Dublin Coddle is a classic savory Irish one-pot meal of tender potatoes, sausage and onions. Everything is cooked slowly in beef broth to create a rich, filling stew that makes great weeknight fare and is perfect for St. Patrick's Day!
We really enjoy authentic Irish meals, which typically use simple ingredients to create something flavorful and delicious! If you are also a fan of Irish food, you may like our Bangers and Mash or Shepherd's Pie next!
I didn't realize that I had so much Irish ancestry until I took a DNA test a few years back and learned that it's one of my top results. All four of us took DNA tests at the same time and it was eye-opening to learn each of our backgrounds. We wanted to have a better idea of our daughters' genetic makeup since both were adopted at birth, but it was just as fascinating discovering more about my own heritage.
Since then I sometimes try to make traditional foods as a way of exploring and connecting with the past. Every March I like to make traditional Irish foods as a way of celebrating this part of my history and sharing it with my family. This dublin coddle is a traditional Irish dish that we enjoy every year!
Saint Patrick's Day has become a bigger holiday for us since moving to Dublin (California, not Ireland) where there is a St. Patrick's Day festival and parade and everybody gets school and work off and goes to the big city festival. Our town is way into its Irish heritage and there are shamrocks on all our town signs and everything.
In our first year of marriage, I thought it would be fun to have corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day dinner, which I now know is more Irish-American than actual Irish anyway.
But I screwed it up so badly that we ended up scrapping the whole thing and walking to our favorite Indian restaurant and having chicken tikka masala instead. Thankfully, I have since learned how to make fantastic corned beef and cabbage, which I highly recommend! At least I've learned from my failures.
The good thing is that I discovered this Dublin Coddle recipe and found it much easier to not mess up and even more traditional that corned beef and cabbage anyway.
I haven't yet had the opportunity to visit the Emerald Isle, but it's high on my list of places to go when we get the chance! For now, I love traveling vicariously by exploring some more traditional Irish foods and sharing them here!
If you are looking for a delicious dessert to serve with your Dublin coddle, I recommend Sticky Toffee Pudding which, while known for being British, is also served for dessert in Ireland.
What You'll Need
The list of ingredients is short and simple! This dish is made from humble ingredients that many poor Irish would have had access to like potatoes, onions, and sausages.
- Sausages: In this case, I like to use bangers, which are also sometimes called British bangers, but are really just pork sausages. The flavor is closest to country pork sausage, although if you can't find some, even mild Italian sausage, bratwurst, or kielbasa would work.
- Potatoes: We prefer russet potatoes in this dish, rather than waxier yukon gold or red potatoes.
- Onions: These are secretly my favorite part of the whole dish! They add so much flavor!
- Beef Broth: The savory broth softens and flavors the potatoes and onions while the whole thing cooks in the oven. I usually just use water and better-than-bouillon beef base for my beef broth.
- Bacon: Everything is better with bacon! Chopping the bacon before cooking it makes it super easy cook in the same pot that you plan to cook the rest of the dish in.
- Parsley: A generous amount of freshly chopped parsley adds a wonderful herby element to this humble, hearty fare. You can use dried parsley if that's all you have on hand, but fresh is much better in this dish, in my opinion.
- Salt & Pepper: What recipe is complete without this hard-working pair of ingredients that season the rest of the ingredients so the dish isn't bland?
How to Make Dublin Coddle
- Cook the bacon until crispy: I always chop the bacon first so that I can just stir it around in the bottom of the pan until the bacon fat has reduced and it is nice and crispy. Transfer the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon to a plate, reserving most of the grease.
- Brown the bangers: I had a commenter from Ireland mention that this step is actually not traditional as the bangers would typically just be thrown in without browning, but I like that it adds a little color to the otherwise white-ish/grey-ish sausages that aren't the most appetizing looking things you've ever seen. It only takes a minute or two to add a touch of color on each side in the already hot dutch oven with the reserved bacon grease.
- Prep the onions, potatoes, and parsley: While the bangers are browning, I usually slice up the onions, peel potatoes, and chop up the parsley. Don't slice the onions or potatoes too thin as you want them to have a bit of texture after the slow cooking process and too-thin onions tend to just wither away and potatoes break down too much.
- Layer the ingredients in a dutch oven or heavy duty pot: Add half of the sliced potatoes to the bottom of the pot, followed by half of the sliced onions. Season with half of the salt and pepper, then sprinkle with half of the parsley and cooked bacon. Repeat the process, then nestle the browned bangers right on top and pour the beef broth over everything.
- Bake at 300 degrees F until done: Cover with the lid and stick the whole thing in the oven to cook until the potatoes are tender and soft. This is usually about 1 and ½ to 2 hours, although it's a very forgiving dish and you could let it go longer as long as you check to make sure there is still liquid in the bottom of the pot.
