If you want to be festive for St. Patrick’s Day, this list of Tasty Irish & Green Food For St. Patrick’s Day is for you. There are authentic Irish recipes and non-authentic, but fun to eat, green recipes.
To make sure you have the best holiday this year, check out our other St. Patrick’s Day posts.
For St. Patrick’s Day every year, my mom would have her sisters and their families over for corned beef and cabbage. Us kids never wanted to go near that, so she would make us macaroni and cheese.
I’m a lot older now, but two years ago, when she had Pete and I over for dinner, she made me macaroni and cheese. Some things never change.
But, if you’re looking to change up your St. Patrick’s Day recipes, check out our list of Tasty Irish And Green Food For St. Patrick’s Day.
If none are appealing, go with macaroni and cheese. It’s a fail-safe.
Quick note for 2023: St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday during Lent, which means Christians abstain from eating meat and instead eat meatless meals. A dispensation has been issued so that you can eat your traditional Irish meals that honor St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
It’s a great opportunity for Christians to partake in fasting or almsgiving instead.
If you’re celebrating at home this year, check out our How To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day At Home post.
Tasty Irish And Green Food For St. Patrick’s Day
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This list is broken into a couple sections to make it easier for you. It starts with food. There are Irish and green food ideas listed. Then, there are desserts, which are both St. Patrick’s Day themed and green desserts. And then the list finishes with drink ideas.
Any (or all) of them will help you get into the holiday spirit.
As we add more Irish or green recipes to Drugstore Divas, we’ll be sure to add them to this list. So, bookmark it, pin it, or save it however you save things and come back when you’re planning your next St. Patrick’s Day party for next year to see what we’ve added.
Traditional Irish Food
Irish Potato Bread
Irish Potato Bread is a great way to kick off your morning. It goes perfectly with an Irish breakfast in place of toast or a biscuit. Of course, you can just serve it with eggs and bacon.
It’s a delicious fry bread, which you can (but don’t have to) fry in bacon fat until it’s golden brown. Is there a better way to start your St. Patrick’s Day festivities than with bread fried in bacon?
If there is, we don’t know it.
Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s Pie is such a delicious St. Patrick’s Day recipe. It’s perfect for a chilly March day, which is when St. Patrick’s Day always falls. (It’s March 17th every year.)
Ours is a ground meat base (the authentic recipe calls for lamb), mixed with vegetables, and topped with mashed potatoes. Sometimes there’s delicious cheese melted on top, which is a great idea so I don’t know why it’s only a “sometimes” thing.
Shepherd’s Pie does take a lot of work, which makes it a little difficult to be a week night meal, but it’s so worth it.
Irish Soda Bread
Irish Soda Bread is the quintessential St. Patrick’s Day recipe. Every bakery in America will be selling (and selling out of) it.
Serve it toasted with plenty of butter and you have a home run.
But, you don’t have to run out to a bakery to pick up this tasty bread. You can make it at home.
Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread, meaning it’s made with baking powder instead of yeast. So you don’t have to wait for it to proof and rise before you bake it. You just combine the ingredients, shape it, and bake it.
Pureed Carrots And Parsnips
This Pureed Carrots And Parsnips recipe a great addition to your St. Patrick’s Day menu. It’s authentic and based off a recipe from Gus O’Connor’s Pub in Doolin, Ireland.
The side dish looks like mashed sweet potatoes, but it’s not. It’s actually a blend of carrots and parsnips, with seasoning and sweetener. It’s definitely a great way to get a little bit of Irish on your plate for St. Patrick’s Day if you’d rather not make a complete Irish dinner.
Corned Beef Grilled Cheese
Corned beef isn’t traditionally Irish. It’s Irish-American, and that’s why it’s associated with St. Patrick’s Day.
If you don’t want to make a whole corned beef brisket, this Corned Beef Grilled Cheese is for you. It’s made using deli slices of corned beef, and those are definitely the star. It’s paired with cheddar cheese and caramelized onions, which have a quarter-pint of Guinness in them to add to the flavor and add to the Irishness of the sandwich.
Don’t forget, potatoes are really synonymous with Irish people, although potatoes weren’t actually native to Ireland. So, if you’re really trying to figure out something to make, potato salad or slow cooker potato soup are an easy way to feel like your meal is festive.
We have a huge list of potato recipes, in case you’re looking for more ideas.
