chicken stock and that will flavor the soup nicely.

Water can also be used in place of broth or stock, however you may find you need a little more seasoning, especially salt.

Dairy

Butter

This is an Irish dish, so I go all out and use Irish butter. It's a little more expensive, but completely worth it in this recipe. The difference between Irish butter and US butter is the fat content. Irish butter has a higher fat content and is richer in flavor. The grass the cows graze on is different and I think that has something to do with the flavor differences as well. The churning process is also different which results in a creamier texture. You will see that Irish butter is a deeper golden color than American butter.

If you don't want to splurge on Irish butter, it's fine to use any kind of butter you like. You can use salted or unsalted butter, but you may need to add a little salt if you used unsalted. If you are dairy free and need to skip the butter, I would use 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil or avocado oil just to provide some richness and fat to the soup.

Cream

Another indulgence for this soup is the heavy cream. I think it's a must for that creamy texture and white color of a potato soup. However, you can skip the heavy cream and use milk or half and half if you prefer. You can also skip it all together and just use more water or chicken broth instead. The soup won't have the same color, but if you can't have dairy, you can skip the butter and cream. I wouldn't recommend using coconut milk or cream as a substitute. It would change the flavor too much. Maybe consider using a cashew cream instead.

Seasonings & Extras

The vegetables do the heavy lifting when it comes to seasonings and I just give them a boost with some salt. That's my preference, but it doesn't have to be yours. Many people will add black pepper and you can even add some garlic if you like.

The soup doesn't need anything extra added, but if you wanted to add some protein other than the dairy, you can certainly add some diced ham or even shredded or diced left over corned beef would be delicious. You an add peas if you want or another vegetable. You know my philosophy, it's your food so please adjust the ingredients to your liking.

How to Make Colcanon Soup with a Pressure Cooker

This delicious soup is very easy to make and when you use your Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker or your Instant Pot it makes it pretty much hands off after the prep is done.

Prepping the vegetables for Colcannon Soup

To make things fairly simple, I like to add the chicken broth and salt to the inner pot as the first step in prepping to make the soup. This way I don't have to worry about the potatoes browning, I put them directly into the broth after I peel, wash, and chop them.

For this soup I recommend removing the peels of the potatoes. You don't absolutely have to, but I like the potato base of the soup to be very smooth so the texture you have in the soup is from the cabbage and leeks.

You don't have to be particular about chopping the potatoes, but you do want to make sure they are in small pieces. I aim for about 1-1½" size so they cook fully in the 2 minute pressure cook time.

As you are chopping the potatoes, add them directly to the chicken broth to prevent browning.

Next prepare the leek. Trim the top of the leek (the dark green part) down to where the stalk/leaves look bright green and not dry.

I usually wash the leek before cutting it, but that depends on how dirty it is. There is going to be sand and dirt in between the leaves to varying degrees. If your leek has a lot of sand and dirt trapped in the inner leaves, then it will be easier to cut the leek and then run the slices under cold water to rinse. You will want to lay them out on paper towels to dry some or use a salad spinner to get off the excess water.

I didn't have to do this with my leek, it was pretty clean. So I ran water while pulling apart the leaves and then sliced it.

You want to thinly slice the leek. I tend to make the green part a little thicker than the white part because I like that texture difference in the soup, but that is up to you. Try to get the slices around ¼" in size.

It doesn't really matter how much or how little leek you use in the soup. I usually use one full leek and it equals between 1½-2 cups of sliced leeks.

Wash and cut the head of cabbage in half. Remove the hard core and slice one half of the cabbage in half again.

Place the flat side down on the cutting board and slice the cabbage into about ¼-½" slices. I used ½ pound of cabbage, which was just about ⅛ of the head of cabbage. This will vary depending on the size of your cabbage.

You can also use more or less than I did. It won't make any difference in the soup. If you use more cabbage, you may want to drain off some of the liquid that collects in the pan during the cooking process just so your soup doesn't become too thin.

I used about 2 cups of sliced cabbage in this recipe. It does shrink quite a bit during the cooking process, so the total amount going in the soup is about 1 cup of cooked cabbage.

Use any leftover cabbage to make a delicious coleslaw; and I have the perfect dressing recipe: Homemade Coleslaw Dressing

While I have my knife out, I go ahead and cut up the green onions that I use for garnish. If you aren't serving the soup the same day you make it, I would hold off on cutting the green onions so they don't dry out.

