Full Irish Breakfast

(2 servings)

  • 4 Irish sausages aka bangers
  • 4 slices of Irish bacon aka rashers
  • 1 8-ounce tube of black pudding
  • 1 8-ounce tube of white pudding
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 small tomatoes - cut into quarters
  • 4 boiled potatoes - cooled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 can of Irish beans
  • white pepper and salt to taste
  • Irish butter
  • grated Dubliner cheese (optional)
  • Irish brown bread aka brown soda bread
First some definitions:

Irish sausages are usually made from pork or a combination of pork and beef. Most also contain some amount of rusk, a twice-baked bread product. Irish sausages are larger than traditional American breakfast sausages and smaller than German Bratwurst. The term banger refers to a sausage's tendency to burst or explode out if it's skin when it's grilled or fried.

In Ireland (as well as England and Australia), slices of bacon are referred to as rashers. Unlike the even strips of bacon found in the U.S., Irish bacon is usually round and could be thought of as a fattier version of Canadian bacon. It's often made from the back meat of a pig - in contrast to U.S. bacon made from the pork belly. The Irish tend to cook their bacon with a ham steak methodology. They consider it done when it's fully cooked through and browned. Crispy American-style bacon would be considered out of place in a traditional Irish breakfast.

Black pudding (sometimes called blood pudding) is a soft-texured sausage made from the cooked and congealed blood of pigs or cattle (and to a much lesser extent that of sheep or goats). The blood is mixed with fillers like pork, beef, fat, oatmeal, bread, potato or barley to create a familiar sausage constancy.

White pudding is basically black pudding without blood. The puddings are usually sold in tubes akin to tubes of sausages found in the U.S. As part of a traditional Irish breakfast, both black and white puddings are usually sliced and then grilled or fried.

Irish beans are essentially baked beans and are usually labeled as such on cans. Both Irish baked beans and U.S. baked beans contain a tomato sauce element, however Irish beans are usually less sweet due to the lack of brown sugar included in most American baked beans. Baked beans on toast is a quick breakfast favorite in both Ireland and England.

The term "Irish Butter" is fairly meaningless beyond national pride. If specified, it usually refers to a premium butter with a higher fat content which results in a richer flavor and creamier consistency. While such premium butters can be found in nearly every nation under a plethora of names, there are some that say butter produced in Ireland has a distinct flavor because the green grass of Ireland that feeds their milk-producing cows is somehow better than grass found in other parts of the world.

Dubliner cheese is an aged white Cheddar made in Carbery, Ireland. Named after the Irish city of Dublin, it has a ting of sweetness and a slightly firmer texture than the yellow-orange Cheddar cheese common in the U.S.

Irish brown bread is basically a quick rustic wheat bread made with baking soda as a leavening agent. It's made in the form of loaves, rounds or scones, or as a triangular flat bread referred to as farl. When made with white flour only, this bread is referred to as soda bread.


Full Irish Breakfast



Now the recipe:


Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt about 2 Tablespoons of Irish butter.

Fry the Irish bacon until cooked through and browned - but short of crispy. Remove from pan, place on stacked paper towels to remove excess fat. Transfer to two heat-resistant serving plates. Place in oven to keep warm.

Place the Irish sausages in the frying pan and cook until done and nicely browned. Transfer to oven to keep warm.

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, warm the baked beans.

Slice the puddings to a thickness of your liking and begin frying in the frying pan. Add the potatoes. After a couple minutes, add the tomatoes. Continue to cook and flip until all ingredients are nicely browned. Transfer to the serving plates in the oven.

Finally, fry the eggs to your liking. Top with gated Dubliner cheese if desired and season to taste.

Remove plates from oven. Transfer the eggs to the plate along with a generous scoop of baked beans.

Serve immediately with Irish brown bread.


Full Irish Breakfast



A detailed description of a traditional Irish Breakfast along with a complete recipe.


Mr Breakfast would like to thank Mr Breakfast for this recipe.

Recipe number 2300. Submitted 4/10/2008.