A yummy menu of essential St. Patty’s Day food and drink!
If you’re based in the United States, chances are you weren’t planning a trip to Ireland this year, (and especially not for the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day).
(Although, if you are thinking about it, Americans are allowed in Ireland with a five-day quarantine with a COVID test. Wear your masks.)
We also can’t participate in many of the parades that would happen throughout the month of March as well.
We’re kind of sh*t out of luck this year, so what better time to indulge in a little Irish charm for a domestic St. Patty’s Day!
Aside from the fact that everyone knows that the color green (the best color ever, fight me) is heavily associated with the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday, there is so much more to the holiday that people don’t know. It’s not all about drinking, leprechauns, and finding pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The Irish have great food and interesting drinks, and you might be missing out on your next favorite dish if you’ve never tried them.
So, to help, I’ve put together a simple Irish-inspired menu that you should definitely check out to help make your St. Patty’s Day one to remember! As always, mix-and-match how you please, but I think you’re going to enjoy this one.
Irish Menu
Breakfast
Of course, the best way to start off the day is with a plate full of delicious food (and if you’re like me and trying to keep things calorie-conscious, just take today off and just enjoy it! This one is a little heavy.).
Start your day off with a traditional Full Irish Breakfast/Fry Up. Now, this is not a Full English; that’s blasphemy.
As someone who is not from Éire, (and who’s waiting on a DNA kit to confirm whether it’s Scottish or Irish that’s in my blood) I hope this Breakfast/Fry Up is authentic, but if you object or if it isn’t authentic, to any of our Irish readers, please let me know! We’re out here trying to enjoy a new culture, so if I misstep, I apologize and I hope you’ll give me the opportunity to do better.
If the page I linked doesn’t tickle your fancy, there are a lot of recipes on the web for a traditional Irish breakfast, so take your pick:
- Full Irish Breakfast by The Spruce Eats
- HappyFoodTubes take on the Full Irish Breakfast
- And of course, a Martha Stewart explanation of the tasty Irish Breakfast that no one could possibly say no to. This may help you make your breakfast as perfectly as can be.
From what I can gather, the breakfast is traditionally made with fried tomato, fried eggs, pork sausages, bacon rashers, white pudding, and black pudding (the puddings are also known as drisheen).
Some local regions use other ingredients, and personal preferences can also come into play, but that is the ‘standard’ Irish breakfast I was able to find. Pair it with a nice black tea to perk you up for a day of celebration!
Quick note: American bacon is not the same as bacon rashers. It isn’t always easy to find bacon rashers in the States, but I actually found out they will be at Costco for the 2021 holiday season, so run out and grab them while they last.
If you’re not looking for a large breakfast, try something on the smaller side:
The Boxty is a popular potato pancake that is mainly made with mashed potatoes, grated raw potatoes, buttermilk, eggs, and flour.
This is another great breakfast choice that has so much variation – there are plenty of ways to spice it up with other breakfast items to make it a bit more filling, but not necessarily as heavy as a full breakfast.
Traditionally, it’s served with rashers and any style of eggs, but if you’re feeling adventurous (like I know you are!) you can also try it with salmon and crème fraîche.
Lunch and Dinner
I feel like lunch and dinner can sometimes be interchangeable, so I decided to combine them. Do with these dishes as you will.
Try out a Ham, Cheese, and Onion Toastie. This dish is really easy to make and barely requires any cooking skills. This is one I’ll be trying out personally when the holiday comes around. I’m really excited to try it!
A great side dish option (or, to be honest, a dish I could eat all on its own because, hello!)? Colcannon.
Colcannon is typically cooked during the Halloween season and it’s made up of mashed potatoes, kale or cabbage, and other ingredients to create the tastiest potato dish this side of the Atlantic. You can add chives, bacon, and basically anything else you might load into a baked potato if you want to up the ‘savory’ factor, but even on its own, it’s a great, filling dish.
I don’t care if it’s a Halloween treat, I’m eating this now!
Now, at some point in your life, you should also try Beef and Guinness Stew. The stew is filled with beef, Guinness stout beer, vegetables (celery, potatoes, carrots), onions, bacon, stock, and tomato paste, and then flavored with bay leaves and other spices.
It’s filling and great for the frigid days of winter that we are hopefully going to leave behind us soon. Enjoy the stew with some delicious Irish soda bread or with biscuits.
Of course, no celebration of Irish culture would be complete without authentic Corned Beef and Cabbage, so hop on that. This might also be blasphemy, but I’ve never actually had the Irish version of corned beef and cabbage, so I’ve got that on my bucket list to try out.
You see, in Jamaican culture, we have a variation on corned beef that was developed from the influence Irish cuisine has had on our country.
Jamaican Corned Beef + Cabbage isn’t radically different from its Irish ancestor, but it’s made slightly differently, with the ingredients together instead of sitting separately. It’s one of my favorite dishes, so I’m excited to try the ‘authentic’ Irish version so I can actually taste the difference.
Fun fact: did you know that roughly 25% of Jamaicans claim Irish ancestry? Oh yeah. It’s why I want that Ancestry.com report. 🥲 It was always so fun back in high school when the teacher would ask who was Irish, then look confused when I raised my hand. Because… ya know.
… Anyway!
Irish Drinks
Now, with all this amazing food, you’re going to need something to wash it down with. Before I continue though, it’s important to realize that Saint Patrick’s Day was originally a religious holiday, so even if you’re going to raise a glass, make sure you recognize that you’re celebrating Ireland, Irish culture, and their national patron saint.
If you’ve got a low tolerance for alcohol, keep that in mind as you keep reading, because when old Saint Patrick looks down on his feast day, watching you slur the words to Flogging Molly into your toilet isn’t what he wants to see.
That said, St. Patrick’s Day has been the inspiration for some great drinks, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest that you enjoy one or two of them… responsibly.
For that quintessentially ‘green drink’ experience, for example, try a Fat Frog! It’s made with Wicked Blue, Bacardi Orange, and Smirnoff Ice; the combo turns the drink turns bright green when all is said and done, and that is everything you need to celebrate! Just be warned, that it is pretty strong and served in a pint glass, so a single one is worth about three or four normal drinks.
Looking for a strong start that’ll set you up for a strong finish? Try some Irish Coffee with breakfast. Whiskey and coffee will always do the trick to get you running in the morning, hopefully in the right direction. 😉
However, if you’re looking to pace yourself, and you want a true, Irish experience, why not enjoy the old reliable. The tried and true, a Guinness Stout. You can find it anywhere worth drinking, and at any store worth buying from. Just make sure you learn to pour it right! 😂
A Bittersweet Conclusion to St. Patty’s Feast Day
There are many variations on a great celebration of the Irish patron saint, it’s what you do with it that matters. So, even if you were to just take one thing from this list (Corned Beef and Cabbage if I dare say so myself) or even several (that Boxty looks beyond delicious), I hope your celebrations are bright and rife with laughter.
I’m glad I could write this list of fantastic St. Patty’s Day food and drinks. Hopefully, this year, while we’re stuck at home, we can craft something delicious to commemorate Saint Patrick’s in a memorable way.