By Dawn Rainbolt, Marketing Executive
Published: Jan 03, 2023More by Dawn
By Dawn Rainbolt, Marketing Executive
Published: Jan 03, 2023More by Dawn
You’ve probably heard it said before – breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Adventuring through Ireland means your body needs a full belly from the very start of the day. Sampling the local breakfasts is also a great introduction to any country’s culinary culture, particularly Ireland. But just what kind of Irish breakfast meals should you try?
Before hiking or cycling through the Irish countryside and wilderness, it’s important to fuel up with some delicious Irish breakfast recipes. Check out a few of our favourite pre-adventure breakfast recipes below.
Which Breakfast Recipe Will you Taste First?
The full Irish Breakfast
We have to start this list off with the big classic. The full Irish breakfast will keep you going at full capacity all day long! Designed to fill up Irish workers before a long day out on the fields, today the full Irish breakfast is generally a Sunday brunch kind of meal – but though we eat it less often then in the past, we love it just as much!Though not complicated, there are a few essential components necessary for a proper full Irish breakfast.
Ingredients:
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Start with the meat. In a frying pan, fry up the rashers (roughly 2-3 per person) in a bit of creamy Irish butter. Cook the rashers – thin slices of bacon – Irish style, meaning that they are lightly fried instead of crispy. Next, move on to the sausages – fry them up in the same pan.
Slice the black and white puddings, cut the tomatoes in half, and slice the mushrooms. Add everything to the frying pan until lightly browned. Warm up the baked beans in a small separate saucepan.
Move on to the eggs. While fried eggs (or sunny side up ) are the most traditional, there’s nothing stopping you from scrambling your eggs! Use the same pan as you used for the other ingredients for more flavour!
Serve with a couple of slices of Irish soda bread (see below for the recipe) topped with creamy Irish butter. Pair with a cup of tea with milk. When it comes to tea in Ireland, there are two camps: Lyon’s tea or Barry’s tea (the country is fairly split between the two brands of tea – choose wisely!).
For those of you who don’t want that much meat in the morning, how about a little porridge – Irish style. Check out our wilderness whiskey porridge for a superb Irish breakfast to get your adventure off to an amazing start.
Ingredients:
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1. Place the oats, milk and a dash of cinnamon in a bowl, cover and leave to soak in the fridge overnight. If this is not possible, just give them the longest pre-soaking you can manage.
2. On the stove, slowly bring to a boil, continually stirring.
3. Add a dash of Irish Mist whiskey liqueur, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 mins.
4. Add a large dash of milk to loosen, a few stripes of honey, a sprinkle of mixed seeds and a slowly sinking tower of crushed walnut to serve.
Irish breakfast recipe perfected by Darragh Devaney, Co. Sligo, on our cycling trip, Biking Donegal from Cliffs to Coast.
Fish for breakfast? In Ireland, indeed, we do.
Okay, so the avocado is a very recent addition to this traditional recipe, but it’s a good one, hence why it’s on the list. Traditionalists may leave off the avocado and simply go for the salmon and scrambled eggs. Another variation of this recipe uses poached eggs instead of scrambled eggs.
Ingredients:
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Start off by mashing the avocado in a small bowl.
Next, whisk your eggs with herbs/seasoning – for extra creamy eggs, stir in a few tablespoons of milk or even creme fraiche. Melt Irish butter in a pan, adding in the egg mixture. Stir routinely and cook until soft. Keep warm.
Finally, find the toast of your choice. Though toasting is the easiest way, next time, try grilling the bread for a better flavour. Paint with olive oil and grill each side of the toast in the pan until golden brown.
Once done, spread the avocado onto the bread. Add the scrambled eggs, then top with the fresh Irish salmon. Season with salt/pepper to taste. Use a lemon slice to squeeze lemon juice over the top, and voila.
Irish soda bread
Irish soda bread is an important component to meals throughout the day. Best eaten when topped with some of Ireland’s best butter, Irish soda bread is one of Ireland’s most traditional recipes. For most Irish, the smell of Irish soda bread baking equates to evokes images of an afternoon at grandmas.
Ingredients:
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This Irish breakfast recipe created by Odlums.
Irish scones
Paired with a steaming cup of tea, scones are a delicious addition to any Irish breakfast – or even for a yummy snack.
Ingredients:
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Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. While that’s heating, butter the baking sheet. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and sugar together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Blend in the butter until your mixture resembles crumbs. Add in the raisins, and then gradually stir in the buttermilk and eggs until your mixture resembles a soft dough.
Move the dough onto a flat, floured surface in order to roll out into a circle, roughly 1 inch thick. Cut scones with a round biscuit cutter (suggested size is 2-inch diameter). Put all the scones onto the baking sheet, brush lightly with some whipped cream, and bake roughly 15 minutes, until golden brown.
Irish breakfast scones are traditionally served warm with butter and jam of your choice.
This Irish scones recipe was created by Bunratty Castle.
You’ve heard of that infamous Irish coffee, eh? Though probably more of an evening drink, since it has coffee in it, we’ll include it on the list of Irish breakfast recipes.
Ingredients:
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Traditionally, Irish coffee is consumed in a clear, stemmed glass. For the best results, it’s best to preheat the glass with hot water.
Brew the coffee of your choice – the stronger, and the richer the coffee, the better. Once that is brewed, add two teaspoons of brown sugar to the bottom of your warmed glass.
Stir in the coffee so that it mixes with the sugar. Next, stir in the whiskey using the amount of your preference. Finally, add the cream. Best to use half whipped cream, which you’ll pour gently on top and serve.
For this recipe, you can use the whiskey of your choice, but you may want to experiment with a few different kinds.
Recipe put together by the Granville Hotel, Co Waterford.
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