It’s finally that time of year again! The time of year when you can dress up in green and drink as much as you can get your hands on! But St. Patrick's Day, also known as The Feast Day of St. Patrick, is more than just a day to pinch people and get drunk. Everyone knows the origin story of St. Patrick's Day. How St. Patrick was brought to Ireland as a slave but escaped, only to return to convert the pagans to Christianity. Afterward, St. Patrick’s Day became a day for religious services and celebrating his legacy with grand feasts! So before you go out partying with your friends, why not try celebrating the Feast Day of St. Patrick with a small Irish-inspired homemade meal?

Your Very Own St. Patrick's Day Feast

Ireland is known for its corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage. And while bacon and cabbage and Irish stews are absolutely amazing, mix it up a little this St. Patrick’s Day. To have a hearty feast on this Feast Day of St. Patrick, look no further than these delightful and traditional Irish recipes that have been loved for generations! Make all three recipes for a fantastic feast or make one or two to get you in the St. Patrick's Day mood! The fact that these recipes are the perfect way to warm up on a chilly Montana day is just an extra bit o’ luck.

1. Butte Montana Meat Hand-Pasties

The traditions of St. Patrick’s Day that we know and love today came mostly from emigrants. Cities in the United States with a large Irish population would celebrate their heritage on St. Paddy’s Day. It was a chance to celebrate a shared heritage and culture. And the bustling mining town of Butte, Montana, has a hearty Irish population. St. Paddy’s Day in Butte is a sight to behold; the usually quiet streets of this old mining town are suddenly loud and rambunctious. 

But long before the parades and celebrations, the miners of Butte relied on a simple, hearty meal to get them through long shifts underground: the meat hand-pastie. Brought to the region by immigrant miners from the British Isles, these handheld pies were designed to be durable, filling, and easy to eat in the mines. Packed with meat, potatoes, and vegetables inside a sturdy crust, pasties quickly became a staple of Butte’s working-class culture.

Serving Size: Two Pasties

Ingredients:

Pasty Dough

• 2 Cups of Flour
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Shortening
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 Cup of Cold Water

Meat Filling

• 1 Cup of Diced Potatoes
• 1 Cup of Diced Onions
• 1 Cup of Ground Beef
• 1 Tbsp of Cold Butter

Directions:

To get started, preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

Prepare the dough in the food processor until it’s a smooth and moldable consistency. Mix the filling ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Roll the dough into 2 flat circles, each about 8 inches in diameter. Add half the filling to each and fold the dough over. Seal the edges with cold water, and crimp with a fork. Cut two slits in the top of each pasty, and place on a lightly greased or papered baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Add a tablespoon of water to each pasty through the slits, and bake for 15 more minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

2. Colcannon

Colcannon image via Taste of Home

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish with deep roots in rural cooking, especially during the colder months when hearty, simple foods were essential. Made primarily from mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage or kale, it became a staple meal for Irish families because the ingredients were inexpensive and widely available. Potatoes, introduced to Ireland in the late 1500s, quickly became a dietary cornerstone, and dishes like colcannon emerged as practical ways to stretch harvest ingredients into filling meals.

Colcannon is a traditional Irish food that was once popular at all times of the year. Colcannon is primarily mashed potatoes and either cabbage or kale mixed in. These simple ingredients made it a low-cost and easy-access food. Today, colcannon is typically made in the winter when kale is in season, and it is especially associated with Halloween, when small trinkets and prizes were traditionally hidden inside the dish. Finding one in your serving was said to predict your future, whether that meant marriage, wealth, or good luck!

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Medium Potatoes
• 1.5 Cups of Chopped Cabbage
• 1 Tbsp of Butter
• 3 Green Onions
• 1/4 - 1/3 Cups of Milk

Directions:

Peel and cut the potatoes into medium-sized pieces, and place them in a large pot. Add water until the potatoes are covered, then bring to a boil over medium heat until tender and soft. Drain well. Slice the cabbage into slivers while the potatoes cook, and chop the onions into small pieces; including some of the green parts will add a fun flourish. Mash the potatoes by hand or with an electric mixer, adding salt and pepper to taste. Add enough of the milk to get a creamy consistency.

To cook the cabbage, bring a pan of water to a boil. Add a little salt, and cook the cabbage until it is just tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook! Drain the cabbage well, then mix your potatoes, cabbage, and onion. Add the green parts of the onion on top as a garnish.

3. Traditional Irish Lamb Stew

Traditional Irish Lamb Stew has long been a staple of Irish home cooking, especially in rural communities where simple, nourishing meals were essential. Sheep thrived in Ireland’s rocky countryside, making lamb or mutton an accessible and common ingredient. Families would combine the meat with hardy root vegetables from the garden and let everything simmer slowly in one pot, creating a rich and comforting meal that could feed many.

