Skip to content
A little Welsh cooking, for every day
Welsh TableGood food, simply made

From the Welsh kitchen

Simple food.
Welsh roots.
Made to share.

Put the kettle on and find something good to cook. This is a collection of Welsh family favourites, from slow-simmered cawl to cakes warm from the griddle. Follow the seasons, make the most of good local ingredients, and keep things simple. Every classic comes with a lighter or more plant-led way to make it, too.

Cook a pot of cawl
A bowl of homemade lamb cawl with leeks, potatoes and carrots on a wooden kitchen table
Lamb, leeks & a little patience.The Welsh kitchen, no. 01

Six to keep coming back to

Familiar favourites

From the soup pot to the cake tin.
Welsh classics with room for a small change.

A bowl of homemade lamb cawl with leeks, potatoes and carrots on a wooden kitchen table

The soup pot · Serves 4

Lamb & leek cawl

Tender Welsh lamb, sweet leeks and chunky roots in a clear, savoury broth. Set out some bread and a wedge of Caerphilly, and let everyone help themselves.

Open the recipe
Golden Welsh cakes with currants cooling on a wire rack

Bakes & griddle cakes · Tea-time

Welsh cakes

Somewhere between a scone, a biscuit and a pancake, Welsh cakes are cooked on a flat griddle rather than in the oven.

Open the recipe
A buttered slice of fruit-filled bara brith on a wooden bread board

From the oven · A loaf to slice

Bara brith

The name means "speckled bread", and every slice is dotted with plump fruit that has spent the night soaking in strong tea.

Open the recipe

Under the grill

Welsh rarebit

A rarebit is cheese on toast with ambition. Instead of slices of cheese, the toast is spread with a thick, savoury sauce of cheese, ale and mustard, then grilled until it puffs, bubbles and turns golden in patches.

Open the recipe

From the frying pan

Glamorgan sausages

There is no meat in a Glamorgan sausage, and there never has been. These crisp, golden fingers are made from crumbly cheese, soft leeks and fresh breadcrumbs, seasoned with mustard and herbs, then fried until the outside crackles.

Open the recipe

A taste of the coast

Laverbread cakes

Dark, savoury and crisp at the edges, laverbread cakes are what happens when a spoonful of cooked seaweed meets a handful of oats and a hot pan.

Open the recipe
Fresh leeks and a crumbly wedge of Caerphilly cheese on a worn wooden chopping board

The autumn basket · Wales

What’s in season

Cooler days, good roots and the last of the orchard harvest. Four things to bring into the kitchen now.

  • LeeksWash between the layers, then soften gently for cawl or a Caerphilly tart.
  • ApplesCook down to a simple purée for an egg-free bara brith.
  • Winter squashRoast in chunky wedges, or add to a pot of vegetable cawl.
  • SwedePeel, dice and simmer with lamb or butter beans until tender.

On the board: fresh leeks and crumbly Caerphilly, ready for a simple Welsh lunch.

The rest of the book

More from the Welsh kitchen

Soups, suppers and bakes.
Every recipe in one place.

Oval meatballs in brown onion gravy with mushy green peas in an earthenware dish

From the oven · Serves 4

Faggots & peas

Faggots are generous savoury meatballs, traditionally made with pork and liver, seasoned with sage and onion and baked in a rich gravy.

Open the recipe
A stack of small golden Welsh pancakes with melting butter and a sprinkling of sugar on a plate

Griddle & stack · Makes about 16

Crempog

Crempog are small, thick Welsh pancakes made with buttermilk, cooked on a griddle and piled into a buttered stack.

Open the recipe
A bowl of pale creamy leek and potato soup topped with leek slices and black pepper, with a slice of bread

The soup pot · Serves 4

Leek & potato soup

The leek has been a symbol of Wales for centuries, and there are few better ways to cook it than this. Soft, sweet leeks and floury potatoes simmered in stock and blended until smooth: a simple soup that tastes far richer than its ingredients suggest.

Open the recipe
A roast leg of lamb partly carved into pink slices on a wooden board with roast potatoes and rosemary

The Sunday table · Serves 6

Roast Welsh lamb

A roast leg of lamb, studded with garlic and rosemary and carved at the table, is the centrepiece of many Welsh Sunday lunches.

Open the recipe
A homemade leek and crumbly white cheese tart in a metal tart tin with one slice cut out

From the oven · Serves 6

Caerphilly & leek tart

Two of the best things in a Welsh kitchen, leeks and Caerphilly, baked together in a crisp pastry case. The leeks go in soft and sweet, the cheese melts in pockets through a gently set custard, and the tart is just as good cold the next day.

Open the recipe
A flat golden fruit cake dusted with sugar on an old plate with one slice cut out

Bakes & griddle cakes · A cake for the tin

Teisen lap

Teisen lap means "moist cake" or "plate cake" in Welsh. It is a soft, shallow fruit cake, quick to mix and quick to bake, that was traditionally made to pack into lunch boxes for long working days.

Open the recipe

Same familiar favourites, a small change

A little lighter. A little greener.

Practical variations for every recipe in the book. Open a kitchen note and give one a go.

Every classic on Welsh Table has a second way to make it. Here, "lighter" simply means a little less butter, cream or meat on the plate and a few more vegetables, beans, pulses and oats, with the flavour of the original kept intact.

