Cooking with John - Potato Farls

John McCollum pictured in his kitchen in the process of making Potato Farls - a delicious savoury treat!

An essential part of any Irish or Ulster fry, this is a simple versatile recipe traditionally made from left over mashed potatoes, requiring just potatoes, flour, butter and salt. Fun fact - the word farl comes from the Gaelic fardel meaning quarter.

Ingredients.

All amounts are estimates and can be adjusted to taste – so for example if you are using left over mashed potatoes made with milk and/or lots more butter you will probably have to add more flour.

• 500g of potatoes - usually you would use ‘fluffy’ potatoes like Russets or Maris Pipers but I’m not particular about it and just use whatever is cheapest in the supermarket.

• 100g of plain flour plus extra for dusting

• 50g of salted butter (or unsalted butter and add salt to taste)

• Salt (and pepper if you like)

Instructions

1. First make your “left over” mashed potatoes. Dice and boil the potatoes then while still warm, mash and add butter and salt.

2. Add the flour and mix into dough.  The dough will probably be quite sticky but don’t worry about that.  If you feel it is too sticky just add a little more flour.  At this point you can add whatever else you like for your own experiments*.

3. Put flour on a surface, add about a third of the dough and generously sprinkle flour on top, roll or press into a circle about 4mm thick with a diameter of about 12cm.

4. Put the dough circle in a pan and dry fry it.  I find it easiest to quarter them in the pan at this point I dry fry them for about 2 or 3 minutes each side.  You can quarter them before you put them in the pan if you prefer. They should now be lightly cooked and can be stored in the fridge for 4 days or so.  You can also fry them directly from the dough stage in a little oil to eat immediately but I think it is better to dry fry them first to add a bit of a crust to the outside.

5. Fry up in little oil or butter (or fat from sausages and bacon!). If you like to make them a little more fluffy you can add a teaspoon of baking powder when making the dough.

*You can also add whatever you want of course, chives, brown onions, scallions (spring onions), bacon, leek, garlic and cheese are all things I’ve thrown in.

—John McCollum, October 2025