33 Must-Try Traditional Irish Foods: From Classic to Contemporary

Traditional Irish food celebrates hearty, comforting dishes that evolved from humble beginnings into today’s celebrated cuisine. From traditional staples like Irish stew and soda bread to modern interpretations using artisanal ingredients, Irish cooking combines rural simplicity with contemporary craft.

Food made in Ireland has come a long way in the past 10-15 years. Irish culture and traditions meant that what was cooked had to provide the most amount of calories for a hard day’s work and many traditional foods are based on 3 items, meat, veg and potatoes.

Visitors to Ireland want to try as many traditional Irish dishes as possible probably because of their memories of the foods that were prepared for them as children. But Irish food has come a long way and you will find everything here from Michelin-starred restaurants to an entire Irish food culture built on the farm-to-table ethos.

Many fine restaurants in both the north and south focus on ingredients, which are produced and or grown locally with superb cheese, butter and meat products. There is a growing vegan and vegetarian Irish restaurant scene and for those with food allergies, there is a great deal of care taken by the restaurant industry to point out common allergens and work toward providing their customers with a great deal of “free-from” products.

The Irish don’t really have specialty dishes for celebrations like St. Patrick’s Day or Christmas they tend to eat all the basics like a roast turkey for Christmas and on St. Patricks’s day boxty, colcannon, Irish stew and the like are enjoyed by all.

There are a few food markets you should check out when in Ireland. I highly recommend the Limerick Milk Market and the English Market in Cork for those obsessed with a market like me.

Xyuandbeyond is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. You can read my privacy policy here.

33 Traditional Irish foods to eat

Irish Champ

Irish butter

Boxty

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Coddle

Dublin Coddle

Colcannon

Colcannon Croquettes

Irish Stew

Bacon and Cabbage

Guinness Cake

Gammon

Rashers

Ulster Fry Bap

Dublin Breakfast Roll

Full Irish Breakfast

Cockles and Mussels

Irish seafood Chowder

Tripe

Drisheen

Crubeens

Black & White Pudding

Barmbrack

Flapjacks

Gur Cake

Spice Bag

Goody

Chip Butties

Waterford Blas

Dulse

Yellowman

Porter Cake

Classic main dishes

Irish beef stew

This hearty dish combines lamb or beef with potatoes, carrots, onions, and parsley in a rich broth. Traditional preparation involves layering meat and vegetables in a heavy pot, adding broth and herbs, then slow-cooking for 2-3 hours until tender. Find authentic versions at pubs like The Hairy Lemon (Dublin) or Cronin’s (Cork).

Bacon and Cabbage

Traditional dish of boiled bacon joint served with buttered cabbage and parsley sauce. The bacon is simmered with vegetables until tender (about 2 hours), while cabbage is cooked separately and finished with butter. Common at traditional restaurants like Matt the Thresher (Dublin) or Cronin’s (Cork).

Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage?

One thing you may not find in Ireland is Corned Beef and Cabbage a lot of tourists pour in for St. Patrick’s Day looking for this “traditional” dish.  The Irish version of this is actually bacon and cabbage. Corned beef was not an Irish invention or product. It was the British who invented corned beef using Irish salt in the 1700s. Due to Ireland’s lower salt tax and the development of the beef market (due to British Laws), the British started the corned beef industry and began shipping the product to the USA.

The Irish didn’t eat it because they couldn’t afford it, but Irish Americans became accustomed to the cheapness of the product and so used it to replace bacon in their traditional bacon and cabbage dishes.

Coddle  

A warming stew of sausages, bacon, potatoes and onions, slowly simmered in stock. Layer sliced potatoes, onions, and meat in a pot, cover with stock and simmer for 2-3 hours. Traditional versions served at O’Neill’s Pub (Dublin) and The Gravediggers (Glasnevin) for €12-16.

Dublin Coddle

A hearty stew made by layering Irish sausages, back bacon, onions, and potatoes in stock, simmered slowly for 2-3 hours. Best found at traditional Dublin pubs like Mulligan’s of Poolbeg Street or L. Mulligan Grocer. Home-style versions often include carrots and parsley.

