

The first recorded use of the name listed in the OED dates from 1762 The St James's Chronicle, recording the dishes served at a banquet, included "Bubble and Squeak, garnish'd with Eddowes Cow Bumbo, and Tongue". The name of the dish, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), alludes to the sounds made by the ingredients when being fried. The dish has been known since at least the 18th century, and in its early versions it contained cooked beef by the mid-20th century the two vegetables had become the principal ingredients.

The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the "great peasant dishes of the world". Bubble and squeak is a British dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried.
