Stamppot
Photo: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs · CC BY-SA 2.0

History

Stamppot was Dutch peasant cooking, a one-pot kitchen-economy meal mashing potato and seasonal vegetables together. Boerenkool stamppot (with kale) is the most signature version. By the 20th century it had moved into Amsterdam brown cafes and eetcafes as the winter signature plate. Moeders on Rozengracht runs the canonical version, the menu rotating greens through the cold months.

Book a food experience

Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.

Browse every bookable food experience

Common allergens: Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 50 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1.2kg floury potatoes (Bintje or Maris Piper), peeled and cut into 4cm chunks
  • 400g curly kale (boerenkool), tough stems removed, finely shredded
  • 150g smoked streaky bacon (spek), cut into 1cm lardons
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 100ml whole milk, warmed
  • 60g unsalted butter
  • Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated nutmeg
  • 4 rookworst smoked sausages (about 700g total)
  • 250ml strong beef gravy (jus), kept hot
  • 1 tbsp grainy mustard to serve

Method

  1. Cover the potatoes with cold salted water in a large pot, bring to a boil and cook 15 minutes until easily pierced with a knife.
  2. While the potatoes cook, render the bacon in a wide pan over medium heat for 5 minutes until crisp, add the onion and cook 8 minutes until softened and golden.
  3. Steam the kale separately in a colander set over the potato pot for the last 5 minutes of cooking until wilted but still bright green.
  4. Lower the rookworst into a separate pan of barely simmering water; warm 15 minutes without boiling.
  5. Drain the potatoes well, return to the dry pot and steam-dry over a low burner 60 seconds. Mash with the warm milk, butter, plenty of salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  6. Fold the wilted kale and the bacon-onion mix through the mash with a wooden spoon (this is the stamp-pot pounding step); do not over-work to a puree.
  7. Heap onto warm plates, make a well in the centre, pour in hot jus. Lay a sliced rookworst alongside and serve with mustard.

Tip from the editors. For zuurkool stamppot use 600g good sauerkraut, drained, instead of kale; for hutspot, use 600g carrot mashed with the potato and skip the kale. The bacon and rookworst stay constant.

Where to eat stamppot

Stamppot in Amsterdam

Moeders ★ 4.0

€€ DutchJordaan

Moeders on Rozengracht is the room for Dutch stamppot, erwtensoep and the other home-mother dishes, the walls covered in photos of mothers customers.

OrderThe stamppot of the week with rookworst sausage and braised pork.

TipBring a photo of your mother for the wall. Reservation strongly advised.

Directions Book

All Amsterdam signature dishes →

Stamppot in Utrecht

Ledig Erf ★ 4.7

€€ BelgianCentrumUntil 02:00

Historic brown cafe on the Tolsteegplein open to 02:00 on weekends. Forty Dutch and Belgian beers, bitterballen and a legendary local atmosphere.

TryBitterballen and Dutch bar snacks

Directions

Belgisch Biercafe Olivier ★ 4.1

€€ BelgianMariaplaatsUntil 01:00

Belgian beer cafe in a 13th-century chapel serving mussels and frites to 01:00. Over 40 Belgian and Dutch beers on tap in a stunning medieval space.

TryBelgian beer-battered mussels and frites

Directions

Stadsbrouwerij Utrechts Bier ★ 4.0

€ DutchCentrum

Utrecht's original city brewery taproom on the Paardenveld. A bitterballen plank with a pint of the house Bisschop amber ale costs under €12 at the bar.

TryBitterballen plank with a pint of Bisschop amber ale

Directions

All Utrecht signature dishes →

More cities are in research. Want stamppot covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →