Dublin Coddle Recipe (Irish Sausage and Potato Stew)
I know many of you will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage, and no offense to you guys (I mean, I love corned beef and cabbage, too), but this Dublin coddle is my favorite food to have on St. Patrick's Day!
My recipe isn't a traditional Irish coddle, but this is my Americanized version that is modeled after my favorite dish served at The Irish Lion in Bloomington, Indiana. Unfortunately The Irish Lion no longer exists, but when I make this coddle, I can feel like I'm back in that cozy pub hanging with my friends on St. Patrick's Day.
What is Irish coddle anyway?
If you've never had coddle before, it's a hearty Irish stew. Coddle is all about its working-class roots. This isn't a delicate meal. This is the kind of meal that can slow cook away in the oven for hours and hours and hours while you're working hard, and still be delicious when you come home.
Another tidbit I've read about coddle-every family seems to have their own special recipe. One true "authentic" version of coddle doesn't really exist-it changes based on what's available. Basically, you put whatever you have kicking around your kitchen into a pot, and it always turns out delicious. As I mentioned above, my version isn't authentic Irish (because I'm not Irish and the traditional ingredient can be hard to track down in rural Indiana), but it is instead modeled after a coddle from my favorite Irish pub here in the States!
Can you make this in the slow cooker?
This is a slow-cooked recipe that I actually don't recommend doing in the slow cooker! This coddle cooks for 2-3 hours in a very low oven, and while you could do it in the slow cooker, most slow cookers cook with very moist heat. Sometimes I find that moist heat actually makes potatoes go mushy instead of tender and soft. And considering this stew is 75% about the delicious, pillowy potato bites? No one wants them to be mushy. Mushy potatoes are great for my crockpot mashed potatoes recipe, less great for a stew.
Instead, I recommend investing in a nice, sturdy, cast iron Dutch oven, and doing this baby at a low temp in your oven. There are a lot of really beautiful and really expensive Dutch ovens out there, but the one I always recommend to folks is the Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven. It runs right around $60, comes in beautiful colors, and works like a champ! I've had mine for years.
What kind of sausage do you use in coddle?
Traditional Irish sausages can be a bit tricky to track down here in the U.S., so I recommend going with any high-quality pork sausage you can find. I've used both bratwurst and Polish sausage in this recipe with good results.
What's the best kind of beer to use in this stew?
Why, Guinness, of course! I highly recommend keeping on theme here and going with Guinness stout. Thanks to some wonderful Dubliners that took the time to comment on this post (seriously, thank you!), I now know that many people consider coddle a white stew with no beer in it. But Irish chef and author of The Irish Cookbook, Jp McMahon says in the headnotes for his coddle recipe that, "Often it contained a drop of Guinness (or it was eaten with plenty of pints and soda bread)." So if you choose to go the beer route, I think it's safe to say that Guinness is a perfectly fine choice! Of course, any other dark beer would do the trick-either a stout or porter. Buy a six-pack and put one in the stew and drink the rest with dinner!
What if you don't want to use beer?
No problemo! Just sub in more beef or chicken stock in place of the beer. It'll change the flavor slightly, but your coddle will still be delicious.
What to serve with Dublin Coddle?
I think it's just wrong to serve coddle without a side of warm, crusty homemade soda bread! I always like to make a green salad to go along with the coddle and bread to give us something fresh on our plates, too.
It's easy to think that there is no way this Dublin Coddle is going to be flavorful enough. It seems too simple to be delicious, but magic happens in that oven! Seriously. Mag-ic. This dish is bursting with flavor that only gets better and better as leftovers. Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Dublin Coddle
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon chopped into small pieces
- 1 pound high-quality pork sausages see notes
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 bottle Guinness beer see notes
- 2 pounds potatoes peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 large onions cut into slices
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 cups beef, ham, or chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Heat a large, oven-proof Dutch oven over high heat. Add in 8 slices bacon and cook until crisp, about five minutes. Remove the bacon to drain on paper towels. Leave the grease in the Dutch oven.
- Add 1 pound high-quality pork sausages in, a few at a time (don't crowd the pan), and cook on each side until just golden brown—no need to cook all the way through. Remove to a plate and continue with additional sausages. Remove to plate. When cool enough to handle. Slice into 1" pieces.
- Reduce the heat to low, and then whisk in 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Then remove from heat completely.
- Whisk in 1 bottle Guinness beer (see notes if you'd like to not use beer).
- Place half of the potatoes in the gravy, followed by half of the onions, half of the garlic, half of the bacon, half of the sausages, half of the parsley, the bay leaves, the thyme, and black pepper. Repeat layers with the remaining ingredients.
- Pour 2 cups beef, ham, or chicken broth over the whole thing. Place lid on, and bake in preheated oven for at least 2 hours (see notes).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I don't have a dutch oven and didn't have enough time to crock pot it so I followed the directions until after making the roux and then I added everything to the pot. I used some beef sausages I had, added some chopped up honey ham, used red potatoes, added a few carrots that I sliced very thin on my mandolin and half an onion done the same way. It's delicious!! Definitely making this again.. and again ... and again...?
Glad you were able to make it work, and that you enjoyed it!
I made this and it was delicious. I didn't use the beer as I don't care for the taste. I just used the extra beef broth. My hubby loved it also.