When you have a bunch of root vegetables and some meat, what is the best thing you can make that is hearty and warm? Stew! This humble dish is a great way to take simple ingredients and turn them into something amazing. Traditional Irish lamb stew typically includes tender lamb, potatoes, carrots, onions, and herbs, all simmered together until the flavors meld into a simple but deeply satisfying meal. Perfect for a chilly evening, it’s the kind of dish that warms you from the inside out.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb Thick-Cut Bacon, Diced
• 6 lb Boneless Lamb Shoulder, Cubed
• 1/2 tsp of Salt
• 1/2 tsp of Pepper
• 1/2 Cup of Flour
• 3 Large Onions, Chopped
• 3 Garlic Gloves, Minced
• 4 Cups of Carrots, Diced
• 3 Potatoes, Diced
• 1/2 Cup of Water
• 4 Cups of Beef Stock
• 2 tsp of Sugar
• 1 tsp of Thyme
• 1 Cup of White Wine

Directions:

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon from the pan, crumble, and set aside.

Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in a large mixing bowl. Toss to coat the meat evenly. Brown the meat in the skillet with the reserved bacon fat. Transfer the meat to a stock pot and leave 1/4 cup of fat in the pan. Add garlic and 1 large chopped onion to the skillet and sauté until the onion starts to become golden. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of water and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Add garlic and onion mixture to the stock pot with bacon pieces, beef stock, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots, 2 large onions cut into bite-size pieces, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and wine to the stockpot. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. 

St. Patrick's Day Drink and Dessert

Now that you have your main course planned out, why not take time to enjoy the sweeter things in life? After all, no feast is complete without a sweet treat at the end! And all of this savory food has made you a little parched, but don’t worry, there are plenty of fun beverages to choose from! Check out this traditional treat with a St. Paddy’s twist and the perfect Irish beverage for chilly Montana days! 

1. Irish Cream Truffles

Recipe from ThoughtCo and Image from Saving Room For Dessert

Satisfy your sweet tooth this St. Patrick’s Day with Irish Cream Truffles! Chocolate truffles have been a beloved treat since the late 1800s, originally inspired by French chocolatiers who crafted smooth ganache centers rolled in chocolate. Over time, chocolatiers around the world added their own twists, creating variations with nuts, cocoa, and liqueurs.

Irish Cream Truffles are believed to have originated in the early 20th century in Ireland, a country celebrated for its rich dairy and love of whiskey. The combination of smooth cream and the distinctive flavor of Irish whiskey quickly became a favorite, showcasing the creativity of Irish chocolatiers. Today, these decadent truffles are a perfect indulgence for St. Patrick’s Day, blending chocolate, cream, and whiskey.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup of Bailey's Irish Cream
• 12 oz. Bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 Cup of Heavy Cream
• 4 Egg Yolks
• 2 Tbsp of Butter
• Cocoa Powder

Directions:

2. Scaitlin - Whisky Milk Punch

The Irish twist on the traditional milk punch, Scaitlin, is a great way to kick off your St. Paddy’s festivities! Milk punches have been enjoyed for centuries, prized for their creamy texture and the fact that the alcohol helped preserve the beverage for longer storage and easy bottling.

Scaitlin, however, has a uniquely Irish history. Brewed in Ireland since the 1700s, it became so popular that in 1838 Queen Victoria granted Nathaniel Whissof’s company the exclusive right to produce Scaitlin for the crown. Today, this historic milk punch continues to bring a touch of Irish tradition and a deliciously festive start to any St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups of Whole Milk
• 1/2 Cup of Irish Whiskey
• 2 Tbsp of Honey
• 1/8 tsp of Ginger
• 1/8 tsp of Cinnamon

Directions:

Pour the milk and the whiskey into a saucepan. Slowly stir in the honey, ginger, and cinnamon. Whisk the concoction slowly while heating it; keep an eye on it! Turn it off and remove the saucepan from the heat just before it can begin to boil. Pour into your mugs of choice and top with nutmeg! 

For some variations, try adding whipped cream, a touch of Baileys, or a bit of vanilla for an even smoother taste. If you use vanilla, add it close to the end of the cooking process so it won’t steam off! 

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Whether you decide to celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Patrick with a small feast using some or all of these recipes or celebrate St. Paddy’s Day by skipping the feast and hitting the bars, be sure to bundle up and stay safe! Just because there’s an extra bit o’luck out tonight, doesn’t mean we should push it! 

Written by Emma Katherine Roberts

Edited by Issa Rabideaux, Alexa Jorgenson