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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE: Authentic Irish Potato Farls are so simple, quick, and tasty that you won’t even believe! With ONLY 4 ingredients and 30 minutes, you can start your day right!
IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe was updated and improved on 2/24/2023, to include detailed explanation of ingredients, answers to the most frequently asked questions and related Irish recipes.
Potato Farls are something I grew up with in Ireland. My mum used to make them using leftover mashed potato and cook them off for breakfast as part of a traditional fry. I haven’t had them in donkey’s years but the moment I ate these I was transported back to our kitchen in the house where I grew up. If you are Irish, you will be familiar with these, if you are not then you just found a new recipe that will give you a little taste of Irish culture and cuisine.
If you love Irish recipes, you definitely need to try my Irish Soda Bread, Irish Apple Cake, and Best-Ever Irish Scones!
Table Of Content
- What Is A Potato Farl (or Fadge)?
- Tools You Need
- Potato Farls Ingredients
- How To Make Potato Farls
- How Do I Store Potato Farls?
- FAQs
- Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
- Make More Irish Recipes!
What Is A Potato Farl (or Fadge)?
A potato Farl goes by many names! It’s also known as potato fadge, potato cakes, griddle cakes, and boxty. It originated out of a way to use up leftover mashed potatoes from the dinner the night before. Made with cupboard staples, it’s a humble recipe that might not seem like much but boy are they delicious.
Tools You Need
- Medium Saucepan
- Steamer
- Vegetable Peeler
- Chopping Knife and Chopping Board
- Sieve or Ricer
- Medium Frying Pan
Potato Farls Ingredients
- Potatoes: Fluffy, floury potatoes are essential for this recipe. Basically, the same potatoes that you use for making mashed potatoes. I recommend Maris Piper, Roosters, and Russets.
- All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has the perfect amount of gluten to bind with potatoes, lighten the texture and extend the dough. Use gluten-free all-purpose blend flour if needed!
- Salt and pepper: Salt and pepper are the simplest yet best seasoning for Irish Potato Farls.
- Butter: Butter enriches Potato Farls’ taste and creates golden brown crispy skin.
How To Make Potato Cakes (Farls)
This wonderful Irish breakfast is simple, quick, and so tasty you won’t even believe it. Here’s how you make my potato cakes (and don’t forget to get the full recipe with measurements, on the page down below):
- Peel, chop, and weigh the potatoes.
- In a medium saucepan over medium/low heat, steam or boil the cubed potatoes until tender, roughly 20-25 minutes. This makes them much, much easier to work with, too!
- Once tender remove the potatoes from the pot and place them in a sieve over a bowl. Allow them to hang out here for 5 minutes to cool slightly and to let some of the moisture evaporate.
- While still hot, pass the potatoes through the sieve. If you don’t have a sieve you can use a potato ricer or potato masher to mash the potatoes either.
- Into the potatoes, add in the flour, salt, pepper, and melted butter. Stir the dough together until it forms a ball. Like any dough take care not to over mix it so you get fluffy Farls.
- Flatten the dough into an 8 inch round disc onto a lightly floured surface. Using a large knife cut the disc into 6 pieces.
- Melt a big knob of butter in a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat until bubbling. Carefully add the potato farls and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until a lovely golden brown. Flip them over and cook for another 4-5 minutes on the other side. They should be crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle.
- Serve immediately while hot as part of a traditional Irish breakfast or simply on their own.
How do I store Potato Farls?
Storing/Freezing/Reheating – These farls will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat them on the hob or in the oven. You can freeze these, I would freeze them before cooking. Lay them out on a baking tray then pop it in the freezer for an hour. Transfer them to a freezer bag or container, in layers. I would place some parchment paper between each one to stop them from sticking together. Cook from frozen on the hob or in the oven.
FAQs
What are the best potatoes for making Irish Potato Farls?
Fluffy, floury potatoes that you use for making mashed potatoes. I recommend Maris Piper, Roosters, and Russets.
Can you freeze Potato Farls?
Yes, you can! Before cooking, lay them out on a baking tray then pop it in the freezer for an hour. Transfer them to a freezer bag or container in layers with parchment paper between each one to stop them from sticking together. Cook from frozen on the hob or in the oven.
Gemma’s Prof-Chef Tips For Making Potato Cakes
- Peel and chop the potatoes and then measure them.
