This Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe cooks everything low and slow (just like it should be) with the perfect spices in a Dutch oven or large stock pot. This delicious traditional recipe does not require any special equipment or expertise.
Traditional Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage
Are you looking for a tasty and simple dish to make for St. Patrick’s Day? Try this mouth-watering corned beef and cabbage recipe that is sure to impress your friends and family. My Mom would make this dish every St. Patrick’s Day. She loved it so much that she would even make a batch for one of the Irish priests at our church. It is such an easy recipe that you, too, can participate in the Irish custom. If you like this recipe, try Mississippi pot roast, Irish stew, hamburger stew, and cottage pie.
Corned Beef and Cabbage Ingredients
- Corned beef brisket
- Bay leaves
- Baby red potatoes and yellow potatoes
- Carrots
- Green cabbage
How to make corned beef and cabbage
First, add the corned beef to a large Dutch oven or stockpot and cover it with cool water or beef broth. Now add the bay leaves and the spice packet. Cover the pot and simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours, or until the brisket is almost fork tender.
Add the potatoes, onions, and carrots, and simmer covered for about 30 minutes. Add the cabbage wedges and simmer covered for 10-15 minutes. Remove the vegetables, cover them, and keep them warm. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Finally, trim away any excess fat from the corned beef and slice against the grain. Serve promptly in a dish with the potatoes, carrots, and cabbage with horseradish sauce or honey mustard sauce on the side.
Recipe Tips
- When simmering, leave the fat on the corned beef, as it helps cook it tender and gives it lots of flavor. For this method, cook it fat side up.
- Don’t skip the spice packet. It is full of peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, anise seeds, and crushed bay leaves. It gives the corned beef its extra delicious flavor. Simply add it to the cooking liquid with the beef.
- The key is to simmer, not boil, the beef and vegetables—low and slow, as my late mother used to say.
- For aesthetic purposes, peel your carrots; you will appreciate the bright orange color.
- Red and gold potatoes are traditional and waxy enough to stay together through the simmering. Russet potatoes will begin to break down during the cooking process.
- Don’t forget to remove and discard the bay leaves. They are sharp on the edges and could cut your mouth or pose a choking hazard.
- Once cooked, trim the fat from the beef. I like to leave a very small portion of fat on for more flavor, but my husband likes it trimmed completely. As my Mom always said, “Different strokes for different folks.”
- Slice the corned beef against the grain, as this produces the most tender pieces that do not fall apart.
- Corned beef is cured with salt and is naturally high in sodium. So go easy on any added salt.
What is the difference between flat-cut and point-cut corned beef?
Don’t let these two different cuts confuse you. Corned beef, after all, is simply beef brisket cured in salt brine. Corned beef brisket is then split into two cuts, the flat cut and the point cut. The flat cut is much leaner, but it still has a thick layer of fat, so it cooks up moist and tender. It is best for slicing and is my first pick for traditional corned beef.
The point cut gets its name from coming to a point at one end. It is marbled with more fat and connective tissue. This cut cooks up tender and juicy but is best used for shredding.
Storage and Reheat
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave at 50% power for 1 minute increments until warm. You can freeze the corned beef, potatoes, and carrots for up to 2 months, but I do not recommend freezing the cabbage.
More Cabbage Recipes
Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds corned beef brisket with spice packet
- water or beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 lb. baby yellow potatoes
- 5 large carrots peeled and chunked
- 1 head green cabbage cut in wedges
Instructions
- In Dutch Oven or large stockpot, add corned beef and cover with water or beef broth. Add spice packet and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours. The brisket should be fairly fork-tender.
- Add potatoes and carrots; cover and simmer for additional 30 minutes. Add cabbage; cover and simmer for 15 additional minutes.
- Remove the bay leaves and discard them. Remove corned beef and vegetables from the pot and cover to keep warm. Remove any fat from the corned beef and slice against the grain.
Notes
- Leave the fat on the corned beef when simmering as it helps cook it really tender and gives it lots of flavor. For this method, cook it fat side up.
- Don't skip the spice packet. It is full of peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, anise seeds, and crushed bay leaves. It gives the corned beef its extra delicious flavor. Simply add it to the cooking liquid with the beef.
- The key is to simmer, not boil, the beef and vegetables—low and slow, as my late mother used to say.
- For aesthetic purposes, peel your carrots, as you will really appreciate the bright orange color.
- Red and gold potatoes are traditional, and they are waxy enough to stay together through the simmering. Russet potatoes will begin to break down during the cooking process.
