A genious combination of eggs and potatoes and lightly fragranced with fresh chives, this traditional Irish omelette is a great breakfast treat.
Traditional Irish Omelette Recipe & Me
Imagine this: You travel a long way by plain, bus and train and finally walk to your accommodation across the whole town, because you don’t really know what local bus to take (or you think it’s actually closer than it really is).
You carry all your holiday backpack with you and arrive totally shattered, with legs barely making it up the few steps to your B&B.
It’s around 6.30 am and you hope, that the B&B owner would be kind enough to allow you to leave your bags in your room and come back later, when it’s the official checking in time. You hope…
And then…
The door swings open, smiling lady comes out and immediately takes you to the lobby, where somebody helps you to take your backpacks.
She checks your names and without even asking she takes you to a large breakfast room and sits you down at a beautifully laid table.
The room is already buzzing with guests, the smell of grilled bacon is amazing and you realise that you are no longer tired, but instead really, really hungry!
This was our first morning when we arrived to Cork and stayed in a wonderful B&B on the outskirts of the town.
We picked it because it was known for its breakfast, but we didn’t realise how right the reviews were! In fact, we were completely blown away by the staff hospitality and generosity.
What followed was the most amazing breakfast feast ever, with full Irish breakfast, cheesy potatoes, various vegetables, porridge, fruits, different types of tea, juice and everything else.
And of course traditional Irish Omelette!
I loved exploring Ireland and coming back home I wanted to recreate some of the recipes we’ve tried during our holiday.
Variations on the traditional recipe
The traditional Irish omelette is quite plain, but over the years, I’ve seen people adding extras such as bacon, tomatoes, cooked meat, vegetables. You can easily use the basic recipe as a starting point and every time make it a bit different.
Diets & allergies suitability
What I like about this recipe, is that it’s low FODMAP so it’s easily digestible and it’s of course gluten-free. It’s good for breakfast or a light lunch as the eggs and potato will keep you filled for quite a long time.
Equipment
Traditionally, you’d make this recipe on a skillet, which you can then place under grill and finish the top of the omelette. But if you have just a humble frying pan, you can always try to flip the omelette over. If you do it carefully, you’ll still keep that nice thickness.
Ingredients
Over the years, the traditional Irish omelette recipe has changed and modified with modern taste buds. You’ll probably see more butter and milk in this recipe, but it helps to keep the potatoes nice and moist.
The flavour does depend on what type of potato you use and I usually make this recipe if I have some potatoes left from the dinner from previous night. If you have a little less or little more, don’t worry, just add extra egg to keep everything together!
My own addition to the recipe is a pinch of ground nutmeg. There is just something about this spice, that works beautifully with potatoes and it brings the potato flavour out more! It’s delicious, try it!
Recipe portion
I’ve made this recipe for 1 person, but to be honest, you can easily split it between two people and serve it with a salad as a light lunch.
More breakfast recipes for you to try
How to make traditional Irish omelette recipe (the quick summary)
Mash the potato and add the egg yolks together with the milk, chopped up chives, butter, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they hold a stiff peaks.
Gently fold the whisked egg whites into the potato mixture, making sure that you don’t lose any air.
Heat the pan on low heat, add extra butter or oil and pour the omelette mixture in.
Cook for about 5 minutes and check when the bottom gets a nice brown colour.
At that point either place it under low heat grill (if you have a suitable skillet or a baking tray) or very gently turn the omelette in the pan. If you use a long and wide utensil, you should be fine turning the omelette without knocking too much air out of it.
Cook for another 5 minutes or until is very light brown on the top.
How to serve traditional Irish omelette
Traditionally you’d slice the omelette into 4 pieces and serve it with buttered toast or even a salad if it’s for a lunch.
Traditional Irish Omelette Recipe
Equipment
- Skillet or oven save baking tray
Ingredients
- 1 small potato cooked and mashed
- 2 eggs separate egg whites from egg yolks
- 1 tbsp fresh chives chopped
- 1 tbsp full fat milk optional – it can be dairy free if you like
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt & pepper to season
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp melted butter
- butter or oil to fry the omelette
Instructions
- Mash the potato and add the egg yolks together with the milk, chopped up chives, butter, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they hold a stiff peaks.
- Gently fold the whisked egg whites into the potato mixture, making sure that you don't lose any air.
- Heat the pan on low heat, add extra butter or oil and pour the omelette mixture in.
- Cook for about 5 minutes and check when the bottom gets a nice brown colour.
- At that point either place it under low heat grill (if you have a suitable skillet or a baking tray) or very gently turn the omelette in the pan. If you use a long and wide utensil, you should be fine turning the omelette without knocking too much air out of it.
- Cook for another 5 minutes or until is very light brown on the top.
- Traditionally you'd slice the omelette into 4 pieces and serve it with buttered toast or even a salad if it's for a lunch.
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