This Instant Pot colcannon is the perfect side dish for St. Patrick's Day with its creamy, deep potato flavor and bursts of color and freshness from the kale with every bite.
For St. Patrick’s Day dinner I like making colcannon for the corned beef besides cabbage and carrots. Colcannon is the traditional Irish mashed potatoes associated with Hallowe’en but has become a favorite for St. Patrick’s Day. Irish would hide a coin, rag, stick, ring or other item inside the colcannon, and whatever “trinket” you found predicted your future. A coin meant wealth in the coming year, a rag meant poverty, a stick meant your spouse was going to beat you, and a ring meant a marriage. Having made mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot for the past couple years, I decided to adapt the colcannon recipe from the Irish Food & Cooking cookbook by Biddy Lennon and Georgina Campbell for the pressure cooker. The result is creamy mashed potatoes punctuated with soft curly kale throughout that totally hits the spot.
Ingredient Notes
- Potatoes: colcannon works best with floury potatoes like Russet and Yukon. Over the years I've come to love the taste of red potatoes and found it worked well for this recipe.
- Kale: we always have curly kale in the fridge for salad and kale chips so I used them for this recipe. Tuscan kale, cabbage, or Savoy cabbage would make a great substitute.
- Milk: use either full fat milk or heavy cream for a richer taste.
- Butter: Kerry Gold butter is perfect for this recipe but feel free to use your favorite brand.
Tips for Making Colcannon in the Instant Pot
- Chop the kale in small pieces and saute them in the Instant Pot for 2 minutes until soften. Remove them from the Instant Pot and set aside until ready to use.
- Peel and cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks to make it easier to cook.
- Melt the butter before you add the potatoes which allows the butter to coat the starch molecules resulting in creamier mashed potatoes.
- Lock the lid and pressure cook on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes. Release the pressure manually as soon as it's done.
- Mash the potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste before folding in the sauteed kale.
- It's up to you to make it silky smooth or keep it a little chunky for texture. Use a classic potato masher if you want a classic, denser mashed potatoes. For a luscious smooth puree, grab your potato ricer and an electric handheld mixer if you want an ultra-light and fluffy texture.
We love how the Instant Pot colcannon turned out with its creamy, deep potato flavor and bursts of color and freshness from the kale. Every bite was pure carb heaven. This colcannon is the ultimate side dish and it wouldn't be St. Patrick's without it!
For other St. Patrick's Day ideas: Instant Pot corned beef with cabbage and carrots or rye fennel and fig soda bread.
Instant Pot Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes)
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds potatoes (Russet, Yukon, Red Potatoes), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 8 ounces curly kale, roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and more for serving
- ½ cup heavy cream, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Use the Saute function of your Instant Pot, add 1 tablespoon of butter until it melts.
- Add the kale and let it saute for 2 minutes until softened. Remove the kale and set aside until ready to use.
- Add remaining butter to Instant Pot and let it melt.
- Place potatoes in the pressure cooker. Add cream and salt.
- Lock the lid and pressure cook on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes. Release the pressure manually.
- Use a potato masher and mash the potatoes to the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold in sauteed kale.
- Transfer the potato mixture to a bowl. Serve with additional butter if desired.
Notes
- Use a classic potato masher if you want a classic, denser mashed potatoes. For a luscious smooth puree, grab your potato ricer and an electric handheld mixer if you want an ultra-light and fluffy texture.
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