Irish Seafood Pie (Fish Pie)

A traditional coastal dish that showcases Ireland’s rich seafood. This comforting pie features layers of fresh and smoked fish in a creamy white sauce, topped with mashed potatoes and baked until golden. Best enjoyed in coastal towns where the seafood is caught fresh daily. Many restaurants serve it with seasonal vegetables and brown bread.

Best served at Coastal restaurants along the Wild Atlantic Way (€16-22), King Sitric in Howth, Dublin, Aherne’s Seafood Restaurant in Youghal, Cork, Mary Ann’s in Castletownshend, Fishy Fishy in Kinsale (€18)

Gammon

So what is gammon? It is a beautifully cured meat from the leg of the pig, which has been brined and smoked; full of flavour you will often see it on menus throughout Ireland. It can be served for breakfast with a fried egg or as a main meal with colcannon or chips. My dad’s favourite so much so he tried to sneak it back to Canada when he made a trip to Ireland.

Potato Specialties

You can’t write about traditional Irish food unless you mention the potato and of course the Irish potato Famine. The Great Hunger was a result of the potato blight and the British shipping most of Ireland’s edible foods to England. It’s a long and sordid history and many Irish consider it genocide as the British detested the Catholic Irish. Of course, this led to years of fighting, civil war and the Troubles in N. Ireland.

Boiled, mashed, fried, baked, roasted and chipped the potato is everywhere here. The humble potato is turned into flour for cakes or used as a thickener in stews and my favourite a chip butties, the potato is worth its weight in gold. I have also discovered that there are so many potato varieties, which should be carefully chosen for a specific dish.

Irish Champ

Ireland’s traditional food most certainly includes champ. This may look like simple mashed potatoes and cabbage irish dish but Champ is probably one of the best known of Irish cuisine and it’s a very simple one. Mashed potatoes made with good milk, butter and scallions (spring onions). Mashed together and sometimes served as a full meal back in the day. Champ is available virtually everywhere in Ireland and these days is served with a variety of chopped foraged greens such as stinging nettle (which used to be quite popular years ago).

What is Colcannon?

This comfort food combines creamy mashed potatoes with sautéed cabbage or kale. To prepare: Boil peeled potatoes until tender, mash with warm milk and butter. Separately sauté chopped cabbage until soft, then fold into potatoes with salt and pepper. Common at traditional restaurants like Gallagher’s Boxty House (Dublin) or Moran’s Oyster Cottage (Galway).

Colcannon Croquettes

A modern twist on traditional colcannon, these crispy balls combine mashed potatoes, kale or cabbage, and cheese, breaded and fried until golden. Popular as bar food at gastropubs like The Exchequer (Dublin) or Electric (Cork). Often served with garlic aioli or mustard sauce.

Boxty

This potato pancake combines grated raw potatoes with mashed potatoes, flour, milk and egg. Mix ingredients to form a batter, then fry in butter until golden brown. Best found in County Leitrim at McNiffe’s Boxty House or The Boxty House in Dublin’s Temple Bar area (€8-12 for traditional serving). Boxty is native to the Leitrim area.

Breads & Baking

Irish Soda Bread and Irish Scones

A  quick bread made with flour, buttermilk, baking soda, and salt. Mix ingredients until just combined, shape into a round, cut a cross on top, and bake at 200°C for 40 minutes. Found fresh-baked at Avoca cafes nationwide or Griffin’s Bakery (Galway). Traditional recipes vary by region – brown in Kerry, white in Ulster.

Irish Brown Bread

Irish brown bread is a traditional staple in Irish cuisine, known for its hearty texture and rich, nutty flavor. Made primarily from wholemeal flour, it often includes oats, buttermilk, and baking soda, which give it a dense, moist crumb and a slightly tangy taste. Unlike its sweeter counterpart, soda bread, Irish brown bread is less sweet and more robust, making it an ideal accompaniment to soups, stews, and cheeses. 

Waterford Blaas

A protected-status soft white roll with a floury coating, traditionally made by combining flour, yeast, water, and salt, then proving twice before baking. Authentic blaas only available in Waterford at M&D Bakery or Walsh’s Bakehouse. Often served filled with bacon for breakfast or at lunch with various fillings.

Guinness Cake

It’s called Guinness Cake but it really is a deep rich dark chocolate cake that is made with Guinness. Layered with cream cheese icing (to look like a pint of the black stuff) this dessert is not for the fainthearted.

