Boxty Breakfast

Name: Boxty Breakfast
Prep time: 14 min
Cook time: 26 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients: 4 large Potatoes; 1 bunch Spring Onions; 100g Plain Flour; 1 Egg White; 150ml Milk; 1 tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda; 3 tbs Butter; 2 tbs Vegetable Oil; 6 Cherry Tomatoes; 12 Bacon; 6 Egg

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Pork recipe with Irish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 44 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 40 min total

4 large Potatoes
1 bunch Spring Onions
100g Plain Flour
1 Egg White
150ml Milk
1 tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
3 tbs Butter
2 tbs Vegetable Oil
6 Cherry Tomatoes
12 Bacon
6 Egg

Step-by-step instructions

Before you start, put your oven on its lowest setting, ready to keep things warm. Peel the potatoes, grate 2 of them, then set aside. Cut the other 2 into large chunks, then boil for 10-15 mins or until tender. Meanwhile, squeeze as much of the liquid from the grated potatoes as you can using a clean tea towel. Mash the boiled potatoes, then mix with the grated potato, spring onions and flour.
Whisk the egg white in a large bowl until it holds soft peaks. Fold in the buttermilk, then add the bicarbonate of soda. Fold into the potato mix.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, then add 1 tbsp butter and some of the oil. Drop 3-4 spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the pan, then gently cook for 3-5 mins on each side until golden and crusty. Keep warm on a plate in the oven while you cook the next batch, adding more butter and oil to the pan before you do so. You will get 16 crumpet-size boxty from the mix. Can be made the day ahead, drained on kitchen paper, then reheated in a low oven for 20 mins.
Heat the grill to medium and put the tomatoes in a heavy-based pan. Add a good knob of butter and a little oil, then fry for about 5 mins until softened. Grill the bacon, then pile onto a plate and keep warm. Stack up the boxty, bacon and egg, and serve the tomatoes on the side.

Why this works on a weeknight

Boxty Breakfast lands at about 40 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sheet-Pan Dinners collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Boxty Breakfast actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍳 Sheet-Pan Dinners Pork Irish