Hubble bubble is a dish that is most commonly found in English cuisine, and it is made from a mixed variety of foods often left over from previously prepared meals such as oven-roasted beef with vegetables, rice, or potatoes. Popular hubble bubble ingredients can be cabbage, carrots, green peas, and brussels sprouts as well as mashed or boiled potatoes. Leftover meat can be included in this dish, though this practice tends to be less frequent among home cooks. This recipe is a variation on another English dish called bubble and squeak; the difference with hubble bubble is usually the addition of baked beans and either tomato sauce or ketchup to the vegetables for more flavor and protein.
The first recipes for these kinds of mixed dishes can be traced to the early 19th century, although they did not become well known until the mid-20th century. Bubble and squeak became a common meal prepared in many homes during the Second World War to avoid wasting rationed food. The dish gets its unique name from the sounds that the cooking vegetables and potatoes make in their covered stove top pan. Hubble bubble recipe ideas bring more creativity to the original bubble and squeak recipes as more home cooks find that their leftover favorite foods work just as well in this dish.
Some versions of hubble bubble can be classified as rice dishes rather than potato dishes. Cooks who prefer a lighter recipe with lower amounts of starch may mix precooked wild rice or brown rice with their choices of meat, vegetables, and baked beans. Additional flavoring can come from cooked ingredients such as bacon, onions, leeks, squash, and pumpkin. While many of these recipes can be made on the stove, others can also be reheated in a microwave as long as everything has been cooked beforehand.
While hubble bubble made with beans and tomato sauce is usually a dish for a meal in the afternoon or evening, some cooks have also developed breakfast versions as well. These can be made with flat sausage, bacon, sliced potatoes, and scrambled eggs mixed with a small amount of milk. Onions or shallots along with salt and pepper can be added for further flavor dimension. Breakfast hubble bubble recipes often have instructions to bake the onion, bacon, sausage and potato slices in the oven while cooking the milk and egg mixture in a skillet on the stove top. The ingredients are then usually layered on top of one another just before serving.
