3 Traditional Irish Christmas Recipes

In Ireland, Christmas dinner is a big affair, with a lot of Christmas Eve and Day being spent preparing the food for the big meal. While a lot of families have their own food that they like to serve – from Yorkshire puddings, to beef instead of turkey – there are a few traditional Irish Christmas foods that a lot of Irish families still make to this day. Here we have 3 recipes that can be served for lunch, dinner and dessert.

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Spiced Beef (Lunch)

The first traditional Irish Christmas recipe is spiced beef (Irish: mairteoil spíosraithe). The meat is rubbed with a variety of spices and then usually boiled, broiled or semi-steamed in water or sometimes Guinness (or a similar stout). It can be served cold, usually in thin slices, often with brown bread and apricot and almond chutney. This takes a few days to prepare as the meat is spiced every day for around a week. Sometimes, you can get the spice mix from the butchers, but why not make it yourself. You can alter the recipe if you don’t like the quantities, which is a bonus.

Ingredients

• 5-6kg cut of beef (rump, brisk, silverside etc)
• 80 gr brown sugar
• 20gr salt
• 20 gr black crushed peppercorns
• 15 gr allspice berries or dried allspice if berries unavailable
• 15 gr cloves
• 15 gr juniper berries
• 20gr of saltpetre if available
• 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, half an onion and orange rind.
• 20 gr butter

Method

Roast Goose (Dinner)

Our second traditional Irish Christmas recipe is roast goose. While roast turkey is more common to eat at the table now, roast goose was one of the meats traditionally served at the dinner table in Ireland. They were at their fattest right after the harvest, so a roast goose would have served plenty of people. Some people like to brown the skin by placing the bird breast side down on a the roasting tin, so that part is in direct contact with the heat, but it’s up to you!

Ingredients.

• 5-6kg goose – giblets removed, feathers plucked if any. Remove pads of fat at the cavity by running a knife around it. This can be removed and used to cook potatoes after rendering down. (Giblets can be used for gravy or stock).
• Additionally, if you want, Trivet of vegetables (onion, celery carrot, parsnip, cloves of garlic, fresh herbs).

OR

• Half an onion
• Half an orange
• A couple of bay leaves.

NOTE- Cooking times will change depending on size of goose.

Method 1.

OR

Method 2

Goose, like duck or beef, can be served pink.

Christmas Pudding/Plum Pudding (Dessert)

Our final traditional Irish Christmas recipe is Plum Pudding, or Christmas Pudding. This pudding, chock full of dried fruit, is still being served regularly to this day. Usually made months in advance, and topped up with whiskey or brandy, it is served after dinner, traditionally with brandy butter, but can also be served with whipped cream or ice cream. What many people outside of Ireland and the UK find unusual is that this dessert is steamed in a specific pudding tin/basin, covered with cloth, wrapped in string and placed in a pot of boiling water, rather than baked in the oven. Each family tends to have their own traditional recipe, but here is one from TheSpruceEats.com that you can give a whirl.

Ingredients

• 1 pound/450 grams dried fruit
• 1 ounce/25 grams candied fruit peel (mixed varieties, finely chopped)
• 1 small cooking apple (peeled, cored, and finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup brandy (plus a little extra for soaking at the end)
• 2 ounces/55 grams self rising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 ounces/110 grams suet (beef or vegetarian, shredded)
• 4 ounces/110 grams dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 4 ounces/110 grams fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 ounce/25 grams whole almonds (roughly chopped)
• 2 large eggs

Method

Reheat by steaming again on Christmas Day. Do not eat immediately. To serve, cover lightly with brandy and carefully set alight.

Now you have 3 different traditional Irish Christmas recipes that you might not have tried before. While they may take a little more effort than what you are used to (or want) the results will be worth it!

Are there any traditional recipes that you serve for Christmas?