I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed! Indeed, grinding the liver gives them a finer texture (though I think slightly chunky also works). And yes, sometimes if it's simmering that little higher you might need a bit more liquid, always good to keep an eye on it and ajust.

Thanks for sharing - certainly people have different tastes! And yes, I can see suet working well, it's just not something I for one find easy to get hold of hence I didn't really factor it into the recipe.

I personally loved the cinnamon and added a wee more than it called for. I have had loads of traditional haggis, in Scotland, and this was nearly perfect. I think next time I'll add some suet too.

Appreciate your comment. Personally, I don't find the very small amount of cinnamon stands out at all, and it's not something others have mentioned. It merely helps add a slight warmth in flavor overall. But people can sometimes be more sensitive to particular flavors, so clearly if you prefer without, it makes sense to skip in future.

I'm so glad to hear! It was created after not being able to get a good version of the 'real thing' so I'm glad you found it pretty close, as that was the aim.

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed! (We had some tonight ourselves!)

Beef mince would probably be close but doesn't quite have the same depth of flavor - a mix of pork and beef would have more flavor, though it's definitely different. I have seen goat meat mentioned as an alternative to lamb, not sure if that's any easier for you to find. Venison is another option to consider that has a bit more of the gamey flavor.

You can use as you have and prefer as long as it broadly goes with lamb. I would say not fish or ham, but chicken, beef or vegetable will all work.

I'm so glad you enjoyed! Yes indeed, part of why I developed this was because it was hard to get "true" ingredients but it's definitely close enough that we love it just as much (if not more these days!).

Yes, you can easily double everything, then just use a larger dish to finish in the oven.

I hope you enjoy! So one option would be to make a whisky sauce to go with it, like the one I serve with chicken Balmoral - it's a lovely creamy sauce with a nice whisky flavor!

Oh perfect! Hope you enjoy.

Hi caroline, Thank you for the quick reply.Ohh I went to the market today and I found the chicken livers! Funny thing, I never noticed them before, probably because I always seen the gizzard packs, I never noticed the little container the livers come in. And they had a lot. So I was wrong, they do stock them! Just never noticed. I always used to buy a whole chicken, and the liver and gizzards would come with it. But it would only have one liver with it. I bought the container of them and froze them. Hopefully ,they freeze ok? I am going to make this haggis in a couple weeks when I visit my mom. I couldnt find ground lamb , but I will go to another store that has it. I will omit the ground beef for now,and stick to your recipe with lamb. I cant wait! I been wanting to try haggis for years. Thanks again!

So personally, I think it's worth having some liver in there to get closer to the 'true' haggis flavor that is made with liver, amongst other organs. I think beef liver could work, it does just have a bit stronger flavor, so I would maybe use a bit less or you can also soak liver in milk for an hour or two (in the fridge), then drain before cooking, to help milden any iron-y flavor. I think half beef, half lamb would be fine, too. How interesting that you can get beef liver more easily than chicken as for me it's definitely the opposite!

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it as part of your trip and that this has helped fill the gap since you returned!

We traveled to Scotland about a year and a half ago and fell in LOVE with haggis. We couldn't get enough and ate it all over the country! When we got home, we craved it something terrible and I found your recipe and we have made it multiple times since. It really does taste like the real thing and it uses ingredients I can easily get here in the states! Great recipe!

I'm so glad to hear you have been enjoying it!

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed - both are definitely favorites when I get nostalgic for some Scottish food!

Glad to hear you enjoyed! And yes, I can see pudding basin/pressure cooker working well, too.

Like minds, it seems! I definitely recommend trying some chicken liver in there too, as well as the other spices - allspice is one on top of what you mention I feel you need to get the right overall flavor.

Glad to hear you all enjoyed! Indeed haggis seasoning doesn't particularly feel "Scottish", I know, but it works so well. Salt is one of those seasonings that I think it depends on your taste, here. And Ardbeg is a great choice!

I haven't done it that way myself, but I believe at least one or two other readers have put it into a skin and had it work. You may need to simmer slightly longer on stovetop before transferring, just to make sure there isn't too much liquid as you put in the skin and also to have the oatmeal that little further along in cooking.

Wow, that's a lot of servings! I'd suggest making a few large casserole/baking dishes, each maybe up to 4 times the amount in this recipe. If you go through the same process just multiplying everything up each time. I would get each dish to the point where it is ready to go in the oven, then bake a few dishes at a time (depending on the size of your oven). You could also cook them ahead, just making sure it is slightly on the under-cooked rather than very crisp on top side, then reheat if that suits better. I would just cover with foil during any time they are not in the oven and potentially for re-heating. Good luck!

