Today, I’ll show you how to make a Saint Patrick’s Bacon Casserole for your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. As you raise a toast to Ireland’s famous saint, you’ll love the aroma and taste of the potato and onion mixture topped with tasty back bacon.
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Table of Contents
- An Uncommon Recipe for St. Patrick’s Day
- St. Patrick’s Bacon Casserole
- St Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage
- More St Patrick’s Day Recipes
- Growing Up Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day
- More Saintly Recipes
- Banish the Snakes Board Game
- Popular St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
- Looking for Corned Beef?
- Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
- Kitchen Academy Videos
- Kitchen Academy Videos
- St Patrick’s Bacon Casserole Recipe
- Shop for items used in this blog post or video
An Uncommon Recipe for St. Patrick’s Day
In the United States, we’re used to celebrating Saint Patty’s Day on March 17 with a traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage, but if you’re looking for something different to serve alongside your corned beef or if you’d like to try something different this year, this Saint Patrick’s Bacon Casserole is for you!
In this post, I show you many delicious recipes you can make to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and I also talk about how I grew up celebrating this holiday and how my family will celebrate it this year. (Hint: We’re going to enjoy a traditional St. Patty’s Day recipe and play a board game called Banish the Snakes.)
St. Patrick’s Bacon Casserole
If you like scalloped or au gratin potatoes, this Saint Patrick’s Bacon Casserole might just become your new favorite way to prepare potatoes. This casserole consists of layers of starchy potatoes and onions covered in a milk and egg custard.
Then you top it with back bacon or Canadian bacon and bake it until it is bubbling with the top layer of potatoes turning a golden brown and the edges of the bacon beginning to sizzle and becoming crisp.
This versatile casserole can stand in for any meal. And if you know you have a busy day coming up, make this casserole the night before and tuck it into your fridge. Then, the next day you can pop it into your oven, and it will bake up to perfection!
St Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage
If you want to make Corned Beef and Cabbage for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration, I will show you how to get your corned beef to come out perfect every time and never stringy! The secret is not only in the cooking but also in the slicing, and I will show you how step-by-step.
Plus, I share with you two cooking options:
- Stovetop: Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Instant Pot: Corned Beef and Cabbage
More St Patrick’s Day Recipes
One of the easiest breads to make is an Irish Soda Bread, so be sure to add one of these breads to your St. Patrick’s Day menu. You can choose from a:
- Traditional Irish Brown Soda Bread Recipe for St. Patrick’s Day (made in a cast iron pan)
And when it comes time for dessert, be sure to serve up this delicious Irish Apple Cake. It’s easy to make, and leftovers are perfect for breakfast, toasted and spread with some Irish butter.
Growing Up Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day
As I have shared with you, my mom is of Italian heritage, and my dad was of Irish heritage. This ethnic mix in marriage was popular when my parents married since Italians and Irish tended to live in the same neighborhoods or at least nearby.
And to hear my father tell it, the Irish men very much liked the dark-haired Italian beauties, and the Italian men were mesmerized by the flaming red hair of the Irish girls!
My father loved my Italian mother very much and loved everything Italian: the food, music, and the country. And interestingly, my mom loved—in addition to my dad—all things Irish.
When my parents visited Ireland, my mother fell in love with all the little Irish pubs she and my dad visited. Keep in mind that my mother doesn’t drink, but she loved the coziness of the pubs and the fact that they also served tea and scones with clotted cream!
Saint Patrick’s Day Decorations
When St. Patrick’s Day rolled around, my mother would pull out the decorations she had saved from year to year. These festive trimmings included green paper shamrocks, a leprechaun, and green doilies shaped like a four-leaf clover.
The shamrocks hung from the dining room chandelier, while the leprechaun served as the table centerpiece, and a shamrock doily adorned each plate.
Enjoying Corned Beef and Cabbage
Every year we enjoyed her deliciously prepared corned beef and cabbage. And even though St. Patrick’s Day occasionally fell on a Friday, our local New York Bishop always granted dispensation so that we could all eat meat on our beloved saint’s feast day! (Generally, as Catholics, we were encouraged to eat fish and abstain from meat every Friday.)
Fast forward, and I have been cooking and serving corned beef and cabbage to my family every St. Patrick’s Day, just like my mom did. In the past, there were a few occasions when St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday during Lent, and so we would have to forgo our favorite St. Patty’s Day meal and postpone it until Saturday. (Although the custom changed as I got older, and we could eat meat on most Fridays during the year if we wanted, the Fridays during Lent are still non-meat meals only.)
Can you imagine that in the past, our local Texas Bishop didn’t dispense the requirement to abstain from meat on Friday during Lent? Clearly, he was not Irish! 😉 But low and behold, our local Bishop has granted us dispensation this year, so we can enjoy our corned beef and cabbage this coming Friday. I think he realized everyone is a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!
Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe Tip
I hope you, too, will enjoy a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner this St. Patrick’s Day. And remember to buy a flat brisket much larger than what you think you will need to feed yourself, your family, and your friends.
After the long simmer required of corned beef, it can often shrink by over half its original size! Be sure to watch my corned beef and cabbage videos, where I share with you how this Irish “American” dish originated and what exactly is meant by the term corned.
