22+ Easy Traditional Irish Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the most traditional Irish food? ›

Shepherd's Pie

A classic found on dinner tables throughout Ireland, shepherd's pie combines beef and vegetables in a crust of mashed potatoes. It's a traditional Irish food that gathers distinctly Irish ingredients in a single dish. And it can even be made with a plant-based twist in this vegan shepherd's pie recipe!

The National Dishes of Ireland

Irish Stew is a thick, hearty dish of mutton, potatoes, and onions and undisputedly the national dish of Ireland.

Colcannon. Colcannon is a classic Irish side dish made with silky cooked cabbage and buttery mashed potatoes. It happens to be closely aligned with St. Patrick's Day celebrations in North America, but it's primarily eaten at Halloween in Ireland.

THIS is officially Ireland's favourite vegetable. You may be surprised to hear that the carrot has been victorious in claiming the title of Ireland's favourite vegetable, even though you thought it might have been the potato!

Colcannon has been a favourite comfort food in Ireland for some time and is something that the nation prides itself on inventing. The ingredients of traditional Irish colcannon are mashed 'floury' potatoes, kale, butter and milk.

By the 21st century, much traditional Irish cuisine was being revived. Representative dishes include Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, boxty, brown bread (as it is referred to in the South) or soda bread (predominantly used in Ulster), coddle, and colcannon.

The pre Famine peasant diet abundant in simple fares such as potatoes, buttermilk, vegetables, milk and fish kept the rural poor of Ireland much healthier than their urban counterparts.

Irish soda bread is prepared without yeast. Traditionally it has just four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The baking soda and buttermilk react to cause the dough to rise. In Ireland, soda bread is often made from stone-ground whole-wheat flour, though white flour versions are available.

What do Irish eat for breakfast? ›

Full Irish Breakfast

There's typically eggs, sausage, hash browns, beans, and roasted tomatoes. You may also find slices of Irish soda bread.

Meat in Ireland Food

Pork tops the list of Irish food. Mutton or lamb is also popular. Coddle is one unique Irish dish you may have never heard of. It is pork sausage, back bacon, potatoes and onions.

A traditional full Irish breakfast comprises bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, beans, soda bread or toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, and white or black pudding.

When it comes to dinner on St. Patrick's Day, the most popular meal is corned beef and cabbage—often accompanied by a green beer or two. The boiled dinner and its liquid accompaniment dominate the menu of Irish bars and restaurants up and down the country on March 17, and many home cooks serve the dish, too.

Leeks are used in soups, stews, and potato dishes. Onions grow well in the friable Irish soil. Cabbage, when cooked and added to mashed potatoes, is a favorite ingredient in colcannon.

A traditional full Irish breakfast comprises bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, beans, soda bread or toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, and white or black pudding. For those wondering, black pudding coagulates the pig's blood into a sausage form. The white pudding is simply a pork sausage, usually flat.

Over the last three centuries, Guinness has become a legendary part of Irish culture, celebrated as Ireland's national drink. And with over 8,000 years still left on the original St. James Gate brewery lease, there's still a lot more of 'the black stuff' to make and enjoy.