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 the traditional 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.

Which Irish comfort food would you prefer? ›

Yet, despite these changes, some traditional comfort foods will always be found among our favorites.
  • Full Irish breakfast. ...
  • (Irish) Chinese Food. ...
  • Fish and Chips. ...
  • Shepherd's Pie / Cottage Pie. ...
  • Traditional Irish stew. ...
  • Bangers and Mash (Irish Sausage and Mash) ...
  • Sausage Rolls. ...
  • Mashed Carrot and Parsnip.

What is the difference between Colcannon and Champ? ›

Colcannon is made with cabbage or kale while champ is made by flavoring milk with green onions, then mixing them into mashed potatoes. To finish the dish off, it's mixed with melted butter.

What is Irish stew made of? ›

The epitome of comfort food, traditional Irish stew has only a few ingredients: mutton, onions and potatoes. In southern Ireland carrots are added, and some cooks venture so far as to add turnips. These days, young lamb often replaces mutton for a more delicate version.

What are the 14 most well known Irish main dishes? ›

  • Beef and guinness pie. [Beef and guinness pie] ...
  • Shepherd's pie. Shepherd's pie. ...
  • Boxty. Boxty. ...
  • Irish stew. Irish stew. ...
  • Irish soda bread rolls. Irish soda bread rolls. ...
  • Potato and leek soup. Creamy potato and leek soup.
  • Smoked cod and cheddar pie. Smoked cod and cheddar pie.
  • Slow-cooked lamb shank pie. Slow-cooked lamb shank pie.
Mar 15, 2022

What is a signature Irish dish? ›

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.

What are the top five comfort foods? ›

Become a Jetsetter
  • 1 Chicken and Waffles.
  • 2 Spaghetti and Meatballs.
  • 3 Chicken Fried Steak.
  • 4 Mac and Cheese.
  • 5 Hotdish.
  • 6 Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.
  • 7 Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.
  • 8 Matzo Ball Soup.
Mar 1, 2020

What is the most famous Irish dish? ›

One of the most popular and iconic Irish foods is undoubtedly the traditional Irish stew. This hearty dish typically consists of tender chunks of meat (such as lamb or beef), potatoes, onions, carrots, and sometimes other vegetables like celery or parsnips.

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 did the Irish eat instead of potatoes? ›

Just like today, porridge was the perfect meal for those cold, rainy days. Fruits and Vegetables: While the potato wasn't around just yet, there were plenty of other root vegetables to choose from. The Irish diet included onions, garlic, radish, cabbage, and carrots.

What is the national soup of Ireland? ›

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

What is the most common food in Ireland? ›

We eat traditional Irish food: cabbage, bacon, potatoes - actually a delicious dinner when accompanied by white sauce. Sausages, black pudding, white pudding (neither of these are desserts), turnips, parsnips, carrots, fish, chicken, duck etc etc. Fish & chips. We are an island nation, so there's a lot of seafood.

What do Irish eat on St Patty'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 an Irish woman called? ›

[ ahy-rish-woom-uhn ] show ipa. noun,plural I·rish·wom·en. a woman born in Ireland or of Irish ancestry. a woman who is a native or inhabitant of Ireland.

Is Shepherd's Pie Irish or English? ›

Many people believe that the peasant housewives invented the pie as an easy way to repackage leftovers from their Sunday roast. The Shepherd Pie is thought to originate from Ireland and the northern parts of England.

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