A touch of Ireland: Creamy Colcannon soup with potato, cabbage and kale

This creamy vegetable soup, sweetened by cabbage and leeks, is perfect winter comfort food with very affordable ingredients.

A lot of our everyday recipes are seasonal, mostly because of the local vegetable delivery we get. So to my embarrassment, we didn't pick up this Irish recipe while living in Dublin, but while googling what to use cabbage for, here in Berlin. 

Colcannon is a delicious dish of mashed potatoes with cabbage, and this soup is based on and made vegan from this Simply Recipes Colcannon Soup entry. 

I've been making this soup version of an Irish colcannon for a few winters now, and it's the perfect comfort food and finds use for all that wintery cabbage, leek and kale.

Creamy potato soup with cabbage

about 6 servings

2 tbsp oil suitable for frying
300 g leek (about 1 large leek)
300 g cabbage (1/4 to 1/3 cabbage, depending on its size)
150 g kale (frozen or fresh)
1 kg potatoes (I prefer a mealy variety that thickens the soup)
1.4 l vegetable stock (or water + veg stock powder)

2 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
2,5 dl soy or oat cream

Clean your leek by slicing the top half in two and rinsing well. Rinse the cabbage and kale. Slice the leek into thin slices, chop the cabbage and finely chop the kale leaves.

Heat the oil in a large pot (the greens take a lot of room before they boil down!). Add cabbage, leeks and kale, and cook them gently until they begin to soften (10–15 minutes). Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, peel and rinse the potatoes. Dice them into small-ish cubes, peel the garlic cloves and crush them under the knife blade.

Add to the pot: water, potatoes, garlic, bay leaves, curry powder and salt. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes – until the potatoes are soft.

Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in cream and white pepper. Taste to see if more salt and pepper is needed. Potatoes love salt!

The flavour is sweet and creamy and subtle – serving the soup with Sriracha or another hot sauce gives it more edge. To add protein, top your plates with finely cubed smoked tofu, or add sliced veggie sausages to the soup as the potatoes are softening.