An Irish mashed potato dish made with green onions, traditional Irish champ is an easy and wonderful side dish. Mashed potatoes are combined with rich milk, creamy butter, and sliced green onions to create creamy mashed potatoes with a mildly peppery and an oniony, earthy flavor.
Champ is an easy side dish that can be made in less than 30 minutes. This is a traditional Irish mashed potatoes recipe popular in homes and restaurants across the country, though a bit more popular in the northern areas of Ireland.
Similar to Irish colcannon, champ is a bit simpler to make. While colcannon combines mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage and sometimes green onions or leeks, an Irish champ recipe simply uses green onions / scallions to add flavor and color.
While a perfect side dish for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, champ can be made year-round as an easy side dish. If you have leftovers, they’re also great for making potato farls or boxty for breakfast another day.
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🥔 What is Irish Champ?
Traditional Irish champ is a hearty and creamy version of mashed potatoes. Made with only four ingredients, champ combines freshly mashed potatoes with milk, butter, and green onions.
In place of green onions, some traditional recipes used stinging nettles instead because they grew plentifully around Ireland and made for a cheap or free ingredient. Harvested when young, and cooked until softened, stinging nettles would lose their stinging factor and taste like spinach.
Depending on where you are in Ireland, champ is also known by several other names. While commonly called champ, it’s also known as cally, poundies, and thump. Whereas colcannon is a bit more popular and common in the southern and western provinces of Ireland, champ is more popular in Northern Ireland and Ulster.
🥘 Champ Ingredients
Made with simple ingredients, the following list will be short, but I’ll try and mention options where appropriate as well.
Potatoes – Many Irish dishes call for a “floury” potato, such as British Queens, Kerr’s Pink, Maris Piper, and Roosters. In the US I recommend Russets or a white Idaho potato.
Green Onions – Whether you call them green onions or scallions, they’re basically the same. Spring onions are slightly different but can also be used in the same way. You can also use chives for a slightly milder flavor. I like to add these to the milk and butter while it heats up to infuse the cream with their flavor and soften them.
Milk – You can use pretty much any milk here, but whole milk is best. Can also use heavy cream or half and half for a richer flavor.
Butter – Any butter is fine, but if you can get some, go with a good salted Irish butter here like Kerrygold.
Seasoning – All you need to round this dish out is some salt and pepper. I use white pepper, but black pepper is fine also.
🔪 How to Make Irish Champ
Start by peeling and chopping the potatoes into large chunks. Place into a large pot and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat slightly. Boil until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
Once tender, drain the potatoes and place back into the pot on low heat for a minute or two. Stir gently to dry the potatoes slightly and remove from the heat.
While the potatoes are cooking, make the scallion infused milk. Chop the white and green parts of the green onions into small pieces. In a small pot or saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat and add the sliced green onions.
Once the butter has melted, add the milk or cream and heat to a simmer, but don’t let it boil.
After the potatoes are done and the milk mixture is heating up, mash the potatoes in the same pot you cooked them in. You can also use a potato ricer if you prefer.
Add the salt and pepper and the milk mixture to the mashed potatoes and stir until fully combined. You may not need all the milk, so stir until you reach the desired consistency. The champ should be creamy and smooth, but still be able to form peaks when spooned into a bowl.
Serve hot with a small indentation in the middle for more butter to melt into.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Champ, or “poundies”, is an Irish mashed potato dish typically made from floury potatoes, green onions / scallions, milk, and butter.
Champ is a bit more popular in Northern Ireland and Ulster, while colcannon is a bit more popular throughout the rest of the country. Champ is simply mashed potatoes with butter, milk, and green onions/scallions. Colcannon adds cabbage or kale to the dish.
Yes! If using leftover mash though, you’ll need much less butter and milk, so add some a bit at a time while stirring everything together until you reach your desired consistency.
🍽 Recommended Equipment
Other than pots and pans and a good knife, there’s only two items I’ll mention here as recommendations.
Vegetable Peeler – Having a good set of fruit or vegetable peelers makes quick work peeling the potatoes here. This set of vegetable peelers from OXO is great and is what I used here. I love this set because it comes with a straight, serrated, and julienne peeler to meet any needs you may have.
Potato Ricer – Optional, but if you love smooth mashed potatoes, a good potato ricer makes quick and easy work of parboiled potatoes.
🥗 What to Serve with Champ
While a popular side dish, traditional Irish champ can also be the entire meal. Made in a large batch, it was served communally in a large bowl with plenty of butter. Everyone would grab a bowl and a ladle and fight over the pool of melted butter in the center.
As a side dish it goes well with ham, corned beef and cabbage, and boiled bacon and cabbage. You can also make an Irish bangers ‘n mash by serving champ with Irish sausages and gravy.
Colcannon, champ, or just regular mashed potatoes are also popular side dishes for Irish stew and Dublin coddle. I’ve added a bed of champ in a bowl and served coddle ladled on top as well.
If you make a big batch and have leftovers, you can also utilize them in other recipes such as a topping for shepherd’s pie or cottage pie. You can also use leftovers to make a flavorful Irish boxty or potato farls.
❄️ Storing and Freezing
Once cooled, you can store leftover champ in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove. If heating on the stove, you may want to add a bit of milk and heat over medium heat.
For long-term storage you can freeze champ as well, but I don’t recommend it. Potatoes absorb moisture and will form ice crystals inside the mash when frozen, making them watery when thawed and reheated.
If you want to freeze leftover champ, place it into an airtight freezer bag and press down into an even layer, removing as much air as possible. Freeze for 1-2 months and reheat the same as above.
📋 Recipe
Traditional Irish Champ (Mashed Potatoes w/ Green Onions)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1 bunch green onions or scallions, green and white parts chopped
- ¾ cup whole milk, or heavy cream
- ¼ cup butter, salted Irish butter is best
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper, or black pepper
Directions
- Start by peeling and chopping 2 pounds of potatoes into large chunks. Place into a large pot and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat slightly. Boil until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- Once tender, drain the potatoes and place back into the pot on low heat for a minute or two. Stir gently to dry the potatoes slightly and remove from the heat.
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the scallion infused milk. Chop the white and green parts of the green onions into small pieces. In a small pot or saucepan, melt ¼ cup salted Irish butter on medium heat and add the sliced green onions.
- Once the butter has melted, add ¾ cup of milk or cream and heat to a simmer, but don’t let it boil.
- After the potatoes are done and the milk mixture is heating up, mash the potatoes in the same pot you cooked them in. You can also use a potato ricer if you prefer.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground pepper and the milk mixture to the mashed potatoes and stir until fully combined. You may not need all the milk, so stir until you reach the desired consistency. The champ should be creamy and smooth, but still be able to form peaks when spooned into a bowl.
- Serve hot with a small indentation in the middle for more butter to melt into.
Equipment Used
- Potato Ricer (optional)
Notes
- Butter – While a bit more expensive, look for a quality salted Irish butter like Kerrygold for this recipe. Irish, and many European, butters have a higher butter fat content and less water content. This makes for a creamier and more buttery tasting butter.
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