If you are looking for a delicious comfort food dish to cook up this St. Patty’s day, look no further! This Slow Cooker Dublin Coddle has crispy thick-cut bacon, chopped red potatoes, and hearty bratwurst sausage. Yum!
With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I’ve been truly inspired to come up with some yummy Irish crockpot recipes.
First, I made this Slow Cooker Corned Beef– this salty tender brisket that has been brined in spices for a few days and then cooked on low for a few hours. It was absolutely delicious!
After all the corned beef was gone (which didn’t last more than two days), I was doing a little more research into some more traditional Irish recipes for me to cook and found a recipe for Dublin Coddle. I was so excited to try it out and I was not disappointed.
This recipe is so easy to make and perfect for a chilly night where all you want to do it curl up and eat a bowl of mouthwatering stew.
A Traditional Irish Crockpot Recipe
A little history on Dublin coddle…
Traditionally made in a dutch oven, Dublin coddle is a dish that is usually put together with any leftovers you might have in the fridge. This dish is considered to be a quick and easy meal to cook for a rather large family or someone who is on a budget.
Coddle is also cooked on Thursdays by Catholics who participated during Lent and couldn’t eat meat on Fridays. They would cook up some Dublin coddle with any sausages or meat they had leftover so it wouldn’t go to waste.
Think of it as the Irish version of a goulash!
Slow Cooker Dublin Coddle
Now that you are full of Irish spirit and knowledge, it’s time to start cooking this Irish Coddle!
Here is a whole list of ingredients you will need:
- Thick-cut bacon
- Bratwurst sausage
- Beef Broth
- Red potatoes
- Sweet onions
- Garlic
- Fresh parsley
- Bay leaves
- Thyme
- Black pepper
- All-purpose flour
How To Make This Dublin Coddle Recipe
To start off this recipe, take a few strips of thick-cut bacon and cut them into bite-sized pieces. In a large pan, cook the bacon over medium-high until it’s very crispy. Remove the bacon and place it on paper towels to get rid of any excess oil.
In the same pan, add the sausage links to the pan and cook on each side until you get a golden brown color. We don’t want to cook the sausage all the way. We just want to sear for color because the sausage will continue to cook in the slow cooker later.
Once you have the sear you are looking for, remove from the pan and place them on a cutting board. Allow them to cool down for about 5 minutes and slice the sausage into about 1″ pieces.
Drain out about 1/2 of the bacon grease from the cooking pan and add the chopped garlic and onions. Sauté them for approximately 2-3 minutes and then set them to the side to add to the crockpot later.
Time To Make The Gravy
Using the drippings leftover in the pan, reduce the heat down to low and slowly whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. While you are whisking, add in 2 cups of beef broth and cook until the gravy has slightly thickened and then remove from heat.
In the slow cooker, place half of the potatoes in the gravy, followed by half of the onions and garlic, the bacon, the sausages. Top it all of with half of the parsley, the thyme, and black pepper. Repeat the whole process of layers with the remaining ingredients.
Pour the remaining beef broth over the top and finish it off with the bay leaves.
Cook for about 4 hours on high or 7 ½ hours on low.
What To Serve With Dublin Coddle
This hearty recipe is delicious all on its own but to take it to the next level, you could serve this dish with a side of Irish Soda bread and a glass of cold beer such as Guinness.
Cooking Tips
- Be careful with adding any additional salt. There is plenty of salt from the bacon, sausage, and broth. Even if you use low sodium broth, make sure to do a taste test as you go so that you don’t over-season the coddle.
- If you can’t find bratwurst or bangers (Irish pork sausage), then you can use a high-quality pork Italian sweet sausage.
- If you want to use a stout beer, go for it! Replace 1 can/bottle of stout beer and reduce the beef broth by ½.
- You can add other types of root vegetables to this stew such as carrots, turnips, fennel, celeriac, and rutabaga.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
If you loved this Slow Cooker Dublin Coddle, check out some of our best recipes from The Slow Cooking Club:
Slow Cooker Dublin Coddle
This hearty Irish stew is a big bowl of steaming comfort food! Filled with potatoes, sausage, and plenty of flavors, this is also a great way to use up leftovers.
Ingredients
- 8-10 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1” pieces
- 1 pound bratwurst sausage or Irish sausage
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ pounds red potatoes, cubed
- 2 sweet onions, medium sized, sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- ½ cup fresh minced parsley
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- cracked black pepper
- 4 cups beef broth
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium-high heat, add in the bacon and cook until crispy. Remove the bacon to drain on paper towels.
- Add sausage links to the pan, and cook on each side until you get a golden brown color. We don’t want to cook the sausage all the way. We just want to sear for color. Remove, once done. Allow 5 minutes too cool and slice into about 1" pieces.
- Remove approximately ½ bacon grease. Add garlic and onions to the pan, and sauté for approximately 2-3 minutes. We are adding some flavor to the onion. Remove onions, and set to the side.
- Reduce the heat to low, and then whisk in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. While whisking, add in 2 cups of beef broth. Cook until slightly thickened, and then remove from heat.
- 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 thyme, and black pepper. Repeat layers with the remaining ingredients.
- Pour remaining broth on top, and finish with bay leaves. Cook for 4 hours on high or 7 ½ hours on low.
Notes
- Be careful with adding any additional salt. There is plenty of salt from the bacon, sausage, and broth. Even if you use low sodium broth, still double-check after it’s finished cooking.
- If you can’t find bratwurst or bangers (Irish pork sausage), then you can use a high-quality pork Italian sweet sausage.
- If you want to use a stout beer, you can. Replace 1 can/bottle of stout beer and reduce the beef broth by ½.
- You can add other types of root vegetables: carrots, turnips, fennel, celeriac, and rutabaga.
[…] Dublin Coddle […]