17 Comforting Irish Recipes That Are Perfect for St. Patrick's Day

If you're looking for a healthy beef stew recipe that delivers on comfort, look no further. This one-pot Irish beef stew is packed with veggies and rich meaty flavor. Make this Irish beef stew recipe with Guinness--a dark, malty Irish stout--to keep it authentic. Serve with a side of Irish soda bread to sop up the leftovers.

The creamy chicken filling is spiked with sherry and the potatoes are mashed with olive oil in this healthy shepherd's pie recipe. To make individual pies, use six 10-ounce ramekins. Serve with a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette and crusty bread. 

Chicken thighs can take plenty of cooking without getting tough or drying out, which makes them perfect for the slow cooker. Here we braise them in Guinness stout along with hearty vegetables, with just the right amount of bacon for added savoriness. 

This Irish stout cake can't get any easier: everything is mixed in one bowl, poured into the cake pan and is in the oven in 15 minutes flat. Lining the cake pan with parchment paper makes removing the cake easy and helps with cleanup. After this rich chocolate cake has cooled, enjoy it with the espresso- and Irish whiskey-laced whipped cream topping.

The abundance of springy sausage, soft beans and tender cabbage packed into this slow-cooker recipe means that each bite is loaded with varied texture. To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten-free sausage. Serve with bread and Guinness, if desired.

Traditional corned beef & cabbage sure is tasty, but it's typically loaded with preservatives and sodium. In this healthy recipe makeover, we slash more than 2,300 mg of sodium with our quicker twist on the St. Patrick's Day classic. To get great flavor without the additives found in store-bought corned beef, we rub ground pickling spice onto steak instead.

These mini vegetarian shepherd's pies feature lentils, carrot and corn, crowned with a velvety mashed potato topping. The recipe can also be made in a broiler-safe casserole dish. Serve with a spinach salad with oranges, walnuts and red-wine vinaigrette.

Lamb stew is Irish penicillin: a rich stew full of potatoes, leeks and carrots that'll cure whatever ails you. In traditional fashion, nothing here is browned first, just all stewed together--in this case, in a slow cooker to make it extra easy. To keep it healthy make sure to trim the lamb of any visible fat before you cook it.

This single-serve version of classic Irish soda bread is fun for St. Patrick's Day, but you'll find they're also delicious for weekend brunches. All you need with these scones is a warm cup of tea.

Rhubarb is a tangy counterpart for sweet raspberries in this fruit crumble recipe. For a nutty flavor and a boost of nutrition, this healthy dessert uses whole-grain rye flour and toasted pecans. Serve the crumble with your favorite vanilla frozen yogurt or a dollop of whipped cream. 

In this easy one-pan dinner, boneless pork loin roast is cooked over a bed of carrots and parsnips for an all-in-one dish that makes an impressive centerpiece for a holiday meal or Sunday dinner. Choose free-range heritage pork if you can--its flavor really shines with no more seasoning than a bit of thyme and a little sea salt. If you'd like, dress up the meal with a traditional Irish apple condiment--Ploughmans chutney or Bramley applesauce, which you can find in specialty stores and online.

A comforting dish with a healthier profile—and perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

n this roasted cabbage recipe, cabbage wedges are roasted at a high temperature, creating an amazing texture and sweet flavor. Serve the roasted cabbage wedges drizzled with the chive-mustard vinaigrette as a side dish for roast poultry, meat or fish, or alone with crusty bread.

Traditional Irish lamb stew is made with inexpensive shoulder or neck cuts of lamb, but for possibly the best Irish stew you'll ever make, give this version made with leg of lamb a try. Choose a bone-in cut to make the rich, flavorful broth for this healthy lamb stew. Requiring just a handful of ingredients and 35 minutes of active time, this lamb stew isn't just tasty--it's also easy! 

In this healthy whole-wheat Irish soda bread recipe, the addition of fruit and caraway seeds is often referred to as ''spotted dog,'' but you can omit them if you prefer a more traditional Irish soda bread. Baked in a skillet, this crowd-pleasing bread is delicious eaten warm with a pat of butter.

In this easy shepherd's pie recipe, we keep the carbs in check by using creamy mashed cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes. The ground beef filling is cooked in the same skillet used for baking the pie, making assembly (and cleanup) a breeze. 

Soda breads are hearty Irish staples--wholemeal flour with large flakes of bran and wheat germ, or white flour or a mixture leavened with baking soda and moistened with buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda, which is an alkali, creating bubbles of carbon dioxide which rise the bread. Soda breads have the heft of a yeast bread but are made in minutes and the dough can be shaped into scones or a round loaf, depending on the occasion. Originally it would have been baked in a bastible (pot oven) over the open fire.