23 Traditional Scottish Recipes You Need To Try

Whether you’re a big foodie looking to try something new or have Scottish heritage and want to bring back some traditional recipes into your cooking, there are plenty of brilliant ways to stick with Scottish tradition in the kitchen.

Scottish food primarily consists of vegetables, fish, fruits, meats, and dairy products. The cuisine relies on milder spices and seasoning and isn’t usually very exotic. This actually helps make Scottish cuisine one of the cheapest.

We don’t need expensive herbs and spices to make a wide range of incredible-tasting food.

On top of that, most Scottish dishes don’t take long to make and contain simple ingredients you might already have in your pantry. 

Today, we want to show you just how much Scottish cuisine has to offer. To do that, we’ve put together a list of 23 traditional Scottish recipes you need to try. In this post, we’ll show you each one. 

Let’s get started!

1. Haggis

There really is no better place to start this list than with haggis. Haggis is easily one of the most famous traditional Scottish foods. It’s definitely one you should try. Admittedly, many people aren’t too sure what haggis is when they try it.

Haggis is actually a savory pudding that is steamed or boiled. It is typically made from sheep’s stomach casing and is filled with sheep pluck and offal. The sheep’s pluck inside the haggis is made from the heart, liver, and lungs.

To give the haggis more flavor, onion, suet, stock, salt, oatmeal, and spices are added. This isn’t the easiest dish to make but one you’ll definitely want to try.

2. Full Scottish Breakfast

It’s no secret that Scottish people love a hearty breakfast in the morning. The full Scottish breakfast isn’t too dissimilar to the English ‘fry up’.

An English ‘fry up’ usually consists of bacon, fried eggs, sausages, fried tomatoes, baked beans, toast, and mushrooms. 

However, in Scotland, your full Scottish breakfast will come with some added extras. This includes tattie scones, square sausage (Lorne), link sausage, haggis, black puddings, polony, and fruit pudding.

This recipe shows you how to make a super filling, comfort food breakfast that serves as a great treat for the family.

3. Scottish Bap

A popular Scottish food item is the Scottish bap. Eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the Scottish bap is a yeast bread roll.

Made using just seven basic pantry ingredients, this bread roll is soft and fluffy on the inside and crispy and golden brown on the outside.

This type of bread roll is usually made oval or round, and sometimes even square. Most of the time, it is served with fried eggs and bacon or eaten straight out of the oven after a generous smothering of butter.

4. Cullen Skink

Next up, we have Cullen skink. Its name is a weird one that the dish takes from the fishing town of Cullen in North East Scotland. The second part of the dish refers to the soup.

Originally, this recipe was referred to as knuckle bone or shin soup, but over time the word skink was used more and more. This particular recipe consists of fish soup.

As a result, there are no shin bones. There shouldn’t be any fish bones either. This is a simple recipe that can be made using haddock, milk, leeks, butter, mashed potato, bay leaf, and parsley.

5. Scottish Mince With Tatties

In Britain, the word mince means ground meat. Usually, the word mince is used to describe ground beef. Serving mince with potatoes is extremely popular in the United Kingdom because it is easy to make and very affordable.

Similar to a cottage pie, this mince recipe calls for you to make a meaty mince filling that includes an array of veggies, beef, and a rich gravy. This filling is then served with creamy mashed potatoes. 

6. Scottish Rumbledethumps

The next recipe on our list is Scottish rumbledethumps. This dish is most commonly served as a side dish but it can also be eaten as a main course.

An affordable, easy-to-make vegetarian dish, this recipe calls for mashed potatoes, onions, cabbage, and cheddar cheese.

The ingredients are cooked before being mixed together. The mixture is then added to a baking dish, covered in cheese, and baked in an oven until golden brown. The end result is a savory dish full of flavor and exciting textures.

7. Scottish Bubbles And Squeak Patties

Bubbles and squeak is another hugely popular traditional Scottish dish enjoyed by millions. It is a fun dish made from a range of vegetables.

The best thing about the dish is that the patties can be made using any leftover veggies you have in the kitchen. 

Traditionally served for lunch or dinner with a fried egg, all you need to make bubbles and squeak are vegetables, cheese, and seasoning.

This recipe called for potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, and yellow mustard.

8. Scotch Broth

If you’re looking for a comforting dish that’s easy to make, full of flavor, and healthy, this Scotch broth recipe is perfect for you.

