Cullen Skink  - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (2025)

Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (1)

Written by documentingmydinner Published on in Recipes, Scottish Recipes, Seafood, Soup Recipes

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Cullen Skink

Cullen Skink recipe. This soup is a Scottish classic. Cullen Skink is a creamy and comforting smoked haddock soup. The soup originates from Cullen which is a small town on the North coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This recipe is a traditional version of the classic soup. Cullen Skink soup is a perfect Winter warmer dish and is made with potatoes, cream and smoked haddock. This soup should be served with plenty of buttered bread at the side to mop up the creamy soup. The soup would also be the perfect starter to a Scottish themed meal. Make this Cullen Skink as a starter for a Scottish themed supper along with Chicken and Haggis Wellington for a main course and Rowie Butter Pudding for dessert.

Where to Buy Smoked Haddock In Aberdeen

Some local fishmongers in Aberdeen to get smoked haddock from are Amity Fish Company, Peterhead Fish Company or Granite City Fish.

More Scottish Recipes

As a Scottish Food Blogger, other Scottish recipes you might be interested in include this , Haggis Neeps and Tatties Spring Rolls and Best Ever Stovies.

Get in touch:

If you have any questions about my Cullen Skink, or if you want to work with me, get in touch at kerry@documentingmydinner.com or via Instagram.

Tips
  • Other herbs such as parsley, chives or dill would work well. Leave out the herbs completely if you don’t have any.
  • Use a mixture of smoked haddock and smoked salmon for something a little different.
  • Serve the soup with plenty of buttered bread.
  • Top the soup with a poached egg for something extra.
  • If you have any leftover mashed potatoes, they can be used instead of the cubed potatoes in this recipe.
  • The soup is usually quite chunky with a thin broth. If you want a smooth soup, blitz it with a hand blender.
  • Share your Cullen Skink photos with me on Instagram using #documentingmydinner

Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (2)

Cullen Skink

A Scottish classic, cullen skink is a creamy soup made with Scottish smoked haddock, potatoes and cream.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Scottish

Servings 4 people

Calories 350 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 Smoked haddock loin or 2 large fillets
  • 1 Onion or shallot finely chopped
  • 2 Baby leeks or one leek finely chopped
  • 1/2 Celery stick finely chopped
  • 1 Garlic clove crushed
  • 3 Medium potatoes diced into cubes
  • 200 ml milk
  • 350 ml vegetable stock or use fish stock
  • 100 ml double cream
  • Salt and white pepper
  • Chopped tarragon or parsley, to serve optional
  • Butter

Instructions

  • In a small frying pan, add the haddock and the milk. Bring to the boil, turn off the heat and cover. Allow to sit off the heat.

  • In another saucepan, fry the onion, celery, leek and garlic over a low heat in a tablespoon of butter for 10 minutes or until really soft but not coloured.

  • Add the cubed potatoes and stir through.

  • Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

  • Using a potato masher, crush some of the potato just to thicken the soup a bit.

  • Pour the milk and the fish into the pan and stir, flaking the fish.

  • Pour the double cream in and simmer for a couple of minutes.

  • Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper. Serve the Cullen Skink in deep bowls with a little chopped tarragon or parsley and with plenty of buttered bread.

Keyword Cullen Skink, Haddock, Seafood, Smoked Haddock, Soup

7 Comments

  1. Pingback: Best Ever Stovies - recipe from Documenting My Dinner

  2. Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (3)

    Julie

    26th September 2019 at 7:12 pm ·Reply

    OMG, cant wait to try it! Loved it in Scotland! Thanks!

    • Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (4)

      documentingmydinner

      26th September 2019 at 7:14 pm ·Reply

      Thanks Julie! Please let me know how you get on, you can follow me over on Instagram at @documenting_my_dinner if you want to share your thoughts with me there!

  3. Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (5)

    Mary

    3rd February 2020 at 11:35 pm ·Reply

    Cooked the Cullen Skink tonight for dinner. Made do with fresh haddock, cannot find smoked anywhere here locally. Turned out great. I tweaked the measurements without measuring. For the potatoes, I cubed smaller since I didn’t think they would cook fast enough and that worked fine. I had some trouble with conversions of ml to cups, etc, but made out fine anyway. Thanks for the recipe, method and tips, they were great.

    • Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (6)

      documentingmydinner

      4th February 2020 at 10:04 am ·Reply

      Thanks so much for the kind words Mary, glad you enjoyed it!

  4. Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (7)

    Irene Whyte

    18th February 2020 at 11:43 am ·Reply

    Made for first time. Should have cubed potatoes smaller. I made double portion and didn’t seem to be enough stock to cook potatoes. Delish though 😋

    • Cullen Skink - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (8)

      documentingmydinner

      3rd February 2021 at 8:10 pm ·Reply

      Yummy! Maybe I should change the recipe for more stock!

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Cullen Skink  - Recipe from Documenting My Dinner (2025)

FAQs

What does skink mean in Cullen Skink? ›

Cullen skink, one of Scotland's most famous dishes, is a hearty soup that is traditionally made with smoked haddock. The name of this soup comes from Cullen, a small town in the northeast of Scotland. Skink is the Scottish term for a knuckle, shin, or hough of beef, so most soups made of these parts were called skink.

What does Cullen Skink taste like? ›

The overwhelming flavour of cullen skin is smoked fish – haddock traditionally, but, as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Nick Fisher point out in the River Cottage Fish Book, just about any smoked white fish will do – so it's important to make sure that flavour is a good one.

What is the history of Cullen Skink soup? ›

Due to Cullen's fishing heritage and with many families embedded in the Sea town community seafood dishes were an essential part of life. Through years of refinement smoked haddock and various other products were all combined to create a distinctive, and now historic, dish known as Cullen Skink.

Can you freeze Cullen Skink? ›

Cullen Skink can be frozen for up to 2 months in an airtight freezer bag or container. Defrost overnight in the fridge and re-heat on a gentle heat until piping hot – if you boil the soup, you'll risk making the fish pieces tough and rubbery.

What kind of fish is Finnan Haddie? ›

Finnan haddie (also known as Finnan haddock, Finnan, Finny haddock, Finny haddie or Findrum speldings) is cold-smoked haddock, representative of a regional method of smoking with green wood and peat in north-east Scotland.

Why is it called skink? ›

Skink is a Scots word for a shin, knuckle, or hough of beef, which has developed the secondary meaning of a soup, especially one made from these. The word skink is ultimately derived from the Middle Dutch schenke "shin, hough" (cognate with the English word shank and German Schenkel, 'thigh', and Schinken, 'ham').

What country is Cullen Skink from? ›

Image of What country is Cullen Skink from?
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles.
Wikipedia

What is Cullen Skink made of? ›

Cullen Skink is a traditional broth based soup made from smoked haddock, potatoes and onions with either milk or cream, or a combination of both.

What kind of fish is haddock? ›

Haddock is a member of the cod family with a mild flavour, firm flesh and moist texture.

Where can I find Cullen Skink? ›

Downies Of Whitehills Traditional Cullen Skink 300g | ALDI.

Is Cullen Skink from Cullen? ›

Cullen Skink is a speciality of our north east corner, originating in Cullen, just up the coast in Moray.

Who makes Cullen Skink soup? ›

The finest smoked haddock is selected to make this special soup. "We've spent time perfecting this traditional, North-East of Scotland, fish chowder recipe.

How many calories are in a Cullen Skink? ›

Cullen skink
NutrientUnit
kcal206
fat6g
saturates4g
carbs21g
4 more rows

How long can you freeze Cullen Skink? ›

Yes, you can freeze Cullen Skink. Freeze it before adding the cream and keep for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge, then reheat very gently and add the cream to finish.

What defines a skink? ›

1. [ skingk ] show ipa. noun. any of numerous lizards of the family Scincidae, common in many regions of the Old and New World, typically having flat, smooth, overlapping scales and comprising terrestrial, arboreal, and fossorial species.

What is the meaning of blue tailed skink? ›

: a harmless widely ranging North American scincoid lizard (Eumeces fasciatus synonym quinquelineatus) having the under surface of the tail bright azure. called also five-lined lizard, redheaded lizard, scorpion.

Who is the best Cullen skink in the world? ›

Tasteatlas says the Rockpool Cafe in Cullen in Moray is the best place in the world to taste Cullen skink, followed by Howies restaurants in Edinburgh, the Silver Darling in Aberdeen, the Bothy in Glasgow and Pibroch in Edinburgh.

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