Stovies
Difficulty 2/5 Ingredients 8 Steps 5
Stovies is a traditional Scottish dish originating mainly from the North Eastern counties of Angus and Aberdeenshire where even today the dish is still most commonly found and served. Recipes and ingredients vary widely between regions and even families, but the dish usually consists of potatoes and onions and some form of cold meat (especially sausages or leftover roast; mince or corned beef in the east). The…
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2 pounds) potatoes
- 50 g (2 oz) beef drippings or butter
- 3 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 125–250 g (4–8 oz) cooked beef or lamb (leftovers from a roast dinner)
- 2–3 tbsp finely chopped parsley, chives, or spring onions
- Seasoning salt (optional)
- Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
- Allspice or grated nutmeg (optional)
Steps
- Peel "main crop" potatoes; leave skins on new potatoes. Slice about 5 mm (¼-inch) thick, or roughly in varied thickness so thin slices mush while others stay whole.
- Heat fat in large heavy-base pot with tight-fitting lid. Add onions. Cook until lightly brown. Add potatoes. Stir to coat with fat.
- Cover. Cook over very low heat, shaking pot once or twice to prevent sticking, until potatoes are cooked.
- Add meat. Mix through. Turn up heat to brown a little.
- Serve with brown sauce, parsley and optional seasonings.
Notes from the original
- The same recipe can be adapted to use steak, beef or pork sausages instead of leftover meat. If making stovies this way, brown the sausages with the onions at the start.
- Recipes vary but mince is used most commonly, not only in the East but all over Scotland
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Stovies” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-11, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.