Scotch broth is a traditional soup recipe most commonly made using lamb bones. The soup is also loaded with vegetables. We can use any veggies we like but popular choices include leek, barley, and swede. 

You can easily serve this soup without lamb if you wish, but in our opinion, it gives the soup a much more enjoyable flavor. This broth tastes great with a hot Scottish bap.

9. Oatmeal Rolls

Another great food item to serve with Scotch broth is oatmeal rolls. Often seen as Scotland’s dumplings, oatmeal rolls are small rolls of interesting flavors and textures that soak up broth wonderfully. 

Offering a unique oaty texture, these rolls are light, soft, crispy, and grainy. Not only do they taste great but they also look fantastic. To start making a batch of fresh oatmeal rolls, you have to pour boiling water over your oats.

You can then add the oil, salt, and brown sugar. The sugar helps give the rolls a subtle sweetness.

10. Scottish Beef Stew

The next Scottish recipe on our list is perfect for those times you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. Made in a slow cooker, this Scottish beef stew recipe helps you make a hearty dish with ease.

Extremely healthy too, all you have to do to make this stew is throw all the ingredients into your slow cooker. Your slow cooker will do the rest.

The fragrant herb broth cooks the beef beautifully, making it super tender and juicy. You’ll find it falling apart in your mouth. The addition of veggies gives the stew more flavor and makes it more nutritious.

You could serve your beef stew with some fresh oatmeal rolls.

11. Hotch Potch

Another tasty Scottish stew is Hotch Potch. Hotch Potch is also very hearty and healthy, coming packed with impressive flavors and stunning textures. This stew recipe calls for lamb and vegetables, both of which are cooked in a stock.

The ingredients in HotchPotch are reduced until they are beautifully moist, tender, and full of flavor. This leaves us with an incredibly satisfying stew that’s full of color and strong flavors.

The combination of savory meat flavors and sweet vegetables is perfect. You can use this recipe as a guide to use any leftover veggies you have in the kitchen.

12. Scottish Flummery

Let’s move on to some traditional Scottish desserts. We’ll start with Scottish flummery. This simple, yet exciting dessert can be traced all the way back to the 15th century when it was enjoyed at feasts.

It consists of milk and starch. This recipe also includes oats. However, we can skip the oats if we desire a more jelly-like dessert.

For the most traditional version of this dessert, you will have to soak the oats for approximately 48 hours. This is important because it is the soaked oats that make the dessert thicker.

If you want something sweet, yet delicate, this is the dessert for you.

13. Scottish Shortbread

Scotland is the home to shortbread, so it’s only right that we make traditional Scottish shortbread for our guests. Everything about shortbread is awesome.

It’s super sweet, buttery, crunchy, and filling. It can also be dunked in a fresh glass of milk.

Luckily for us, shortbread is extremely easy to make too. We can easily make shortbread with three simple ingredients. Those ingredients are sugar, flour, and butter.

Some recipes might also call for vanilla, chocolate chips, or citrus peel to take things up a level. However, for us, nothing can beat traditional shortbread. 

14. Classic Cranachan

Cranachan offers a unique alternative to trifles. Made using cream, oats, and whiskey, this boozy dessert is sweet, rich, creamy, and surprisingly addictive.

Super delicious, the creaminess of the cream mixed with the crunchiness of the oats and booziness of the whiskey is awesome. 

This combination helps create a taste sensation. That’s not all though! For extra sweetness, honey and raspberries are added too. Better still, it only takes 20 minutes to make this wonderful dessert.

15. Scottish Christmas Pudding

If Christmas is fast approaching and you want something a little different to surprise your family and friends with, try making a traditional Scottish Christmas pudding. You’ll probably find that this is the best Christmas pudding you’ve ever made. 

It’s rich, sweet, fruity, and boozy. What more can we ask for in a pudding?

The main ingredients that give this pudding a great flavor are rum, raisins, apples, dates, ginger, honey, and cinnamon. The end result is a strong combination of flavors in a mouthwatering dessert.

16. Scottish Crumpets

There’s a big difference between English and Scottish crumpets. The key difference between the two is appearance. English crumpets are round with holes in them, whilst Scottish crumpets share their appearance with pancakes. 

Scottish crumpets are also made using baking powder instead of yeast. As a result, the batter doesn’t rise in the same way. To make the best Scottish crumpets, the batter is fried and flipped, just like a regular pancake. 