Pressure Cooking the Potatoes & Vegetables

The chopped potatoes are already in the inner pot with the broth and the salt. Add in the butter in one chunk or smaller slices, if you prefer.

While you can simply add the vegetables to the potatoes and pressure cook them together, I chose to put the veggies in a pan on top so that they weren't in the super heated liquid. By having them out of the water and protected by the pan or foil, they don't cook as fast and the texture is better in my opinion.

I used my Fat Daddio pie plate to hold the vegetables, but you can use any pressure safe dish that will fit in your pressure cooker. Or, you can simply place the vegetables in aluminum foil and loosely close the top, like a little pouch, and sit it right on top of the potatoes. I did that the first time I tested the recipe and it worked perfectly fine.

Cover the pan with foil or a silicone lid. I love using my silicone lids for pressure cooking, you can find them on Amazon: Silicone Lids

I also used a sling to make it easier to get the pan out. You can find that on Amazon as well: Silicone Sling

Put the pan into the pot and close the pressure lid. Make sure the valve is turned to seal and set the pressure to high for 2 minutes. When the time is up, allow the pressure cooker to naturally release for 5 minutes (that means do nothing for 5 minutes) than release the rest of the pressure. You can even do an immediate release or quick release, if you want. The only reason I did a 5-minute natural release is so the starchy liquid didn't spurt out.

The time to pressure in this recipe varied, but averages around 12-15 minutes. During the video it took 20 minutes to come to pressure, but the vegetables were still fine.

Remove the pressure lid and lift out the vegetables. Set them aside for later.

Pureeing the Potatoes

This next step can be done different ways. Ideally you could use the immersion blender directly in the inner pot and sometimes you can. If you are using a stainless steel pot, then go for it!

If you have a plastic guard on your immersion blender and are using a ceramic coated pot (like the ones that come with the Ninja Foodi), then you can certainly give it a go.

If your pot is already chipped and you are very careful, you can certainly use the immersion blender directly in the pot.

I chose to remove the potatoes and liquid and blend them in a deep mixing bowl. You can also use a blender or a food processor to puree the potatoes, but make sure to let the potatoes and liquid come to room temperature first.

This is why I like using an immersion blender for these kinds of things. I can do it when the potatoes are still hot. Just be careful to use a deep container so the hot potatoes don't come flying out at you.

Place the immersion blender towards the bottom of the bowl or pot and blend while moving the blender around until the potatoes are a smooth puree.

Don't freak out that the mixture is thick, we are going to fix that next!

Finishing the Colcannon Soup

Add 1 cup of heavy cream and stir it into the potato puree. The soup will still look thick, but don't be tempted to add more cream just yet.

The vegetables will have collected some liquid in the pan and we will use that to thin and flavor the soup.

Dump in the pan of leeks and cabbage, including the liquid. If you have more than ¼ cup of liquid in the pan, then only add some of it and stir the soup before adding more.

How thick or thin you make the soup is a personal preference. If you need to thin it out more, then add some more cream or broth until it is your desired consistency.

Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Ladle the soup into soup bowls and top with chopped green onions for garnish. Enjoy!

How to Make Stovetop Colcannon Soup

There are many different ways to approach making this soup on the stove. You can sauté the sliced leeks and cabbage in a little butter while boiling the potatoes in a large pot on the stove. Or, you can boil the potatoes in a pot of water or broth and if you have a steamer basket that fits on top of the pot, you can steam the leeks and cabbage at the same time.

The important thing to remember when switching a recipe from pressure cooking to stove top is the evaporation. There is minimal evaporation with pressure cooking, so you will need to increase the liquid amount when cooking the soup stovetop.

I would use about 5 or 6 cups of salted water or broth to boil the potatoes. I also recommend draining the potatoes using a fine mesh strainer and adding the liquid back into potatoes gradually, so you make sure your don't make your soup too thin.

Add at least 2 cups of the liquid to the potatoes to puree them using an immersion blender or food processor. Add more if needed. Then transfer them back to the large pot and add the cream, cabbage, and leeks. Stir to combine and gradually add the potato liquid back in until the soup is your desired consistency.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Irish Recipes!

While some of these recipe may not have originated in Ireland, I still consider them Irish recipes that my family (Irish-American) loves.