It's literally the hottest part of the summer now, and I had to try this recipe because I just got a new Lodge Dutch oven on Amazon Prime Day. It was too hot to fire up the oven, so I just made this on the stovetop. This works amazing as well! I'll definitely try it in the oven this fall! Thanks for the awesome recipe, it's been a big hit in my house!
As someone who lives in Dublin most coddles are white. Guinesss is more of a stew. But it does look a really good stew.
Hi, Paul! Thank you so much for taking the time to educate us. We're going to continue to research this further and update the post to make it more culturally appropriate.
It's literally the hottest part of the summer now, and I had to try this recipe because I just got a new Lodge Dutch oven on Amazon Prime Day. It was too hot to fire up the oven, so I just made this on the stovetop. This works amazing as well! I'll definitely try it in the oven this fall! Thanks for the awesome recipe, it's been a big hit in my house!
I am from Dublin, Ireland. We love our Coddle. But I have never heard of Guinness going into it. We know it as figuring stew in south side of Dublin. You just f#@k in sausages bacon smoked ham, (honey cured) onions scallions carrots and potatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1.5-2 hrs. Then you add some buttermilk into which you have added cornflour to thicken. Another 20 mins of simmering. You then serve it up with fresh baked soda bread and butter. Delicious.
The ingredients calls for beef. The actual recipe does not have beef in it. Which one is it? If there is beef, what kind?
There is no beef listed in the recipe, but there is beer. You can see where you use it in step #5.
I had a Lodge Dutch oven but the enameling was not up to the rigors of boat life. I bit it and got LeCrueset.
I don't have a Dutch oven. Could do this in a crockpot?
I'm going to try just that at some point this month...I'm thinking of layering everything into the crock pot and then letting it go on High for 3-5 hours, checking at 3 and every half hour after. Theoretically it should work...
So I tried this in the crock pot today and it actually turned out pretty well. I cooked the bacon and sausage and made the gravy in a frying pan first and then transferred it to my crock pot and layered everything in there. Cooked it on HIGH for 4 hours and it was great! It probably isn't as much of a stew as it is in a Dutch Oven and cooked in the oven, but it was still really tasty!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was so delicious! We didn't have any beer on hand, so I used a mixture of chicken and beef broth. I added some leftover shredded cabbage in the last 30 minutes of cooking, too. Amazing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Lodge knows you exist now. They sent me here from Facebook and now this is Sunday dinner!
Enjoy! Thanks for letting us know!
This sounds like a great dish. You seem to be layering ingredients into Dutch oven and then pouring broth over it. There's no stirring it up?
Hey Cassie-nice recipe, but . . . I think you'll find that variations on the theme of meat preserved with salt go back a looooog way=well before the founding of the good ole US of A. The Smithsonian has a good 'potted' history on the origins of corned beef. Good recipe!
Thank you Cassie for sharing this, I will make it in October when my mother visits me in Arkansas from my hometown of Bloomington Indiana. Yes, I share your love for a particular Irish Pub.
Cassie, true to my word, made the Dublin Coddle last night and am taking it to friends right now to enjoy with my mother. Had the Bangers handmade at Whole Foods. My kitchen smells so good!
I must have the least grease producing bacon and sausage in the world because there is literally NOTHING to whisk the flour into. This is going to be a mess.
I had the same problem. But roux's are easy... you just need equal parts fat and flour. I ended up melting 2 tablespoons of butter into the pan before adding my 2 tablespoons of flour. Good to go!
Thanks for the recipe! have you tried freezing this? we cook for my elderly parents and they love a nice hearty stew. We also love using our Le Creuset dutch oven, so this seems like a no-brainer. Would this recipe taste OK if we added a chopped apple or two? They like apples with their smoked sausage.... with the Guinness? they'd be in heaven!
I made corned beef and cabbage this year, but I will definitely be finding an opportunity to create this recipe soon. This sounds amazing!
It's definitely too delicious to serve only on St. Patrick's Day!
I swoon over Lodge Cast iron too. I have several pieces. I've been looking for this type of recipe and am so going to be trying it. I like how you have notes to help further clarify the instructions.
Thank you! I
I made this last night! It was delicious. I used regular bratwurst for the sausage, skipped the beer, and just used vegetable broth for all the liquid (it was what I had in the cupboard). Also, I thickened it with oat flour since we're a glutenfree household by necessity. Oh! And I added carrots. I cooked it in the oven for about 3.5 hours, and it came out perfectly. It could have even gone another half hour.
Thanks for the recipe! I love flexible dishes that accommodate the stuff I already have around the house. 🙂
Yum! I'm so glad you guys loved it. 🙂
This is probably a silly question, but if I'll be cooking for a crowd, can I double it in one dutch oven? Or would cooking two batches separately be best? This looks amazing and i'm adding it to my menu this weekend!!
It might be a bit tight in one pot, although I think you could squeeze it in!
CAn this be made in a slow cooker?
Oof, this sounds perfect! We have a rainy and cold week coming up and this screams "pajamas and movies during dinner" food.
It is DEFINITELY that kind of food! It's been raining for the past week here, and it's been perfect. 🙂
Great share thanks! May have to make Blarney Puffballs with it too. Did you go to IU? Similar restaurant there. Cheers,
Indiana, our Indiana, Indiana, we're all for you! I-U! 😉
OMG - I completely forgot about the Puffballs at the Irish Lion -
Is the Irish Lion still there?