Recipe
🥗 STARTER
Cullen Skink
A smoky, creamy chowder of smoked haddock, potato, and leek from a single fishing village on the Moray coast.
Scottish · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 30 min
~439 cal · 32g protein · 42g carbs · 15g fat · 4g fiber · 12g sugars · 9g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Cullen skink comes from the little fishing town of Cullen on the Moray Firth in northeast Scotland, and its odd name simply pairs the place with skink, an old Scots word for a soup or stew. It is a thick, smoky soup of smoked haddock, potatoes, and onion in milk, and it has become one of Scotland's best-known bowls.
The soul of it is the fish. Traditionally it uses finnan haddie, haddock cold-smoked over green wood along that same stretch of coast, and the smoke does nearly all the seasoning, so the recipe itself stays plain. The potato is often mashed into the broth to thicken it, giving the soup its characteristic thick body.
It is cold-weather food, the kind of bowl that belongs to a grey day by a northern harbour. A good cullen skink walks a line, smoky and rich but never heavy, and Scots will happily tell you whether yours has got the balance right.
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 gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-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 4
1 lb smoked haddock (undyed)
Hard to find? any undyed smoked white fish, smoked cod first choice - the soup needs the smoke more than the species; hot-smoked fillets flake in the same way
3 cups whole milk
1.5 lbs floury potatoes, diced
1 large leek, sliced
1 onion, diced
3 tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp chives, snipped
Instructions
1
Poach the haddock (or smoked tofu and kombu) in the milk with the bay leaf, 5 minutes. Lift out and flake; keep the milk.
2
Soften the leek and onion in butter without coloring, 8 minutes.
3
Add the potatoes and the poaching milk; simmer 15 minutes until tender.
4
Mash a few potato pieces against the pot to thicken, then return the flaked fish and warm through gently.
5
Season with black pepper, shower with chives, and serve with oatcakes or crusty bread.
Cullen, Moray coast tradition.
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
📍
Scotland (Moray Coast). Two Moray dishes are named after villages. Finnan haddie is cold-smoked haddock named for Findon along the coast, and cullen skink, the thick soup of smoked haddock, potato and onion, takes its name from the town of Cullen, skink being an old Scots word for a shin and for the soup made from one.
🗺️
United Kingdom. British cooking has quietly reinvented itself, but its heart stays in the roast dinner, the pie, fish and chips, and a great baking tradition. Regional specialties and waves of South Asian influence (the beloved curry house) shape the modern table.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from United Kingdom
Cornish PastyA crimped shortcrust parcel of beef, potato, swede, and onion, built to survive a miner’s pocket.
Beans on ToastSaucy baked beans piled onto hot buttered toast, the humble British comfort breakfast.
Fish and ChipsCrisp beer-battered white fish with thick-cut chips, salt, and vinegar, Britain's definitive seaside meal.
Browse all United Kingdom recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a United Kingdom meal
Sticky Toffee PuddingDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Bergensk FiskesuppeNorway
New England Clam ChowderUnited States
Bermuda Fish ChowderBermuda
Sopa de CaracolHonduras
MohingaMyanmar
KadushiCuraçao
Frequently asked questions
What is Cullen Skink?
A smoky, creamy chowder of smoked haddock, potato, and leek from a single fishing village on the Moray coast.
Where does Cullen Skink come from?
Cullen Skink is a Scottish dish from Scotland (Moray Coast), United Kingdom.
Can Cullen Skink be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Cullen Skink 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 Cullen Skink 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 Cullen Skink take to make?
About 45 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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.