The traditional Irish boxty is usually described as a cross between a pancake and a hashbrown. Fried in a pan with a little butter, they’re nice and crispy on the outside with a soft and fluffy interior. Typically eaten for breakfast, or as a side to an Ulster fry, boxty has many variations and applications.
Boxty is a traditional Irish food, but it’s most well-known in the north midlands area, in parts of northern Connacht and southern Ulster. It’s like grits in the US, in that many areas in the South eat them all the time, whereas other parts of the country may have heard of them but have never seen or eaten them.
With such simple ingredients, the smell in the kitchen while cooking boxty is incredible. They really do smell and taste just like a pancake, if your pancake was also coated with a golden, crispy hashbrown.

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🥔 What is Irish Boxty?
An old Irish rhyme goes, “Boxty in the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man.”
The name most likely came from the Irish arán bocht tí meaning "poor house bread" or bácús meaning "bakehouse", or even bacstaí meaning “to bake.”
At its core, boxty is an Irish potato pancake made from raw, shredded potato and flour. Other ingredients depend on who you ask or how your family made them while growing up. There are also a few different ways to make boxty, which will change the ingredients as well.
Most recipes these days include mashed potatoes because it gives boxty a dense but fluffy interior that contrasts with the crispy outside for two lovely textures. This also further differentiates Irish boxty from the Swiss rösti and the Jewish latkes.
Boxty can be made as a baked loaf, fried in a pan, or boiled as dumplings called “hurleys”. The griddled potato pancake version is by far the most common though. Modern recipes include topped, rolled, and filled boxty that includes meats, cheeses, jams, etc.
The famous Boxty House in Dublin has a whole menu centered around their various boxty dishes, including their 4th type of boxty: boxty fries!
🥘 Ingredients for Irish Boxty
The ingredients for traditional Irish boxty can vary depending on what type of boxty you are making, and almost every family will have their own ingredients and ratios. Some Irish boxty recipes will use a 1:1:1:1 ratio of raw grated potato to mashed to flour to buttermilk, while other recipes use very little liquid and can be kneaded like a dough before forming and cooking.
As always, try the recipe as written and see what you like about it. Feel free to experiment after that if you like a drier or wetter batter for thicker or thinner potato pancakes.
Potatoes – Use a good floury potato for this. In the US I would go with a Russet potato. Peel and shred the potato in the smaller shredding holes on a box grater. You’ll need about 1 pound of potatoes for 2 cups shredded, which is roughly 2 medium Russets (I needed 3 because they were smallish).
Mashed Potatoes – This recipe uses about 2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes, but if you don’t have any, you can make about 2 cups from a pound of potatoes of your choice. One of the reasons I made this recipe with 2 cups of mashed is for people that just want to grab a cheap packet of mashed potato mix, since they make 2 cups. If you need to do that, it honestly works out fine, shhh, it’s our little secret.
This one ingredient can make a huge difference in how your boxty tastes. Simple, buttery mashed potatoes is a base, but if you make this with garlic or horseradish mash, the flavor will be different. You could also make this with leftover colcannon or champ and that will change the flavor as well.
Flour – Use all-purpose flour here to help bind the potatoes together and soak up the buttermilk. If you want to make these gluten-free, I recommend a 1:1 GF flour blend over corn starch or potato starch. Because you’re using 1 ¼ cups, I think straight starch blends would make the boxty too gummy.
Baking Soda – Use a bit of baking soda for a slight rise but it also helps to keep the shredded potato crispy as it cooks.
Seasoning – I just use a bit of salt here, but you could also add black or white pepper or even experiment and add some seasoning blends or fresh herbs for a different flavor. I use a teaspoon of salt here, but depending on how salty the mashed potatoes are, you might want to use more or less salt.
Buttermilk – Using buttermilk here adds a bit of flavor and activates the baking soda. I use much less than some recipes because I like the batter to be wet but not soupy. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, and about a teaspoon of white vinegar to a measuring glass and then pour in milk to the ¾ cup line and let it sit for 5 minutes before using.
🔪 How to Make Boxty
If you need to make mashed potatoes for this recipe, make them first and let them cool before continuing.
Peel and shred the raw potatoes over a clean kitchen towel, cheesecloth, or muslin cloth. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then mix into the mashed potatoes to avoid too much oxidation.
(Optionally, strain out the water into a bowl and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. You can then pour off the liquid and mix the separated starch left behind into the potatoes.)
Stir in the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until well combined. Now add the buttermilk and mix until fully incorporated and it forms a thick batter.
Heat a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-low to medium heat. Melt some butter and then scoop in some of the batter (roughly a ¼ cup), forming round patties about a ½” thick. Cook on one side for 4-5 minutes until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook another 3-4 minutes on the opposite side.
Keep batches warm in a 200°F oven and serve hot with some good Irish butter on top.
