Bubble and Squeak is a quintessential UK recipe for using up goodies from previous meals. The name likely comes from the sound the ingredients make when they’re being fried together in a pan. Be sure to use potatoes that are cooked to soft and somewhat lumpy goodness – so it makes good “glue” with a little fun texture element. If you start with super-creamy mashers, you’ll need a little flour to thicken things up.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- 15-20 cooked Brussels sprouts, sliced, or 2 cups shredded boiled cabbage or other chopped cooked greens
- 2 cups cold leftover mashed potato, or cold crushed boiled potatoes
- Sallt/pepper to taste
- 4-8 Tbsp flour, if needed
- ¼ – ½ cup cooking oil
- Optional: ¼ – ½ cup leftover shredded cheddar or Colby/Jack cheese
Directions
Melt butter in a non-stick pan and get it nice and hot. Add bacon, and as it begins to brown, add onion and garlic.
Next, add Brussels sprouts/shredded boiled cabbage/cooked greens and cook 5-6 minutes so everything colors slightly.
Remove everything from pan and add to a medium mixing bowl. Clean the pan.
Fold beaten egg into mashed potatoes. If potatoes are super creamy, sprinkle in a little flour to tighten everything up. Then, stirring gently but thoroughly, into bacon/veggies. Adjust salt/pepper to taste.
Prepare a small plate with several Tbsp flour for dredging. Break off a little of the mixture, roll into a ball and then roll that in the dredging flour. Press gently into a patty.
Place non-stick pan over burner set to medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil to the pan. Once it heats up, do a “test fry,” where you cook just one patty to see if there’s enough flour to hold it together. Add more flour to mixture as needed, and once you’re happy with the results, divide the rest of the mixture into about 8 even balls and press into patties. Gently lay some of the patties in the pan, giving them plenty of space. You’ll get the best results if you don’t flip them often, as that might cause them to fall apart more easily. Cook on one side until they’re a nice brown color and flip them just once…a flexible silicone turner/spatula works best for this. Depending on how thick/thin you’ve pressed the patties, it may take up to 4-5 minutes on each side.
Refrigerate leftovers in a storage container with a lid. To reheat, place in 350° oven for 5-10 minutes or heated through.