My version of Ireland’s favourite take-away, this Irish Spice Bag is a wonderful concoction of crispy fries, with spicy fried chicken bits and some fried onions and peppers thrown in. All tossed in a spicy, salty mixture.
About the Irish Spice Bag
St. Patrick’s Day is the day we all get to be Irish for a day! And if we were Irish for a day, in Ireland, chances are very good that we might pick up a spice bag on the way home after a pint or two at the pub. Yes, the Irish Spice Bag is a recent phenomenon, but well on it’s way to become iconic Irish fare.
From what I’ve gleaned, the Irish Spice Bag had it’s roots in Chinese restaurants, who mixed chicken balls, with vegetables and threw it all together with fries and served it as take-away in brown paper bags. Different restaurants offered different versions, but the basics of spicy fries in a bag were always the same. Yes, it’s Ireland’s answer for when only fried food, salt and spice will do :)
Cook’s Notes
Now obviously, I’m Canadian, not Irish, so I’m not going to pretend I know how close my version is to the “real thing”, but I did do my research and made every effort to try and re-create it as best I could from the descriptions available. I seek forgiveness from the Irish if I’ve really messed it up. Feel free to set me straight :)
You can make your fries any way you like – fry, bake or air fry, as I did (my favourite fry preparation tool!).
If you don’t have or want to use buttermilk, you can substitute regular milk in the marinade. Maybe throw a 1/2 tsp of white vinegar in with it.
I used Frank’s™ brand hot sauce for my spice bag.
In my research, I have seen “skinny” versions, that skip the breading of the chicken and use oven-baked fries. That’s always an option, but speaking for myself, I’d really miss the crispy, spicy breading in this one, so I’d recommend going all in.
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Get the Recipe: Irish Spice Bag
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Buttermilk Marinade:
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp hot sauce
Spice Mix
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- Freshly ground pepper
Flour dip:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Spice Mix
To prepare:
- Cooking oil for cooking chicken
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- Warm, crispy french fries, cooked any way you like
Instructions
- Cut chicken thighs in to small pieces, discarding any fatty bits. In a medium bowl, stir together the buttermilk and hot sauce. Add chicken to marinade and let stand at least 20 minutes, or cover and refrigerate to marinate longer.
- While chicken is marinating, make spice mix by combining all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir to combine well. Set aside.
- Start your fries cooking.
- In a large, flat dish, prepare the flour dip by combining the ingredients and stirring well to combine. Take a few pieces of the chicken from the marinade and toss in the flour dip. Return to the buttermilk marinade briefly and dip in the flour dip again. Place on a metal cooling rack, while you proceed to bread all the chicken pieces. When all the chicken has been breaded, heat a 1/2-inch or so of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Fry the chicken, until golden on the underside, then flip over and fry on the other side. Cook until golden and cooked through. Remove all chicken to a plate.
- Discard most of the oil from the skillet, leaving just a tiny bit. Return the skillet to the stove-top over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onion and saute quickly until lightly browned and softened. Add sauteed vegetables to a large bowl. Add the warm chicken and cooked fries. Sprinkle with a generous amount of Spice Mix, to taste and toss well to coat.
- Spoon in to paper bags to serve :)
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Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
I ate this for the first time last night at Gallaghers Pub in Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada) – SOOOO delicious that I have to try it at home. Thank you for the recipe.
I had the choice at Gallaghers of curry or chipotle sauce. I eat curry a lot and was feeling adventurous, so I ordered chipotle. Not a morsel left in the bag…
Once the prep is sorted, it’s easy to do. Tastes great.
Glad you enjoyed it, Tim! Thanks :)
Great attempt at the Irish classic, I’ve just been there and they all had a curry base to the spices, the original is from a Chinese takeaway and it uses Chinese curry paste which is heavy on the five spice mix. I’ve had Indian curry ones and I personally prefer these. Don’t be afraid to use a decent amount of spice, it should be full of flavour but not just hot spice. And cook the spice in the pan first not dry into the bag. You do have to refresh the spices in hot oil to waken them up. Enjoy.
Gorgeous- firm favourite in our house now
So glad to hear, Sheila! Thanks so much :)
i’m not kidding the chicken in this recipe is some of the best i have ever eaten. it’s super moist because you fry it, and the buttermilk/hot sauce adds so much extra flavour. you don’t even need to add the rest of the vegetables but they are amazing with it!!!
Thanks Matilda!
This is a delicious recipe but I’ve gotta say: do not be afraid of MSG. It’s the key ingredient that makes a spice bag taste like a spice bag.
People seem to be afraid to include it in recipes because of its bad associations in the 90s but really it’s a harmless ingredient that adds so much umami flavor.
The key is not using too much so as to overpower the real flavors. It should lift the recipe, not overpower it. I think it would add so much to this (already great) recipe.
Thanks James and yes, opinions have certainly softened on MSG over the years, for sure.
Hi I love this idea and how it is displayed, my question is what are the paper bags called you used as I just keep finding normal paper bags but want them to stand up like yours, any help or a point in the right direction would be much appreciated x
Hi Sam, these paper bags are the lunch-bag type of paper bags. The kind you would send your kid off to school with :)
I’ve made this 3 times now when I’ve been craving a spice bag but want to save on money and have the time to prepare.
This recipe acts as a great guide to make at home spice bag. I’ve altered spice amounts and the types of chicken I’ve used depending on my mood. It always turns out great.
My favourite ingredient in this is the buttermilk. It just melts the chicken so quickly, making it so tender and juicy. When I’ve fed other people with this they’re amazed how juicy the chicken is, totally different to the normally dry one we get at our local takeaway.
The first time I made this is took me over 2hrs as I had to debone the chicken. Definately way faster to buy boneless, but if not possible debone the night before or earlier on in the day so can cook for dinner time.
Thanks Ema!
Great recipe although you should add the spices to the pan when all the ingredients are in there and toss for a minute or so rather than raw spices into a bag
Yes you are right, spice bag, has become a classic, also here we have the spice burger, ” Bramwells” here make a great spice bag mix.. it is very spicy..roasted veg, shredded beef or chicken, onions, peppers, mushrooms.fries..it has a cajun Indian , chinease flavour to it..lovely on a cold night
made this the first time the… ummmm… easy way.bag of steak fries and orange chicken I had from yesterday. Used your spices, it was great. Actually served it in paper bags. full of flavor but not really hot. I will probably make every thing next time as that will be even better.
This sounds the best! Already have chicken marinating in a dry seasoning in the fridge so I am halfway there. May not be quite right but dinner in a paper bag sounds great to me!! :)))
It’s such a fun treat, Mary! Enjoy :)
It was a fun meal and we all enjoyed the novelty of the paper bag!! :))
Will have to try this out on some visiting diners!!
So glad you enjoyed it :)