10 Traditional Irish Breakfast Foods - Ireland Travel Guides (2024)

Are you looking for traditional Irish breakfast foods?

Breakfast is and will always be the most significant meal of the day in Ireland. The Irish take pleasure in their wide range of breakfast alternatives as a nation.

For the locals, these Irish breakfast dishes are the ideal way to start the day. Breakfast is also the ideal method for visitors to enjoy the Emerald Isle’s unique gastronomic culture.

In Ireland, breakfast can range from porridge to salmon. Then there’s the full Irish breakfast, which includes everything from fruits to sausages.

10 Traditional Irish Breakfast Foods

If you’re planning a trip to Ireland soon and want to start your day right, here are some of the must-try breakfast foods that the Irish enjoy.

1. Boxty

Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake found mostly in the north midlands, north Connacht, and southern Ulster, particularly in the counties of Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Fermanagh, Longford, and Cavan. There are a variety of recipes, but they always include finely grated raw potatoes and are served fried.

Finely grated raw potato and flour are used in the most popular variation of the dish. Similar to a regular pancake, the batter is fried on a griddle pan for a few minutes on each side.

Boxty’s popularity has grown in tandem with the rise in interest in Irish cuisine. Boxty is commonly found on restaurant menus outside of the regions where it is usually associated. Boxty is available in the shape of dumplings or ready-to-cook pancakes in stores and supermarkets.

The corned beef boxty, which is cooked with mashed and raw shredded potatoes, eggs, flour, salt, pepper, and corned meat, is a must-try variation. In a frying pan, the ingredients are formed into a thick pancake and cooked on all sides.

2. Black Pudding

It’s also known as blood pudding or blood sausage in neighboring countries, but the Irish call it black pudding.

It’s created from (typically) pig’s blood, which is blended with oatmeal, oat groats, or barley groats before being baked. From gas stations to airports, black pudding is available for purchase.

However, many local villages in Ireland make their varieties of black pudding.

Sneem’s version, famed for hard, rich red-brown blood pudding, is a must-try. This is solely produced in the village of Sneem, which is located on the Iveragh Peninsula in South Kerry, Ireland.

Sneem black pudding is made using beef suet, onions, oat flakes, spices, and fresh blood collected from local pigs, lambs, and cows.

3. Porridge

Porridge, a traditional Irish morning food, is among the most popular in the country. Slow-cook oats soaked in milk or water until they reach the required consistency on a burner or stovetop.

“Instant porridge,” which requires only the addition of boiling water, is a modern (quick) approach. Porridge is frequently microwaved as an alternative method of preparation.

Honey and fruit are common toppings for this healthy breakfast dish, which delivers a robust, full first meal of the day as well as slow-release energy to keep you moving until noon.

4. White Pudding

White pudding is identical to black pudding except it does not include blood. Suet or lard, oats or barley, breadcrumbs, and, in some cases, pork and pork liver are all included in modern recipes, which are then stuffed into a natural or cellulose sausage casing.

In bygone eras, a broader variety of ingredients were used in recipes.

White pudding is frequently regarded to be a centuries-old delicacy that, like black pudding, was a traditional manner of utilizing offal. White pudding, unlike black pudding, is thought to have originated in the Middle Ages.

It’s thought to be a culinary descendant of medieval sweetened blancmange-style recipes with shredded chicken, rice, and almonds.

5. Colcannon and champ

When potatoes were introduced in the late 16th century, they completely changed Irish cuisine.

With this inexpensive and bountiful food source, Ireland’s population surged, only to be decimated when potato harvests were ravaged by blight in the nineteenth century. Potatoes are still a staple at most mealtimes, with traditional dishes like colcannon staying popular.

Colcannon is a potato, cabbage (or kale), and butter (or cream) mash flavored with spring onions and served as a breakfast or comfort dish.

Champ is a mashed potato dish with spring onions, milk, and butter. Try it with ham and a fried egg for a more flavorful and satisfying breakfast.

6. The Breakfast Roll

The morning roll (Irish: rollóg bhricfeasta) is a bread roll stuffed with fried breakfast ingredients. It’s available in a variety of places around Ireland, including convenience stores, newsagents, supermarkets, gas stations, and casual cafes.

A breakfast roll is a bread roll or baguette with one or more ingredients, such as sausages, bacon, white or black pudding, butter, mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato sauce, or brown sauce. A hash brown, baked beans, or fried egg might be included in some situations.

A soft “submarine” roll, a chunky, spherical dinner roll, or a demi-baguette are the three most common forms of a roll.

7. Waterford Blaa

During the Reformation, the French are thought to have brought this fluffy white bread roll to Waterford and the South East.

The blaa is a soft, white, floury bread roll that looks like a Bap or a Hamburger Bun. It is well-known in Ireland, particularly in Waterford City and County.

Blaas is supposed to have been created from scraps of bread dough that couldn’t be used to make loaves.

The name blaa is most likely derived from the word blaad, which is an old French word for flour. Another argument is that the name comes from the French word ‘blanc,’ which means white.

8. Irish Soda Bread and Irish Scones

Soda bread and soda scones are made from a basic quick bread that is leavened with baking soda.

They are a popular Irish breakfast food that is also eaten as a snack. Flour, buttermilk, and salt are the remaining ingredients, and wholemeal or white flour can be used.

There are as many variations as you can imagine in Ireland, and they vary depending on region or county. Guinness soda with seafood chowder or coddle is a must-try variation.

Try combining smoked salmon and cream cheese in this whole-wheat soda for a tastier and more filling breakfast.

9. Dublin Coddle/ Irish Cadal

Coddle is a delicious and hearty breakfast meal that has traditionally been used to use up leftovers. Everything goes into the coddle: sausages, bacon, onions, and the essential ingredient: potato.

When potatoes are simmered in a decent stock with other ingredients, the result is a thick and substantial stew-like mixture.

Coddle was a favorite of Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels) and has figured in writings by James Joyce.

10. Full Irish Breakfast

The specific elements of a full breakfast vary by geography, personal preference, and cultural affinity in Ireland.

Bacon rashers, pork sausages, fried eggs (or scrambled), white pudding, black pudding, bread, and fried tomato have traditionally been the most common items in Irish breakfasts.

Baked beans, hash browns, liver, and brown soda bread are occasionally served, as are sauteed field mushrooms.

As a substitute for brown soda bread, fried potato farl, boxty, or toast is sometimes served. The county of Limerick, in particular, has a rich history of pork-based meat products.

A popular variation is the full Ulster fry served throughout Northern Ireland and parts of County Donegal. It’s a breakfast dish that’s similar to an Irish breakfast or a breakfast roll.

A potato or soda bread stuffed with fried sausages, bacon, or eggs instead of bread. Onions or mushrooms, fried.