Recipe Tips
- Can't find bangers? Here are some good substitutions: They can be difficult to find, although most of my local grocery stores get a few cases in around St. Patrick's Day and I always stock up because I love their unique flavor.
- Additional ingredients: Some people throw in carrots or leeks or use Guinness instead of beef broth. Others cut the sausages into pieces rather than cooking them whole like I do here. Feel free to change things up to make your dublin coddle just how you like it!
- Reheating leftovers: If you have any leftovers, they are absolutely delicious the next day! Just stick them back in a pot and cover with a lid or with foil and heat for 15 minutes in a 350 degree F oven until warm.
What to serve with Dublin Coddle
This is really a one-pot dish that has everything you need for a balanced meal. But you can't go amiss serving it with a loaf of fresh Irish soda bread! A green salad would also be delicious.
Dublin Coddle Lore
While researching Dublin Coddle I found a number of interesting stories or legends about it that I found fascinating. Whether these are true or not, I really can't say.
One idea is that it was made by Irish women on nights when their husbands would visit the pubs. Since dublin coddle can be left simmering on the stove, the men would have something decent to eat when they got home and the women could go to bed.
Another theory is that this is a dish you only find in Dublin, Ireland and not throughout the rest of the country. This is because unlike it's counterpart, Irish Stew, which uses mutton, Dublin Coddle uses sausages (bangers) which were more readily available and more affordable in the city than mutton, which was found more in the rural parts of the country.
Ladle portions of the coddle into bowls and serve with crusty bread for sopping up the rich sauce! Don't wait for St. Patrick's Day to roll around to try out this wonderful Irish dish!
More Irish Recipes You'll Enjoy
- Irish Soda Bread
- Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy
- Irish Apple Cake with Warm Custard Sauce
- Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake with Toffee Sauce
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Irish Dublin Coddle
Ingredients
- 10 slices bacon chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1 lb. bangers or other high quality pork sausages
- 2 lbs. potatoes peeled and sliced into ½-inch thick rounds
- 2 onions sliced into ½-inch thick rings
- Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
- 3 Tablespoons chopped parsley divided
- 2 cups beef broth
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Heat a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
- Next, brown the bangers in the reserved bacon fat for a few minutes, just until they start to brown but not so they are cooked all the way through. Remove the sausages from the dutch oven and set aside. Discard any leftover bacon fat in the bottom of the dutch oven.
- Layer half of the sliced potatoes on the bottom of the still hot dutch oven, then layer half of the sliced onions over the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle half of the bacon and one tablespoon of parsley on top. Repeat with the remaining potatoes and onions, seasoning with salt and pepper again and sprinkling with the remaining bacon and another tablespoon parsley. Nestle the browned bangers on top and pour the beef broth over everything.
- Cover the dutch oven with a lid and place it in the oven. Bake for 1 and ½ to 2 hours, checking halfway through cooking to make sure the liquid hasn't all dried up and adding an extra cup of broth if necessary to keep about 1 inch of liquid covering the bottom of the pot at all times.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of chopped parsley before serving. Dublin Coddle is very forgiving and can stand cooking an extra hour or two if you need it, and the leftovers are amazing the next day even.
Notes
- If you can't find bangers, you could substitute with bratwurst, which are also made with pork, or large country breakfast sausages which have a somewhat similar flavor profile to bangers. You could easily make this in the crockpot just completing steps 2-3 in a large pan and then layering everything in a large crockpot and cooking it on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in February, 2017. The photos and content were updated in March, 2021.
This is our families kind of meal! We love bangers and just so happen to have some in the freezer so I can try this for Sunday dinner... and ps... I love the story behind this about letting the wife go to bed....
Ha! That was my favorite story too!
My husband and I are both Irish and I've never made this. I should be ashamed of myself. I am on it - this looks so savory and satisfying I have to make it for hubby!
I love having an idea for an Irish meal that isn't corned beef and cabbage (not that there's anything wrong with it--it's a classic--but variety is nice to have). This looks delicious!
That was how I felt too. Corned beef and cabbage is delicious, but there is so much more than just that!
Anything that can be done in one pot is good with me. This looks so comforting for a cold winter night.
I couldn't agree more!
Wouldn't this make an awesome one pot family dinner!!!!!!!
Love the post and how you have told the story. I actually don't eat bacon but my kids will love it.
This looks delicious! When I was in Ireland, I tried bangers and mash and enjoyed it. I look forward to trying your Dublin coddle! I'm sure I'll love it.
I've always wanted to go visit Ireland! How fun you got to see it in person! Bangers are delicious!
Small town here, so I'd probably have to sub pork sausage for the bangers. My grandmother is 1/2 Irish. I'll bet she'd love this for St. Patty's day.
What a thoughtful idea! You never know - I was a little surprised to find bangers at my local market but maybe the grocery stores tend to stock them around March because of the holiday?