We’re using your recipe for our Burns Dinner for up to 70 people. Any suggestions on the best way to do it? Thanks.

In theory, yes, but I am not sure the flavor would be quite the same - if you want to avoid lamb, I would have thought beef is closer flavor-wise, or even a mix of pork and beef to get some of the richer aspect from the pork.

That's so wonderful to hear!

Glad to hear you enjoyed it! I would tend to agree, in most cases it's as well just to try and not dig and not worry too much on the exact ingredients. But at the same time, if you want to recreate it at home, getting those ingredients can be tricky which is why I developed this recipe.

So glad to hear you enjoyed! And yes, I can definitely see it being good with toasted oats, if you have the time etc.

Always love hearing when people make an effort to try local foods - always one of the best parts of a trip for me. Sounds like you did a great job trying haggis in a few different ways! Hope you enjoy this version, too.

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it (and more than once!), plus great idea with the slow cooker liner!

Glad to hear you enjoyed, and that sounds like a great replacement to make it gluten free, too. On whisky, a lot really depends on your personal taste, though it may be good to go for one with a reasonably robust flavor given the flavors in the food. If you are up for a peated whisky, this could be good as the slight spice to the whisky and pepper in the haggis should work well together. So something like Talisker or Ardbeg could be good. If you're not such a fan of peat, then Glenkinchie Distiller's Edition or one of the sherry-cask Speysides like The Macallan are other ones to consider.

So glad to hear you enjoyed and that you found it easy! And yes, some heart as well (as well as beef rather than lamb/chicken) can work if that's what you have.

Used ground beef instead of lamb, as I live in the middle of nowhere. Came out great. I usually used finely chopped beef heart as well as liver and ground meat and stuff them in collagen summer sausage casings. This was so easy and yummy. Will be making it again.

So glad to hear you enjoyed! Yes I think you could partly cook it in a bung, but I would cook it either in the oven or on the stove long enough to have the oatmeal absorb the liquid before transferring, as otherwise you will probably have liquid leaking and it could cook unevenly. But for a final cook or warm after, I think it would be just fine.

Yes, we had a wonderful time. Beautiful country, friendly people, and delicious food. Our daughter lives in Stockbridge but since we were there for a month we were able to take trips to Oban and Inverness as well.

You should really try the Goetta. We left Cincinnati for Florida 40+ years ago, but it is easy to make and everyone seems to enjoy it. Instead of ground pork I use pork sausage so I can decide weather to make mild or spicey without having to play with the recipe. Our daughter says that American style sausage is not really a thing in Scotland so she needs to spice it up.

Love your website.

So glad to hear you enjoyed and it matched up with what you had in Edinburgh (my hometown!)

Glad to hear you enjoyed! And yes these days there seems to be so many twists on serving haggis - hope you enjoyed your time there! Edinburgh is actually where I grew up. And just looked up goetta as it wasn't one I had heard of, looks interesting.

There is a traditional dish developed in Cincinnati by German immigrants, and not found anywhere else, called Goetta (Get-a). Substitute ground beef and pork scraps and organ meat for lamb and you have the basic Goetta recipe. It is served for breakfast everywhere in Cincy.

So glad to hear you enjoyed! I can understand, it may not seem quite right at first, but it really does work out! And perfect with those other classics, too.

I have just npmade your Haggis Recipe and at first I was doubtful but it turned to perfection. I am Scottish and now live in Spain and just could not get a haggis, i have Cullen Skink and Clootie Dumpling all done which I have done for more than 40 years.

Thank you, hope you enjoy!

Thank you - indeed it can be interesting to see the similarities between some dishes in different parts of the world.

How interesting! Indeed, there are a number of Scottish/British stuffings that are quite 'meaty' and so have some similarity to this, and those do tend to use herbs. And I understand, cinnamon etc are far from native to Scotland, but they are, for whatever reason, part of the traditional spicing used in haggis. Some food history can be a little mysterious!

Amazing. My grandma made turkey stuffing that was almost identical to haggis, except she used ground beef. Our family still uses a very similar base recipe and there are never leftovers.

The strange thing about the comments above, is that there is cinnamon, coriander, etc which are most definitely not traditional Scottish herbs, but when a comment about using paprika or chile was made, the author mentioned the non-teaditionality of it.

My grandmother used wild sage, wild onions and leeks, thyme, rosemary (not native but very hearty) and whatever other local herbs were available, with a generous amount of very high quality sea salt...I stress, very high quality....she would boil her own sea water in giant vats (well not her but paid people to) during certain times of year to get the best tasting salt from the North Sea.
She was from Aberdeen...her family is of the Walker clan, known for confectionaries add crisps.

Long story longer, when she moved to Canada, she made due with what was available and then made it a tradition in Canada.