Irish Apple Cake

A moist cake made with Bramley apples, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, topped with streusel. Traditional recipe includes warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Best found at Avoca cafes or Queen of Tarts (Dublin). Home-style versions served at traditional tea rooms for €4-6 per slice with cream.

Barmbrack

A yeasted sweet bread studded with raisins and sultanas, traditionally soaked overnight in tea and whiskey. Often contains fortune-telling charms at Halloween. Available at traditional bakeries like Bewley’s or Kellys (Dublin). Particularly good from local bakeries in Cork and Kerry areas.

Porter Cake 

A rich fruit cake made with Irish stout (usually Guinness), packed with raisins, sultanas, and candied peel. The fruit is soaked overnight in porter before baking. Available at traditional bakeries nationwide, particularly good at Fallon & Byrne (Dublin) or The Alternative Bread Company (Cork).

Gur Cake

A ‘gurrier’ is an old Dublin word used to describe a young boy, usually a troublemaker.  Gurriers would often be known to skip school or be ‘on the gur’.  Since most gurriers were poor and many didn’t have family homes, they would steal food to eat.

A Dublin specialty made by sandwiching spiced fruit and cake crumb mixture between pastry layers. Traditional recipe uses leftover cake, dried fruit, and warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Best found in traditional Dublin bakeries like Manning’s or Ann’s Bakery. Also called Chester Cake in some areas.

Breakfast Favorites

A Full Irish Breakfast

A hearty breakfast featuring rashers (Irish bacon), sausages, black and white pudding, eggs, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and brown bread. Best enjoyed at traditional B&Bs or hotels like The Shelbourne (Dublin) or Butler House (Kilkenny). Local cafes typically serve it for €10-15.

Breakfast roll Dublin and Ulster Fry Bap

A hearty sandwich combining full Irish breakfast ingredients in a crusty baguette. Filled with sausages, rashers, pudding, and egg, often with brown sauce or ketchup. Found in every deli and corner shop, but particularly good at Spar or Centra stores nationwide. Popular for breakfast or lunch.

Rashers

Irish bacon, not that streaky stuff we get in North America but smoked or uncooked loin slices that make the best bacon butties ever.

Black and White pudding

Usually found in rounds or squares in virtually every market in Ireland and grocery store. Black pudding is a type of sausage made from pig’s blood and oatmeal. White sausages are made from the fat from pigs with some pork meat, suet, bread and oatmeal.

Seafood Dishes

Cockles and Mussels

Fresh shellfish steamed in white wine with garlic, parsley, and cream. Traditional preparation involves cleaning shellfish thoroughly, then steaming in seasoned broth until shells open (about 5 minutes). Popular at coastal restaurants like King Sitric (Howth) or O’Connell’s (Dublin).

Irish Seafood Chowder

A creamy soup combining local seafood (mussels, salmon, white fish) with potatoes and vegetables in a rich broth. Best enjoyed along the Wild Atlantic Way at places like Vaughan’s Anchor Inn (Liscannor) or Moran’s Oyster Cottage (Galway). Typically served with brown bread for €7-12 per bowl.

Seafood Pie 

A creamy fish pie combining salmon, white fish, and smoked fish under a mashed potato topping. Traditional versions include leeks, peas, and parsley sauce. Best enjoyed at coastal restaurants like King Sitric (Howth) or Out of the Blue (Dingle). Often served with seasonal vegetables.

Portavogie Prawns

Portavogie prawns are renowned for their exceptional quality, thanks to the cold, clean waters of the Irish Sea and the village’s long-standing fishing tradition. Known for their sweet, delicate flavor and firm texture. Many Portavogie fishermen use sustainable methods like creel fishing, which minimizes environmental impact, and Northern Ireland King Prawns—including those from Portavogie—have earned Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status for their regional uniqueness.

Old School Traditional Foods

Crubeens

A very traditional dish from the Cork area, crubeens are pig’s trotters that have been boiled to tenderness. They are then roasted in the oven to give them a crackly outer skin. Many people are turned off by the fact that they are pig’s feet but don’t let that put you off these are delicate, crispy and as close to pulled pork as you can get.

