You may find yourself bored of corned beef and beer this St. Patrick’s Day. Perhaps you are looking for a fun new traditional Irish dish to enjoy for the big green day. Traditional Irish food is flavorful and their dishes have been enjoyed for centuries. After the English conquest in the beginning of the 1600’s, Irish cuisine evolved into an earthy, rustic, and agricultural taste due to a clash of culinary cultures. You may have been dining on corned beef and cabbage these past years during St. Patrick’s Day, but you will be surprised to discover that the dish emerged in the late 1800’s. Here are eight truly traditional Irish foods for you to try on St. Patrick’s Day.
1. Boxty
The mighty potato has had a huge role in Irish cuisine for centuries. It has been a big player and staple of Irish dishes and boxty is a great example. Boxty is a simple Irish twist on the potato pancake. Boxty serves mainly as a side dish to meats and vegetables and is very versatile as it can be used as a wrap. It can also be eaten alone as a tasty snack alongside your beer this St. Patrick’s Day. Serve it to your guests as a great finger food dish for a genuine traditionally Irish party.
2. Coddle
In the mid-1800’s, the Irish faced a great famine and their cuisine greatly reflects those difficult times. Utilizing leftovers was very important. This dish was born with that idea in mind. It also features the hearty MVP, potatoes. Coddle is a stew made from boiled sausage, sliced bacon, and chunks of potato and carrots seasoned with onion, barley, and parsley. This stew is often served with soda bread. In a name of tradition, if you have any leftovers from your St. Patrick’s Day dinner, use them to make this delicious hotpot dish.
3. Soda Bread
A lot of traditional Irish dishes found on this list are served with soda bread. Soda bread is simple to make and is a nice filling addition to any Irish meal. Soda bread is any bread you make with baking soda instead of yeast. If you don’t like the Boxty mentioned earlier, then you can use soda bread instead. There are common recipe variations like making the bread from wheat flour or whole-grain. After you have found soda bread that is to your liking, you can add it as a side to any meal and dap a little bit of butter on top.
4. Irish Pastie
A pastie is a traditional Irish dish that might look very familiar to you. It looks like the common breakfast sausage patty. Not to be confused with those patties, an Irish pastie is a deep-fried patty made from ground pork, potatoes, onion, and spices and then dipped in batter. It is then served with beef gravy drizzled on top. This dish can be served alone or paired as a side to another dish.
5. Cottage Pie
Here is another delicious and meaty dish made from utilizing leftovers. In this traditional Irish dish includes a mixture of vegetables, casserole leftovers, and ground beef. The mixture is then topped off with mashed potatoes and browned in the oven. If you are looking for a great baked traditional Irish meal for your St. Patrick’s Day, this meaty warming dish is the perfect one for you. It does not strictly have to be made with leftovers and you can easily make it from scratch.
6. Full Irish Breakfast
Start your St. Patrick’s Day morning with a delicious and filling full Irish breakfast. This dish has a variety of components for you to try out and is truly a feast for the eyes as well. Most of the parts are fried and can be easily cooked and assembled for this meal. A full Irish breakfast includes fried eggs, fried tomatoes, Irish sausage, bacon, black pudding, white pudding, mushrooms, beans, and finally bread. The bread that is paired with this dish is traditionally either boxty, farl, or soda bread. This dish will surely fill you up and help you get started on your traditional St. Patrick’s Day feast. If this breakfast is too filling and you end up with leftovers, they can be used for other dishes found on this list. In the sense of the Irish spirit, nothing goes to waste.
7. Irish Stew
This traditional Irish meal is considered a classic comfort food. It also allows for many variations and can be tailored to your liking. The meat and vegetables found in this stew can be any combination you prefer. If you prefer a truly Irish traditional stew, it is recommended you use beef, goat, or lamb. Once you have chosen your meats, you can combine with vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onion, barley, and parsley. The great thing about this delicious dish is that it is slow cooked to a tender perfection. This stew is commonly combined with bread.
8. Steak and Guinness Pie
An Irish steak and Guinness pie is very similar to shepherd’s pie as it is a meat pie. If you are looking for the perfect pairing to your beer, this traditional meal is perfect. It is a common food found and served in pubs. This pie features a flakey crust and topping with fillings of meat, vegetables, and thick brown gravy. The meat used in this dish can vary from steak, kidney, or ground lamb. These meat pies can be made in big portion sized pies or in mini varieties to serve as small side dishes for beer. If you are looking for something simple to go along with your St. Patrick’s Day drinking, then try out this deliciously meaty Irish dish.
All the dishes on this list are delicious and traditionally Irish cuisine dating back many centuries. If you are tired of the stereotypically Irish foods served in American bars as parts of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, try out these dishes in your home or at genuine Irish restaurants for an authentic experience right out of Ireland.
