These 15 St. Patty’s Day Meal Ideas, including Reuben Braid, will set you up for a festive week whether you are a fan of the green food theme or not!
If you are like me and use the weekend to get yourself organized for a more productive week, you are probably using some time today to get your meal plans together for week. Its no secret that menu planning is part of my weekly rhythm, but this week is a holiday week. My folks will be here from Texas for Spring Break and we have some fun adventures planned. But, one of those adventures involves food. And a food holiday!
I really do love making a food holiday out of just about anything. My mama always made reuben sandwiches for us growing up. While they were really one of my least favorite meals, I’ve come to really appreciate and even love the flavors of a really great Reuben sandwich. But like most foods I prepare, I usually mix it up. Last year, we had a Reuben Braid and this year I’m making Reuben Squares. But, Reubens aren’t the only thing that makes a great St. Patty’s Day Menu. You can turn just about anything green, but there are also some great foods that are already green on their own. Here are some ideas I always consider for a Green Dinner at home.
- Chicken Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner – chicken sausages, sliced yellow and orange bell peppers and brussel sprouts or broccoli – roast at 400 for 15-20 minutes and serve with dirty rice
- 3 Pepper Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner – turkey kliebasa kept whole, chunked red, yellow, and orange bell pepper, red onion chunks – roast at 400 for 15-20 minutes – serve with brown, caulilflower or dirty rice
- Reuben Sandwiches – traditional with rye or sourdough bread, corned beef or pastrami, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing
- Reuben Braid – same ingredients, but cut crescent rolls in to wrap like a mummy. sprinkle the top with “everything bagel” seasoning
- Reuben Squares – traditional ingredients layered and baked in a 9×13 baking dish – crescent rolls, meat, kraut, cheese, top layer of crescent rolls
- spinach salad
- spinach artichoke dip
- chimmichuri carne asada
- shamrock chips made from wraps
- sandwich wraps in a spinach tortilla
- edamame or avocado toast
- Little Hammies sliders – switch out lunch meat flavors
- Potato Soup or Beef Stew
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Green Cake – same recipe as my Lemon Pudding Pound Cake, just sub out pistachio pudding for lemon and use water as instructed in the original recipe. This baked in a loaf pan is really my favorite way.
- Cake Mix Cookies – cake mix, 1/3 C oil, and two eggs – for green cookies, I would use chocolate cake and andes or mint chocolate chips or add green coloring to a french vanilla cake mix.
- Sandwich cookies – make fresh vanilla cake mix cookies and put green icing between them.
The possibilities are endless. The point is to make a fun memory together as a family and make sure your people feel loved!
One thing that always keeps people from enjoying some of the best flavors of the day is a fear of sauerkraut and I’ll admit, my hand is raised and I”m chief among them. But, my mama has a trick that makes is more bearable for everyone.
Mama Sue’s Sauerkraut Hack
- 1 can sauerkraut
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1-2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
- salt and pepper
How to:
- Strain and rinse the sauerkraut in a colander
- Add kraut, butter and brown sugar to skillet.
- Saute together.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- NOTE: sauerkraut will have a more brown coloring than usual.
Reuben Braid
Ingredients
- 2 cans crescent rolls
- 1 lb corned beef or pastrami lunch meat thinly sliced
- 8 slices swiss cheese
- 2 cups sauerkraut optional
- Spray butter
- Everything but the Bagel seasoning
- Italian seasoning
- Thousand Island Dressing optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Open cans of crescent rolls and lay out on baking stone or sheet pan with wide/fat/long side of crescent rolls facing together.
- Line up the triangles “on top” of each other making a colum of four rows, with points facing outward.
- Repeat with second can of rolls. Try to fit both braids on the same baking stone if possible.
- Press together seams of crescent rolls down the middle.
- Layer on lunch meat, evenly between the two braids.
- Top with sauerkraut.
- Top with sliced cheese.
- Wrap points of crescent rolls over sandwich ingredients. Wrapping in opposite directions to almost criss cross and join on top.
- Spray with butter.
- Sprinkle with seasonings.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Checking for top to be toasted and bottom to be cooked through.
- Slice with a pizza cutter and serve with dressing.
