5 St. Patricks Day Dishes

Looking for 5 St. Patrick's Day dishes? Believe it or not, St. Patrick’s Day involves more than drinking, fighting and a bit of religion or Irish pride—it involves food. If you’ve been invited to a St. Patrick’s Day party, it can be awkward if you can’t recognize the traditional dishes served. Here are 5 essential, tasty St. Patrick’s Day foods often served in the United States.

1. Soda bread. This bread doesn’t include Coke or Pepsi, but soda bicarbonate as it’s known in the United States. Soda bicarbonate is a bread-leavening agent alternative to yeast. This bread comes in many varieties, and you might find it served with soup or gravy (for soaking). The main loaf is usually round or oblong and tall as the soda rises quickly. The bread often contains sugar or salt and, depending on the sweetness, it may be served as a dessert item.
2. Boxty. In Ireland, boxty is a potato pancake served at breakfast or with soup. In America, restaurants serving “new Celtic” cuisine have included this Irish staple food in appetizers and dinner dishes also containing dressings and meat. Boxty pancakes look fried and flat and consist primarily of potato, flour, milk and egg, just like a regular pancake. On St. Patrick’s Day, you might also encounter boxty in cake form or as dumplings in a stew.
3. Corned beef and cabbage. Serving cabbage with corned beef is not an Irish tradition, but one seen elsewhere in the world, including the United States. Corned beef has a pinkish look, but don’t worry—it’s thoroughly cooked. The difference between this and other varieties of prepared beef is that it’s prepared with salt. This used to function as a method for preserving the meat before the invention of refrigerators.
4. Colcannon. Colcannon is typically served with corned beef as the cabbage counterpart. It resembles potato salad but also includes cabbage. Most people also prepare colcannon with onions and light spices. If you like potato salad and cabbage, this is a safe bet on St. Patrick’s Day.
5. Irish potatoes. These mini-potatoes actually aren’t potatoes at all—they’re sweet. These treats are generally regarded as an Irish-American dessert or snack food and they contain cream cheese, coconut and powdered sugar or cinnamon. You can get them from Oh Ryan’s, a company based in Philadelphia, home to the Irish potato trend and many Irish-Americans. Consider ordering a box of these if you’re looking for something to bring to a party.

Most American St. Patrick’s Day parties also include alcoholic beverages and generic green foods. Additionally, you’ll find Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day. This is a heavy Irish stout. It is a filling beer, so consider limiting yourself to one until you’ve finished eating to avoid a low alcohol tolerance and a stomach too full for your meal.