Irish Cuisine

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Irish cuisine: authentic, traditional foods from Ireland, including Old Irish classics, you will find on this page, with recipes and resources to make them.

In response to our readers’ suggestions and requests we have launched this new page, and are doing it in timely fashion, just in time for you to pick up a recipe or two to prepare this year in time for Saint Patrick’s Day.

There will, of course, be an abundance of authentic Irish food recipes posted here, as the page gets built out. But let’s kick things off with this, not only a classic, but also one of the most easy Irish food recipes you will ever undertake to prepare.

This first offering is originally from Great Britain, but has been popularized for centuries in Ireland to where they consider it their own, and it is a regular inclusion in any traditional Irish homestead’s weekly menus.

Please note: For your convenience, you can click on the recipes listed below and be taken directly to a page with just that one recipe on it, in printer-friendly format.

You are certainly welcomed to read through this whole page, all the recipes are here as well, and there are some videos and pertinent information on background, history, customs, special notes, etc., so it is well worth the read.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order:

Bangers and Mash with Red Wine Gravy

Dublin Coddle

Irish Brown Bread

Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage

Irish Full Breakfast

Irish Shepherd’s Pie

Irish Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage

corned-beef-and-cabbage

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

  • 3 lb. Irish corned beef brisket
  • 2 medium sized white onions, peeled and quartered
  • 8 small potatoes, peeled and left whole, or 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut in half
  • 1 head cabbage, tough and/or blemished outside leaves removed, tough stem core cut out, and tender head chopped into small (about 1-1/2” to 2”) wedges
  • 1 tsp. each of freshly ground black peppercorns and course sea salt
  • 3 tbsp. white vinegar
  • 3 tbsp. sugar
  • 2 cups water

You will need: A slow-cooker (crockpot) – if you don’t have one, and wish to obtain one of good quality, you can do that by going to This Page.

Directions:
  1. Place all the ingredients in your crock pot, adding the cabbage in last, spread evenly on top.
  2. Leave the corned beef brisket whole if you can fit it into your crockpot as is, but if not, trim it as needed for good fit.
  3. Secure the lid (preferably a glass lid) and cook on low setting for 10 to12 hours, or on high for 6 to 7 hours.
  4. To serve, place the brisket in the center of a large serving platter, and slice enough portions for each person to have a first serving. Place the potatoes and cabbage in an attractive arrangement around the brisket.

 

An Irish traditional breakfast can only be describe as …

Hearty!

I hope you are very hungry when you decide to take this ethnic food adventure. And plan on being very active during the day, too, because you will have lots of calories to burn!

Traditional Irish breakfast food can be a variety of combinations of many yummy components, but always there is bacon, sausage, pudding, eggs, and bread. And often there will be beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. I used two images for this recipe, both of which show authentic Irish foods that are typically combined for the first, and very hearty, meal of the day.

So feel free to mix and match, but if you’re going to do it up right, the Irish way, add in lots of of the food items!

irish brkfst 3

Traditional Irish Full Breakfast

irish breakfast

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

Directions:
  1. In a large saucepan, melt a knob of Irish butter over medium high heat, and then fry the bacon and sausages until well done. Remove them from the pan and keep warm in the oven set to lowest temperature.
  2. In the same pan, fry the black and white pudding and the eggs.
  3. In another pan, again melt some Irish butter over medium heat, and fry the bread slices along with the sliced tomatoes and mushrooms.
  4. In a small cooking pot, heat the canned beans until well warmed.
  5. To serve, give each person 4 slices of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 eggs (or half of the scrambled eggs), half of each of the puddings, half of the fried sliced tomatoes and mushrooms, arranged nicely on very large serving plates.
  6. Have on the table salt and white pepper, for personal taste seasoning, also some freshly grated Dubliner cheese (optional, but very tasty, many like the added flavor it gives over the eggs), and an assortment of jams and marmalades, and Irish butter.
  7. A traditional Irish full breakfast will typically be served with a pot of tea and, if seasonally available, fresh squeezed orange juice.

For many centuries, Shepherd’s Pie has been, and probably always will be, a mainstay staple of authentic and traditional Irish cooking.

And what makes it so great, this absolutely delicious dish is one of the most easy traditional Irish recipes to make. Adding to its desirability is how well balanced and nutritional it is, being an entire meal in itself; a true Irish Shepherd Pie will have all of the major food groups included.

