Green food has a reputation problem, and it is mostly deserved, because too much of it is a bottle of dye in something that did not need it. These St Patrick’s Day recipes are the other kind. The green comes from spinach pesto in the mashed potatoes, from avocado in the egg salad, from broccoli in the pasta sauce. Then there is the properly Irish half of the list, the food that has nothing to prove: Guinness stew scaled up to feed about twenty people, colcannon, potato farls off a hot pan, blaas from County Waterford, potato leek soup served in a bread bowl. And the drinks, obviously, because Baileys goes into truffles and doughnuts as happily as it goes into a glass, and there are shamrock shakes and Irish coffee besides. Shepherd’s pie, Reuben dip and Irish flag jello shots handle the party end of the table. There are twenty five recipes here, split into green ideas, shamrock shapes, Baileys, traditional Irish and party food, so you can build a whole March 17th table.
Best St Patrick’s Day Recipes
Green Recipe Ideas
1. Homemade Shamrock Shake
Four ingredients and no cooking at all. Three cups of vanilla ice cream, a cup and three quarters of whole milk, a teaspoon of peppermint extract and enough green food coloring to make it convincing, blended until thick. If you have no blender, softened ice cream shaken in a mason jar gets you there, which is genuinely useful when the kitchen is already full. Whipped cream and a cherry on top and it looks exactly like the drive through version. Five minutes, and it makes two large shakes.
Get the full tutorial at Baking Beauty.
2. Green Popcorn
Ten cups of popped popcorn get salted liberally first, which matters, because everything after this is sweet. Three tablespoons of butter melt with three cups of mini marshmallows, and the trick is pouring that mixture over a third at a time and folding between each addition rather than dumping the lot on at once. Spread it on a parchment lined sheet, then the green candy goes on: regular, pretzel and mini green candies, shamrock marshmallows from a cereal box and mini shamrock sprinkles. Twenty minutes, ten servings.
Get the full tutorial at Two Sisters Crafting.
3. Shamrock Shake Macarons
Macarons are fussy and this recipe does not pretend otherwise. A hundred and twenty grams of egg whites, a hundred and seventy grams of almond meal and two hundred grams of powdered sugar, piped into inch and a half rounds and then left to dry forty five to sixty minutes until a thin skin forms on top, which is the step that decides whether you get feet or cracks. They bake at 300 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes and must not brown. The filling is peppermint buttercream, with a maraschino cherry inside each one.
Get the full tutorial at Baking A Moment.
4. Spinach Pesto Mashed Potatoes
Green mashed potatoes, and the color comes from a spinach pesto rather than food coloring, which is a much better answer. Baby spinach stands in for basil because basil is dismal in the shops in March, and it gets made as pesto normally would. The clever part is the garnish: four leaf clovers punched out of fresh baby spinach leaves with a paper craft punch, and baby spinach is the right leaf because it is fine enough to go through one. Pipe the potatoes into frozen tart shells and bake about twenty minutes.
Get the full tutorial at Home is Where the Boat Is.
5. Avocado Egg Salad
No mayonnaise at all. Two small avocados plus a tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt replace it entirely, and mashed together with two hard boiled eggs and two hard boiled egg whites you get something creamier than the original and a good deal lighter. Lemon juice, green onion and a quarter teaspoon of Dijon are the only other things in it. Mash to whatever texture you like, chunky or smooth. One honest caveat from the cook: eat it the day you make it, because avocado will not wait. Ten minutes, four servings.
Get the full tutorial at Two Peas and Their Pod.
6. Parmesan Garlic Zucchini Chips
Read the method before you plan around these, because they are dehydrated rather than baked, at 135 degrees for five to ten hours. That is a set it overnight job, not an afternoon one. A pound of thinly sliced zucchini, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, an ounce of finely grated Parmesan, one grated garlic clove and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar get tossed together and spread on the trays. A mandoline is what gets the slices thin enough, and thin is the whole difference between a chip and a leathery disc.
Get the full tutorial at Frugal Living Mom.
7. Broccoli Spinach Pesto Pasta
Nothing in this sauce ever gets cooked. The frozen broccoli and spinach thaw for about ten minutes straight in the food processor bowl, which is the trick that makes it a twenty five minute dinner, because the pasta boils in exactly that window. Then parmesan, cashews, fresh basil, water and olive oil go in on top and the whole thing processes to a sauce thick enough to cling, and it gets folded into the drained cavatappi right in the pot. Cashews instead of pine nuts keep it cheap. Warm, at room temperature or cold the next day, it is just as good.
Get the full tutorial at Homegrown Friends.
