Corned Beef Irish Nachos are a fun and tasty way to use up leftover corned beef! Thin, crispy potatoes stand in for tortilla chips!
Making Corned Beef for St. Patrick’s Day? Make extra so you have enough to make this epic nacho recipe! If you have leftover cooked cabbage you can throw that on these nachos, too!
What Are Irish Nachos?
So what are Irish nachos you ask? Good question because I had the same one. I thought they were just regular nachos with “Irish” toppings…you know like corned beef, potatoes, stuff like that. I mean, it sounds good to me.
But then I found out that Irish Nachos are actually made from potatoes – the chips are potatoes, not tortilla chips. Well now I was definitely interested.
I saw a lot of different versions of Irish Nachos on Pinterest, using potatoes for chips, but then the topping were more like a traditional nacho topping.
But I wanted to make my Corned Beef Irish Nachos to have all the classic Irish flavors too, not only for the taste but so that you can use up all your corned beef leftovers from St. Patrick’s Day!
How Do You Make Irish Nachos?
Getting the potato chips sliced thin and frying them up until they are crispy is an important part of this recipe. If you’ve never made homemade potato chips at home you’re in for a treat! We loves making homemade potato chips and French Fries all the time, you can even oven bake them instead of frying!
Definitely make the homemade potato chips – but if you really, really didn’t want to you could grab a bag of thick cut potato chips from the store and use those as your base.
But please, just make the potato chips, it’s SO worth it.
Don’t be afraid to deep fry. It’s really not all that difficult or scary as long as you follow some basic tips! Only fill whatever pot you’re using halfway with cooking oil so it doesn’t boil over when you’re cooking. Been there, done that. Not a fun thing to clean up after!
Also you need to make sure that your oil is hot enough, if you’re oil isn’t at the right temperature the potatoes will take too long to cook and they will absorb more of the oil, making them soggy instead of crispy!
My last frying tip is to make sure you season these potatoes as soon as they come out of the oil with lots of kosher salt. If you let them cool off and dry the salt won’t stick to the chips.
So after you are done slicing and frying your potatoes you can start to load on the toppings….here’s where the fun starts!
What If I Don’t Have Leftover Corned Beef?
Now, if you want to make this nacho recipe for your St. Patrick’s Day party and you don’t have leftover corned beef (yet) you can just grab some right at your deli counter. It’s a whole thing you guys, I just recently discovered it!
My trip to the deli counter usually involves a standard order. Turkey, Ham and Cheese. That’s about it. Maybe some chicken salad if it looks good that day, but it’s usually pretty simple. Until I overheard someone ordering thick cut corned beef…I mean, that’s a thing?
Yes, it is. You can buy corned beef right at your deli, thick or thinly sliced. Get your corned beef sliced a little thicker if you’re using it to make these Irish Nachos so that you have actual pieces of corned beef piled on top.
Another topping we love using on these Irish Nachos are these green sprouts we found at the store! They add a great flavor and a perfect crunch on top of these nachos. Any type of sprout you find will work, or you can swap out shredded lettuce instead.
This nacho recipe is probably one of the only ways I like Swiss Cheese. Usually I stay away from Swiss cheese unless it melted on top of French Onion Soup. But melted on top of these Irish Nachos it does seem to work perfectly.
Other cheese options could be cheddar, gruyere and even mozzarella!
This corned beef recipe is just ONE of the many leftover recipe we make after St. Patrick’s Day! There are so many to choose from, we always seem to have a party after the party!
Need a signature drink for your St Patrick’s Day party? Try these super cool Irish Flag Shots, to get the party going!
Looking For More Leftover Corned Beef Recipes?
- Corned Beef Hash
- Cheesy Corned Beef Tater Tots
- Corned Beef Stuffed Mushrooms
- Reuben Fritters
- Corned Beef & Cabbage Fried Rice
- Creamy Potato & Corned Beef Chowder
- Corned Beef Stuffed Mushrooms
Corned Beef Irish Nachos
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings for appetizers 1x
This super tasty nacho recipe is perfect for your St. Patrick’s Day party! No leftover corned beef? Head to your deli counter and grab some!
Ingredients
- Canola or vegetable oil for frying
- 2 lbs. russet potatoes, washed but not peeled
- Kosher salt
- 2 cups leftover corned beef, diced
- 3 cups shredded Swiss cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
- Sprouts for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a heavy, deep pot until no more than halfway full, it reaches 400 degrees.
- Slice potatoes 1/4″ thick on a mandoline slicer, or carefully with a sharp knife, then place in a bowl of water to soak for 15 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and dry very well with paper towels. Water will make the oil splatter so the potatoes must be dry.
- Once the oil comes to temperature, fry the potatoes in batches for 5-7 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove the potatoes to a paper towel lines baking sheet, then lightly season the potatoes with salt while hot. Repeat with the remaining potato slices.
- Place the fried potatoes onto a sheet pan and layer with the corned beef, cabbage and cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Top with sprouts and serve.
- Category: Appetizers
- Method: Stove Top/Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: nacho recipe, leftover corned beef recipe, leftover recipe, beef nachos, appetizer recipes
These look so great!
Thanks Shelly, we should have had you back over for them!
What are the sprouts?
You can use alfalfa sprouts or whatever kind is at your market!