She still was anal about her salt though. If anyone tried to put "Windsor" table salt in their food, she would rap them on the knuckles.

Ha, as a Scot myself I can understand the skepticism, but glad to hear it won you over as a close alternative!

How fun to have a Highland Games theme and glad to hear so many tried and enjoyed. And great that it has encouraged you to try the 'real thing' if you're in Scotland!

On a personal note, I found it to have a great depth of flavor. I probably shorted it a bit on pepper because I have never actually counted how many grinds it takes to make a teaspoon, and I didn't have any ground pepper on hand. I did add a sprinkling of Kosher salt to the onions while they were sweating and I would probably be just a little more generous next time.

Thanks for sharing this -- if I ever get to Scotland, I will definitely be willing to try the real thing now!

If you put in chorizo, it's not haggis anymore. It's that simple. Call it something else.

Yes I think you could - in fact I think you may find another comment where someone mentions using the haggis skin/bung. I'm not sure if they boiled or roasted (personally, we have always roasted in my family with bought haggis as well, but that's just a preference).

Yes, indeed haggis is traditionally stuffed into a sheep's stomach, although these days synthetic versions are probably more common (basically big sausage casings). Since they can be hard to get hold of, though, that's why I have made the mixture in the dish. In terms of cooking, you have a couple traditional ways - some boil, but my family always preferred roasting so you get some nice crisp edges just under the casing.

While it might be interesting, the flavors in chorizo are very much different from haggis - neither chili nor paprika (depending on whether using Spanish or Mexican) have ever been a part of Scottish cooking. So personally, it's not one I'd opt to add but of course any recipe is a base to experiment with, it just might no longer be the original dish.

I am making this Haggis for a friend and will try it.

Sandie

I typically use chicken stock, as that's what I most commonly have around, but you could also use beef or vegetable.

I’m making this today but wondering what stock everyone used?

Sounds like fun, and glad it helped you join in with your own haggis!

Thanks to this recipe, I made my first haggis for a Zoom Burns Night hosted by friends in Edinburgh. Instructions were easy to follow and the results were tasty. I was glad to have this hearty dish on hand for the reading of Ode to a Haggis!

Glad to hear you enjoyed and all sounds like a delicious meal as well!

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed! Yes, steel cut are pretty much the same as pinhead oats (if not the same) so that's definitely the best choice from your options.

Thank you! I made this for Burns Night yesterday (in New York), and it worked an absolute treat. Truly authentic-tasting and looking. I also used calf’s liver, as the local butcher had some in. The requirement for ‘pinwheel’ oatmeal was a challenge - I went with steel-cut oats (as they are sold here) instead of rolled oats, and the consistency, texture and look worked very well.

That's great to hear, perfect for Burns Night!

Wonderful, enjoy the rest too 🙂

That's so great to hear that it went down so well, and indeed the offal substitutions sound good as well.

Personally I think the flavor of lamb is better for this than beef, so I would stick with lamb if you can. But yes I think you could reduce the fat content and it should still work pretty well, it will just be slightly less rich. Generally, commercial ground lamb/lamb mince is a higher percentage, but if you are able to get leaner or can grind your own to be a bit leaner, then I think it should work, or else mix a blend of lamb and lean beef, maybe.

Looks like a great recipe. We're looking to do something homemade for burns night, but my partner is on quite a restrictive low-fat diet. Have you got any suggestions for reducing the fat content of the haggis recipe (to below 20g per portion) so we can both enjoy? - would using lean beef or 10% fat lamb be ok?

That's great, glad to hear you enjoyed. My grandfather used to grind his own meat, whether available or not, as he always felt it tasted better. Great that you got hold of some skins as well!

Minced Lamb is not common in France so I used trimmed breast of lamb and put it through my meat mincer with a fine disk. I could not find steel cut or pinhead oats anywhere but did find whole dehusked oats on Amazon (sold as "gruau" in france) and gave this a good blitz in my food processor. I also toasted the oats in a hot oven until they just started too colour...because I sourced by mail order from Scotland a pack of artificial haggis bungs. They hold 1Ib. So after cooking in the pan instead of roasting in the oven I stufed the filling into the bungs. I made double the quanity in your recipe it made two 1lb haggis and two haggis sausage. I froze one and the sausages and chilled the other one. I also incresed the pepper for this amount of mix to a 15ml tablespoon. On St Andrews night we had the chilled one. I wrapped it in tin foil and put it in a bain marie of boiling water in a 100C oven for two hours. It was perfect, we had it with tatties and neeps and whisky sauce. Thanks again. PS The company that makes the Haggis Bungs/Skins ships globally.

