Cultural Holiday Food Ideas
ByThe Hungry Tica
To commemorate and celebrate Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day, here is a list of 17 easy St. Paddy’s Day green food ideas. But first, a little Irish history and why we celebrate this special holiday.
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What is St. Patrick’s Day?
Saint Patrick’s Day, also known as Saint Paddy’s Day, was originally a religious holiday to commemorate the death of Ireland’s Saint Patrick. His possible date of death was March 17th, 460 AD. Contrary to popular belief, St. Patrick was not even Irish.
Who is Saint Patrick?
St. Patrick was born in Britain. At 16 years of age, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland to become a slave.
He worked as a shepherd and often worked by himself, finding comfort in his devout faith in God.
After six years, Patrick felt God telling him that he needed to leave Ireland, so he escaped by walking approximately 200 miles to the Irish coast.
While back in Britain, Patrick began his religious studies, which lasted about 15 years. Around that time, he once again felt God talking to him, telling him to return to Ireland to minister to the Christians there and to tell the non-religious people about God.
(You can find out more about St. Patrick at history.com)
Why Do We Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the United States?
Irish immigrants took the customs of this holiday with them in whatever country they ended up in. It eventually evolved into a secular holiday to celebrate Irish culture and heritage.
In Ireland, however, many Catholics still consider this day to be a religious one. They attend mass in observance of St. Patrick and all the work he had done while in Ireland.
Why Do We Wear Green on St. Paddy’s Day?
Green, orange, and white are the colors of Ireland’s national flag. More specifically, white symbolizes peace, orange symbolizes the Orangemen of the North, and green symbolizes Irish nationalism. Consequently, many Irish and Irish-Americans wear green as a reminder of their Irish heritage (USA Today).
What Do the Irish Eat on Saint Paddy’s Day?
Contrary to popular belief, the Irish do not eat corned beef. This is actually an American assumption. In reality, the Irish eat bacon and cabbage (not corned beef) (USA Today).
They may also consume griddle potato farls and soda bread.
List of Easy Green Food Recipes to Celebrate St Patrick’s Day
Here is the list of 17 easy St. Patty’s Day green food ideas that I’ve compiled just for you 🙂
1. Easy Fried Cabbage by The Stay at Home Chef
So, my first green food idea is easy fried cabbage. What I like about this recipe is that it incorporates bacon. As mentioned earlier, Irish people eat cabbage and bacon on St Patty’s day!
Although, I’m not sure if they cook the bacon and cabbage together. Hmmm. Maybe someone can get back to me on that one.
Anyway, this recipe is super simple and is packed with flavor.
2. Green Spaghetti by Fifteen Spatulas.
OK, so green spaghetti is actually a Mexican recipe; the green colors come from poblano peppers and cilantro.
Warning… this is a spicy dish!
What I like about this recipe is that Joanne does an excellent job of providing step-by-step instructions, and pictures too!
3. Easy Popcorn Balls by Lil Luna
This recipe is so simple and it only takes about 10 minutes to make and only calls for 7 ingredients (some of which you may already have at home, such as margarine).
4. Pistachio Salad by Yellow Bliss Road
OK, although not the same, I have a special liking to this recipe possibly because it brings me wonderful memories of my mom making ambrosia salad every holiday season.
Anyway, this pistachio salad is a simple classic dessert as it only calls for whipped topping, marshmallows, pistachio pudding mix, walnuts, crushed pineapples, and maraschino cherries. And you can do without the walnuts and maraschino cherries.
That’s it!
And it only takes 10 minutes to prepare, too.
5. 4 Ingredient Simple Green Smoothie by Pinch Me Good
What can be any easier than a recipe that calls for only 4 ingredients?
There’s a special ingredient in this recipe that I haven’t seen before in smoothies (well, maybe you have … but I sure haven’t) You need to check it out for yourself to see 🙂
6. The Best Creamed Spinach by The Novice Chef
This thick, creamy recipe is so easy and it only takes 20 minutes to make. Oh, and guess what? You can use your microwave (not for the whole recipe)! It SERIOUSLY does not get any easier than that!
7. Mint White Hot Cocoa by Lil Luna
How do you make hot chocolate green? You use white chocolate, of course!
What’s the easiest thing about this recipe? You can use your crockpot or slow cooker. That’s right! You just throw in all of the ingredients and let it cook itself to yumminess!
(You have to read through the page to find out how long to cook the mixture… it says 2 hours on low).
