Make These Irish Haystacks For St. Patrick's Day

All the leprechauns in your house will love this rainbow dinner for St. Patrick's day! 

St. Patrick's Day Dinner Tradition

One of our favorite ways to celebrate smaller holidays like St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo is by having a festive dinner. We've all got eat dinner, so why not make it a celebration?

For years my husband and I have made green chicken tacos for St. Patrick's Day. But last year, we tried something new: a rainbow dinner!

I whipped up a batch of our favorite homemade Hawaiian Haystack sauce, set out an assortment of rainbow-colored toppings and colored some rice green and we had quite the festive meal! By tweaking it just a bit, it was an easy, but festive dinner for St. Patrick's Day. And we're all about simple.

this awesome idea!

Everyone at our house loves this meal because they can add whatever toppings they like. And having everyone love a meal is just about as good as finding gold at the end of the rainbow.

Rainbow Dinner toppings:

• red tomatoes
• orange peppers
• orange mandarin oranges
• yellow pineapple
• blue coconut (a stretch, but fun!)
• black olives
• green rice
• other toppings: green peppers, green onions, chow mein noodles, cheddar cheese

Having a festive St. Patrick's Day dinner doesn't have to be stressful. Here's a meal plan and recipes to make it simple for you!

Rainbow Dinner Meal Plan + Recipes

• Hawaiian Haystack Sauce + shredded chicken
• Green (brown) rice - I just throw 2 cups of brown rice with 5 cups of water into my rice cooker. Super simple!
• Shamrock jello- use a heart cookie cutter and place hearts together to form a clover or Rainbow Jello 
• Pot of Gold- Rolo candy
• Green Mean Machines 

Tips

• The sauce freezes pretty well. Make a big batch and then thaw and warm on St. Patrick's day.
• Cook and shred the chicken in advance to add to the sauce.
• You can pre-cut the veggies and put the toppings in bowls to make for a quick dinner if you're in a hurry.

Tag your fun St. Patrick's Day meals on Instagram with #sofestivestpatricksday. I'd love to see them!

📖 Recipe

Irish Haystacks- Rainbow Dinner

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• Author: Melissa- So Festive!
• Total Time: 20 minutes

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Description

Fun and healthy rainbow dinner for St. Patrick's Day! 

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Ingredients

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• 3 tablespoons butter
• ½ onion (about ½ cup), finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic; finely minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 cups milk or unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup chicken broth

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Instructions

1. In a large pan, melt the butter on medium heat. Saute onion until soft. Stir in garlic and cook for about 1 minute. 
2. Sprinkle flour over butter and onions. It will be thick. Cook over medium heat for one minute to get rid of starchy taste. 
3. Slowly pour milk and chicken broth into the butter mixture. Stir with a whisk until the sauce is mixed together. Simmer about 5 minutes or longer for sauce to thicken. 
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve over a bed or rice and top with shredded chicken, shredded cheese, olives, peppers, tomatoes, olives, chinese noodles, coconut, pineapple, mandarin oranges and almonds. 

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Category: main dish

Keywords: hawaiian haystacks, chicken sauce, rice