What is Jiggs dinner?

A traditional Newfoundland Sunday meal of salt beef boiled with potatoes, turnip, carrots and cabbage, served with pease pudding and often figgy duff.

Where can I get Jiggs dinner in St. John's?

Look for Sunday specials at diners, family restaurants and pubs, restaurants serving traditional food, and community or church suppers. Check ahead, as it is often only on certain days.

What is pease pudding?

Yellow split peas cooked in a cloth bag in the same pot as the dinner until they become a soft, savoury mash.

A steamed pudding, usually with raisins, cooked in a bag and served with the dinner or as dessert.

What do you do with Jiggs dinner leftovers?

Most families make a fry-up: the salt beef and vegetables chopped and fried until crisp, sometimes with an egg. The cooking water can become pea soup.

Dish guide

Jiggs dinner in St. John's: what it is and where to find a Sunday cooked dinner

Mosey · November 11, 2026 · 5 min read

If one dish captures Newfoundland home cooking, it is Jiggs dinner. For generations, Sunday in a great many Newfoundland houses has meant a big pot on the stove from late morning, the smell of salt beef and cabbage filling the house, and the whole family around the table in the early afternoon. It is filling, salty, simple and deeply loved.

What is in a Jiggs dinner?

The core of the meal is salt beef, soaked to remove some of the salt and then boiled. The vegetables go into the same pot to cook in the salty broth:

Potatoes
Turnip, which in Newfoundland usually means the yellow-fleshed rutabaga
Carrots
Cabbage

Alongside comes pease pudding, made from yellow split peas tied in a cloth bag and cooked in the same pot until they turn into a soft, savoury mash. Many families also cook figgy duff, a steamed pudding with raisins, in another bag in the pot. Some serve roast turkey or chicken with it, along with gravy and a dish of mustard pickles or pickled beets.

Why is it called Jiggs dinner?

The name is usually traced to an old American comic strip whose main character, Jiggs, loved corned beef and cabbage. Newfoundlanders also simply call it a cooked dinner or a boiled dinner, and in many homes it is just "Sunday dinner".

When do people eat Jiggs dinner?

Traditionally on Sundays, around midday or early afternoon. It is also served at holidays, at church and community suppers, and whenever family comes home. Leftovers often become a fry-up the next day, with the vegetables mashed and pan-fried, which some people prefer to the original.

Can you get Jiggs dinner in a restaurant in St. John's?

Yes, though it is a home dish first. In St. John's you are most likely to find it:

As a Sunday special at diners, family restaurants and some pubs
On the menu of places specializing in traditional food
At community suppers and church dinners, which are often open to the public and are a wonderful way to eat it
As a "cooked dinner" plate at some takeout spots

Because it takes hours to cook and is often only made on certain days, call ahead or check the menu before you go.

How do you eat a Jiggs dinner?

There is no ceremony. Everything goes on one plate, usually with gravy poured over the vegetables and meat. Pease pudding goes beside the vegetables. Figgy duff can come with the main course or as dessert, sometimes with a sweet sauce. Mustard pickles add tang to cut the salt.

Expect a big portion. It is meant to keep you going for the rest of the day.

What should first-timers know about Jiggs dinner?

It is salty. That is the point of salt beef, though good cooks soak it well.
It is plain. The flavour comes from the meat and the broth, not from spices.
It is heavy. Do not plan a big dinner the same evening.
It is personal. Every family has its own way, and many people will tell you theirs is the right one.

What is a Jiggs dinner fry-up?

Many Newfoundlanders will tell you the best part of a cooked dinner is Monday. The leftover potatoes, turnip, carrot and cabbage are mashed together and fried in a pan until browned and crisp at the edges, often with chopped salt beef and a spoon of pease pudding mixed in. Served with a fried egg, it makes a hearty breakfast or lunch. Some diners and cafés serve a version of it, especially early in the week, so keep an eye out for "cooked dinner hash" or similar on a menu.

Is there a vegetarian Jiggs dinner?

Traditionally no, because the vegetables cook in the salt beef broth. Some modern cooks make a vegetable version with a seasoned broth, and you may find one at a restaurant that caters to vegetarians, but it is not common.

How does Jiggs dinner compare with other Atlantic Canadian dinners?

Boiled dinners are found across Atlantic Canada, and the Irish and English roots of many Newfoundland families show in the dish. What makes the Newfoundland version distinctive is the salt beef, the pease pudding and the figgy duff all coming out of one pot.

How do you make Jiggs dinner leftovers?

Jiggs dinner makes a lot of food, and the leftovers are part of the tradition. The classic next-day meal is a fry-up: the salt beef, potato, cabbage, turnip and carrot chopped together and fried in a pan until crisp at the edges, sometimes with a fried egg on top.

Other ways families use the leftovers:

Pease pudding reheated as a side.
Salt beef sandwiches.
A soup, using the cooking water as the base for pea soup.

If you are visiting, a fry-up on a restaurant breakfast menu is a good way to taste the dinner without committing to the full Sunday meal.

How do you remember where you found a good one?

A good Sunday dinner in a restaurant is worth remembering. Mosey lets you rate the dishes you actually ordered, with photos, and keep a list of the places that do a proper cooked dinner, so you know where to go the next time you crave one.

Common questions

What is Jiggs dinner?
A traditional Newfoundland Sunday meal of salt beef boiled with potatoes, turnip, carrots and cabbage, served with pease pudding and often figgy duff.
Why is it called Jiggs dinner?
The name is usually traced to Jiggs, a character in an old comic strip who loved corned beef and cabbage. It is also called a cooked dinner or boiled dinner.
Where can I get Jiggs dinner in St. John's?
Look for Sunday specials at diners, family restaurants and pubs, restaurants serving traditional food, and community or church suppers. Check ahead, as it is often only on certain days.
What is pease pudding?
Yellow split peas cooked in a cloth bag in the same pot as the dinner until they become a soft, savoury mash.
What is figgy duff?
A steamed pudding, usually with raisins, cooked in a bag and served with the dinner or as dessert.
What do you do with Jiggs dinner leftovers?
Most families make a fry-up: the salt beef and vegetables chopped and fried until crisp, sometimes with an egg. The cooking water can become pea soup.