Name: Dublin Coddle with Cabbage & Cider
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 90 min
Ingredients: 1 pound sausages (1 pack or 500 grams); 1 pound bacon (1 pack or 500 grams); 1/2 large onion (or one small); 4 carrots; 2 garlic cloves; 2 cups vegetable stock (or 2 more cups of apple cider or water plus 1 vegetable stock cube); 2 cups apple cider; 1/2 cabbage; 4 potatoes; salt and black pepper (add to taste); 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter

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Easy to make traditional Irish stew with cabbage, cider and vegetables. Quick to prepare and perfect with homemade crusty bread and butter.

Why make this recipe?

Easy to make
Filling & comforting meal
Meal in one pot
Make now and freeze for later

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What exactly is Dublin Coddle

This recipe has a great name, doesn’t it? Dublin Coddle is a traditional Irish stew, which was originally made from basic sausages and some leftover vegetables and potatoes.

It’s one of the easiest ‘one pot meals, I’ve ever made! You can choose to put everything together and cook it on a low heat to make your dish.

I’ve added an extra step by browning all the sausages, bacon and the onions and garlic, but if you are short of time, you can always skip that.

The traditional recipe would have potatoes, onions and sausages cooked in vegetable stock. This was a cheap and very easy recipe to make.

Over the years, the recipe developed into more of a ‘upmarket’ stew by adding bacon, garlic, carrots, cabbage and swapping some (or all) of the vegetable stock with apple cider or beer.

What makes this recipe work

Using sausages and bacon instead of traditional beef meat, makes this recipe much easier and quicker to make. The cider adds a great flavour and depending on what type of sausages you use you can get some amazing combinations every time.

Time saving tip

This is a really easy recipe to make. I usually make a large batch and then freeze individual portions to have for later. This saves time later on and I always have a dinner ready if I don’t have the time to cook from scratch.

Ingredients & Possible Substitutions

1 pound sausages 1 pack or 500 grams

1 pound bacon 1 pack or 500 grams

1/2 large onion or one small

4 carrots

2 garlic cloves

2 cups vegetable stock or extra 2 cups of apple cider or water with 1 vegetable stock cube

2 cups apple cider

1/2 cabbage

4 potatoes

salt and black pepper add to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter

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How to make Dubblin Coddle recipe

Heat oil or butter in a large pot and add finely chopped onion and garlic. Fry for a few minutes, stirring carefully until the onion is caramelised and slightly see through. Set aside to a bowl.

Add more oil or butter and the sausages and cut up bacon pieces (or leave them whole if you prefer). Brown all around.

Add the apple cider, vegetable stock, the prepared onion and garlic, chopped carrots, and cubed potatoes to the sausages and bacon.

Bring the pot to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer, cover and carry on simmering for about 1 hour or until the potatoes and carrots are tender and the juices slightly reduced and thickened.

Add the shredded cabbage and cook for 5-10 extra minutes if you prefer them to be softer or add the cabbage fresh when serving your sausage stew.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Serve as it is or with a crusty homemade bread and butter.

How else you can make this recipe?

You can easily leave out the cabbage if you want to and swap the apple cider for a beer. You can also add fresh or dried herbs to garnish the stew just before you serve it.

How to serve this recipe

Dublin Coddle is perfect as it is – it’s a one bowl meal as you already have the meat (sausages) and the potatoes in the recipe.

But if you want to add anything to this, you can serve it with a homemade bread or dinner biscuits and a freshly made herb butter.

Recipe size

This recipe is for 4-6 people

Can I scale up or down this recipe?

Yes, you can easily half the recipe ingredients to make a smaller amount or double the recipe ingredients if you are cooking for a large family.

The cooking time won’t change that much – it you are cooking half portion, the recipe might take a little shorter time.

If you are doubling the recipe, you either need to have a very big cooking pot or use two large pots to split the volume between.

Can this recipe be made in advance?

Like with most stews, Dublin Coddle is perfect the next day. The flavour develops a lot more and the meat and bacon soften even more.

How long will sausage stew last?

This traditional Irish stew recipe should be fine for 1-3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.

How to store this recipe

Keep it in the same cooking pot, cool down, put a lid on and store in the fridge.

Can I freeze Dublin Coddle stew?

Yes, the Dublin Coddle stew can be frozen, providing that you’ve used fresh ingredients (e.i. the sausages or bacon or other ingredients were not frozen previously) similarly like freezing curry dishes or other meat based meals.

To freeze the stew, leave it to cool down completely first, then transfer it to a suitable freezer container with a lid and freeze for up to 3 months.

You can also freeze individual portions, which is great if you want to have a quick dinner ready for one or two people.

When you are ready to enjoy your stew, defrost it in the fridge overnight or using the defrost setting on your microwave.

How to re-heat this recipe

You can easily reheat the stew in a microwave or on a hob. I would only reheat what I want to eat, as you can’t keep reheating and cooling down the whole stew amount.

If re-heating the whole pot, you might like to add more water or vegetable stock to the pot, depending on much the sauce thickened sitting in the fridge.