I thought I saw some bangers at the grocery store up the road from me, I'll check and try this recipe by Friday. Thanks for sharing Amy!
This is my kind of recipe, all in one pot, filling and tasty, and one the kids would like too. Love how your pan & towel matches your blog colours
🙂
Ha, you are right, they totally do! I didn't do that intentionally - I guess I just really am partial to those colors, lol.
I love the name of this dish 🙂 I know very little about Irish cuisine- thanks for sharing, this sounds lovely.
HAHAH...you know I have a similar story. I am Ukrainian...and have eaten lots of sauerkraut in my life. After we got married, I thought I would try and recreate a meal for my new husband. YUP...didn't go over well. He was very polite and didn't say anything. I took one bite and spit it out. I know exactly how you feel.
bangers is a new term for me! Love to here about new stuff! I would probably try your recipe with this extra Guinness touch, just because it's St-Patricks day comin soon! Lovely dish!
I hope you don't mind me adding this recipe to one of my weekly meal plans. I've planned it for week after next, St. Paddy's day 🙂 x
I don't mind at all, Gillian! I'm flattered!
What an unbelievably simple looking recipe! I live in a small town in Oklahoma, so pretty sure there's no chance I can find bangers in the grocery store 🙂 But I know I can find pork sausage, and will definitely try this recipe. Thank you for sharing
Sometimes it's the simple recipes like this that are the best ones. They're definitely perfect for midweek dinners, that's for sure! Yum!
For what it's worth, this is actually more Irish than corned beef and cabbage (which is more Irish American. Beef was largely an export product in Ireland until well into the 20th Century.)
Here in New York, at least, bangers, like Irish bacon, have a way of turning up for just a few weeks at this time of year, so they'd be worth looking for right now, even if you've never seen them before! (And if you like them, freeze a few - you may not see them again until next March.) Now I need to remember to look for them this week!
Dublin Coddle is so easy, and so delicious! Thank you for reminding me of it! Yours looks so good...
Anne, thank you so much for your comment! I didn't know that about corned beef and cabbage being more Irish American than truly Irish! Funny how some dishes are like that. I think I'm going to have to freeze some bangers too...
I had not really heard of this dish before but looking at the recipe, this looks like a perfect comfort food for these cold months.
What a delicious one pot meal and so easy to make too, I like the idea of cooking it in the slow cooker.
Girl, I am Irish too and not a huge corned beef and cabbage fan--however this coddle I have made before and your recipe was just perfect. So easy and delicious
I'm not familiar with many Irish recipes so this is fun to learn about! And I love how you told the background with the story - it would definitely be convenient on nights that our husbands (or kids!) are getting back late, so it can be warm and ready for them!
This is such an easy comfort food! I absolutely love it, it looks so good!
The story about the pub isnt true unfortunately. It's a peasant Meal made with leftovers as there was rarely much else to eat. The meat is traditionally just thown into the pot, not browned beforehand. We also don't have bangers in ireland, that's england. We just call them sausages, they're ordinary pork sausages, usually quite small in size. As well as the bacon, sausage, parsley and onion usally there are carrots thrown into the mix. When cooked for a few hours the taste is devine.
Since I first tried this recipe a couple months ago, it has become one of the favorites in my house. My husband started asking when we could have it again as soon as he finished his first serving! We had to use bratwurst, as the local market in our small town has an abysmal sausage selection, but it works beautifully anyway. Also, when I shared the recipe with my sister, she tried it with turkey bacon (using butter to fry the sausages) and said it is good that way as well. This is absolutely delicious, and I expect it will be a staple in our home for some time.
I'm so glad that you guys love this as much as we do! It's delicious with bratwurst too. Maybe as St. Patrick's Day gets closer you will get lucky and find that your local market stocks bangers? Some do it just in March for the holiday, especially if you ask to talk to the meat manager!
I have this in the crockpot cooking right now and it smells wonderful! Today is St Patrick's Day and we are going to a church social tonight and are supposed gtobtake some kind of Irish food or something green. Hope it is as tasty as I think it will. I used regular sausage since I did not have any bangers!
Regular sausage is super yummy too and bangers can be tricky to find! Sounds like such a fun church social!
Love this dish. For the first time i found bangers at publix. Have made this a few times. I love Irish food.
Fun to find bangers outside of the month of March! I'm glad you made this. We love Irish food as well!
Do you use already cooked sausage/bratwurst? Or the uncooked kind that will cook in the crock pot?
I use uncooked. But you could use cooked sausage and just add it later in the cooking process so it can heat through.
Absolutely delicious! I'm Scottish and this is a wee bit similar to our Stovies, although this is far more flavoursome. I substituted the pork links for beef ones (all i had in the fridge) then followed the recipe to the letter. Many thanks from a happy clan!
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this so well!
Truly appreciate the way you made this Dublin goodie. Thanks for this lovely recipe.
Delicious!