You can use just about any meat: lamb (preferred in Ireland and also the British use lamb a lot), beef, chicken, or even turkey – poultry being often the choice for those concerned about fat content. This sauce developed by the cooking process is so rich and elegant, it goes well with any choice of meat.

It is also a dish that can provide a good use of leftover mashed potatoes. So if you serve a meal that includes mashed potatoes and they don’t all get eaten, certainly don’t throw them away – save them for use in tomorrow’s pie meal.

So help yourself to this recipe, a truly authentic Irish Shepherd’s Pie, and keep in mind also, these freeze well, so if you are going through the steps of making one, you can almost as easily make two or three at the same time. Have one for dinner, and freeze the rest for later.

This, folks, is Irish Cuisine at its Finest!

Traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie

Irish Cuisine: Shepherds Pie

Ingredients:

(makes 1 pie)

Directions:
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 400°F/200C.
  2. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, sauté the carrots in olive oil until becoming tender.
  3. Now add in the onions and garlic, and sauté until starting to become translucent and fragrant—about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.
  4. Add in the ground meat, and season to taste with black pepper, thyme, and salt, cook until well browned, then drain off the fat.
  5. Next into the pan goes the butter and peas.
  6. Sprinkle flour over the entire mixture, and stir until mixed well throughout.
  7. Add in the wine, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste.
  8. Let this cook for a while, allowing it to reduce a bit, then add the broth. Keep cooking until the mixture has reduced in liquids to where you have a thick and meaty gravy.
  9. Do a taste test, and adjust seasonings as necessary.
  10. Take the pan off the burner and set aside.
  11. Take an oven-proof baking dish, either 9” x 13” (or an equivalent in size and volume capacity oval or round dish) and grease it with the butter.
  12. Pour your meaty gravy mixture into the greased dish.
  13. Ladle the mashed potatoes over the top, distributing evenly. Some people like to get creative here, forming nice, appealing patterns, even using cake decorating implements (see picture).
  14. Brush the beaten egg over the top of the mashed potatoes, and finish it off with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. (Note: if you are making more than one pie, skip this step and the next step for the pie(s) you intend to freeze. When you unthaw the pie(s) for eating, once they are fully unthawed, then do this step and the next one)
  15. Bake until the potato layer is becoming a light, golden brown (or darker if you like, the meal is already cooked, this step is just to heat the potatoes well and for aesthetics).
  16. Serve your Irish Shepherd’s Pie! Goes great with some thick bread, for use in sopping up the delicious sauce.

Counted among the best meals in Ireland, are the old Irish recipes. Dishes so marvelous, they have not changed in any substantial way for centuries. Such a dish is Bangers and Mash, beloved by the Irish and English alike.

It is commonly thought the dish got its name from the sound of the sausages frying in the pan and, if cooked too quickly and over very high heat, they would burst and make a loud “bang” noise.

Bangers and Mash is a favorite child-pleaser with the Irish, and it is served often, being not only easy and quick to make, but also very inexpensive. Help yourself to this, definitely one of the most authentic Irish food recipes that has stood up to the test of a long, long time.

Bangers and Mash with Red Wine Gravy

bangers-mash

Ingredients:

(serves 2 or 3)

Directions:
  1. Oven-grill the bangers (with the oven set on broil) for 25 to 30 minutes.
  2. While the bangers are cooking, boil the quartered potatoes until well tenderized.
  3. When the potatoes are well cooked, drain them and mash them while still hot with butter, milk, nutmeg and salt until very smooth, no lumps remaining. Keep the mash warmed in the oven, temperature set to 150F. (your bangers should be well done by now, so keep them warmed in the oven too)
  4. To make your gravy, use a medium sized sauce pan, heat the oil over medium high heat, and sauté the onions and garlic until fragrant and well browned.
  5. Now add in the flour, stir and blend well, then the mustard, again stirring well, and then the red wine, once more stirring to blend all ingredients thoroughly.
  6. Cook for about 15 – 20 seconds is all, and then add the broth. Stir to blend, turn the heat down to a lively simmer, and cook until the gravy reduces and is well thickened.
  7. To serve, scoop a healthy portion of the mash onto each plate, and sprinkle some chopped green onions over the pile. Then put 2 or 3 bangers on top of the mash, and garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary. Pour your gravy into a lipped serving bowl – a gravy boat is the best, you can get one on THIS PAGE (under “Serving Wares”) if you don’t yet own one – and set on the table for each person to pour as much as they want over their bangers and mash. Also have salt and pepper on the table.

