Irish Easter food you’ll love to bring a taste of Ireland to your Easter table!

Irish Easter food: easy meal ideas to bring a touch of Ireland to your Easter table, wherever you are. The best Irish foods for Easter

Easter is probably my favorite festivity in Ireland, when it comes to food. Less commercial than Christmas, it is a time that makes me think of homemade meals and Sunday bests, bells ringing and sun streaming in from open windows (April in Ireland is usually decent weatherwise – I am writing today as the sun warms my keyboard!).

Easter food in Ireland draws from the religious traditions attached to this day but also makes the most of the seasonal ingredients available at this time, mainly the absolutely delicious Irish lamb!

These are my favorite Easter food and simple Irish recipes you can make at home, to bring a touch of Ireland to your Easter table, wherever you are!

Best Irish Easter foods for the perfect Easter meal

Irish Easter starters

Starters are one of the most festive things of all, and, for an Easter meal, I cannot think of anything better than a delicious savings of Irish smoked salmon.

Ireland has lots of excellent smoke houses and the quality of its salmon is usually very high, meaning you dont need to dress it up or complicate it much to have a nice serving of food.

I personally love it when served on small crostini or Irish potato pancakes, but you can find more ideas on how to include Irish smoked salmon in your day here.

Roast leg of lamb

Irish lamb is famous (the Wicklow lamb is amazing!) and indeed, you don’t need to be a consumed meat-eater to appreciate how tender, tasty and juicy this type of Irish meat truly is.

Lamb is served extensively in Ireland during the spring and all year round and the most popular ways of cooking it are as lamb cutlets, roasted leg of lamb or Irish stew.

For a festive Easter meal, I feel a roasted leg of Lamb is by far the best way.

Easy to make (all you need is olive oil and rosemary, ideally garlic if you like it: you can read how I cook a leg of lamb here), it always makes an impression when a big roast comes to the table and you can also eat the leftovers for a couple of days, meaning with one roast, you are sorted for your Easter Monday picnic too!

Roast salmon

My family is divided when it comes to meat: some love it (me) and some hate it (my husband) so we often change up our Irish Easter meal and serve fish instead.

Roast salmon is my fish dish of choice. Traditional if Ireland, it is easy to make, juicy and is pretty thick to the bite which I think makes it exceptionally satisfactory for a festive meal.

I usually make it in paper parcels: I wrap the salmon darns in baking paper, add olive oil, some lemon slices (not too many or it gets too acidic), dill, salt, pepper and put it in the oven until it is nice and juicy.

Simple, requires next to no effort and the whole family loves it!

Roast potatoes

My mum always goes on about Irish roast potatoes and how much better they are than the ones back home in Italy. I must say, I agree.

Irish potatoes as well as being a food traditionally associated with the country, are drier and flowery, meaning they come out deliciously crispy outside and fluffy inside when roasted.

There are a few secrets to making excellent Irish roast potatoes (I will share all in the next article) but for here, let’s say that you need to parboil them, dry them really well and use very hot oil.

So yes, not one secret but 3 or possibly even 4 but all very easy to execute and that give guaranteed results!

Carrots and parsnips mash

Carrot and parsnip mash is maybe the side dish that leaves foreigners the most puzzled, one that usually elicits a ‘what IS this?’ type of reaction, usually in a good way!

The mash is just what it sounds like: a puree of parsnips (light yellow) and carrots (bright orange) with a lovely creamy texture and a lovely sweet flavor that complements perfectly the warming taste of a roast.

Kale

Kale was traditionally used in Ireland in colcannon, a Halloween dish with potatoes and kale mixed together, however, in the last few years kale has risen to the status of ‘superfood’ and now you find it in fancy Dublin juiceries as a sought-after raw ingredient and as a side dish in many restaurants.

The consistency of the kale is not my favorite but it is a nice green side dish that goes well with a roast of fish or meat and if you sautee it with garlic and olive oil, it comes out quite tasty too!

Hot cross buns

Hot cross buns are maybe the most Easter-y food of all but they are also the one dish in this list I usually do not make but buy, just out of laziness!

Hot cross buns are spiced, sweet small buns decorated with a cross on top and while they tend to be available in shops year-round here in Ireland they are originally from this time, the cross giving away the religious origin of this dish

In my husband’s house, they are usually offered as part of the Easter banquet, in a basket, so each guest can help themselves to them at whatever time during the meal they see fit.

If you want to give a shot at making them, the best recipe is here

Chocolate eggs

What would Easter be without chocolate eggs? Easter eggs are not specifically an Irish tradition however, they are a must-have on any Irish easter table, especially if kids are in the house, so they make this list!

Did you know? Ireland is a great place for chocolate and you have some lovely local brands making nice chocolate bonbons and selections.

Butlers Chocolate is famous especially for its sweet, buttery chocolate bites and Lily O’Brian and the Chocolate Garden of Ireland all made a name for themselves as good quality handmade Irish chocolate makers.

Irish Easter cake: the Simnel cake

Ok, I admit it, despite living in Ireland for 15 years, I have never come across this cake until I searched for Irish Easter dessert but apparently, it is a must on irish eatser tables and so, I add it here!

The Simnel Cake is made with dried fruit, spices, Irish Whiskey and marzipan and what makes it special is that it is decorated with 11 marzipan balls to represent the apostles (minus Judas)!

I cannot offer personal experience of it but I have found a recipe for it and some background here so, if you are looking for an Easter dessert, you can give a go at this one! I personally will stick to Irish apple cake, maybe my favorite sweet Irish creation of all!

I hope you enjoyed this quick overview of Irish foods for Easter. Happy Easter to you all!