Classic Irish Recipes: Emerald Isle Comfort Food at its Best (2024)

Irish Recipes | RECIPES | St. Patrick's Day

ByStephanie Wilson

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Authentic, classic Irish recipes from the Emerald Isle, are comfort food at their very best.

Classic Irish Recipes: Emerald Isle Comfort Food at its Best (1)

We rounded up authentic Irish recipes — from corned beef and cabbage to colcannon, lamb stew and cream of potato soup, Irish soda bread, and scones… traditional recipes you’ll want to explore.

Ireland is filled with natural ingredients and generations of recipes and great cooks. Their traditional foods are filled with hearty vegetables and meat, accented with their famous butter.

RELATED: View more 31Daily St. Patrick’s Day recipes here→

Classic Irish Recipes

So go beyond the green cupcakes, and try some of these delicious classic Irish recipes the Emerald Isle has to offer.

Classic Irish Recipes, Emerald Isle Comfort Food at its Best

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Full Irish Breakfast Blaa

Photo Credit:donalskehan.com

"The full Irish breakfast is up there with Irish stew, colcannon and barmbrack and rightly so. We have some of the best sausage and rasher producers in the world so why shouldn’t we find joy in them sandwiched together in a light floury bap with a squidge of ketchup. This breakfast blaa is messy business but an instantly memorable breakfast."

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Mutton Casserole Recipe with Champ

Photo Credit:www.greatbritishchefs.com

"Hayden Groves shares a delicious mutton casserole recipe served with comforting champ potatoes, the perfect slow-cooking dish for the winter months."

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Bean and Sausage Stew

Photo Credit:www.saveur.com

“At Gubbeen Farm, a 250-acre plot of land in West Cork, an Irish twist on French cassoulet results in a flavorful, brothy stew of lima beans and thin Irish pork sausages.”

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Beef Stew And Dumplings Recipe

Photo Credit:www.greatbritishchefs.com

“There’s nothing quite like a comforting bowl of beef stew, especially when topped off with fluffy little dumpling pillows. Dominic Chapman makes sure the meat is meltingly tender in his recipe by braising it for several hours, and adds flavour with salty pancetta, star anise and plenty of hearty veg.”

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Irish Soda Bread with Buttermilk and Raisins

Irish Soda Bread, a national heritage… and a Wilson family favorite. Whether it be St. Patrick’s Day or any spring day. A delicious twist on thetraditional Irish Soda Bread.

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Traditional Irish Colcannon Recipe

A dreamy concoctionof potatoes, cabbage or kale, and cream. A favorite comfort food — any day of the year!

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Potato Topped Shepherd's Pie Recipe: Deliciously Irish

An easy comfort food, this Shepherd's Pie recipe is a delicious potato-topped ground lamb or beef casserole. Which is steeped in a flavorful sauce with vegetables that will bring to mind the beauty of Ireland.

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Irish Onion Soup with Reuben Cheese Toasties

Photo Credit:donalskehan.com

"An Irish twist on a classic French onion soup with an open faced reuben sandwich on the side would easily make a delicious meal on a cold dark night."

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Smoked Haddock and Cheddar Mash

Photo Credit:www.saveur.com

“The haddock and cheddar mash at Dublin’s The Winding Stair restaurant represents the best of Ireland: sea, dairy, and spud.”

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Perfect Comfort Food: Cream of Potato Soup

Easy to prepare in under 30 minutes, warm and creamy soup is a perfect antidote for cold, wintry nights, brisk fall afternoons, rainy spring days… or any other day as well.

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A Traditional Irish Lamb Stew

An all-time favorite Irish comfort food — this stew has bubbled over Irish fires for generations. Hearty and delicious!

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Irish Barmbrack

Photo Credit:donalskehan.com

"Barmbrack is a traditional Irish fruitcake which is also known as Irish Tea Cake depending on the time of year that you’re eating it! This recipe makes a really moist, fruit loaf which is packed with flavour from mixed spice and dried fruit."

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Easy Irish Cottage Pie

This Irish Cottage Pie recipe is an easy and tasty comfort food meal everyone loves. This family favorite is made with ground beef (mince) and vegetables baked in a delicious gravy filling topped with pastry and baked until perfectly golden brown.

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IRISH SHORTBREAD

Photo Credit:www.thekitchykitchen.com

Ireland is famous for its butter, which makes buttery shortbread a perfect Irish comfort food. This recipe gets its lovely texture and subtle nuttiness from corn flour, which is just finely ground cornmeal.

