Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (2024)

Author: Karon Grieve

Recipe

No Burns supper or self respecting haggis wouold be complete without clapshot, that deliciously creamy mixture of potatoes and swede, chives and the very best butter.

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (1)

What is clapshot?

A strange word I know but actually it originates in the Orcadian dialect where the dish of clapshot comes from.

Clapshot is a simple vegetable dish of mixed turnips (swede if you live in England, turnip if you life in Scotland!) and potatoes. They are mashed together with chopped up chives for extra flavour and lots of creamy butter. O

Originally dripping would be used to mash the vegetables together but nowadays butter is more commonly used.

Clapshot is traditionally served with haggis on Burns Night.

Check out my other traditional Scottish recipes here on Larder Love.

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (2)

Ingredients

  • Turnip, or swede if you life south of the border.
  • Potatoes (any good mashing potatoes are fine here, I like King Edwards or Marris Piper potatoes.
  • Butter
  • Chives
  • Salt and pepper

Alternative ingredients

You can use onion instead of chives, but don’t use too much or you will overpower the dish.

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (3)
Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (4)
Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (5)

How to make clapshot

  • Peel and chop the potatoes and turnip and cut into cubes of similar size
  • Boil these in salted water till both are tender
  • Drain and mash the vegetables together. I like to keep a wee bit of texture in my clapshot and not make it uniformly smooth. It’s up to you if you want it to be completely creamy or have a bit of texture.
  • Beat through the butter and snipped up chives and season well with salt and black pepper.

Top with some extra snipped chives and a knob of butter.

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (6)

Make ahead

You can make your clapshot up to a day in advance and just keep it covered in the fridge, cover with foil and reheat in the oven when you are ready to serve the dish.

Storage

You can keep this in the fridge for up to 2 days in a covered container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost thorughly before reheating till piping hot.

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (7)

How to serve clapshot

Traditionally clapshot is served alongside haggis instead of seperate neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes).

Serve your clapshot with any hearty winter stew.

Clapshot goes perfectly with a roast chicken, pork or beef or just with a steak or chops, whatever you fancy.

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (8)

Looking for more vegetable side dishes to make at home? Then check out these recipes before you go;

Whisky glazed Vichy style carrots (+Video!)

Gigantes Plaka (Greek giant beans in rich tomato sauce)

Black eyed beans with fennel and spinach

Greek warm leek salad (prasosalata)

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.

Photos And Tips AboveMost of my recipes have step by step photos and useful tips plus videos too, see above.

Traditional Scottish Clapshot

Karon Grieve

A super easy and tasty dish of mashed potatoes and turnip traditionally served with haggis but perfect with lots of other dishes too

4.58 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Comment Bookmark Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Side vegetable dish

Cuisine Scottish

Servings 4 people

Calories 136 kcal

Ingredients

  • 500 g potatoes
  • 500 g turnip swede (its the same thing)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp chives finely chopped
  • salt and pepper

MetricUS Customary

Instructions

  • Peel and chop the potatoes and turnip into pieces about 1.5cm and place in a pan with enough water to cover, add salt and bring to the boiol cover and boil for about 20 minutes till tender,

  • Drain and mash the vegetables together in the pan, add the butter and most of the chives (reserve some to decorate the dish) and salt and pepper

  • Serve with extra chives and a knob of butter

Video

Notes

Serve clapshot with haggis for a traditional Burns Supper. However, it goes just as well with a traditional roast dinner or with pork chops, steak etc.

Nutrition

Calories: 136kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 4gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 99mgPotassium: 780mgFiber: 5gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 80IUVitamin C: 52mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 1mg

My Top Tips*Always read the full recipe first. *Assemble all your ingredients and everything you need before you start. *For baking check the size of tins I’m using as this makes a big difference to your cakes. * I use medium sized eggs unless otherwise stated. * I use extra virgin olive oil unless otherwise stated. * I use unsalted butter unless otherwise stated. * Check out My Preserving Kit!

Tried this recipe?Mention @LarderLove or tag #LarderLove

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love (2024)

FAQs

Traditional Scottish Clapshot Recipe (+Video!) - Larder Love? ›

No-one is certain where the name clapshot comes from but some think it is a nod to the noise of the masher in the saucepan being reminiscent of gunfire. The name started in Orkney and then spread through the Highlands.

Why is it called clapshot? ›

No-one is certain where the name clapshot comes from but some think it is a nod to the noise of the masher in the saucepan being reminiscent of gunfire. The name started in Orkney and then spread through the Highlands.

What is the traditional Scottish meat dish? ›

Scotland's national dish is haggis, a savoury meat pudding, and it's traditionally accompanied by mashed potatoes, turnips (known as 'neeps') and a whisky sauce. Which brings us to the national drink – whisky. Over 100 distilleries in Scotland produce this amber-hued liquid, many of which can be explored on a tour.

What do Scottish people call potato? ›

tatte; taut(t)ie, tawtie; tatoe, tatto(w), tatta; tottie (Gsw. 1947 J. F. Hendry Fernie Brae 128). [ ′tɑ(:)te, ‡-tə] 1. A potato (Rnf.

What do the British call mashed potatoes? ›

Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American, Canadian and Australian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a side dish to meat or vegetables.

What is the most famous Scottish meal? ›

Scotland's iconic national dish known as haggis consists of sausage meat made from the innards of the sheep mixed with onions, oatmeal, suet, stock, dried herbs and other seasonings.

What's a full Scottish breakfast? ›

So, what is a full Scottish breakfast? Usually made up of bacon, link sausages, Lorne sausage (also known as square sausage or slice), black pudding, haggis, baked beans, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, toast, tattie scones and fried eggs, the full Scottish breakfast is a sight to behold.

Where did clapshot originate? ›

Clapshot is a traditional Scottish dish that originated in Orkney and may be served with haggis, oatcakes, mince, sausages or cold meat.

What is the meaning of clapshot? ›

Noun. clapshot (uncountable) A traditional Scottish dish made of boiled potatoes and boiled swede (or Scottish turnip) mashed together with chives. Often prepared on Burns night.

What do Scots call white turnips? ›

The difference between turnips and swede causes a lot of confusion. Scots often use the term turnip or neep interchangeably to describe a swede and white turnip! Turnips store really well. Once the green tops are cut off, they can keep for a couple of months in a dry, sealed place.

Why do they call it colcannon? ›

The word colcannon is derived from the Gaelic term cal ceannann, which means "white-headed cabbage" — the vegetable most commonly mixed with potatoes in this dish. It's often served alongside Irish meats, and is made by combining potatoes and greens (usually cabbage, but kale and other leafy greens are sometimes used).

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Reed Wilderman

Last Updated:

Views: 6259

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (52 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Reed Wilderman

Birthday: 1992-06-14

Address: 998 Estell Village, Lake Oscarberg, SD 48713-6877

Phone: +21813267449721

Job: Technology Engineer

Hobby: Swimming, Do it yourself, Beekeeping, Lapidary, Cosplaying, Hiking, Graffiti

Introduction: My name is Reed Wilderman, I am a faithful, bright, lucky, adventurous, lively, rich, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.