These Irish Halloween recipes are centuries old, but are still wholesome and delicious for all your spooky costumed party monsters!
Hosting a Halloween party? You'll have to get some real food into your guests' bellies before diving into all that candy!
Check out these traditional Irish recipes for Halloween:
Irish Colcannon recipe for Halloween
Colcannon is a traditional Irish potato dish eaten on Halloween. Its unique, yet simple recipe has become popular around the world. It usually includes chopped kale, cabbage, or green cabbage mixed with hot, floury, mashed potatoes.
This tasty dish is a popular favorite at Oíche Shamhna (Halloween) and iseasy to make,especially with the kids. The word colcannon is from the Irishcal ceannan,which literally means "white-headed cabbage."
In the past, as is done with barmbrack, charms were mixed into the colcannon. Charms found were seen as a portent for the future. A button meant you would remain a bachelor, and a thimble meant you would remain a spinster for the coming year. A ring meant you would get married, and a coin meant you would come into wealth.
Some women filled their socks with colcannon and hung them from the handle of the front door in the belief that the first man through the door would become their future husband.
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Colcannon (Getty Images)
Colcannon Ingredients:
- 4 lbs potatoes, or about 7-8 large potatoes (‘old’ potatoes or russet potatoes are best, waxy potatoes won’t do)
- 1 green cabbage or Kale
- 1 cup milk or cream
- 1 stick of butter, divided into three parts
- 4-5 scallions (green onions), chopped
- Salt and Pepper
- Fresh Parsley or chives *Not everyone adds scallions to colcannon, but they are worth having, in my opinion.
How to make Colcannon:
- Peel and boil the potatoes. Remove the core from the cabbage, slice it thinly, and place into a large saucepan. Cover with boiling water and keep at a slow rolling boil until the cabbage is just wilted and has turned a darker green. This can take between 3-5 minutes, depending on the cabbage. Test it and don’t let it overcook. If anything, it should be slightly undercooked.
- When the cabbage is cooked, drain it well and squeeze to get any excess moisture out, then return to the saucepan.
- Add one-third of the butter and cover. Leave it covered and in a warm place, but not on a burner, with the butter melting gently into it while you continue.
- When the potatoes are soft, drain, and then return to the saucepan with the drained potatoes in. Put burner to low, leaving the lid off so that any excess moisture can evaporate.
- When they are perfectly dry, add the milk to the saucepan along with a third of the butter and the chopped scallions (if you are using them). Allow the milk to warm but not boil – it is about right when the butter has fully melted into it and it starts to steam.
- With a potato masher or a fork, mash the potatoes thoroughly into the butter/milk mixture. Do NOT pass through a ricer or, worse, beat in a mixer as it will make the potatoes gluey and disgusting.
- Mix the cabbage thoroughly through the mashed potato.
- Before serving, season with a pinch of salt and sprinkle with fresh parsley or chives. Most importantly, make a well in the center of the mound of potato and put the last third of the butter in there to melt.
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Irish Barmbrack recipe for Halloween
In the weeks leading up to Halloween, homes are littered with the delicious treat known as barmbrack, which is an Irish fruit loaf. The title comes from the Irish 'bairín breac' which literally means 'speckled loaf.'
Traditionally in Ireland, each member of the family would get a slice of the cake. But you had to be careful when chewing the delicious treat, as there were several charms hidden inside, wrapped in baking paper, which signified omens for the finder's future.
If you found a ring, you’re in for some romance. If you got the coin, then you're in for a prosperous year, but if you found the rag then your financial future was in doubt. If you find the thimble, then you will never marry! Nowadays, all barmbracks sold in Irish shops around Halloween contain a ring.
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Halloween Barmbrack (Getty Images)
Barmbrack Ingredients:
- 375g dried fruit
- 300ml cold tea
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 125g caster sugar
- Honey or Golden Syrup (optional – for decoration)
How to make Barmbrack:
- Soak the fruit in tea overnight, then drain. Mix together with the rest of the ingredients (apart from the honey/golden syrup) and stir in the charms. Don’t over knead the dough or your delicately re-hydrated fruit will break up.
- Line the base of a 20cm round cake tin or 900g loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Grease the tin and pile in the mixture.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 340F for about an hour until risen and firm to the touch.
- You can brush melted honey or golden syrup over the brack before cutting. Or glaze the 'brack with a syrup made from two teaspoons of sugar dissolved in three teaspoons of boiling water.
* Originally published in October 2010, updated in October 2023.
FAQs
Turnips, apples and apple cider, mulled wines, gourds, nuts, beef, pork, poultry, ale – the Samhain recipes concocted from the harvest brought the community together as work halted, feasting started and the Celts ate the fruits of their labour, told stories and tried to predict their fortunes in the future.