More Saintly Recipes
I adapted this St. Patrick’s Bacon Casserole recipe from a book called Cooking with the Saints – An Illustrated Treasury. This book provides in-depth information about the saints, beautiful pictures, and traditional and modern recipes inspired by the saints. It also has a recipe for Hidegardplätzchen (St. Hildegard cookies).
You may remember me mentioning St. Hildegard of Bingen in my How to Make Herbal Digestive Bitters recipe. She was a fascinating woman who lived in twelfth-century Europe, and she wrote a book titled Physica that focused on treating the whole person to address a person’s illness, starting with proper digestion.
To learn more, watch my herbal digestive bitters recipe video. You can easily make these homemade bitters with a simple combination of herbs and spices.
And if you’re looking for a recipe to celebrate the Triduum of Allhaollowtide, which includes All Saints’ Day on November 1, be sure to try making Ceci con le Costine—or Chickpea with Pork Ribs Soup. It’s a delicious Northern Italian specialty I grew up with!
Banish the Snakes Board Game
With our son home over spring break (yay!), we’ll enjoy time with him, including spending time on one of our family’s hobbies—playing board games together. I’ve talked with you in the past about how we enjoy playing face-to-face games since it gives us an opportunity to chat, reminisce, and talk about future adventures. We’ve played board games like Everdell and 7 Wonders, to name a few.
Since St Patrick’s Day falls over spring break, we’re going to try a new game from GMT Games called Banish the Snakes. GMT Games specializes in historical strategy games that can be quite detailed with mounted maps and wooden playing pieces to fast-playing card games played between two or solitaire.
One to six players can play this cooperative board game where each plays a role similar to Saint Patrick in Ireland. We’ll have to bring together the different groups on the Emerald Isle before barbarians completely overwhelm Britain during the fifth century when the Roman Empire was collapsing.
If we succeed, arts, writing, and literature will thrive in Ireland, and Irish missionaries will be able to bring back civilization to Britain and Europe. Wish us luck!
Popular St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
How to Make Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage
Enjoy this Traditional Irish American meal.
How to Make Bread Without Yeast – Easy Irish Soda Bread
All it takes is all-purpose flour, baking soda, and 30 minutes in the oven to create this beautiful and tasty bread!
How to Make Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Instant Pot
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this quick and easy recipe.
How to Make a Traditional Irish Apple Cake
Enjoy this Irish dessert with your St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage.
Looking for Corned Beef?
If you can’t find corned beef in your neighborhood supermarket or farmer’s market for your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, check out US Wellness Meats for grass-feed meats and more.
- Use discount code MARYNEST and my link to save 15% off regular-priced items on your US Wellness Meats order. You can shop for a variety of products, including:
This post is not sponsored. I’m a long-time customer of US Wellness Meats because I have always been impressed by the quality of their products. Check out my US Wellness Meats unboxing video to see the types of products you can get, including bones for beef bone broth!
Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
And if you’re looking for a printed book full of my traditional foods recipes to show you how to create a traditional foods kitchen, be sure to order your copy of my new bestselling book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook.
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Kitchen Academy Videos
Does Eating Food in a Specific Order Fight Disease?
Research suggests that the order in which we eat our food may significantly impact our health and ability to fight disease.
Why I Created The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum
I chat about why it was important for me to create this comprehensive curriculum for students in grades K-12.
Taking a Sneak Peek at Upcoming Recipes on Mary’s Nest
I share upcoming recipes and what I have planned for my Mary’s Nest YouTube channel in 2024.
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St Patrick’s Bacon Casserole
Equipment
- 1 8.5" x 8.5" baking dish
Ingredients
- 3 medium starchy potatoes, peeled and sliced thin such as Russets or Yukon Gold
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced thin
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour optional
- 2 tbsp butter plus additional butter to grease the baking dish
- 4 slices back bacon or Canadian bacon
- fine ground sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Grease the 8.5" x 8.5" baking dish.
- Begin layering the potatoes and onions into the baking dish, starting and ending with the potatoes. Sprinkle each layer of potatoes with salt and pepper. (See video.)
- In a measuring cup, mix the egg into the milk until well incorporated.
- Cook's Note: Although not in the original recipe, I recommend adding 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour to the milk and egg mixture. Whisk well until the flour is completely incorporated.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture into the baking dish over the potatoes and onions.
- Dot the potatoes with small pieces of butter.
- Place the bacon on top of the potatoes and butter.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake on the middle rack of the oven for one hour.
- After one hour, remove the foil and allow the casserole to continue baking for 15 minutes or until it is bubbly, the potatoes begin to turn golden brown, and the bacon sizzles.
- Remove the casserole from the oven, allow it to cool slightly, and then serve.
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat uncovered in a 350°F (177°C) oven until warmed through.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Shop for items used in this blog post or video
Favorite Kitchen Supplies
- Favorite Aprons
- Magic Whisk
- 2-Cup Glass Measuring Cup
- Glass Baking Dish
- Spice Grinder
- Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
- Handheld Vacuum Sealing System
- Vacuum Lids
- Whisk
- Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
- Cast Iron Dutch Oven
- 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
- Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
- Flour Sack Towels
- pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)
Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide
- Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
- Visit my Shopping Guide page
Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Lehman's, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, Plan to Eat, and More!
Recommended Reading
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- Nourishing Traditions
- Cooking with the Saints – An Illustrated Treasury
- Cooking with the Saints
- Irish Traditional Cooking
