It’s time to cook a tasty Irish dish or two! Purchase your favorite festive beverage and let’s get started. We w9n’t tell if you have a wee nip while you do the cooking. Luckily, we did all of the research, so you don’t have to. We compiled all of our top favorites and some of the most popular Irish meals that you can cook for St. Patrick’s Day.
Every year on the 17th of March, Irish people all over the world join together to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. On this day, Irish people pay tribute to their patron saint by having a get-together with friends and family. Hearty dishes are served around, everyone wears a wee bit of green to keep the leprechauns at bay and there is a delightful holiday spirit in each household.
To get ready for your own celebration you don’t want to leave the food until the last minute. Look over our list and make the final preparations to complete your St. Patrick’s Day. From Irish soda bread to beef pies, to Guinness cupcakes and back again, you will find all the traditional and tasty meals right here.
Main Dishes and Sides for St. Patrick’s Day
Irish Soda Bread
You cannot go wrong with a delicious loaf of Irish soda bread during the festive period. Don’t forget to add it to your holiday table and grab a bite with your friends and family. We love this Amazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread from allrecipes. This one is best served warm with lots of Irish butter. Yum!
Irish Soda bread is a bread that uses soda and buttermilk, and no yeast. As a result, you will have a round and big bread loaf. Cut the top of the bread and make the signature X lining to make the food relevant to St Patrick’s day. The X cutting also symbolizes eliminating all troubles out of the bread.
Irish Nachos
While Irish nachos may not be be from Ireland, they are a fun menu item for a gathering. Think of traditional nachos and swap the tortilla chips for potatoes. You can make these with any traditional potato as your base. We like using fried potatoes, oven baked tater tots or fries. A quick and easy way to prepare and serve these is with classic potato chips as shown over at delish.com.
Boiled Cabbage
The people of Ireland use cabbage as a side dish or a part of the main dish. This versatile vegetable is healthy and widely used in much Irish food. To make a boiled cabbage, you need butter, pepper, salt, and cabbage. Cut the cabbage evenly into four pieces and cook it for about 20 minutes. After that, serve it on a plate and drizzle apple cider vinegar or pepper vinegar.
Butter-Braised Cabbage
If you are not celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a cabbage dish, is it even St. Patrick’s Day? The butter-braised cabbage is a great Irish dish for your celebration this year. You only need three ingredients; cabbage, butter, and salt. This one easily wins the prize for the fewest ingredients on out list. One of our favorite ways to prepare this dish is from Food.com.
Smashed Brussels Sprouts Recipe
These smashed Brussels sprouts recipes will make your mouth water. We enjoy them with a crusty exterior and a tender inside. You need to parboil the Brussels sprouts and store them in airtight packaging in the refrigerator. Store the sprouts like that for three days to make the Irish smashed Brussels sprouts. After that, add seasonings of your choice. It can be citrus juice, salt, or spices. We love this more modern take of Crispy Smashed Brussel Sprouts from Wholesome Yum.
Traditional Irish Colcannon
If you enjoy eating potatoes with green veggies, then the traditional Irish Colcannon might be the dish for you. Think of it as a twist on traditional mashed potatoes. The ingredients for this buttery conventional Irish dish are potatoes, cabbage, leeks or kale, butter and salt. This is a popular side dish for many St. Paddy’s Day main dishes like corned beef and Irish Stew. Bonus- leftovers can become the base for fried potato cakes the next day. We’re hooked on Diane’s Colcannon from allrecipes.
Roasted Radishes
You probably think of radishes as a salad garnish. Well, you are not the only one who feels that way. However, the people of Ireland know how to make the most out of radishes. These roasted radishes are filled with antioxidants and nutrients that are great for your health. Apart from that, it tastes fantastic with a sweet twist and peppery flavor from roasting. Add olive oil and salt to it, and you are good to go. We’re big fans of the crispy Baked Roasted Radishes from Wicked Spatula.
Easy Irish Champ
As the name suggests, Easy Irish Champ is an easy dish to make. In addition, it is also one of the most loved Irish dishes. To make an Irish chimp, all you need to do is to boil potatoes and mash them using milk and butter. Next warm some green onions in milk and mix it with the mashed potatoes. This popular creamy mashed Irish champ can be a side dish for any Irish holiday mains. It’s a lighter version of Colcannon which has cabbage. We like like this recipe from allrecipes.
Smoked Corned Beef
This one is for non-vegetarians and people who love briskets. Smoked Corned Beef requires a smoker, which will give the extra smoky flavor to your corned beef brisket. The sandwich you make out of the smoked corned beef will be a treat for the tastebuds. The ingredients are easy to find in your nearest grocery stores, and you may already have some in your home. We love to follow this recipe from the experts at Oklahoma Joes.
Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
Known around the word as a traditional Irish supper, Corned beef and cabbage is now quick and easy to prepare. It may have taken hours to cook in the past, but with an instant pot pressure cooker, you can save a lot of time on St. Patrick’s Day. This dish can serve a small group or a crowd. We are big fans of Amy + Jacky Pressure Cook Recipes and love this Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage.
Crockpot Irish Lamb Stew
If you want to make a hearty meal for dinner on St. Patrick’s day, Crockpot Irish Lamb Stew should be on your list. This popular Irish dish is not just loved by the people of Ireland, but also people in all parts of the world.
For this recipe, you need a crockpot or slow cooker. This allows your ingredients to cook slowly in low heat. You’ll also need bacon, onion, carrots, potatoes, thyme and the liquid stock of your choice. We recommend you check out this recipe from The Spruce Eats.
Beef and Guinness Pie
There is no doubt that Guinness beer is a very common beverage on a festive day like St. Patrick’s Day. However, not many people have experience cooking with Guinness beer. The crusty pastry topped cottage pie goes hand-in-hand with the rich bittersweet gunnies stout. Along with that, add chunks of beef with vegetables to make a thick and delicious sauce. In addition, you can also serve mashed potatoes and soda bread which are a perfect match with the beef and Guinness pie. We don’t think they come any better than this version from iconic chef Jamie Oliver.
Classic Dublin Coddle
Classic Dublin coddle is like a synonym to St. Paddy Day. This dish will give you the warmth of a delicious stew which is perfect at this time of the year. Classic Dublin coddle is the Irish twist to the French-style stew, and it is one of the most popular dishes in Ireland. It comprises pork sausages, potatoes, onions, and carrots, all filled up on a plate. We recommend having this dish with bread and butter to soak up every drop of the sauce. Check out the details on this dish over at Wholefully for a very happy group.
Corned Beef Shepherd’s Pie
This is one of the most delicious main dish pies and perfect St. Patrick’s Day. Corned beef shepherd’s pie is a comforting and belly-filling meal. It is a casserole bake that is worthy of a sacred holiday like St. Paddy’s Day. You can find all the ingredients in your nearest store, including deli-counter corned beef, carrots, cabbage, potato chunks or flakes, peas, sour cream, garlic and beef broth. You can’t go wrong with this Corned Beef and Shephard’s Pie from allrecipes.
St. Paddy’s Day Desserts
Guinness Stout Chocolate Brownies
After a fulfilling St. Patrick’s Day meal, you may want to have some dessert. Guinness Stout Chocolate Brownies might be just the thing. These brownies are filled with rich chocolate flavors and a little unexpected kick of flavor from the stout beer. The texture is unexpectedly light. Get ready for a new brownie favorite to have all year long. We recommend these Guinness Brownies from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Irish Bread and Butter Pudding
Irish bread and butter pudding is the dessert that even adults will enjoy like kids. It is a crackling dessert perfect for the festive days and a great way to end a St. Patrick’s Day meal. You will see Irish cream liqueur in this dessert that gives it a rich and velvety texture. After making the pudding, add a generous amount of raisins on top for a traditional garnish. Apart from having it as a dessert after a heavy meal, you can also have it in the afternoon with an Irish cup of tea. We recommend this traditional Bun and Butter Pudding from iconic chef Jamie Oliver.
Rainbow Cake
If you are entertaining kids on St. Patrick’s Day, then a fun and jolly rainbow cake is in order. Bright layers of color grab all the attention in the room. Although it is hard to make each layer even, every other aspect of making a rainbow cake is relatively simple. If you want to be thorough, create a rainbow cake ensuring that the sequence of colored layers is the same as a rainbow. How cute is this one with candy in the center from The Inspired Home.
Thin Mint Cookie Pie
This thin Mint Cookie Pie is undoubtedly very tasty with plenty of minty freshness. Mint cookie pies are almost decorative pieces of art that are a great addition to your table. We love that it doubles as décor. Bonus- you can make this one completely homemade or partially homemade. Try this Chocolate Thin Mint Pie from Completely Delicious and wow your guests and family this year.
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes With Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting
While the name may be a mouthful, you can make your cupcakes in mini, regular, or jumbo sizes. The choice is yours. The creamy top of Bailey’s Irish cream is the perfect blend of texture and flavor with the bittersweet taste of the bottom of the cupcake. If you’re only making one cake item this year, this is the quintessential cupcake for St. Patrick’s Day. Try this recipe from food.com to wow your crowd.
Final Thoughts
After reading about these Irish meals, there is no doubt that you will be confident enough to host a St. Patrick’s Day meal at your home. This is a perfect time to showcase your Irish meal cooking skills. When you serve the meals, don’t forget to bring out the Irish drinks too!
