Irish Nachos

You know that thing, where you go to the local Irish pub (in the United States) for a little St. Patrick's Day snacking, order something with a name like “Irish pub nachos”, and you get either:

Regular nachos - complete with favorite nacho toppings like pico de gallo, ground beef, melty cheese, bell peppers, jalapenos, salsa, etc - just served on either potato slices, waffle fries, potato chips, french fries, steak fries, or potato wedges?

Maybe even just a pile of Loaded Baked Potato Skins?

Sure, each can be a fun twist on traditional nachos, but none really scream “Irish dish” to me, you know?

More suitable as a big game day snack, than as the perfect dish for March 17th revelry, IMHO.

So here I am with my Irish nachos recipe!

My easy Irish nachos start out on a bed of crispy roasted potatoes, yes, but that’s where the similarity ends.

The crispy potatoes are topped with a beer cheese sauce - using Guinness, obviously - and topped with a few delicious toppings that are more suited to the occasion.

Corned beef and cabbage, of course - as well as a horseradish sour cream - the perfect addition to your St Patrick’s Day party menu!

So, this St Paddy’s Day ... skip the Irish pubs when you’re craving a tasty twist on nachos.

These Irish nachos are super easy to make, and disappear FAST!

Let’s get to it...

Note: Raw cabbage on nachos may sound kind of weird, but I recently designed an amazing recipe for Ahi Tuna Nachos. I added purple cabbage on that one - specifically looking for colour - and I LOVED the crunch and flavour it added!

Ingredients

This Irish potato nachos recipe uses mostly really simple ingredients that should be easy to find in any grocery store. A few notes for you:

Russet Potatoes

This is the main ingredient of the recipe, and these thin-sliced potatoes take the place of tortilla chips in regular nachos.

I don’t recommend swapping these out for a different potato - the moisture content / waxiness of other varieties doesn’t make for as nice of a texture in this particular recipe.

The potatoes are tossed in a bit of vegetable oil or canola oil (you can use olive oil if needed), and seasoned with salt and black pepper.

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

I like to use a sharp cheddar cheese as the base for my Guinness cheese sauce, but feel free to use a medium cheddar or mild cheddar if you prefer.

If you’d like a bit more kick, use some Pepper Jack in place of some or all of the cheddar.

Corned Beef

I used some of my Homemade Corned Beef in making this recipe, but feel free to use leftover corned beef.

While I like to use an actual brisket, you could make this with chopped or slices deli corned beef, if you’d like a quicker option and don’t have leftover brisket on hand!

Guinness Beer

I use flat, room temperature Guinness for this, to stay on theme, but if you don’t have Guinness, any dark beer would work.

If you’d like to go gluten free, just use gluten free beer.

If you would like to skip the beer altogether, use chicken broth or beef broth in place of the beer.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you’ll need:

Green cabbage
Green onions
Milk (or milk alternative)
Sour Cream
Horseradish
Dijon mustard
Corn starch
Caraway Seeds, optional

How to Make Irish Nachos

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is a pictorial walk through.

Baked Potato Slices

First thing you need to do is get the potatoes cooking.

Preheat oven to 425 F, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scrub potatoes, blot try with a paper towel.

Slice potatoes into ¼ inch slices - I like to use a mandolin set to a ¼" thick slice - place in a large bowl.

Drizzle potatoes with the vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper, and gently toss to coat.

Spread potato slices out in a single layer on each baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

As the potato slices are baking, I like to prepare the topping ingredients - slice the cabbage and green onions, chop up the corned beef, etc, as well as shred the cheese for the sauce.

Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream with 1 tablespoon of horseradish. Taste, add more horseradish, if desired, then season with salt and pepper.

As the potatoes bake for the second time, make your Guinness cheese sauce:

Guinness Cheese Sauce

In a medium bowl, toss the shredded cheese with the cornstarch, evenly coating the cheese. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, whisk together the beer, milk, and mustard. Heat over medium-high heat until simmering.

Add the cheese, a handful or so at a time, stirring to combine and melt.

Once all cheese is melted and smooth, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep warm until the potato slices are finished.

Assembly

Arrange about half of the potato slices on your serving platter.

Scatter about half the cabbage, then drizzle with half the sauce. Top with about half the corned beef.

Repeat with a second layer, making a heaping pile using up the remaining potato slices, cabbage, sauce, and corned beef.

Spoon some of the horseradish sour cream on top of the nachos, scatter some green onions, and a light sprinkling of caraway seeds, if desired.

Serve immediately, with a side of sour cream.

Leftovers

Irish Nachos are DEFINITELY best eaten immediately after assembly.

If you do find yourself with leftover irish nachos, you can keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days, and reheat in the microwave.

When at all possible, though, plan for leftovers - the unassembled components can be stored separately, reheated, and assembled fresh for much better results!

More St Patrick's Day Recipes

Looking for more fun, tasty, easy recipes to serve on St Paddy's Day? Here are a few fun Irish - and Irish-inspired - recipes to try:

Green Velvet Cake
Irish Stew Meatballs
Keto Irish Cream
Irish Pizza
Shepherd's Pie
Keto Shepherd's Pie
Homemade Corned Beef
Hearty Beef Stew
Keto Beef Stew
Rainbow Bagels
Rainbow Charcuterie Board
Rocky Road to Dublin Brownies
St Patrick's Day Charcuterie Board

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