This helps create a crispy texture on the outside and a soft, fluffier texture in the middle.

17. Scotch Eggs

Despite being a famous Scottish dish, it is claimed that the Scotch egg was invented by Fortnum & Mason in 1738. The London-based company claims to have made the Scotch egg for travelers making their way through London.

A gastropub specialty, the Scotch egg consists of a cooked egg wrapped in sausage meat. The egg and meat are then breaded and fried.

The end result is a savory snack that can be served on its own or with a sauce of your choosing. Most people go for ranch dressing, hot mustard, or spicy sauce.

18. Scottish Steak Pie

If you’ve ever visited Scotland, you’ll know just how much the locals love a good pie. One of the most popular is the Scottish steak pie.

In many ways, this steak pie is a beef stew that has been packed into a pie dish and covered with pastry. 

It’s loaded with meaty goodness, healthy veggies, a gravy-like sauce, and a crispy puff pastry. Veggies are a great inclusion but the most authentic steak pie recipes only include meat. 

19. Hot Toddy

Next up, we have an interesting Scottish beverage that will keep you warm this winter. Also referred to as the “cold cure” a hot toddy is a boozy beverage full of flavor and goodness.

To make a hot toddy, you need a single malt Scotch whiskey, honey, Scottish heather honey, and lemon. After that, you just need a warm blanket and a fire.

In terms of taste, this beverage is super sweet, tangy, and boozy. Every sip warms your insides. For us, the tanginess of the lemon helps take the beverage to the next level.

20. Scottish Stovies

Scottish stovies are like small hot pots packed with leftovers and stewed potatoes. This dish is very similar to bubbles and squeak in the way that it was created for the sole purpose of using up any leftovers.

The traditional idea was to use beef drippings from a Sunday roast to fry onions. Leftover roast potatoes, potatoes, stock or gravy, and beef are then added. The dish is then put in the oven for approximately an hour.

Finally, any leftover veggies can be thrown in.

21. Scottish Tablet

If you have a sweet tooth that needs satisfying, give this Scottish tablet recipe a try. Nothing will make your mouth water as much.

At first glance, the Scottish tablet looks just like fudge. However, after just one bite it becomes clear that this sweet treat is very different. It has a distinctive, gritty, mouth-watering texture that falls apart in your mouth and a powerful sweetness. 

You only need butter, sugar, and condensed milk to make the Scottish tablet but it does take great skill to get it right.

22. Scottish Curry

There’s even a traditional Scottish curry you can make if you want to bring something a lot more unique to curry night. The original recipe used rabbit, but this one calls for chicken legs.

A quite remarkable dish, this curry is packed with intense flavors, unique texture, and of course plenty of herbs and seasonings.

Ready in just over an hour, the curry is served with broccoli and an almost creamy spicy sauce. 

Aside from chicken and broccoli, another key ingredient in this dish is onions. The onions add another layer of flavor and texture to an already exciting dish. 

23. Scottish Tattie Soup

The final traditional Scottish recipe on our list is this delicious Scottish tattie soup recipe from Something Sweet Something Savoury. You probably already know by now that tatties are potatoes.

In this soup recipe, the potatoes offer versatility, affordability, and satisfying flavors. In terms of simplicity, this soup is as simple as it gets. All you need to make the soup is leeks, potatoes, carrots, and onion stock. 

Then, all you have to do is throw all the ingredients into a cooking pot and let the soup cook for an hour or so. You know the soup is ready when the potatoes start to break up and the veggies are soft.

Are the Ingredients Used in Danish Recipes Similar to the Ingredients Used in Scottish Recipes?

Are the ingredients used in authentic danish recipes similar to the ingredients used in Scottish recipes? While both cuisines have their unique flavors, there are some similarities. Danish recipes often feature ingredients like rye bread, pickled herring, and potatoes, while Scottish recipes may include ingredients like oats, lamb, and smoked salmon. Despite these slight differences, both cuisines pride themselves on using fresh and locally sourced ingredients to create delicious and hearty dishes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

That concludes our list of traditional Scottish recipes you need to try. Now you’ve made your way through our list you should have a much better idea of what you can make in your kitchen to bring Scottish cuisine to the dinner table.

Whether you want a simple snack, a light bite, a hearty breakfast, or a satisfying dinner, we’ve got a great option on our list for you.

All you have to do now is narrow the list down and decide which recipes you want to try first.