Tripe

Tripe has been in the Cork diet for four centuries.  Beef tripe comes from the stomach, usually slow-cooked in milk with onions or made into a soup.  Tripe smells pretty funky and I remember when my mum used to cook it for my Granddad it looked like dirty laundry being boiled and smelled much worse. It has a, shall we say different texture and can be very chewy. Although I hear, that many an Irish chef is making tripe popular again.

Drisheen

A traditional Cork blood sausage made with sheep’s blood, milk, breadcrumbs and spices, slowly cooked until set. Find authentic versions at the English Market in Cork, particularly at A O’Reilly & Sons butchers. Often served with tripe and onions at local institutions like Tony’s Bistro.

Dulse

Purple seaweed hand-harvested from rocks along the northern coast, dried until crispy. Traditional preparation involves washing, drying, and eating as is or toasting briefly. Best bought fresh at markets in Northern Ireland, particularly at the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle. Also available in specialty food shops nationwide.

Modern Irish favourites

Crisp or chip butties

Soft white bread slathered with butter and then filled with potato chips (preferably cheese and onion and Taytos brand) or fresh cooked hot from the fryer chips (French fries). Nothing better than a chip buttie when the melted butter runs down your arm – delicious. And a crisp buttie makes the perfect snack (that’s potato chips to me and you).

Spice Bag

A modern Irish takeaway classic combining crispy chicken, chips, peppers, onions, and chili tossed in a secret spice mix. Best found at Chinese takeaways and chippers after 10pm. Popular spots include Sunflower (Dublin) and Golden House (Cork). Typically costs €8-12 for a portion that feeds 1-2 people.

Sweets and treats

Flapjacks

Unlike the flapjacks, we know in N. America, which are a pancake served with syrup. Flapjacks here in Ireland are a hard oat bar similar to the healthy fruit and nut bars in Canada. These days’ flapjacks are made with all manner of fruits and nuts with the traditional oatmeal base.

Irish Brown Bread Ice Cream 

A modern Irish dessert combining vanilla ice cream with caramelized brown bread crumbs. The bread is toasted with brown sugar until crispy, then folded through freshly churned ice cream. Found at artisanal ice cream shops like Murphy’s (Dingle) or Teddy’s (Dublin). Often served with honey or caramel sauce.

Yellowman

A golden honeycomb candy made by heating sugar, golden syrup, butter, and vinegar to hard-crack stage (300°F/149°C), then adding baking soda to create its signature texture. Traditional at the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, also found at artisanal candy makers throughout Northern Ireland. Often paired with dulse for a sweet-salty combination.

Goody

A comforting dessert made by warming milk with bread, sugar, and spices (typically cinnamon), stirred until thick. Traditional versions include cocoa powder or chocolate chips. Found in home-style restaurants around Dublin and particularly in Wicklow areas. Often served as a children’s dessert or comfort food.

Experiencing Irish Food Culture

Irish cuisine tells the story of a resilient people who transformed humble ingredients into beloved comfort foods. From traditional dishes like Irish stew and colcannon to modern innovations like spice bags, Irish food continues to evolve while honoring its roots.

Where to Experience Traditional Irish Food:

• Local pubs for hearty classics (€12-20)
• Food markets for artisanal products: Milk Market in Limerick and the English Market in Cork
• Coastal towns for fresh seafood
• Family-run bakeries for traditional breads
• Farm-to-table restaurants for modern Irish cuisine

Best Times to Visit:

• Summer for food festivals
• September for oyster season
• Winter for warming stews and coddles
• Any season for traditional breakfast and pub fare

Whether you’re seeking comfort food classics or exploring modern Irish gastronomy, these dishes offer a taste of Ireland’s rich culinary heritage. Each bite tells a story of tradition, innovation, and the warm hospitality that makes Irish food culture truly special.

For an authentic experience, look beyond tourist spots and seek out local recommendations. The best Irish food is often found in small family-run establishments where recipes have been passed down through generations.

Here are my favourite Irish Cookbooks to get you started on Irish cuisine

Stay Connected
Share your Irish adventures with us:
• Facebook:  Ireland Uncovered: Hidden Gems and local tips
• Blog Comments: Tell us about your discoveries
• Updates: Subscribe for seasonal travel tips

Slán go fóill! (Goodbye for now!)

.