Traditional Scottish Clapshot (Potato and Rutabaga Mash)
This traditional Scottish clapshot recipe combines mashed potatoes, swede, butter, chives, and beef dripping for the ultimate comforting side dish or pie topping!
Equipment
- 1 Large Pot
- 1 Potato Masher
- 1 Ramekin
- 1 Sharp Knife
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon beef dripping
- 1 onion optional - See Notes
- 750 g turnip/swede/rutabaga unpeeled weight, peeled weight approx. 520g - See Notes
- 1 kg potatoes unpeeled weight, peeled weight approx. 850g - See Notes
- 80 g salted butter 3oz + extra for serving
- salt and white pepper
- 6 tablespoon chives approx. 10g finely chopped + extra for garnish/serving
Instructions
- Melt 2 tablespoon beef dripping in a large pot (you can skip this and the next step if not using onion - See Notes)
- Peel and finely chop 1 onion - soften in beef dripping for 5-10 minutes until they start to turn golden
- Peel and chop 750 g turnip/swede/rutabaga and 1 kg potatoes into chunks - See Notes
- Remove beef dripping and onion from the pot into a separate ramekin (this will be added back in later)
- Add chopped potatoes into large pot with a generous helping of salt and white pepper and fill with cold water
- Bring to the boil (5 minutes), and cook until knife tender (approx. 20 minutes - but this will vary dependant on how big you’ve chopped your vegetables)
- Drain the vegetables and add 80 g salted butter and mash until combined
- Stir through cooked onions and beef dripping then season with salt and white pepper to taste
- Garnish with extra butter and 6 tablespoon chives freshly chopped to serve
Notes
- Onion is optional. You can skip melting the beef dripping and cooking onion as it's an optional extra. However, you can still opt to add melted beef dripping through the Clapshot when adding the butter, as it's a traditional addition.
- Use red potatoes. They are the best option for mashed potato - through trial and error I have determined they are the superior choice for any mash based dishes due to texture and taste.
- Cut the swede smaller than the potatoes. Swede takes longer to cook than potatoes, so cutting it into slightly smaller chunks helps everything soften at the same rate.
- Start with cold, salted water. Always add your potatoes and swede to cold water. Then bring it to a boil. This ensures even cooking and better texture. Something my Gran always taught me: “vegetables that grow in the ground start off in cold water and veg that grows above the ground start off in boiling water”.
- Avoid overcooking. Boil the veg just until it’s fork-tender. Overcooking can make the mash watery and affect the final texture.
- Warm the butter. Using softened or slightly warmed butter helps it melt evenly into the mash, giving you a smoother, creamier result. But also speeds up the process if your potatoes and swede have already cooled slightly. Don’t overmix. Mash your clapshot just until the ingredients are combined. Overworking the potatoes can make them gluey instead of light and fluffy.
- Variations. You can also add spring onion (green onions) or other cooked green veg (cabbage, kale etc.) through it as well if you wanted.
Nutrition
Calories: 287kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 4gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 113mgPotassium: 900mgFiber: 5gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 471IUVitamin C: 53mgCalcium: 64mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!