Among the more “useful” traditional Irish food recipes, is the Dublin Coddle – a dish that probably came into being and popularity centuries ago, when the cook’s kitchen was overloaded with leftovers. The Dublin Coddle is basically layers of roughly chopped bacon, sausage, onions, and potatoes, but … after that? Pretty much anything goes, and does go, into the pot.

Hence, there is no real “best” recipe for Dublin Coddle. As long as you include the main staples, and follow the cooking instructions, you can do with it what you want, use up those leftovers you happen to have, and you will still be making an “authentic” Irish Dublin Coddle.

The dish got its name after the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, and also the manner in which it is prepared, a sort of “coddling” the ingredients into a tasty meal, done so in an oven with water that cooks the dish in mildly boiling water.

Dublin Coddle

coddle_irlanda

Ingredients:

(serves 4 to 6)

  • 4-1/2 lb. (2 kg) russet potatoes
  • 2 large onions, peeled and thick sliced
  • 16 oz. (450 grams) bangers (Irish pork sausages)
  • 16 oz. (450 grams) rashers (Irish bacon, quite fatty)
  • 17 oz. (500 ml) fresh water
  • 1 ham stock cube
  • 4 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
  • salt, to taste
  • Fresh coarsely ground black peppercorns, to taste
  • Dark beer (Guinness goes great with this, as an ingredient and also as a dinner drink with Coddle)
Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F (150 C).
  2. Peel the potatoes and, if they are very large quarter them, if medium sized, halve them, if small, leave whole.
  3. Chop the parsley and set aside.
  4. Bring the water to a boil, and dissolve the ham stock cube in it, then reduce to a simmer while you prepare the rest of your coddle.
  5. Broil the bangers and rashers until they are well browned, but don’t overcook, or they will become dry. Place them on paper towels and pat dry of excess oils with another paper towel.
  6. Once dried of oils, chop the rashers into ¼” to ½” thick slices. Some people also prefer to chop the sausages into large chunks—that’s up to you.
  7. In a large, ovenproof cooking pot (with a tightly fitting lid) begin layering in the ingredients: onions, rasher slices, bangers or banger chunks, and potatoes. Season each layer with a generous amount of freshly ground pepper, salt, and chopped fresh parsley.
  8. Repeat this layering and seasoning process until all the ingredients are used up.
  9. Now pour the bouillon seasoned water over the top of everything, place the pot on stove, and bring the liquid to a vigorous boil.
  10. As soon as a good boil is attained, immediately turn the heat down to where your coddle is just at a lively simmer, and put the lid on the pot. If your lid is not a very tight fit, place a layer of tin or aluminum foil over the top of the pot, and then put the lid on.
  11. Place the pot in the oven in the middle rack position (or lower, depending on the size of your pot) and cook for at least three hours—four hour is better, and even five is not too long. Check the pot now and then during the cooking time—you want there to be about an inch of liquid at the bottom of the pot throughout the cooking time. Add some water if and when needed.
  12. During the last hour of cooking, check the liquid level and, if some is needed, add some dark beer. Some coddle cooks like to do this even earlier in the cooking time—me included!
  13. Serve with dark beer, Guinness is a traditional favorite of the Irish, and another great accompaniment is Irish brown bread (recipe follows this one), to sop up the yummy gravy.

The Irish love their bread. So much so, any meal served without bread, is not considered a full “meal”.

Their bread is not the flimsy, air-puffed, bland, soft breads so popular in North America, but rather dense, rich, and chocked full of nutrition and flavor loaves that are sliced thick and used to sop up the savory juices and gravies Irish cooking is renowned for.

This traditional Irish brown bread recipe is basic, easy to prepare, and while there probably can’t be any “best” Irish brown bread recipe – it is made pretty much the same way by everyone, you can be assured you are working here with a truly authentic Irish brown bread recipe.

Traditional Irish Brown Bread

irish brown bread

Ingredients:
Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the bran, soda, sugar, and flours.
  3. Create a well-like cavity in the middle of the mixture.
  4. Pour the oil and sour milk into the cavity.
  5. Stir well until all the dry ingredients are evenly and well moistened.
  6. Grease the inside of a loaf pan, and pour the bread mixture into it.
  7. Bake 50 minutes, then brush some melted Irish butter on top of the loaf and bake for another 10 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.
  9. Tastes the best when still nice and warm, fresh out of the oven, with Irish butter, jams and marmalades as condiments.

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