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Ultra-Buttery Irish Scones

Photo Credit:www.epicurious.com

“These tender, flaky scones are all about the butter. And since the flavor of the butter really shines through, this is a good time to splurge on a high-quality Irish butter like Kerrygold. The extra flaky, buttery texture is achieved by using a technique borrowed from puff pastry—spreading butter onto the rolled-out dough and folding it in layers.”

Classic Irish Recipes: Emerald Isle Comfort Food at its Best (2024)

FAQs

What is a classic Irish dish? ›

Colcannon and champ

Colcannon is a classic, comforting mash of potatoes, cabbage (or kale) and butter (or cream), flavoured with spring onions. Champ is a similar, mashed potato favourite, flavoured with spring onions, milk and butter.

What is the national dish of Ireland? ›

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

What is the difference between Colcannon and Champ? ›

What is the difference between Colcannon and Champ? Both Irish dishes, Champ is mashed potatoes with chopped spring onions (scallions) and milk. Colcannon is Champ with the addition of cabbage and sometimes some herbs.

What is the most popular food in Ireland? ›

12 Must-try Traditional Irish Foods
  • Irish Soda Bread. The comforting aroma of Irish Soda Bread welcomes you after stepping foot into any Irish bakery! ...
  • Irish Stew. ...
  • Ulster Fry. ...
  • Colcannon Mash and Champ. ...
  • Potato Farls or Potato Bread. ...
  • Irish White Pudding. ...
  • Bacon and Cabbage. ...
  • Coddle.
Feb 28, 2023

What is the oldest Irish food? ›

Ancient Irish Cuisine: Oats. The oat has been around in Irish diets for a long, long time. Oats were easier to grow in colder climates than wheat. Oats were seen as poverty food, for the peasants, and wheat was a treat.

What do Irish eat for breakfast? ›

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.

What kind of bread do the Irish eat? ›

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 is an Irish potato called? ›

Solanum tuberosum (Irish Potato, Irish Potatoes, Pomme de Terre, Potato, Potatoes, White Potato, White Potatoes) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.

What is Boxty made of? ›

Boxty is a thick pancake of mashed and shredded potatoes, flour, baking soda, and buttermilk fried in butter or lard. These are traditionally formed into a circle and cut into quarters or triangles and are usually served as a side dish or appetizer. These are a great way to use up any leftover mashed potatoes.

What do the Irish call spring onions? ›

In Ireland, scallions are chopped and added to mashed potatoes, known as champ or as an added ingredient to Colcannon.

What is the most eaten vegetable in Ireland? ›

Carrot. After potatoes, carrots are without doubt the best-known and most popular root vegetable of all.

What food is unique to Ireland? ›

Here are the 8 traditional Irish foods you must definitely try:
  • Irish soda bread. Soda bread is loved by a lot of people who try it, and it's easy to know why. ...
  • Smoked Salmon. ...
  • Corned Beef And Cabbage. ...
  • Irish Stew. ...
  • Traditional Irish Breakfast. ...
  • Irish Coffee. ...
  • Irish Brown Bread. ...
  • Potato pancake.
Feb 27, 2023

What can I not bring to Ireland? ›

Prohibited or restricted goods in baggage
  • domestic cats or dogs.
  • illegal or dangerous drugs.
  • indecent or obscene goods.
  • certain foodstuffs (mainly meat, milk, fish or products thereof)
  • products of endangered species.
  • protected items of international heritage.
  • medicines.
  • firearms, weapons, fireworks or explosives.

What is a traditional Irish stew called? ›

Irish stew (Irish: Stobhach Gaelach) or Stobhach is a stew native to Ireland that is traditionally made with root vegetables and lamb or mutton, but also commonly with beef. As in all traditional folk dishes, the exact recipe is not consistent from time to time, or place to place.

What is traditionally eaten on St. Patrick's Day? ›

As a result, bacon and cabbage is technically the more traditional Irish dish; corned beef and cabbage is the Irish-American variant. Irish soda bread is a quick bread made without yeast. It rises, because, when combined, baking soda and buttermilk act as a leavening agent.

What is the main ingredient of many traditional Irish dishes? ›

Irish ingredients – from seafood, meat and dairy products to soda bread, oats and the ubiquitous potato – are the basis of Irish cuisine.

What is a typical Irish breakfast? ›

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.

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