Green Food Recipes
Chickpea and Spinach Vegan Burger
There’s a lot of spinach that goes into the mixture to make this Chickpea and Spinach Vegan Burger recipe, which gives it a really vibrant green color.
You mask it a little bit with toppings and a bun, but it’s definitely green.
Sautéed Kale
Kale is always green. And it’s the only ingredient in this Sautéed Kale recipe (besides seasoning), so this entire side dish is green.
Serve it with the Pureed Carrots And Parsnips recipe above and you almost have the entire Irish flag on your plate.
Air Fryer Kale Chips
If you’re looking for a green snack, this Air Fryer Kale Chips recipe is a great option. It’s easy to make, tastes great, and is a lot more festive than eating potato chips on St. Patrick’s Day.
Lentil And Cauliflower Vegan Tacos
There’s a lot of green going on with these Lentil And Cauliflower Vegan Tacos, from the avocado mash at the bottom to the spinach in the middle. So it’s a fun way to eat green, but not something completely green.
Zoodles With Pesto
There’s so much green in this Zoodles With Pesto recipe. The zoodles, which are zucchini noodles, are green and the kale pesto on top is green as well. It’s a fun dish to make and to eat.
Grilled Asparagus
Another all green side dish is Grilled Asparagus. The only main ingredient is asparagus, so it’s completely green.
If you don’t want to grill this time of year, you can make Oven-Roasted Asparagus instead.
If all else fails, pick one of your favorite avocado recipes. Avocados are green, so just slice one, mash one … heck, even serve guacamole with tortilla chips and you’re eating green on St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Patrick’s Day Desserts
Shamrock Pretzels
These Shamrock Pretzels are one of our top dessert recipes on Drugstore Divas because they’re so much fun.
It’s only two ingredients, so they’re not hard to make. And they’re definitely worth making for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Green Desserts
Layered Chocolate Mint Bars
Mint is a really popular flavor in St. Patrick’s Day desserts and that’s completely because it’s green, not because a minty flavor has any association with St. Patrick.
So, with that in mind, these Layered Chocolate Mint Bars are the perfect addition to your meal. They’re made using a two bags of chips (mint chocolate and dark chocolate) and are so easy to make.
Mint Chocolate Bark
Chocolate bark is such an easy recipe, so you can whip up this Mint Chocolate Bark in no time. It uses really basic ingredients (vanilla almond bark and candy melts … and that’s pretty much it) but packs a big punch.
Green Drinks
Don’t forget about having a little fun with a festive drink, which can be anything from green beer (if you’re of legal drinking age to have alcoholic beverages) to green milk (if you’re not). Both of those just require a few drops of green food coloring in the drink to make them festive.
Be sure to check out our list of Green Drinks For St. Patrick’s Day for ideas.
More St. Patrick’s Day Ideas:
Making Irish and green food is just one way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year. Making cute St. Patrick’s Day crafts is another. We have some really cute craft ideas you might want to try.
We have some candy-related crafts, like our DIY St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Jar Craft and DIY St. Patrick’s Day “Pot Of Gold” Treat Bucket. And then we have some traditional crafts, like our DIY Leprechaun Hat Decorations and DIY “Lucky In Love” Shamrock Shiplap Sign.
Plus, you can also spent the day virtually exploring Ireland thanks to the Ireland travel posts on Life Of 2 Snowbirds.
Which of these Tasty Irish & Green Food For St. Patrick’s Day will you try first?
Paula Short
Monday 13th of March 2023
Oh my some of these sound fantastic!
Pauline - BeautifulVoyager
Monday 6th of March 2023
What a great list of St Patty's day recipes and ideas you have here!
Kym
Sunday 5th of March 2023
Lots of great ideas - I'm checking out a couple of the recipes. I love corned beef and so does my one daughter-in-law, so that meal is a special treat for us. However, none of us like cabbage so mac and cheese it is!
Cara ~ Vintage Style Gal
Thursday 2nd of March 2023
Wow, you have a lot of good ideas here for St. Patty's Day dinner! I have never really made anything special for the holiday, but now you have me thinking I need to create something. Thank you for your inspiration.
Joanne
Wednesday 1st of March 2023
My husband and I enjoy corned beef and cabbage too but I always make a different meat for my boys-- this year I'm cooking them up some simple ham steaks. We usually pair it with Irish soda bread and some sort of mint chocolate dessert.