Beef and Guinness pie is essentially beef and Guinness stew placed into a pastry base and topped with a pastry lid. The pie is baked until it's golden brown and it's known as a perfect dish for cold autumn days. The filling is typically made with beef cubes, mustard powder, oil, onions, celery, carrots, Guinness, beef stock, redcurrant jelly, bay leaves, parsley, and thyme.
It's cooked slowly in order to result in perfectly tender meat. The flavors of Guinness permeate the beef, while the vegetables produce a thick gravy. If there's any leftover gravy after the pie has been baked, it's usually poured into a jug and served with the pie.
MOST ICONIC Beef and Guinness Pie
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This traditional Irish stew is made with cubes of beef, onions, bacon, tomato paste, stock, Guinness stout beer, and vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and celery. The stew is flavored with bay leaves, thyme, salt, garlic, and black pepper, while flour is added as a thickening agent.
It should be cooked very slowly over low heat until all the flavors are thoroughly combined. Beef and Guinness stew can be served with biscuits or Irish soda bread on the side, and it is recommended to prepare it on colder days or for St. Patrick’s Day.
This flavorful dish consists of seafood such as salmon, prawns, white fish, and haddock, paired with milk, cream, and vegetables such as onions, potatoes, carrots, and garlic. The chowder is popular both as a refreshing course in the hot summer months, and a rich, comforting winter dish.
It is recommended to garnish the bowl of chowder with some fresh, finely chopped parsley.
MOST ICONIC Irish Seafood Chowder
View moreIrish breakfast is a traditional meal consisting of fried eggs, vegetables, potatoes, and meats such as bacon, sausages, and both black and white puddings. The large meal is almost always served with Irish soda or brown bread, a cup of tea, and a glass of orange juice on the side.
All of the ingredients are most commonly fried in creamy butter. Originally, the breakfast was invented as a way to prepare the people for a day of hard work on the farm, and the meal was especially popular on cold winter mornings. Today, its huge size is making it somewhat impossible to consume on most working day mornings, so it is usually prepared on Sunday morning (or Christmas morning, when it's especially popular).
Dubliner is an Irish cheese produced in County Cork. The cheese is made from cow's milk. Its texture is firm, smooth, and crystalline, while the flavors are nutty, sharp, and sweet. Dubliner has a natural rind, and today it is available in a wide variety of flavors.
The cheese was originally invented by John Lucey, who still keeps the secret recipe. It is recommended to serve the Dubliner with Cabernet or a pint of Guinness beer. Alternatively, it can be melted between slices of crusty brown bread.
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Irish brown bread is a variety of soda bread hailing from Ireland. It's made with all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, rolled oats, buttermilk (for flavor and moisture), and molasses (for caramelization and color). Once prepared, the dough is shaped into a ball which is pressed, then decorated with a cross incision on top.
This rustic bread is baked until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. The cross on top of the bread has its purpose – the heat will penetrate it, and the center will then bake well. In the country, this bread is a staple in pubs and restaurants, and it's often paired with Irish butter and fruit jam.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Mussels in cream is a traditional dish originating from Ireland, and it's especially popular in Donegal and Cork. Although there are many variations on this simple dish, it's often made with a combination of scrubbed and debearded mussels, butter, heavy cream, flour, salt, and pepper.
The mussels are heated in a skillet until the shells open, and any unopened mussels are discarded. A roux is made from butter and flour, and it's then mixed with a bit of water and heavy cream until the sauce thickens. The sauce is seasoned with salt and pepper and it's then mixed with the mussels and their juices.
Irish stew is a traditional folk stew that first appeared at the beginning of the 19th century and was developed out of necessity to make a meal out of available, leftover ingredients. Originally, the stew was made only with mutton, onions, potatoes, and sometimes barley, while lamb meat and other root vegetables like carrots, turnips, and parsnips were added later.
It is said that goat meat was also used in the past, but besides the previously mentioned mutton and lamb, beef is a common addition in today's recipes. Given that the meat used in the dish is chewy and hard, usually bone-in, the stew is cooked slowly for a couple of hours so that the meat turns tender and releases the fat into the stew, thus enhancing the flavor of the entire dish.
MOST ICONIC Irish stew
View moreThe Irish breakfast roll is a filling, nutritious sandwich consisting of a bread roll filled with a number of ingredients that are usually a part of the traditional full Irish breakfast, such as bacon, mushrooms, sausages, pudding, and brown sauce.
In Ireland, it is often bought at supermarkets or gas stations since it is meant to be consumed on-the-go. Due to its high nutritional value, it is commonly known as the ultimate hangover cure in the country.
Colcannon is a traditional dish made by mashing together previously cooked potatoes with kale or cabbage, while the creamy consistency is achieved by adding milk and butter, or cream. Salt and pepper are the only seasonings, and colcannon often contains additional ingredients such as chives, onions, scallions, and leeks, but many also like to add bacon for flavor and texture.
The dish is traditionally prepared for Halloween and is used in many of the Irish fortune-telling traditions. As far as the origin, the name is derived from the Gaelic word cál ceannann, meaning white-headed cabbage. Typically, the dish is served either as an individual meal or as an accompaniment to meat, often with a knob of butter in the middle.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 71 Irish Foods” list until February 16, 2025, 1,046 ratings were recorded, of which 886 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.