8. Fried Eggs in Green Pepper
One large bell pepper cut into rings, six eggs, and breakfast is handled. Lay the rings in a sprayed skillet over medium heat and crack an egg into each so it spreads to fill the ring. Soft yolks take three to five minutes over low heat, firm ones take six to nine with the yolk broken. The cook’s tip is the charming part: look for peppers whose lobes make a shamrock shape when you slice across them, and some of them genuinely do. Parmesan on top, twenty minutes, three to four servings.
Get the full tutorial at Reluctant Entertainer.
Shamrock Recipes
9. St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Sandwiches
Spread peanut butter and jelly on one slice of bread, cut a shamrock out of the middle of a second slice with a cookie cutter, lay that slice on top and fill the shamrock shaped window with St Patrick’s sprinkles. Cutting the crusts off first is optional. It takes about a minute per sandwich and a five year old can do most of it.
Get the full tutorial at Mom Endeavors.
10. Shamrock Chips with Pot O Gold Dip
The chips are spinach tortillas cut with a shamrock cookie cutter, and the dip is a Pot O Gold salsa made from two large yellow heirloom tomatoes or two pints of yellow pear cherry tomatoes, a third of a cup of onion, salt and lime juice, with cilantro, yellow bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic optional. Two tips that matter: squeeze the tomatoes over the sink first so it is not watery, and blend on the lowest setting so you do not liquefy it.
Get the full tutorial at How Does She.
11. Pot O Gold Irish Potato Soup
Yukon Gold potatoes, Irish butter and Irish cheddar, which is where the pot of gold name comes from, and it is adapted from a Southern Living recipe rather than invented whole. Two things the cook does differently are worth stealing. The potatoes get roasted at 400 degrees for about thirty minutes instead of boiled in the pot, and a third of them are held back and added after blending so the soup keeps some texture. The skins stay on. Celery joins the leeks and onion, and it is served in a bread bowl.
Get the full tutorial at Home is Where the Boat Is.
Bailey’s Irish Cream Recipes
12. Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles
Sixty truffles from four ingredients, which is a lot of gift bags for very little work. Twelve ounces of dark chocolate chips, two tablespoons of butter and two thirds of a cup of just boiled heavy cream make the ganache, then a third of a cup of Baileys goes in and thickens it noticeably as you stir. Spread it in an eight inch square dish and chill at least two hours until firm before rolling. Green, gold and white sprinkles are what make them look like a holiday rather than a Tuesday.
Get the full tutorial at One Hot Oven.
13. Baileys Irish Cream Doughnuts
These are a two day project and worth knowing that before you start. The yeast dough is mixed, then refrigerated overnight, rolled half an inch thick the next day, cut with a three to four inch round cutter and left to rise two to three hours until doubled. They fry at 350 degrees for two to three minutes a side, get tossed in sugar while hot, and are filled with cream whipped with two tablespoons of Irish cream. The recipe makes ten, and they are worth every hour of the wait.
Get the full tutorial at Pass the Sushi.
Traditional Irish Recipes
14. Irish Potato Leek Soup
Only the white part of three leeks goes in, and washing them properly is not optional, because grit hides right down in the layers and there is no rescuing a soup once it is in there. Six potatoes and six cups of broth cook thirty five to forty five minutes until tender, then rest ten minutes before you blend, which saves you a scalded arm. Six ounces of heavy cream and six ounces of whole milk go in after blending. Eight servings, and the cook says it is good hot or cold.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking with Curls.
15. Irish Coffee
Hot coffee, Irish whiskey and cream, and the only real technique is the cream, which should be lightly whipped and poured over the back of a spoon so it floats instead of mixing in. You drink it through the cream rather than stirring. A plate of shamrock shortbread alongside is the version in the photo and it is the right call after a heavy dinner. It takes about two minutes to make and it is the correct end to a heavy Irish dinner.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
16. Irish Blaas
Pronounced blah, which is the least appetizing name for a very good roll, and they come from County Waterford. Yeast, sugar, salt, half a cup of softened butter, a cup and a half of warm water and four cups of flour make a sticky dough that pulls away from the bowl after about five minutes of kneading. Here is what gives them their look: the rolls get rolled in an extra three quarters of a cup of flour, twice, before their second rise. Bake at 400 degrees for eighteen to twenty two minutes.
Get the full tutorial at Recipes Food and Cooking.
17. Irish Pub Salad
This is a pub plate rather than a bowl of leaves. Boston or Bibb lettuce goes down first, then pickled beets, whole pickled green beans, four quartered hard boiled eggs, cheddar cut into small squares, cucumber, celery and thinly sliced onion, arranged in sections rather than tossed. The dressing is mayonnaise, rice vinegar, Dijon and dried tarragon whisked with a little water. Boil the eggs ten minutes then straight into ice water, and always peel them under cold running water. Serves six.
