The Most Popular St. Patrick’s Day Recipes in Every State This Year

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, it’s time to get out your green garments and shamrocks. This year, however, there appears to be a lack of interest in the hearty meat and potato-based dinner recipes such as potato soup or beef stew, and instead an increased interest for home-baked items, such as Irish soda bread, Barmbrack, and Irish pasties.

St. Patrick’s Day celebrates the heritage of approximately 31 million Irish Americans living in the US, and although many of their ancestors’ traditional meals rank high in individual states, it appears there’s a growing interest for on-the-go, shareable, and carb-based baked goods. With a 1,823% rise in searches for a full Irish breakfast and a 1,062% rise in searches for boozy Irish coffee, it looks like Americans are planning to kick off their St. Patrick’s Day as soon as they wake up.

But which recipes are Americans looking at this year, and how does it differ by state?

YorkTest has scoured Google Keyword Planner data over the past year to determine which St. Patrick’s Day recipe each state has a growing appetite for.

Although hearty meals such as Dublin coddle and fish pie saw an increase in searches, the recipe with the biggest rise in searches across America (2,813% higher than last year), and the most popular dish to be served during the springtime holiday, is baked soda bread!

Below, look through a state-by-state breakdown of the most popular holiday recipes this year. How has your state fared?

The most popular St. Patrick’s Day recipes in each state in 2023

Convenience is key

Still celebrating with friends, but not keen on the fuss of a sit-down meal? No problem. Baked soda bread and barmbrack both soared in popularity with a 2,813% and 1,089% rise in searches. Both breads are simple but delicious and are easy to put a personalized twist on, by adding sultanas, raisins, nuts or even Guinness! Interest in cured salmon is also on the rise, ranking first in most states (8) with an overall search increase of 1,016%.

Baked goods are on the rise

Irish pasties, which are essentially beef and potato stew wrapped in pastry, are a great, filling, on-the-go food to enjoy this St. Patrick’s Day. They have soared in popularity, as the most searched-for recipe in six states, with an overall search increase of 1,567% across the US.

A Full Irish Breakfast to start the day

The full Irish breakfast was the second most searched-for recipe, ranking highest in eight states with an overall search increase of 1,823%. The filling breakfast consists of bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans, eggs, boxty, Irish soda or brown bread, and black or white pudding (which also saw a huge 1,369% increase in searches, perhaps due to it being a key component of this breakfast). Traditionally designed to keep farmers full throughout the day, the full Irish breakfast is now fulfilling a similar purpose for people across the US.

Kerri Ferraioli, expert nutritionist at YorkTest, commented on the research:

“Irish soda bread is a traditional and clearly quite popular quick-bake bread that relies on baking soda, not yeast, to rise. People often think of soda bread as gluten-free because it doesn’t use yeast to leaven the bread, however, it’s important to know that there’s still flour in the bread, which makes it not gluten-free.

“Considering around 6% of the US population is intolerant to gluten, this popular recipe may leave you feeling bloated this holiday. To avoid any discomfort this St. Patrick’s Day, we suggest doing a food sensitivity test to see what food you can get stuck into without getting weighed down.

“St. Patrick’s Day celebrates the Irish heritage of approximately 31 million Irish-Americans living within the US, but this celebration also comes with a lot of parades and an 819% increase in Guinness consumption. With Guinness being such an iconic part of the Irish holiday, testing for gluten intolerance prior to the celebration means you’ll know if you can enjoy the traditional barley-based beverage without any discomfort, whether it’s as a pint or incorporated in Irish soda bread.

“When trying many of the popular Irish dishes, it’s easy to eat something that may not agree with you. Be sure to keep an eye out for symptoms of food sensitivity.”

Methodology

YorkTest analyzed Google Keyword Planner data from the US over the course of a year, to determine which St. Patrick’s Day recipes have had the biggest change in searches, to reveal the most popular St. Patrick’s Day recipes for 2023. Data is up to date as of March 2023.