Butter bean cawl

For 4, leave out the lamb and use 2 × 400 g tins of butter beans, drained, plus 200 g extra swede and vegetable stock. Simmer the onion, carrots, swede and thyme in the stock for 20 minutes; add the potatoes for 20 minutes, then the leeks and beans for a final 10 minutes. Season and serve when all the vegetables are tender.

The full Lamb & leek cawl recipe

Plant-based Welsh cakes

For about 12, rub 90 g plant-based baking block into 225 g self-raising flour with ½ tsp mixed spice. Stir in 60 g caster sugar and 60 g currants, then add 60 to 80 ml oat drink, a little at a time, to make a soft dough. Roll 1 cm thick, cut into 6 cm rounds and cook on a lightly greased, medium-low griddle for 3 to 4 minutes each side, until golden and cooked through.

The full Welsh cakes recipe

Apple & tea bara brith

For 1 loaf, soak 350 g mixed dried fruit and 100 g soft brown sugar in 300 ml strong black tea overnight. Stir in 100 g unsweetened apple purée, 250 g self-raising flour and 1 tsp mixed spice. Spoon into a lined 900 g loaf tin and bake at 160°C fan (180°C conventional) for 75 to 90 minutes, until a skewer comes out without wet batter; cover loosely if it browns too quickly. Cool completely before slicing.

The full Bara brith recipe

Leek & white bean rarebit

For 2, soften 1 finely sliced leek in 1 tsp rapeseed oil and a splash of water for 10 minutes. Mash in 200 g drained cooked white beans, 1 tsp mustard and 2 to 3 tbsp milk, then stir through 40 g grated Caerphilly. Spread over 2 thick slices of toast and grill until hot and golden. Serve with any remaining beans and a crisp salad.

The full Welsh rarebit recipe

Oven-baked Glamorgan sausages

For 8 small sausages, soften 1 finely sliced leek in 1 tsp oil, then cool. Mix with 150 g drained butter beans, mashed, 75 g grated Caerphilly, 120 g fresh breadcrumbs, 1 egg and 1 tsp mustard. Season, shape and chill for 30 minutes; roll in 30 g extra breadcrumbs and brush with 2 tsp oil. Bake on a lined tray at 180°C fan (200°C conventional) for 25 to 30 minutes, turning halfway, until golden, firm and hot through.

The full Glamorgan sausages recipe

Laverbread with mushrooms

Leave out the bacon and fry the cakes in 2 tsp rapeseed oil instead. For 2, mix 120 g laverbread with 50 g fine oatmeal, rest for 10 minutes and shape into 4 small cakes. While they cook, fry 200 g sliced mushrooms in 1 tsp oil until golden. Serve together with black pepper and lemon wedges: a plant-based breakfast plate with all the flavour of the coast.

The full Laverbread cakes recipe

Lentil & mushroom faggots

For 8, soften 1 chopped onion and 250 g finely chopped mushrooms in 1 tbsp oil for 10 minutes. Mix with 400 g drained cooked green lentils, roughly mashed, 80 g fresh breadcrumbs, 1 tsp dried sage, ¼ tsp mace and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Shape into 8 balls, bake at 180°C fan (200°C conventional) for 20 minutes, then add 400 ml vegetable onion gravy and bake for 20 minutes more. Serve with the peas.

The full Faggots & peas recipe

Plant-based crempog

For about 14, mix 300 ml oat drink with 1 tbsp lemon juice and leave for 5 minutes. Whisk 225 g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda, a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp sugar together, then whisk in the oat drink and 2 tbsp rapeseed oil. Rest for 15 minutes and cook as above on a lightly oiled griddle. Serve with sliced fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup.

The full Crempog recipe

Leek & white bean soup

Cook the leeks and onion in 1 tbsp rapeseed oil instead of butter. Use 350 g potatoes and add a 400 g tin of drained cannellini or butter beans with the stock; they make the soup creamy when blended, so there is no need for milk or cream. Season, then finish with chives and a little grated lemon zest.

The full Leek & potato soup recipe

Rosemary roast roots with butter beans

For 4, toss 1 kg mixed roots (carrots, parsnips, swede and red onion wedges) in 2 tbsp oil with 3 rosemary sprigs and 4 bashed garlic cloves. Roast at 200°C fan (220°C conventional) for 35 minutes, then stir in a drained 400 g tin of butter beans and roast for 10 minutes more. Serve with the mint sauce and a vegetable gravy.

The full Roast Welsh lamb recipe

Leek & Caerphilly filo tart

Skip the pastry and the cream. Brush 5 sheets of filo pastry very lightly with oil and layer them in a 23 cm tin. Fill with the softened leeks (cooked in 1 tbsp oil) and 100 g Caerphilly, then pour over 3 eggs whisked with 250 ml milk and the mustard. Bake at 170°C fan (190°C conventional) for 25 to 30 minutes, until just set and the filo is crisp.

The full Caerphilly & leek tart recipe

Dairy-free teisen lap

Rub 90 g plant-based baking block into 225 g self-raising flour with ½ tsp nutmeg. Stir in 75 g sugar and 100 g sultanas. Mix 200 ml oat drink with 2 tsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp apple purée, stir in to make a soft batter, and bake as above for 30 to 35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

The full Teisen lap recipe