St. Patrick's Day recipes: from green treats and green beer to beer-based dishes (2024)

Courtesy of McCormickA little green food color goes a long way for St. Patrick's Day festivities. Use it to whip up some green frosting for cupcakes, in Paddy's Pudding with layers of crushed cookies, for green dips and even green beer.

St. Patrick's Day is Thursday, and maybe you're the class mom charged with cooking up green treats for 20 kids in time for the classroom celebration. Or maybe you're the party guy who will be pouring the Guinness this weekend for all your honorary Irish buddies who'll consider the upcoming holiday a good reason to celebrate with drinks in advance.

Whether you need a recipe for green treats or green beer, here are some tips from "Supermarket Guru" Phil Lempert and ConAgra Foods as well as recipes from McCormick, the spice and food color purveyor, and the national Mushroom Council.

Your green toolbox should obviously begin with green food color, says Lempert. He notes that McCormick offers a one-ounce package of green coloring that is convenient for the purpose. Tinting white foods, such as bread, milk, yogurt or popcorn will produce more vivid green results, he notes.

Pesto is another option for producing green pasta and savory dishes. Round things out with green vegetables, such as broccoli, bell peppers, string beans and others that can add a healthy element to the fun when served with a "lucky" green dip of ranch dressing tinted with a drop or two of food coloring. St. Patrick's Day is an exciting reason to load up your children’s lunch boxes with lots of green veggies. Lempert also suggests green juice made by adding a few drops of green to a light colored apple juice.

Start the day by tinting the breakfast milk green with a couple of drops color. Lempert suggests green milk with Lucky Charms cereal as a holiday-appropriate selection.
Another option is to add drops of food color for green eggs, or try mixing in a little pesto to produce green omelets. "Load the insides with green peppers, broccoli and scallions," Lempert suggests. Also, stir a couple of drops of food color into whipped cream cheese and serve on toast or a bagel.

Making green drinks is easy, and the options range from lemon-lime soda to seltzer or beer. Here’s Lempert’s guide to Leprechaun-friendly libations: For either green beer or soda, put glasses in the refrigerator or freezer at least three hours before pouring. When ready to serve, add two drops of food color to the bottom of each glass. Then pour in six to eight ounces of a clear or light-colored beverage including beer, soft drinks or juice. There’s no need to stir, he says. “Let the color mix naturally with the beverage in the glass.” No word on green wine or spirits, but if it fits the theme, we say experiment!

ST. PATRICK'S DAY ON THE GREEN

For St. Patrick's Day dinner, try pasta made green with food color or pesto. Or choose a green variety made with spinach.

Lempert cautions that a little food coloring goes a long way, so start with a drop or two in the green recipe ideas that follow.

Pasta Verde: After you cook your chosen pasta, rinse and drain it. Return it to the pot and mix with three to four drops of food coloring . Another, perhaps healthier option is to select a green pasta made from to spinach or another green vegetable. Mix the pasta with chopped scallions or steamed broccoli or peppers for extra flavor and nutrition.For the most dramatic presentation, Lempert suggests laddling sauce onto the plate and then topping with the green pasta and vegetables.

Pudding: Mix one or two drops of green food coloring into vanilla pudding. To make it more festive, top with whipped cream and green sprinkles.

The green options are limited only by your imagination and willingness to experiment. Lempert also suggests green chicken, fish, mashed potatoes or rice. You can even turn your favorite white sauce into a green sauce for the occasion.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY RECIPES

Luck of the Irish crispy treats
24 servings

1/4 cup butter

10-ounce package marshmallows

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon, about 50 drops green food color

6 cups crispy rice cereal

1. Line a 13-by-9-inch pan with foil. Lightly butter or spray foil with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in large saucepan or Dutch oven on low heat. Add marshmallows; stir constantly until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in vanilla and food color until smooth. Quickly add cereal to marshmallow mixture and stir until well coated.

4. Press into prepared pan using a buttered spatula. Cool. Cut into 2-inch bars or use a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter.

- Courtesy of McCormick

Paddy's Pudding
8 to 10 servings

3 1/2 cups cold milk

1 teaspoon green food color

2 packages (4-serving size each) vanilla instant pudding

8-ounce tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 package (18 ounces) chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed

1. Pour milk into large bowl. Stir in food color. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes. Gently stir in whipped topping.

2. Layer crushed cookies and pudding mixture in 3-quart bowl, beginning and ending with crushed cookies.

3. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish as desired with shamrock candies.

- Courtesy of McCormick

BEER RECIPES

Just because it's St. Patrick's Day party, that doesn't mean the food has to be green. For adults, it's a good reason to fortify the flavors with a little beer. Here are two tasty recipes courtesy of the Mushroom Council and mushroominfo.com.

Mushroom and beer mac 'n' cheese
6 servings

Mushroom and beer mac 'n' cheese

6 ounces penne pasta

1 pound white button mushrooms, quartered

12 ounces beer, divided

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. While pasta cooks, sauté the mushrooms in a large non-stick skillet with 1/2 cup of the beer. When the liquid has evaporated, cook mushrooms, turning, until they are a reddish-brown color, about 20 minutes.

3. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour and cook for a minute or two to slightly toast the flour. Stir in mustard and salt, then whisk in milk and the remaining beer. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to slightly thicken sauce, for about five minutes. Remove from heat, stir in cheese to melt. Stir in mushrooms and pasta.

4. Transfer mushrooms and pasta to a baking dish or Dutch oven and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place dish on baking sheet and bake until cheese bubbles around edges, about 30 minutes. Serve slightly warm.

Beer-battered portabello strips with spicy dipping sauce
24 servings

Beer-battered portabello mushroom strips

For beer batter:

3 cups beer or ale

3 cups all-purpose flour

For spicy dipping sauce:

6 cups mayonnaise

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste.

For mushroom strips:

24 large portabello mushrooms, sliced about 3/8-inch thick

Vegetable oil for frying

Lemon zest, for garnish as needed

1. Make batter. Whisk together beer and flour; let sit at least 2 hours.

2. Make sauce. Mix mayonnaise, lemon zest, lemon juice, cilantro and cayenne pepper until well combined; reserve.

3. Dip about 5 or 6 of the portabello mushroom slices into the reserved beer batter. Deep fry until crisp and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Repeat with remaining mushrooms. Offer each serving with ¼ cup of sauce on the side. Garnish with lemon zest, if desired.