Whether you’re Irish or simply Irish at heart, celebrate St. Patty’s Day with a few boozy drinks and a table of St. Patrick’s Day party foods that will let your Irish pride shine. Not in the mood to spend hours in the kitchen while your friends are dancing Irish jigs? It’s your lucky day! The following 12 St. Patrick’s Day recipes are easy and impressive — and they won’t kill your buzz.
Sweet Guinness dipping sauce
Skip the big St. Patrick’s Day meal and go straight for this sweet Guinness dipping sauce paired with your favorite Irish soda bread. A ridiculously easy yet succulently impressive recipe from Catherine Clark at Bijoux & Bits, this must-make condiment is an intensely flavored sweetened Guinness reduction.
Making a reduction sounds so fancy and complicated, but it is one of the easiest cooking techniques to have in your arsenal. All you need is a pan, three ingredients — the stout, brown sugar and olive oil — and 60 minutes later, you’ll have yourself the most deliciously memorable dipping sauce you’ve ever put in your mouth.
ALSO TRY: 10 delicious St. Patrick’s Day desserts that can still be eaten all year long
St. Patrick’s Day cheesy sausage green pasta
Green pasta on St. Patrick’s Day? Yes, please! This amazing cheesy sausage green pasta from Nicolas at Blogtastic Food is a sumptuous homemade pasta made with spinach (no green dyes here!) that is tossed with ample sausage slices and an ooey, gooey good cheddar cheese sauce.
Intimidated by making fresh pasta, particularly with spinach? Fret not! Nick walks you through the recipe step by step so your St. Patty’s Day dish is a raving success. You’ll rave. Your friends will rave. This green pasta is a scrumptious way to celebrate the Irish.
Irish colcannon
Get the St. Patty’s Day party started with green drinks, emerald-hued attire and an authentic Irish meal. You can certainly serve up corned beef and cabbage, but don’t forget the side dishes!
Check out this recipe for Irish colcannon from Toni at Boulder Locavore. It is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day mashed potato dish that’s teeming with butter and woven with kale and scallions. You tenderize the kale, then chop it up with the green onions while the potatoes are boiling to soft perfection. Mash the mix together with a stick of butter and immediately dig right in.
Your party guests will feel like it’s their lucky day.
Instant Pot corned beef and Reuben sandwich
Shake up the usual St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage with this scrumptious Instant Pot corned beef and Reuben sandwich recipe from Leigh Anne at Your Home Based Mom.
If you’ve avoided Reubens because you’re not a fan of sauerkraut, you’re going to love this Irish twist on the sandwich. While the corned beef is cooking in the Instant Pot, you make a cabbage slaw.
Your traditional Irish-inspired party meal just got a mouthwatering makeover — and your family and friends are going to go wild for these flavorful, finger-licking amazing sandwiches!
ALSO TRY: 8 Irish St. Patrick’s Day cocktails to help you celebrate with friends and family
One-pot Irish banger skillet
Celebrate the Irish, leprechauns and pots of gold with this one-pot Irish banger skillet from Jean at What Great Grandma Ate.
What’s a banger, you ask? It’s a slang word for sausage. The term “banger” dates back to the early 1900s when sausages were made with a high water content which would cause them to pop or “bang” when cooked.
When it comes to Irish pub grub, bangers are served with potatoes. This one-pot Irish banger skillet features potatoes, cabbage, carrots and your favorite sausage. Throw all the ingredients into an ovenproof skillet and slide it in the oven. Thirty-five minutes later, your St. Patrick’s Day dish is ready for devouring.
One-pan cabbage and sausage skillet
Ready to slurp green beer, tell Irish jokes and sit down to a classic St. Patrick’s Day meal? Make this one-pan cabbage and sausage skillet from Erin at Well Plated and your party guests will think they’ve discovered their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Featuring delish shreds of cabbage, turkey sausage, onion and brown rice cooked to perfection with juicy fire-roasted tomatoes and chicken stock, this Irish dish is so yummy you’ll want to serve it all year round. As a tasty bonus, it is a nutritious, balanced meal that you can feel good feeding your family and friends.
Dublin coddle
A rustic, homey St. Patrick’s Day dish, this Dublin coddle from Jerry at Uncle Jerry’s Kitchen is everything you want in an Irish meal.
Essentially an Irish sausage and bacon stew, this coddle boasts a complexity of flavors that make you savor every bite. You make it with a generous pound of bacon, pork sausages, onions, fresh herbs, potatoes and your favorite beer, layering the ingredients in a casserole dish — or slow-cooker — and cook it until it is intoxicatingly fragrant and the potatoes are tender.
A coddle is a traditional Irish recipe that has been a Dublin favorite since the 17th century. It will inarguably become one of your St. Patty’s Day party food favorites, too.
Bangers and mash with onion mustard gravy
This sumptuous riff on bangers and mash is the ultimate St. Patrick’s Day dish!
A festive recipe from Kellie at The Suburban Soapbox, this bangers and mash with onion mustard gravy features sausages, horseradish smashed potatoes, and a tangy tongue-tantalizing gravy made with caramelized onions, garlic, thyme, Dijon mustard and your choice of beer. One bite will send your party guests into a tizzy of raising their Irish pints to cheer.
Don’t just serve this amped-up bangers and mash on St. Patrick’s Day — it deserves a place at your table anytime you want to dig into great-tasting comfort food.
Green eggs and ham sandwich
Green eggs and ham aren’t just for Dr. Seuss fans. St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect time to whip them up for your Irish holiday celebration.
Amy at Little Dairy On the Prairie shares her green eggs and ham sandwich recipe that will give everyone — kids and adults alike — at your St. Patty’s Day party a delicious reason to cheer. Instead of simply adding green food coloring to scrambled eggs, you actually make this fun and festive dish with spinach. Crack your eggs in the blender and puree with spinach, then scramble your green eggs in butter. Yum!
Layer slices of ham, scrambled green eggs, cheddar cheese and tomato slices between buttered toasted bread and serve.
Reuben poppers
If your favorite sandwich is a Reuben, turn it into scrumptious bite-sized poppers that will make your St. Patrick’s Day party a smashing success.
These Reuben poppers from MaryAnn at The Beach House Kitchen are a must-eat finger food for your Irish-inspired bash. You make the poppers with a mouthwatering mixture of salty corned beef, creamy Swiss cheese, tangy sauerkraut, caraway seeds and cream cheese. Coat the bite-sized orbs with a buttermilk panko coating and fry until irresistibly crispy.
Be sure to make a big batch, because these Reuben poppers won’t last long.
St. Patrick’s Day spinach feta rugelach
When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day party foods, Laura Kumin at Mother Would Know definitely knows what’s best. Her St. Patrick’s Day spinach and feta rugelach will forever change your Irish holiday menu offerings. It will even change your appetizer offerings for every holiday celebration.
You make this savory rugelach by wrapping pie dough around a tasty combination of spinach, onion and garlic sautéed in butter, and creamy feta. Bake each rugelach until golden brown and serve warm.
This Irish-inspired dish will make your family and friends thrilled that they gobbled up this rugelach instead of skipping your party and searching for leprechauns, a four-leaf clover, or a pot of gold.