- Don't forget to remove and discard the bay leaves. They are sharp on the edges and could cut your mouth or pose a choking hazard.
- Once cooked, trim the fat from the beef. I like to leave just a very small portion of fat on for more flavor, but my husband likes it completely trimmed. As my mom always said, "Different strokes for different folks."
- Slice the corned beef against the grain, as this produces the most tender pieces that do not fall apart.
- Corned beef is cured with salt, so it is naturally high in sodium. So go easy on any added salt.
Nutrition
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Krystle
How much water do you put in like how full? When just doing the brisket at 1st and will it be enough to add vegetables?
Beth Pierce
Full enough to cover the brisket and yes it should be enough to add the vegetables as the brisket will shrink slightly.
Joan
I made this yesterday for St. Patrick’s Day! I was looking for a recipe that wasn’t done in a crockpot, as the meat always comes out stringy! So I tried this one on the stovetop and it was amazing! Definitely going to make it this way always! It was easy and the meat was great!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Joan! So glad that you liked it. Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day!
A. Mason
It says not to forget the spice packet, but it doesn’t tell us what’s IN the spice packet.🤔🤨
Beth Pierce
Pickling spice usually comes with the packaged corned beef. If not you can add a couple tablespoons.
chappy
the spice packet comes with the corned beef .
Chelsea
I’m excited to try this recipe this week!
However, the recipe itself calls for onions- but none mentioned on the ingredient list 😅. How much of what type would be recommended?
Beth Pierce
I do not see any onions mentioned in the post. Did you see this on an old pin? I have since revamped this recipe.
Debra K
The onions are still mentioned in no 1 of instructions, not in ingredients. GREAT recipe. Thank you.
Beth Pierce
Thanks Debra for the tip. I have corrected it. So glad that you liked the recipe.
Betsy
In the first step it says to add bay leaves, spice packet and onions. I thought the same thing as the previous comment. As onions are not in the ingredients list I assume you do not recommend adding them?
Beth Pierce
Sorry Betsy. I retested that recipe and omitted the onions. I should have caught it on the proofread. Thanks for the tip.
Kathryn Morris
I made this recipe a few years ago and was looking for the onions lol
Megan
I also saw that it says to add the Onions to the pot with the beef, but no mention of how much? I usually just chop one decent size onion, so that’s what I’m going with, with this recipe.
Paula Turzy
Did anyone use beef broth instead of water? If so did you use a no salt beef broth?
Linda
Why would you use salted broth when corn beef has so much sodium already? I’m no chef, but think ya need no sodium beef broth or at least low sodium
Paula Turzy
Hi Linda,
I wasn’t asking about salted beef broth. I intentionally added the words ‘no salt’ to avoid certain responses about broth with added salt You may have read it incorrectly.
I had just wondered if someone used beef broth instead of water. She has this in her ingredients – water (or beef broth) – so I played around with the idea of using bone beef broth. I ended up using water like I normally do. It was super tasty as usual.
Sharon Chen
This looks so yummy! I haven’t put veggies with corned beef before, will try it soon!
Beth Pierce
Thanks! Enjoy!!
Joanne
Put about 1/3 cup sugar and a can of beer in the pot. I promise you comes out the best. Or chicken broth whole can of it !! Yummo
Chef Johnny
Nailed it with the beer and sugar!
I’ve been a chef shhh.
Don’t give away the secret
Natalie
I will save this recipe for St. Patrick’s dinner. Looks amazing. My boys will love this for sure. Thank you.
Heidy
This Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe was GOOD! I swear everyone went back for seconds and a few hit thirds! That’s when you know a recipe is perfect!!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Heidy! So glad that everyone liked it!
Kris
I made this for family and it was a real winner! Will definitely make again. Thank you!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Kris! So glad that you liked it!
Cara
Definitely going to be making this for St. Patrick’s Day – sounds delish!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Cara! Enjoy!!
Catalina
This is an easy way to have a delicious and healthy dinner. I love all the ingredients!
Elizabeth Neas
Your recipe and presentation are absolutely stunning. (stunning is ok I think for food right?). I agree that corn beef is very salty so normally you don’t have to add any salt to your carrots or potatoes. This meal was appreciated by my family!
Marysa
I have never had this, but it would be fun to make this for St. Patrick’s Day. Sounds easy enough to make as well.
Richelle Milar
Oh my! This is such a really delicious recipe! My whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Terri Steffes
Beautiful timing for this wonderful dish. I love it so much.
Tara Pittman
My husband loves corn beef and cabbage. Thanks for the recipe.
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine!!