Get the full tutorial at Reluctant Entertainer.
18. Colcannon, Irish Mashed Potatoes
Warm butter is the whole difference. The half and half goes into the microwave with five tablespoons of butter and the spices for ninety seconds, and the drained potatoes go back into the hot empty pot to steam themselves dry before any of it touches them. Cold dairy poured into wet potatoes is how mash turns gluey, and this order avoids it. Sour cream follows, then the cabbage that softened in the bacon drippings for ten minutes, then the bacon and the green onion tops folded through at the end. Three pounds of russets, forty minutes start to finish, and it feeds eight.
Get the full tutorial at Carlsbad Cravings.
19. Irish Stew With Celtic Trinity Knots
This one feeds a crowd, about twenty servings, so read that before you start shopping. Eight cups of beef broth and two cans of Guinness draught go in with half a cup of barley, and two and a half pounds of floured stewing beef gets browned in three batches rather than all at once, which is the only way it browns instead of steaming. A third of a cup of red wine deglazes the pan. Twelve carrots, twelve potatoes and four leeks join it, then two hours of gentle simmering.
Get the full tutorial at Jo and Sue.
20. Vegan Beef Irish Stew
Quartered baby bella mushrooms take the place of the beef and they do it convincingly, because mushrooms bring the savory depth that usually needs meat. The vegetables sweat in a couple of tablespoons of broth rather than oil, then twenty halved baby potatoes, the rest of a thirty two ounce carton of broth, tamari, vegan Worcestershire and a tied bundle of thyme, oregano, parsley and bay simmer for an hour. A roux of vegan butter, flour and a cup of plant milk thickens it at the end. Eight servings.
Get the full tutorial at Veganosity.
21. Irish Potato Scones
Cold mashed potato is not a substitute here, it is the requirement, so this is a recipe to want leftovers for. Eight ounces of yesterday’s mash gets forked into flour, salt, baking powder and cold butter rubbed to a coarse meal, and the milk goes in a tablespoon and a half at a time, only enough to pull a ball together. Roll it a quarter inch thick, cut triangles and fry them in cast iron in a dab of melted butter, about three minutes a side until golden brown. Watch the butter rather than the clock, because burnt butter takes the scones with it. Serve them hot.
Get the full tutorial at Noshing With the Nolands.
22. Guinness Shepherd's Pie
Seal the mashed potato all the way to the edges of the dish. Leave a gap and the filling bubbles up around the sides instead of staying where the gravy belongs, and that one move is the difference between a tidy pie and a mess. The filling is ground round browned with onion and garlic, dusted with flour, then Guinness, beef broth, Worcestershire, rosemary and thyme simmered about twelve minutes until it lightly thickens. Shredded cheddar goes through the potatoes. Twenty five minutes at 350 degrees in an 8 by 8 dish, then rest it fifteen to twenty minutes before cutting in.
Get the full tutorial at Confetti and Bliss.
23. Potato Nachos
Nachos with sliced potatoes instead of chips, and the method is what keeps them from going soggy. A pound and a half of russets sliced a quarter inch thick get tossed with olive oil, rosemary and thyme and baked at 450 degrees for twenty minutes, turned, then twenty minutes more. Only then do they move to a cast iron skillet, overlapping slightly, for cheddar and five slices of chopped bacon and three or four minutes back in the oven. Green onion, cilantro, sour cream and pico at the table.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking with Curls.
St Patrick’s Day Recipes for A Party
24. Classic Reuben Dip
Drain the sauerkraut, rinse it and then squeeze it dry in paper towels, because that last step is the whole reason this bakes up thick instead of weeping liquid into the dish. The base is onion and chive cream cheese, mayonnaise and Thousand Island beaten smooth with a hand mixer, then chopped deli corned beef, the kraut and a cup and a half of the Swiss folded in by hand so nothing turns to paste. The remaining half cup of Swiss goes over the top to brown. Thirty minutes at 350 degrees, chives at the end, rye bread to scoop.
Get the full tutorial at Parade.
25. Irish Jello Shots
Three layers in the colors of the Irish flag, and the whole thing is patience rather than skill. Lime jello with two envelopes of gelatin and two cups of boiling water fills the glasses a third full and sets for about twenty minutes. Then sweetened condensed milk with boiling water and bloomed gelatin makes the white middle layer, another twenty minutes, then orange jello on top. It fills thirty two to thirty six shot glasses, and the recipe as written contains no alcohol, so it works for any age.
Get the full tutorial at Hoosier Homemade.
