Cooking a St. Patrick's Day feast at home? These recipes can help

Whether St. Patrick's Day for you looks like having a few pints of Guinness at the pub, going all out at a local parade, or just wearing something green to your regular work day, food should definitely be on the itinerary—and we've lined up all the staples to be sure you're celebrating right.

We included the mainstays like corned beef and cabbage, as well as comfort options like Irish stew and desserts. Because why not? Options are important, especially if you're hosting guests.

Regardless of your choice of cooking vessel—be it be a cast iron pan, a slow cooker, or a multicooker—these recipes are approachable for home cooks of all levels.

Irish soda bread

Let’s start with Irish Soda bread, a sweet-and-savory bread that tastes like a mix between scones and bread. This quick bread is incredibly easy to make using your cast iron pan. (Our favorite is the Lodge skillet.)

Because the bread is leavened using baking soda, it doesn’t require any kneading or resting for the dough to rise. The lactic acid in the buttermilk reacts with the sodium bicarbonate in the baking soda to create carbon dioxide and make the bread rise. It’s a super basic chemical reaction, though you don't need to understand the science to make a great loaf.

The classic recipe calls for flour, salt, baking soda, buttermilk, and sometimes raisins or caraway seeds (my mother-in-law uses currants in place of raisins). For the best soda bread, mix the dough as little as possible and use high quality butter such as Kerrygold Pure Irish butter.

Alternatively, you can order your loaf from Miller’s Bakery in Pennsylvania.

$50 at Goldbelly

Corned beef and cabbage

Corned beef with cabbage is the traditional centerpiece to any Irish-American St. Patrick’s Day celebration. But don't look around for the corn in this recipe: "Corned" refers to the large "corns" of salt that this dish was traditionally prepared with, not the yellow kernels you pop for movie night.

Cooking corned beef in a cast iron Dutch oven is definitely one of the preferred methods. A low-temperature oven combined with cast iron cookware creates the perfect environment for the tough meat to slowly break down, resulting in incredibly juicy, fall-apart-tender slices of beef.

If low-and-slow isn’t realistic in your household, we also have a killer corned beef recipe that’s cooked in an Instant Pot in less time.

Want to go all out for your dinner party? Snake River Farms offers an American Wagyu corned beef brisket that can ship right to your door.

$75 at Snake River Farms

Irish stew

Irish stew may not appear on most people’s St. Patrick's Day menu, but it’s a traditional Irish dish that brings warmth and happiness, plus it's super simple to whip up in a slow cooker. Typically prepared with mutton, more modern variations with lamb or beef are becoming popular as well. And since we’re on the tail end of freezing winter months, now is the time to cook a hearty pot of stew before it gets too hot. $157 at Amazon

Potatoes colcannon

This dish is all about simplicity. Potatoes colcannon can be made by mashing potatoes with cabbage or kale, the latter sautéed in bacon if you wish or otherwise simply in butter.

Once it’s mashed and seasoned to your liking, bake it in a cast iron pan for 10 to 20 minutes, giving it a twice-baked potato flavor without much fuss. If you have leftovers, fire up the cast iron again the morning after to make deliciously crispy potato pancakes. $30 at Williams Sonoma

Corned beef hash

If you've got leftovers, break out the cast iron skillet for corned beef hash. The layer of food making contact with the pan will sear nicely, giving you crispy potatoes, while the food above it will continue to cook by the cast iron's radiant heat.

Make small pockets in the hash and crack the eggs directly into them, cover the pan, then toss it in a 350° F oven to create creamy baked eggs.

Irish lemon pudding

Finally, let’s talk about desserts. Irish lemon pudding is easy to make. You can bake it in a springform cake pan or a pie dish.

$16 at Amazon

$45 at Amazon

As it bakes, the batter separates into two layers. The top layer has the texture of a sponge cake while the bottom layer is custard-like. The pudding can be topped with fresh whipped cream and served with berries.

It’s light and soft, which balances out the heaviness of corned beef. Pair with Irish coffee or a shamrock shake made at home.

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