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No matter what your ancestry, it would almost take some work to make it through March 17th without eating, wearing, or doing something green. If being green for a day means a little bit of that Irish luck comes your way, who wouldn’t want that? You might not have a closet full of emerald apparel, but getting to your local pub for a glass of dyed green beer certainly can’t be that difficult. However, if green’s not your color and beer’s not your thing, the least you can do is eat like the Irish and hope a little of that Irish luck rubs off on you.
For a full day of St. Paddy’s eating, even the Irish know the importance of a good top o’ the morning breakfast. There is nothing quite as satisfying as warm baked goods in the morning, and a batch of scones feels positively and properly Irish. Try making buttermilk or cream based scones that are light and moist enough to drop onto the baking sheet, cutting down on the active preparation.
If you are looking for a larger breakfast, there is no need to wait until dinner for the corned beef. Swap out the Canadian bacon in your morning Benedict with thick slices of cooked corned beef from the deli. Top the English muffin and corned beef with a broiled tomato slice and perhaps a dollop of sauerkraut for a filling meal that will lay a solid base for a day of green beer to come.
If you aren’t wearing green and green beer makes you sick to your stomach, you can at least eat your green with one quintessential Irish food: cabbage. Cabbage often gets a bad rap. Rarely the star of the show, cabbage is frequently consigned to supporting roles such as coleslaw, sauerkraut, or as filler for cold salads. But like many great supporting actors, a great St. Patrick’s meal would not be the same were it not for the contribution of this humble vegetable.
Typical St. Patrick’s Day feasts of meat and potatoes almost need cabbage as a foil. Most people are content boiling or stewing wedges of the stuff until the leaves soften, leaving nothing but a rather bland accompaniment to the rich meats. But as Koreans are all too familiar with in the form of their fermented cabbage called kimchi, a tangy cabbage is sometimes just what is needed to cut through the fattiness of a rich meat.
In this case, I like to shred about half a head of cabbage and stir fry it with some butter, oil, and a few caraway seeds for a classic touch. As the leaves begin to wilt I’ll add a bit of red wine vinegar and just a couple tablespoons of brown sugar. The finished dish is a lovely sweet-sour combination that pairs well with corned beef but will also stand nicely alongside roasted pork or even as a sauerkraut substitute next to some grilled sausage links.
It wouldn’t be a St. Patrick’s Day without a beer. But before you reach for the green dye, consider drinking your Guinness for dessert. Sure you could crack open a pint and drink it as is. Or try using Guinness as the secret ingredient for the classic drinkable dessert, the milkshake. Guinness or another stout goes great in the blender with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream, but chocolate is an even more decadent touch. Or if the blender is too much to mess with try a different kind of beer float by pouring a frothy cold Guinness down over a few scoops of ice cream in a chilled pint glass.
Whether you are a little bit Irish, a lot Irish, or just like to party like the Irish, it sure couldn’t hurt to join in the celebration and hope a little bit of their luck rubs off on you. Morning to night, there are plenty of eating options to get you in on the fun. From scones for breakfast to Guinness shakes for dessert, a day of cooking good Irish eats will be sure to score you a kiss and maybe even make your green beer-drinking friends green with envy.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1028-irish-food-ideas/
A Bit O' Irish Eats For A Whole Lot O' Luck
No matter what your ancestry, it would almost take some work to make it through March 17th without eating, wearing, or doing something green. If being green for a day means a little bit of that Irish luck comes your way, who wouldn’t want that? You might not have a closet full of emerald apparel, but getting to your local pub for a glass of dyed green beer certainly can’t be that difficult. However, if green’s not your color and beer’s not your thing, the least you can do is eat like the Irish and hope a little of that Irish luck rubs off on you.
For a full day of St. Paddy’s eating, even the Irish know the importance of a good top o’ the morning breakfast. There is nothing quite as satisfying as warm baked goods in the morning, and a batch of scones feels positively and properly Irish. Try making buttermilk or cream based scones that are light and moist enough to drop onto the baking sheet, cutting down on the active preparation.
If you are looking for a larger breakfast, there is no need to wait until dinner for the corned beef. Swap out the Canadian bacon in your morning Benedict with thick slices of cooked corned beef from the deli. Top the English muffin and corned beef with a broiled tomato slice and perhaps a dollop of sauerkraut for a filling meal that will lay a solid base for a day of green beer to come.
If you aren’t wearing green and green beer makes you sick to your stomach, you can at least eat your green with one quintessential Irish food: cabbage. Cabbage often gets a bad rap. Rarely the star of the show, cabbage is frequently consigned to supporting roles such as coleslaw, sauerkraut, or as filler for cold salads. But like many great supporting actors, a great St. Patrick’s meal would not be the same were it not for the contribution of this humble vegetable.
Typical St. Patrick’s Day feasts of meat and potatoes almost need cabbage as a foil. Most people are content boiling or stewing wedges of the stuff until the leaves soften, leaving nothing but a rather bland accompaniment to the rich meats. But as Koreans are all too familiar with in the form of their fermented cabbage called kimchi, a tangy cabbage is sometimes just what is needed to cut through the fattiness of a rich meat.
In this case, I like to shred about half a head of cabbage and stir fry it with some butter, oil, and a few caraway seeds for a classic touch. As the leaves begin to wilt I’ll add a bit of red wine vinegar and just a couple tablespoons of brown sugar. The finished dish is a lovely sweet-sour combination that pairs well with corned beef but will also stand nicely alongside roasted pork or even as a sauerkraut substitute next to some grilled sausage links.
It wouldn’t be a St. Patrick’s Day without a beer. But before you reach for the green dye, consider drinking your Guinness for dessert. Sure you could crack open a pint and drink it as is. Or try using Guinness as the secret ingredient for the classic drinkable dessert, the milkshake. Guinness or another stout goes great in the blender with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream, but chocolate is an even more decadent touch. Or if the blender is too much to mess with try a different kind of beer float by pouring a frothy cold Guinness down over a few scoops of ice cream in a chilled pint glass.
Whether you are a little bit Irish, a lot Irish, or just like to party like the Irish, it sure couldn’t hurt to join in the celebration and hope a little bit of their luck rubs off on you. Morning to night, there are plenty of eating options to get you in on the fun. From scones for breakfast to Guinness shakes for dessert, a day of cooking good Irish eats will be sure to score you a kiss and maybe even make your green beer-drinking friends green with envy.
Sausages with Sweet and Sour Caraway Cabbage
Made with cider vinegar, brown sugar, pork or turkey sausages, cabbage, butter, vegetable oil, caraway seeds, salt and pepper
Made with cider vinegar, brown sugar, pork or turkey sausages, cabbage, butter, vegetable oil, caraway seeds, salt and pepper
Serves/Makes: 4
- 4 large pork or turkey sausages
- 1/2 head cabbage
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus extra
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
Heat a grill pan over medium high heat with enough oil to lightly coat. Place sausages on the hot grill pan and cooked on all sides until cooked through.
Meanwhile, remove core from the cabbage and slice thinly to shred.
Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium high heat with 1 Tablespoon oil and butter. When butter is melted, add caraway seeds and shredded cabbage. Toss cabbage in the pan with some salt and pepper. Allow cabbage to cook and wilt down for 3-4 minutes, tossing occasionally.
Add brown sugar and vinegar and toss again to combine. Continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes until liquid has mostly evaporated. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper if necessary.
Serve cabbage with cooked sausages.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1028-irish-food-ideas/