8. Green Bean Casserole by Dinner Then Dessert
So, here is another Mexican dish.
What can I say … it’s easy to make green food and come up with green food ideas when green-colored peppers are involved.
However, unlike the green spaghetti recipe above, this recipe isn’t too spicy.
What makes this recipe so easy is that you can use already-cooked rotisserie chicken.
I just love using rotisserie chicken for recipes, by the way.
Also, you don’t have to make your own green chile sauce … you can just use the canned version, and tastes great.
9. Best Green Chicken Enchiladas Recipe by Life Made Simple
So, here is another Mexican dish.
What can I say … it’s easy to make green food when green-colored peppers are involved.
However, unlike the green spaghetti recipe above, this recipe isn’t too spicy.
What makes this recipe so easy is that you can use already-cooked rotisserie chicken.
I just love using rotisserie chicken for recipes, by the way.
Also, you don’t have to make your own green chile sauce … you can just use the canned version, and tastes great.
10. Green Goddess Grilled Cheese Sandwich by The Girl on Bloor
Haha. Confession time. Ok, so the first time I heard the term Green Goddess I thought it was the name of a blog. Whoops!
Green goddess, it seems to me, is a green concoction that incorporates green herbs and ingredients like chives and parsley.
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
Anyway, this recipe is super simple to make. In addition to cheese and bread, you’ll need spinach, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, and tomatillos. Check it out for yourself!
11. 5-Ingredient Green Curry by Pinch of Yum
So, this recipe uses tofu instead of chicken. However, chicken is definitely an OK alternative. I love Thai curry because it uses yummy coconut milk (I just love recipes with coconut milk!)
This recipe also uses healthy ingredients such as broccoli and sweet potatoes.
Again, it’s super easy because it only requires 5 ingredients!
12. Easy Guacamole Recipe by The Endless Meal
This is a simple guacamole recipe because it only requires 5 minutes of your time. Although you can, of course, add other ingredients, this recipe is just the basics.
The good thing is that the taste is definitely not compromised! It’s still delicious!
13. Lime Jello Salad with Cream Cheese and Marshmallows by Overstuffed Life
This recipe is basically only 4 ingredients (if you don’t count the water).
Oh, and it’s perfect for those of us who have a sweet tooth! Also, I don’t know about you, but I’m normally a fan of anything lime! And I love pineapples as well!
14. Grasshopper Fudge by Simple Joy
Goodness me. So, to make grasshopper fudge, you need grasshopper cookies. This I did not know until I only recently.
Grasshopper cookies, for those of you who, like me, seem to be a little behind with the times, are mint chocolate cookies (think Girl Scouts Thin Mint cookies).
The Keebler cookie brand makes them!
You can find these cookies at your local grocery store or you can order them on Amazon here.
Oh, how chocolate and mint are such heavenly combinations! Yes, they are! Which makes this simple grasshopper fudge recipe even more heavenly!
It’ll definitely make you and all your friends happy 🙂
15. Lime Shamrock Punch (Mocktail) by Ottawa Mommy Club
This is such a simple recipe; it only asks for 2 ingredients! This is probably the simplest of all recipes ever. As I was saying earlier, anything lime-related is normally a thumbs up for me! Check it out! It’s non-alcoholic and a kid-friendly recipe, too!!
16. Easy Broccoli Salad Recipe by Spend with Pennies
I’ve done a lot of searching for easy broccoli recipes and this is definitely one of the easiest around! You don’t have to cook or blanch the broccoli (which saves some time). Oh, and of course, it’s flavorful, too!
17. Matcha Pancakes by Choosing Chia
This is one of the most intriguing green food ideas. And I LOVE green tea!
You’re probably tired of me saying I “love” this or that, but I honestly love a lot of different kinds of food and flavors, and matcha green tea is one of my favorites! It really is!
So, of course, I was super excited when I found out there is such thing as matcha green tea pancakes!
(A little off-topic here, but have you had Matcha Green Tea Kit Kats? I TOTALLY recommend them to those of you who love matcha green tea as I do!)
Anyway, back to matcha green tea pancakes. This recipe calls for matcha green tea powder, almond flour, light coconut milk (yuuuuuummy!) as well as vanilla extract. You can also add cane sugar if you want extra sweetness.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this list of all the different easy green food ideas for your St. Patrick’s day party or gathering needs! Also, I hope you learned a little more about Ireland’s history and why we celebrate this remarkable day.
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