- Pass the potatoes through the sieve while hot. If they cool down too much they become very difficult to mash and can become gluey.
- What potatoes do you use? A floury type of potato that is good for mashing eg/ Roosters, Maris Pipers and Russet potatoes
- Can I use leftover mashed potatoes? yes BUT only if they are not already mixed with lots of butter and milk. The potato has to be firm.
- Make, cut, and freeze the potato Farls uncooked. Then just cook them off whenever you want them.
Make More Irish Recipes!
- Gemma’s Best-Ever Irish Scones
- Mum’s Irish Apple Cake
- Mum’s Traditional Irish Soda Bread
- Traditional Irish Barmbrack
- Aunty Rosaleen’s Irish Christmas Cake
And don’t forget to buy my Bigger Bolder Baking Cookbook!
IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe was updated and improved on 2/24/2023, to include detailed explanation of ingredients, answers to the most frequently asked questions and related Irish recipes.
Try These Recipes!
Watch The Recipe Video!
Authentic Irish Potato Farls Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups (650g/1lb 7oz) 3 medium potatoes (Russet, Maris Piper, Roosters)
- ¾ cup (4oz/115g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/28g) butter (plus more for cooking)
Instructions
- Peel and chop your potatoes and THEN weigh them for the recipe. It is more accurate this way.
- Steam or boil the cubed potatoes in a medium pot until tender, roughly 20-25 minutes.
- Remove the potatoes from the pot and place them in a sieve over a bowl, allowing them to dry off slightly for 5 minutes.
- While still hot, pass the potatoes through the sieve to yield light, fluffy potatoes. If you don't have a sieve you can use a ricer or masher to mash the potatoes either.
- Into the potatoes, add in the flour, salt, pepper, and melted butter. Stir the dough together until it forms a ball.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it into an 8 inch round disc. Using a large knife cut the disc into 6 pieces.
- Melt a big knob of butter in a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat until bubbling. Carefully add the potato farls and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until a lovely golden brown. Flip them over and cook for another 4-5 minutes on the other side. They should be crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle.
- Serve immediately while hot as part of a traditional Irish breakfast or simply on their own.
Hi Gemma
I know that you like Indian food, being an Indian it makes me so happy. So I thought why not try some Irish food. I went ahead and tried these and they were so good everyone liked it very much. Thank you for sharing your culture and other wonderful recipes. I will keep waiting for the wonderful recipes you have.
P.S – I was just wondering if you were a left hander (I am one too) cause I have noticed in a lot of your videos that you use your left hand.
Thanks once again Inaz
Hi Gemma, my Grandmother (from Lancashire, with Irish connections) made these with leftover potatoes/mash, with egg or without. Mum and G’ma called them potato cakes but they were usually baked in the oven. It’s good to see how well they fry – I’m more tempted to make some now! I do have a question pls. If grated onion is added to the mix, then will frying be enough to cook in the onion, or might it be a bit raw still?
I have been making potato farl for years, but my Irish grandparents called it potato bread. If want to kick this up a notch after the basic preparation of browning the farl you should fry it in bacon fat and then top with butter. Obviously not the most healthy choice but that is the way the Irish make it.
Delicious but the addition of a teaspoon or more of Onion Powder really adds that extra zing to them.
Also try finely chopped white part of spring onions and a sprinkling of fresh chopped Parsley
Hi gemma, I try it and it taste really good..
thanks for it
Hi Gemma, Getting ready to fry these up and wonder if they can be frozen before frying for later use. Or have you tried to freeze some after frying and then reheated? Thank you.
Hi Gemma, could this be made with any other flour? Such as Almond, Coconut, Tapioca or Oat? ty
My mom & grandmother taught me to make something very similar to this, they used leftover mashed potatoes that had some milk & butter in them. Since it was the next day they were cold, we added egg, salt, pepper & some chopped onion!! Then cooked the same way, except these were Pattie’s. Not sure why or if I’d heard wrong…but I’ve always called them potato cats ????????♀️
Hi gemma,I just finished making your potato farls,we love and enjoyed eating them.It didn’t look exactly like the farls that you made but they still taste really good with katchup on them.
That looks great, I will definitely try it! It seems every country has its potato pancakes. In Slovenia, we have this sort of very thin patties, in Slovakia they have actual pancakes, in Czech Republic they have this fat patties and I also ate something like that from a Ukranian recipe, I think. Potatos are the best!