Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Boil-Up with Doughboys
A one-pot Māori classic: pork, kūmara, potatoes, and watercress simmered together, with dumplings dropped in at the end.
Māori (New Zealand) · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 90 min
~615 cal · 48g protein · 55g carbs · 21g fat · 5g fiber · 6g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
The boil-up is a cornerstone of Maori home cooking, a generous one-pot meal that grew from earth-oven traditions adapted to the stovetop. It remains marae and whanau food, unfussy and made to feed whoever walks through the door.
Pork bones or brisket are simmered slowly with kumara, potatoes, and other vegetables until the broth turns rich, then watercress (or puha) pulled fresh from a cold stream is wilted in near the end. The finishing touch is doughboys, soft flour dumplings dropped straight onto the surface to swell in the steam.
Warming and deeply nostalgic, the boil-up stretches to feed a crowd. It is the kind of dish that says welcome and sit down, and for many New Zealanders it tastes of home and family more than any other.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 lbs pork bones or pork belly
1 bacon hock or bacon bones
2 large kūmara (sweet potatoes), chunked
2 cups pumpkin, chunked
3 potatoes, chunked
1 big bunch pūhā or watercress (or spinach), washed well
1 onion, quartered
1.5 cups self-raising flour (for doughboys)
2/3 cup warm water (for doughboys)
generously salt
generously pepper
Instructions
1
Cover the pork, the bacon hock (or kombu and smoked tofu), and the onion with 10 cups water and simmer gently for 90 minutes, skimming, until the broth tastes rich.
2
Add the kumara, potatoes, and pumpkin and simmer 15 minutes.
3
Mix the flour, salt, and warm water into a soft dough.
4
Drop spoonfuls of the dough straight onto the simmering broth, then cover and cook 10 minutes without lifting the lid, until they swell into pillowy doughboys.
✎ Chef’s note
Keep the lid on the whole 10 minutes. The doughboys steam as much as they boil, and peeking lets that steam escape so they cook unevenly.
5
Push the pūhā or watercress down into the broth for the last 3 minutes, just to wilt.
6
Season well with salt and pepper and ladle into deep bowls, making sure everyone gets a doughboy.
Waikato marae and whānau kitchens.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Waikato. Today the same land carries the largest concentration of dairy cattle in New Zealand, something close to a quarter of the national herd, which is why butter, cream and cheese are simply assumed in the local cooking rather than treated as ingredients. The hangi still does the ceremonial work that no oven does.
🗺️
New Zealand. The pavlova is argued over with Australia and the argument has some real evidence in it: the two earliest recipes carrying the name are Canterbury ones from 1933 and 1934, while researchers trace the meringue-cream-and-fruit form itself further back to German-speaking Europe and the American Midwest. The flat white is disputed on similar terms between Sydney and Wellington.
🌍
Oceania. Oceania spans Australia, New Zealand, and thousands of Pacific islands, where the ocean and the coconut palm define the pantry. Traditional Polynesian and Melanesian cooking centers on root crops, taro, yam, cassava, and sweet potato, slow-cooked in earth ovens (the umu or mumu) alongside fresh reef fish and rich coconut cream. Modern Australian and Māori kitchens blend these deep roots with waves of Asian and European influence.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from New Zealand
PavlovaA cloud of meringue, crisp shell, marshmallow heart, piled with cream and summer fruit. The dessert two nations claim.
Mince on ToastSavory, gravy-rich beef mince spooned over hot buttered toast, a nostalgic Kiwi breakfast and any-time comfort meal.
Whitebait FrittersWhole translucent whitebait bound in barely any egg and fried golden, a South Island seasonal delicacy on white bread.
Browse all New Zealand recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Uncooked parcels freeze well and cook from frozen. Cooked ones keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and steam or pan-warm to serve.
Make it a New Zealand meal
Flat WhiteDrink
PavlovaDessert
Whitebait FrittersLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
CepelinaiLithuania
KniddelenLuxembourg
Bryndzové HaluškySlovakia
Bryndzové PirohySlovakia
Jiaozi (Pork and Cabbage Dumplings)China
Idrijski ŽlikrofiSlovenia
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Boil-Up with Doughboys?
A one-pot Māori classic: pork, kūmara, potatoes, and watercress simmered together, with dumplings dropped in at the end.
Where does Boil-Up with Doughboys come from?
Boil-Up with Doughboys is a Māori (New Zealand) dish from Waikato, New Zealand.
Can Boil-Up with Doughboys be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Boil-Up with Doughboys recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Boil-Up with Doughboys safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Boil-Up with Doughboys take to make?
About 110 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.