Look for steel cut oats, they are the same as pinhead oats

I will try it with those spices as soon as I get some. Today as I write I'm making more with the addition of bay leaf and sichuan peppers. Can't wait to try it, topped with fried eggs, my fave being duck eggs!

Cheers

Glad to hear you enjoyed, though I'd definitely recommend adding the spices next time as well as they really are good in there.

Yes I think you could use ground beef and it would be just fine, the main reason for lamb is the flavor is much closer to the 'real thing' which is all made from lamb cuts.

So glad to hear that! Yes, I know if you like a more peppery haggis, you will probably need a little more so glad you worked out what that amount was for you. I can definitely see black pudding being good in there too.

Great tip! I'll try cassava next time (actually, I love it). Thanks a lot!

Glad to hear it went down well! Yes, I know rutabaga/swede can be a but hard to find in some places, it's definitely more of a cold-weather climate vegetable. Mashed cassava may be not too bad as an alternative for another time.

Venison is a lot leaner than lamb, so I think while you could replace some, I'd caution against completely replacing as you need the fat in there as well. I'd suggest maybe swap out half?

How wonderful, glad you enjoyed and will be having again! We'll be making it again here tomorrow as well 🙂

I haven't tried it, but I think it should work, it will just be a little different in texture. I'd suggest maybe pulsing the rolled outs briefly in a food processor to make slightly smaller pieces before you use them (not so small that it's flour, just a little smaller). Good luck and enjoy!

I used beef heart instead of chicken and it was great, not the real thing but here in th U.S. It was the best .

So glad to hear you enjoyed and that it matched up to what you had! Yes, I understand it's lower on the pepper than some who prefer it a bit spicier may like (we are a mixed household that way so it's more a case of those who want to add a bit more later!). I can see it being good with lamb stock too.

So glad to hear! Have a great Burns supper!

So glad to hear! It's definitely one we enjoy as well.

That makes me very happy to hear!

So glad to hear you enjoyed!

So glad you enjoyed! My kids both enjoy this as well as us. Glad it could give you a sense of your Scottish roots!

Absolutely fabulous recipe. The overall texture & flavour are superb. It’s the kind of meal a baby should eat and adults should appreciate & love. I’m in Australia, but felt homesick for my Scottish roots eating this on a cold day Downunder. Thank you.

I generally use chicken, but beef, vegetable or lamb if you happened to have it would be fine as well.

Thanks Lisa! Well to be honest, I don't know anyone in Scotland that made their own haggis, but then we got great haggis from a local butcher. This isn't quite the traditional ingredients, but the taste is very close and well loved by all my family, I am glad to say!

Ovens do vary, so yes if yours comes to temperature quicker, you can start the preheat later. It would also be OK to let the onions and meat simmer a little less time before adding the oatmeal and putting in the oven, as I sometimes do if I'm in a hurry. Enjoy!

Thank you for your reply and advice. I’ll share a photo once I’ve made it.

I hope you enjoy it! Yes if you halve the recipe, I would halve everything. We actually have a poultry shop near us that sells chicken liver, I don't generally see them in our supermarket but it's not that big. It's something you may well get at the meat counter if you ask, though. I think it may taste a little different without it, but you would still have most of the flavor from the lamb, spices and oats.

I'm so happy to hear that! It has very much worked for us as a way to substitute (and now has my son liking it, which makes me very happy as a Scot!). I know this is less peppery than many traditional haggis so if you prefer it more peppery, you will need to add more, but it's easy to adjust as you found.

Yes that should work, just re-heat it covered so it doesn't dry out. The other option, as I have done, is to make it up to the point you add the oatmeal and then do the oven cook a bit later.

Hi Valeria, I hope you enjoy. The butter is just to soften the onion as you start the cooking process and is just a small amount, as opposed to being more integral to the overall dish. Plus in all honesty I find it pretty hard to find. If you did use some, it would be about the same amount, I think.

So glad it worked out for you and that you enjoyed! If you'd like to share photos, feel free to tag on social media.

It's definitely not typical, and I would recommend warm, but it could kind of work cold.

I use to make liver and onions with bacon for my hubby but grew out of it. Venison might be a good choice since my son-in-law always has venison on hand 🙂

Thanks, Petra, the pink potatoes were a happy accident!

You wouldn't be the first person I came across who lived in England and hadn't made it to Scotland. It's worth a visit, and not just for haggis! Hope you manage to try this!

I am very impressed, Hilda! I hope people like this one as well.

True, the picture is a little deceptive 🙂 It doesn't really taste of liver so if you are OK with having it in but can't taste it I would still try it. As an alternative...it does really help to get the right kind of flavor to have something fairly strong-flavored. Maybe some venison might be worth a try?