22+ Easy Traditional Irish Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the oldest Irish food? ›

Until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century, grains such as oats, wheat and barley, cooked either as porridge or bread, formed the staple of the Irish diet. The most common form of bread consisted of flatbread made from ground oats.

The National Dishes of Ireland

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

An easy and flexible meal that's commonly considered the national dish of Ireland, says Amy Lawless, an Irish American and co-owner of The Dearborn in Chicago. Though generally made with mutton, onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes, Irish stew can also be created with beef or chicken, she explains.

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.

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

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.

Summer Berries: Wild strawberry, raspberry, bilberry, Autumn Sweetness: Rosehips, Elderberries, Hawthorn berries, Hazelnuts. Winter Wonders: Wintercress, Crow garlic, Wood sorrel. Edible Seaweeds: Sea spaghetti, Dulse, Sea lettuce, Serrated wrack and Velvet horn.

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. Potatoes only accounted for 17% of arable land usage, Ireland then as now was a country that produces large quantities of food.

If you like sour cream, pancakes, clam chowder and that Yankee staple known as the New England boiled dinner, you can thank the Scotch-Irish settlers who sailed into Casco Bay nearly 300 years ago.

What is a true Irish dish? ›

Colcannon. The traditional Irish food pairs creamy mashed potatoes with cabbage. It can also feature greens like kale, scallions and leeks (its verdant color makes it a St. Patrick's Day classic) and is often served with boiled ham.

Irish Stew has been a national dish of Ireland for nearly two hundred years, and is a hearty meal appreciated for its ability to satisfying hunger. Potatoes are also added to all types of soups made with seafood or meats, including salmon, scallops, lobster, oysters, beef, lamb or pork.

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.

Popular Irish Foods

Potatoes are mixed with cabbage to make colcannon, mixed with scallions in champ, and added to meat and vegetables to make the traditional Irish Stew. Irish Stew has been a national dish of Ireland for nearly two hundred years, and is a hearty meal appreciated for its ability to satisfying hunger.

From Scotland's distinctive haggis, down through Manx kippers, Irish stew, Welsh cakes, Cornish pasties and on to the Breton galette crêpe, you'll find food here unlike any other in Western Europe. And the same goes for drinks. The most iconic is probably Scotch whisky (whiskey with an 'e' if you're in Ireland).

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.

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.