📖 Boxty Variations
While the obvious variations for boxty include the baked and dumpling versions, they are made differently and change the ingredients enough to justify their own recipes. Because of that, I’ll just mention a few variations here to the pan-fried version of Irish potato pancakes.
Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes – As mentioned in the ingredients above, the type of mashed potatoes you use can radically change the flavor of your boxty. Using a strongly flavored mash with roasted garlic or horseradish, or Irish mash like colcannon or champ can make very uniquely flavored boxty.
No Mashed Potatoes – You can also make this another traditional way, which doesn’t include mashed potatoes. Use grated, raw potato combined with flour, salt, and just enough milk to bind it together. Some recipes include butter or egg as a binder also. This makes a thinner, looser boxty that’s just as tasty.
Veggies – While the ingredients for a boxty recipe are simple, you can also add in some vegetables like scallions, sauteed onions, kale, etc., or some herbs like chives, rosemary, or thyme.
Cheese – Make a cheesy boxty by adding some shredded cheese into the batter.
Sweet – You can make a sweetened version by adding a tablespoon of sugar to the batter, and/or topping the cooked boxty with honey.
Toppings & Fillings
Toppings – Some good Irish butter on top is standard. If you want to switch things up, other popular toppings include sour cream, crème fraiche, chopped scallions, fruit compote, crumbled bacon, and honey.
Fillings – Some versions of boxty have a filling while cooking, or the boxty is folded or rolled around a cooked filling. A few popular versions include fillings of corned beef, creamy chicken, bacon, mushrooms, onions, cheese, fruit compote, etc.
Shaping
Boxty Farls – Cutting food into 4ths is common in Ireland, like in potato farls and soda farls. The word comes from Scots fardel which means “fourth part.” You can fill an 8” or 10” skillet with batter and cut it into quarters as it cooks, then serve it in triangles.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
The ingredients can vary from recipe to recipe, but typically include grated raw potato, mashed potato, flour, and buttermilk. The main ingredient that sets the boxty apart is the grated raw potato.
While very similar, potato farls/potato bread is made with mashed potatoes and flour, while boxty includes raw potato as well. Potato farls are typically cut into quarters and cooked in a dry skillet, while boxty is a wetter batter and can be cooked in quarters or single pancakes.
🥗 What to Serve with Boxty?
Boxty can be eaten on its own as a breakfast item, topped with some salted Irish butter and freshly chopped spring onions. Other options include sour cream, or a richer crème fraiche, or top with honey for a sweeter taste.
As an accompaniment, boxty goes well with almost any meats. Serve with some bacon and eggs, Irish sausage and eggs, or along with some smoked salmon or haddock. You can also do a more vegetarian breakfast with some blistered tomatoes and mushrooms with a side of boxty.
While the traditional full Irish breakfast is served with various breads like white or wheaten soda bread or brown bread, boxty is common with the Ulster fry in Northern Ireland. An Ulster fry is typically served up with some sausage, bacon, eggs, black and/or white pudding, blistered tomatoes, and sometimes mushrooms and baked beans. Boxty and potato farls or soda farls are typically added in place of the soda breads, or in addition to. Don’t forget some strong Irish breakfast tea as well!
❄️ Storing & Freezing
Once cooled, you can store boxty wrapped or in a zipper locked airtight bag in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in a skillet on the stovetop for best results. Quick note: stored in an “airtight” container I noticed oxidation after just two days that caused the middles to darken. Others stored in a plastic bag with as much air squeezed out as possible, however, looked fine on days 3 and 4.
Boxty is best served hot the day it is made. While you can store leftovers, the taste isn’t nearly as good as freshly made. My best suggestion would be to make a smaller batch if needed, and refrigerate leftover mashed potatoes, then grate more potatoes to add to the mash when you’re ready to make some more.
You can also freeze leftover boxty in an airtight freezer bag for 2-3 months. Thaw on the counter while making other food and reheat in skillet when ready to serve.
📋 Recipe
Traditional Irish Boxty
Ingredients
- 2 cups grated raw potato, about 1 pound
- 2 cups mashed potatoes
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- Butter for cooking
Directions
- If you need to make mashed potatoes for this recipe, make them first and let them cool before continuing.
- Peel and shred 2 pounds of raw potatoes over a clean kitchen towel, cheesecloth, or muslin cloth. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then mix into 2 cups of mashed potatoes to avoid too much oxidation.
- (Optionally, strain out the water into a bowl and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. You can then pour off the liquid and mix the separated starch left behind into the potatoes.)
- Stir in 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking soda and mix until well combined. Now add ¾ cup buttermilk and mix until fully incorporated and it forms a thick batter.
- Heat a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-low to medium heat. Melt some butter and then scoop in some of the batter (roughly a ¼ cup), forming round patties about a ½” thick. Cook on one side for 4-5 minutes until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook another 3-4 minutes on the opposite side.
- Keep batches warm in a 200°F oven and serve hot with some good Irish butter on top.
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