Dublin Coddle Recipe
Published March 15, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This tasty Dublin Coddle Recipe is loaded with caramelized onions, sausage, carrots, and potatoes cooked in a rich, seasoned broth for the perfect comfort meal. Once you try it, you will love how simple and delicious it is to prepare.
We enjoy eating Irish food all year, not just on St. Patrick’s Day. If you’re like us and want to try out some new Irish recipes, be sure to my Shepherd’s Pie or Bangers and Mash a try.
Dublin Coddle
Dublin coddle is a classic Irish dish consisting of roasted onions, sausage, carrots, and potatoes in a seasoned broth slow-cooked until tender. It is a centuries-old dish that dates back to the first Irish famine in the 1700s. Whatever they had on hand went into the pot, very similar to Mulligan Stew.
When people moved from rural areas into Dublin and were looking for work, they often brought with them live chickens and pigs to raise so they would have something to eat. Once the pigs were broken down and fabricated, any leftover cuts were made into sausages. These sausages, along with back bacon and root veggies, were combined into a stew and boiled to make a cheap, delicious meal, and this is how Dublin Coddle was born.
If you want to go that route, you can add things like hard cider or Guinness to the stock to enhance the flavor of the coddle.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Sausage – The classic sausage to use is an Irish Banger. However, bratwurst works very well for this Dublin Coddle.
- Potatoes – I used Yukon Gold Potatoes, but any waxy potato will work. In addition, you can use Russets or red potatoes if that’s all that is available.
- Stock – I believe chicken stock is best to use for the most amount of flavor in this recipe. You can also use vegetable stock, brodo, or water.
- Onions—For this dish, you can use white, yellow, or sweet onions. I also used leeks and garlic cloves.
- Carrots – While not traditional, carrots have been used in a Dublin Coddle since the 1900s to add more vegetables and nutritional value.
- Herbs – It is classic to finish the meal with chopped fresh parsley.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter in my cooking and baking to control the sodium content.
- Bacon – Any thick-cut bacon will work for this. You can use regular-cut bacon if that’s all you have. The classic pork to use is known as a rasher in Ireland, which is very thick cut back bacon.
How to Make Dublin Coddle
Add the bacon to a large Dutch oven pot over medium to low heat and cook until crispy brown. Set them aside in a bowl.
Next, turn the heat up to medium and sear the sausages on both sides, just blistering them until brown to give them a little color. Set them to the side on a plate.
Add onions and leeks, gently season with salt, and then sauté over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes or until they turn brown.
Turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 10 to 12 minutes to caramelize while stirring occasionally.
Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, which takes about 30 to 45 seconds.
Add the carrots, turn the heat back to medium, and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, just to help cook the carrots a bit.
Sprinkle back in the bacon and then evenly spread the seared sausage overtop.
Next, add the stock and season it with salt and pepper.
Layer on and fan out the potato slices over everything else in the pot.
Season the potatoes with salt and pepper, add on a lid, and cook over low-to-low-medium heat for 1 hour or until everything is tender.
Remove the lid, drizzle on the melted butter, and place on a middle rack in the oven at 450°. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes to help brown the potatoes.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve in bowls.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: For freshness it’s best to serve this soup once it is finished cooking. However, it can be made up to 2 days ahead.
How to Store: This Dublin Coddle will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days. It will also freeze well, covered, for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of the coddle to a medium-sized sauce pot and heat over low heat until hot.
Chef Notes + Tips
- If you want to use up any spare cuts of pork, you can add them to the pot to cook while the bacon is crisping.
- When sauteing the onions, you’ll notice a lot of fond will collect on the bottom of the pot. If it gets too dark or too much collects too quickly, just deglaze with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water while scraping with a spoon to release it.
- Fond is the yummy bits of browned-up food that stick to the bottom of the pan while cooking.
More Irish Recipes
Video
Dublin Coddle Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces thick-cut bacon, cut into 1” pieces
- 8 Irish Banger Sausages, or bratwurst
- 2 peeled thickly sliced yellow onions
- 2 rinsed thickly sliced leeks, green parts removed
- 4 finely minced garlic cloves
- 2 cups peeled carrots cut into ¼ moons
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 3 pounds peeled Yukon gold potatoes, sliced ¼” thick
- 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper tot taste
- chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Add the bacon to a large Dutch oven pot over medium to low heat and cook until crispy brown. Set them aside in a bowl.
- Next, turn the heat up to medium and sear the sausages on both sides just blistering them until brown to give them a little color. Set them to the side on a plate.
- Add in the onions and leeks, gently season with salt, and then sauté over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes or until they start to turn brown.
- Turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 10 to 12 minutes to caramelize while stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, which takes about 30 to 45 seconds.
- Add the carrots, turn the heat back to medium, and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes just to help cook the carrots a bit.
- Sprinkle back in the bacon and then evenly spread the seared sausage overtop.
- Next, add the stock and season it with salt and pepper.
- Layer on and fan out the potato slices over top of everything else in the pot.
- Gently season the potatoes with salt and pepper, add on a lid, and cook over low-to-low-medium heat for 1 hour or until everything is cooked and tender.
- Remove the lid, drizzle on the melted butter, and place on a middle rack in the oven at 450°. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes to help brown up the potatoes.
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve in bowls.
Could this be finished in the oven rather than the stove top? Perhaps at 300 or 325? Also, can this be made ahead and reheated?
Reheat instructions are in the post above the recipe card. You could for sure do the oven.
OH MY GOODNESS, CHEF BILLY! I made this today and it was off the charts good. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. A little time consuming……anytime you have to sweat onions……but sooo worth it. We absolutely loved it!
I made this for our St. Patrick’s Day meal. Unfortunately, I thought I had brats in the freezer and didn’t. Foregoing another trip to the grocery store, I used regular sausage links, but followed everything else exactly and it was perfect. This recipe is so good and I’ll definitely make it again. Thank you!
I know this will be awesome love everyone I have tried, only I am not so good at playing them. Love your videos.
Making this instead of Corned beef for upcoming St Patrick’s day! We make our own sausage so its a great way to serve our Bratwurst. Making the Soda bread to go with it
Thanks Chef!
I’m Italian but celebrate St. Patrick’s Day because the Irish are such happy people. I plan to try this recipe but (sorry) I am substituting Italian sausage in place of ‘bangers.’ No offense. 🥴 Love your recipes and cooking suggestions.