What is the barmbrack tradition for Halloween? ›
Barmbrack (Irish: bairín breac), also often shortened to brack, is a yeast bread with added sultanas and raisins. The bread is associated with Halloween in Ireland, where an item (often a ring) is placed inside the bread, with the person receiving it considered to be fortunate.
Why is colcannon eaten at Halloween? ›
Colcannon is a hearty dish that has been eaten on Halloween night for years. Traditionally, a ring was hidden in the dish, and whoever was to find it would be likely to marry in the upcoming year! Colcannon was even paired with a little poem: Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?
What foods are served on Samhain in Ireland? ›
Since Samhain is the end of the harvest, a feast is typically part of the celebration. Focus on in-season foods, which would have soon become scarce, such as pumpkins, apples, potatoes, and cruciferous vegetables.
What is the traditional cake eaten in Ireland on Halloween? ›
Barmbrack are usually eaten around Halloween in Ireland. In times gone by, items were added to the cake a piece of cloth, a coin, and a ring.
What is the Irish original Halloween? ›
Samhain (/ˈsɑːwɪn/ SAH-win, /ˈsaʊɪn/ SOW-in, Irish: [ˈsˠəunʲ], Scottish Gaelic: [ˈs̪ãũ. ɪɲ]), Sauin ( Manx: [ˈsoːɪnʲ]) or Oíche Shamhna (/ˈiːhə ˈhaʊnə/ EE-hə HOW-nə) is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or "darker half" of the year.
Why do you put a ring in Barmbrack? ›
The bread was used as a type of fortune telling game. Each hidden item, when received in a slice, had a different meaning. Usually related to marriage or riches. Ring: receiving a ring would mean that you would be wed within the year.
What are the items in the Barmbrack? ›
In Gaelic it's known as báirín breac, or “speckled loaf” due to the way it is dotted with raisins. The tradition was to add to the cake mixture a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a coin, and a ring. Each item had a special significance for the person who discovered it in their slice of cake.
What does the Barmbrack symbolize? ›
Folklore says that the slice of bread you are served determines your future! There can be many symbols hidden within Barmbrack, but some of the most common ones are below: A rag means a doubtful future. A thimble means you will never marry!
What is the Irish word for colcannon? ›
Colcannon (Irish: cál ceannann, meaning 'white-headed cabbage') is a traditional Irish dish of mashed potatoes with cabbage.
What is the difference between Colcannon and Champ? Both Irish dishes, Champ is mashed potatoes with chopped spring onions (scallions) and milk. Colcannon is Champ with the addition of cabbage and sometimes some herbs.
Why do Irish eat colcannon? ›
The ingredients joined ancient and modern Ireland; the ancestral diet in the country was heavy on kale and cabbage, and colcannon combined them with the more modern potato to create something hearty and filling that would keep the workingman satiated for a decent stretch of time.
What is the Irish Samhain ritual? ›
The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into a communal fire, household fires were extinguished and started again from the bonfire. Food was prepared for the living and the dead, food for the ancestors who were in no position it eat it, was ritually shared with the less well off.
What is the piglet of Samhain? ›
The lords consumed some of this food tribute at feasts thrown for them by their clients under the obligation of winter-hospitality. Again, the standard food offering at these feasts seems to have been pig meat or bamb samna ('piglet of Samhain').
What is the eve of Samhain Irish? ›
According to Irish mythology, the night before Samhain, November Eve (or 'Oíche Shamhna' in Irish), was a liminal time in which the lines between this world and the 'alltar' (the Irish for 'Otherworld') were blurred, due to the night's lying between one year and the next.
How is Halloween celebrated in Ireland? ›
With such a cultural influence, Halloween today in Ireland is celebrated very much the same as in the States. Adults and children dress up as witches, ghosts, zombies and all kind of macabre figures and go to fancy dress parties or go out trick or treating.
What is traditionally eaten on Halloween? ›
Traditional Halloween food includes everything from caramel apples to pumpkin pies and offers endless variations for creativity in the kitchen. If you're looking to craft some tasty Halloween recipes and start the fun and lasting traditions with your family and friends, look no further.
What is the Irish legend of Halloween? ›
According to Irish mythology, the night before Samhain, November Eve (or 'Oíche Shamhna' in Irish), was a liminal time in which the lines between this world and the 'alltar' (the Irish for 'Otherworld') were blurred, due to the night's lying between one year and the next.
What do they eat in Irish culture? ›
Representative dishes include Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, boxty, brown bread (as it is referred to in the South) or soda bread (predominantly used in Ulster), coddle, and colcannon.
