Homemade Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

You will absolutely love this delicious homemade corned beef and cabbage recipe that is cured, slow-cooked, and served up with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes.

Although you can eat corned beef all year round, we absolutely love making it for St. Paddy’s day among other favorites.  If you love celebrating this Irish holiday as well, then for sure make my Apple Cake or Irish Beef Stew.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Corned beef and cabbage is a popular dish that is made for St. Paddy’s Day in America.  It is a brined cut of brisket that is then boiled to tenderize and cooked with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes.  It’s an extremely flavorful comforting dish.

This history of Corned beef and cabbage, especially corned beef, is fascinating.  While it’s an Irish dish, it looks very different now than it did centuries ago.  Due to England’s takeover of Ireland in the 17^th century, increased beef production, and low salt taxes, corned beef became incredibly popular during this time.

The corned beef back then was legitimately cured beef in salt, and the salt crystals were so large, similar to the size of corn, the English coined the term, “corned beef.”  The decline of corned beef in Ireland started in the mid 19^th century, as America began becoming a major producer of it.  With the immigration to America from Ireland because of famine during this same period, the Irish re-popularized their dish but through Jewish Delis.

Many of the Irish that settled in America, did so in New York City where there is also a large Jewish population.  Now that the Irish made more money in the United States instead of under British rule back in Ireland, they were able to afford corned beef.  However, they weren’t able to get the exact replica they were used to in Ireland, so the only version they could get was from a Jewish deli’s that was then cooked in a pot with cabbage and potatoes.

You can thank the Irish American immigrant and the melting pot that is New York for popularizing St. Paddy’s day, as well as the way we now enjoy corned beef and cabbage.

How to Make It

Follow these simple to prepare instructions for making this amazing homemade corned beef and cabbage:

Start by combining the pickling spice, salt, and brown sugar in a large pot with water.  Make sure the salt and sugar are dissolved, so you may need to boil it.  Add ice to cool.

Place the brisket into the brine, cover with plates and refrigerate for 5-7 days or as many as 10 days.  Move the brisket around every 2 days to make sure the brine is touching all parts of the brisket.

Rinse the brisket well under cold water to remove the spices and to relax the salt content on the beef.

Next, bring the brisket in a pot of water with pickling spice to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 3 ½ to 4 hours.

With about 30 minutes left in the cooking process, add the cabbage, carrots, and potatoes to the mixture and cook.

Slice the corned beef against the grain and serve with cooked vegetables.

Is It Better to Boil or Bake Corned Beef?

I’m not sure one is better than the other because both are great options for cooking and tenderizing your corned beef.  When baking most people think of baking it in foil after the brine, but you can also bake the corned beef in water in a pot in the oven.

• Baking Corned Beef – A method used where the corned beef is wrapped in foil and baked to help tenderize.
• Boiling Corned Beef – Cooking the corned beef in a large pot of water to help tenderize.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: This recipe can be made up to 1 day ahead of time.  Simply reheat before serving.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of corned beef to a pot and heat over low heat until hot.  If you need to add more water to the pot, feel free to do so.

How to Store: Cover with or without the cooking liquid and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Cover without the cooking liquid and freeze for up to 2 months.  Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

Chef notes + tips

• Save some of the cooking liquid and refrigerate it so you can use it to reheat it.
• Corned beef has very high salt content, so it’s not looked at as a healthy recipe and some even consider it to be bad for you.
• You can also add a roughly chopped onion to the corned beef when cooking it with the vegetables.
• If the ice does not completely cool the mixture, you can flash cool the liquid in the freezer for 20-25 minutes.
• Sometimes the brisket is extremely long, feel free to slice it in half before cooking it.
• Watch the video to see how to properly slice a brisket.

More Beef Recipes

• Chicken Fried Steak
• Steak Au Poivre
• Philly Cheesesteak
• Beef Wellington
• Beef Stroganoff

Be sure to follow me on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest, and if you’ve had a chance to make this then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below!

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Homemade Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

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5 from 8 votes

You will love this delicious homemade corned beef and cabbage recipe that is cured, slow-cooked, and served up with cabbage.

Servings: 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours hours

Brining Time: 7 days days

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

For the Corned Beef

• 2 tablespoons peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon allspice berries
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 broken up cinnamon stick
• 1 gallon water
• 1 1/3 cup sea salt
• 4 teaspoons #1 curing salt
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ gallon ice
• 5-6 pound brisket flat

For the Vegetables

• 1 tablespoon pickling spice
• 1 head cabbage cored and sliced into wedges
• 6-8 peeled and very thickly sliced large carrots
• 3-4 pounds of red or Yukon potatoes

Instructions

• Corned Beef: Place all of the spices minus the salt and brown sugar into a medium-size bowl and simply smash using a fork to help break it up to make a homemade pickling spice. You can also do this with a mortar and pestle if you have one. Set it aside.
• Next add 1 gallon of water to a very large pot along with 4 tablespoons of pickling spice, salt, curing salt, and brown sugar and bring it to a boil to dissolve the salts and sugar.
• Remove the pot from the heat and add the ice to help cool.
• Once the liquid is completely cooled to at least room temperature add the brisket flat to the pot making sure it is completely submerged. Add plates or bowls to help keep it submerged.
• Every 2 days move the brisket around to make sure every side is getting brine on it.
• After 7 days remove the brisket and rinse it very well on all sides.
• Place the brisket into a large pot and cover it with water by about 4 inches.
• Add in 1 tablespoon of the pickling spice and then bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
• Next, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 3 ½ to 4 hours or until very tender.
• With about 30 minutes left in the cooking process add the cabbage, carrots, and potatoes to the pot and cover. You may need to move some things around to get it all to fit.
• Once everything is done, slice the brisket against the grain and serve.

Notes

Chef Notes:

• Make-Ahead: This recipe can be made up to 1 day ahead of time. Simply reheat before serving.

 

• How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of corned beef to a pot and heat over low heat until hot. If you need to add more water to the pot, feel free to do so.

 

• How to Store: Cover with or without the cooking liquid and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Cover without the cooking liquid and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

 

• Save some of the cooking liquid and refrigerate it so you can use it to reheat it.

 

• Corned beef has very high salt content, so it’s not looked at as a healthy recipe and some even consider it to be bad for you.

 

• You can also add a roughly chopped onion to the corned beef when cooking it with the vegetables.

 

• If the ice does not completely cool the mixture, you can flash cool the liquid in the freezer for 20-25 minutes.

 

• Sometimes the brisket is extremely long, feel free to slice it in half before cooking it.

 

• Watch the video to see how to properly slice a brisket.

Nutrition

Calories: 501kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 43gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 13584mgPotassium: 1443mgFiber: 7gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 6987IUVitamin C: 53mgCalcium: 127mgIron: 6mg

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: english, irish, jewish

Author: Chef Billy Parisi