10 Irish Foods To Enjoy In Celebration Of St. Patrick’s Day
When you think about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, your mind might think about foods that are dyed green. But why not try some traditional Irish foods to get you more into the spirit of the Irish holiday? Check out these ten Irish foods to help you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
Shepherd’s Pie
This is one of the most popular Irish foods that people think of. It’s a pie made of meat and various vegetables depending on what recipe you decide to use.
The best part? The crust, top and bottom, is made of mashed potatoes. If that doesn’t sound like the best kind of crust ever to you, then you might want to reconsider.
The meat in a Shepherd’s pie is either lamb or mutton. If it’s made with beef then it’s considered a cottage pie and not a Shepherd’s pie.
This Irish dish was originally created during a harsh time when leftovers had to be used to feed the family for more than one day. It was a brilliant design to have the others of the household eat what they wouldn’t eat otherwise.
It’s a delicious meal that will fill you up while you enjoy a pint or two of Guinness while you celebrate everything Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.
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Soda Bread
Soda bread is another Irish food that people commonly think about eating on St. Patrick’s Day, or when they go to Ireland.
It’s a unique type of bread in that it doesn’t use yeast as a leavening agent. A leavening agent is an ingredient in breads and pastries that allow them to rise.
The traditional Irish soda bread only has four ingredients: salt, flour, baking soda, and buttermilk. Like most breads, it’s usually not eaten just as is. So many people opt for jam or butter with this bread.
If you’re looking for good Irish food to start your day of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with, then you should try soda bread as an option instead of your usual white or wheat bread.
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Corned Beef and Cabbage
Corned beef and cabbage is arguably the most famous of Irish foods. You can make it several different ways.
Just as they are after cooking: slab the cooked corned beef onto a plate with some cooked cabbage. Maybe even some carrots or other veggies to fit the taste.
You can also put them into a stew to simmer with other ingredients.
No matter what you choose, you should make sure to fit some corned beef and cabbage into your day as you celebrate the Irish.
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Colcannon
This dish is usually served as a side dish, but if you’re a huge lover of mashed potatoes what’s stopping you from eating a whole bowl of it?
Colcannon is a dish made of mashed potatoes, cabbage, and leeks. While there are many jokes about the Irish and potatoes, they really do make some of the best potato dishes.
You can choose to go traditional and only include these three ingredients, or you can add other ingredients like bacon to make it even more special.
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Rutabaga Pie
Love rutabaga and want to combine it with different ingredients in a pie? Look no further. The rutabaga pie is a perfect fit for people celebrating and loving pie, but not yet ready for dessert.
Not sure what rutabaga is? It’s a vegetable that’s a cross between a turnip and cabbage. Unlike some vegetables, you can use and eat all of the parts of a rutabaga. The roots being the bulkier part of the vegetable and the leaves can be used by themselves.
This pie will be a little sweeter than you might imagine. Although it will have a little bitterness from its cabbage ancestors, it will be sweeter when cooked and it’s very nutrient-packed.
So if you’re looking for something to give you a good amount of nutrients and fill you up while you get your drink on, you might want to consider a rutabaga pie.
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Lamb Stew
Also known as Irish Stew, this dish is popular in Ireland. Many Americans might turn their nose up at this dish since lamb is not a very popular meat here, but you might just want to try it for the experience.
This stew originally was made with lamb since sheep are plentiful in Ireland. Many people might associate Irish stew with beef, but that only started once the Irish immigrated to the United States since cows are more plentiful than sheep.
Lamb stew is made with lamb (or mutton), potatoes, carrots, maybe some bacon, and thyme. For the bacon, you might not want to use American bacon but rather a thicker kind of bacon. Especially if you want to go completely traditional.
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Boxty
You might not realize from the name of this Irish food, but it’s a potato pancake. A delicious way to start the morning and very easy to make.
All you really need is mashed potatoes, shredded potatoes, milk, flour, and eggs. It’s a very simple recipe for a combination of potatoes that give a texture combination of pancake and hashbrowns.
You can put a hearty amount of sour cream on top or on the side for this dish. You can also put applesauce for dipping on the side to add even more flavor.
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Coddle
A coddle is an Irish comfort food dish that is usually made up of a lot of leftovers. If you search for it, you will find many different recipes because of this fact.
However, most recipes usually include a layer of sliced sausages, potatoes, and onions with whatever else you choose to include.
It’s made to simmer so while you are enjoying decorating for the day, you can have this simmering in the background. It should be done by the time you deck out your home for St. Patrick’s Day.
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Barmbrack
While this bread is usually used for Halloween, you can also use it to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. You can even do the tradition the Irish use during Halloween as part of your celebration.
The tradition is that various items are baked into the bread: rings, sticks, cloth, and a coin. Depending on which item you get in your slice, it will determine how your year will go. Sort of like a fortune-telling game with bread.
The bread itself is sweeter than sandwich bread, but not rich like a cake. While it might be delicious, be careful when eating it in case someone decided to play a little game with it.
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Black and White Pudding
You might think of pudding as something that has a bit of jiggle to it when you poke it or move your bowl/plate. However, the typical Irish black and white pudding isn’t the same kind of pudding you’re thinking of.
As you can see in the picture below, it’s more round and can hold its shape.
The white pudding is made of oatmeal, pork, and spices. The black is the same but blood is added in for the color.
From various reviews, it’s all about the texture for these. Meaning the blood addition doesn’t do much to the flavor. If you’re willing to look past the blood, then these puddings are certainly worth a try!
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