Ireland's morning fry includes back rashers, sausages, black and white pudding, eggs and soda bread. The black pudding is the element that makes it specifically Irish.
About Full Irish Breakfast
Ireland's most beloved morning meal — back rashers, pork sausages, black and white pudding, fried or scrambled eggs, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms and soda bread toast; the black pudding (a blend of pork blood, oatmeal and spices, encased and sliced) is the element that separates an Irish from an English fry; Clonakilty pudding is the national benchmark.
Ireland's most beloved morning meal: back rashers, pork sausages, black and white pudding, fried or scrambled eggs, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms and soda bread toast. The black pudding — pork blood, oatmeal and spices in a casing — is the element that separates an Irish from an English fry.
“Ireland's most beloved morning meal: back rashers, pork sausages, black and white pudding, fried or scrambled eggs, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms and soda bread toast.”
Clonakilty black and white pudding from County Cork is the national benchmark — a product so regionally specific that its name is synonymous with quality. It is available in every Irish supermarket and is worth seeking out beyond Ireland.
What to Expect
The full Irish arrives on a wide plate, everything separate. You eat the black pudding first — the texture is grainy and the flavour earthy and savoury in equal measure. Nothing about it is challenging. The rashers follow.
Why Try It
The full Irish breakfast is the food that Irish people eat when they need to feel at home — in a Dublin café at 9 a.m. or a London café that's trying to recreate one.
Insider Tips
- Clonakilty black and white pudding is the standard — accept no substitutes.
- Order it at a small café, not a hotel restaurant — the price is lower and the quality often higher.
- Soda bread rather than white toast is the Irish choice.
