Chef John’s Corned Beef and Cabbage

  4.8 – 197 reviews  • Irish

Nearing St. Patrick’s Day often means preparing a tasty traditional Irish feast of corned beef and cabbage. The lean bacon used in the traditional Irish recipe was made from a cut of hog resembling Canadian bacon. Corned beef was introduced as a less priced alternative to the more expensive and challenging-to-find cut.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 3 hrs 50 mins
Additional Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins
Servings: 8
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 (4 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet
  2. 3 quarts water
  3. 1 onion, quartered
  4. 3 carrots, cut into large chunks
  5. 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
  6. 1 teaspoon salt
  7. 2 pounds red potatoes, halved
  8. 1 small head cabbage, cut into eighths

Instructions

  1. Combine corned beef and spice packet contents, water, onion, carrots, celery, and salt together in a large pot or Dutch oven; bring to a simmer, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
  2. Cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer until meat is almost fork-tender, about 3 hours. Add potatoes and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are almost tender, about 30 minutes more.
  3. Place cabbage pieces on top of and around meat, cover the pot, and simmer until cabbage is tender, 20 to 30 minutes more.
  4. Remove meat to a cutting board and let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Cut across the grain and serve in a bowl; ladle vegetables and broth over the top.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 380 kcal
Carbohydrate 29 g
Cholesterol 100 mg
Dietary Fiber 6 g
Protein 22 g
Saturated Fat 7 g
Sodium 1504 mg
Sugars 7 g
Fat 20 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Jose Moreno
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s one of my go to meals. Every recipe Chef John has on Allrecipes is just wonderful. I “thank” him every time I cook one of his recipes. Delicious!!
Pamela Kennedy
I made this and stuck right to the recipe. It was OK but I thought it was a little bland. The next day I did add more seasoning and it was a little better. I was a bit disappointed because I usually really like chef John’s recipes. Maybe it had something to do with taking the foam out. I’ve never done this before and not really sure why it said do this. I believe it actually took a lot of the seasoning out as there was much in the foam as I took it out. If I try it again I would not do it.
Adam Chavez
Delicious! My brisket was only 2 1/2 lbs so I just did a half batch. Mine was a little fattier so I took one reviewer’s suggestion to broil it with brown sugar and mustard powder after it rested. Next time I would take the carrots out earlier since they were a little mushy. Perfect for St. Patty’s Day. Thanks, Chef John!
Jennifer Wells
My family loves this recipe!
Dustin Chan
Good, but Dean’s cooked in slow cooker with beer was better.
Autumn Bennett
Good receipe. I did add Guinness beer and a couple bay leaves. I didn’t put my carrot or potatoes in until last 1hr 10 min. I used the pkg also. I did crock pot and only took 3.5. I also added 1 tbl spoon of brown sugar.
Nicholas Hahn
What my Irish mother would do after the meat has cooked and rested a while, would combine some brown sugar and English mustard powder and spread over the top of the meat. She would then run it under the broiler for a few minutes to make a sweet/spicy crust on the meat. De-Lish.
John Cunningham
It was fantastic, however I couldnt follow the directions because it has you keeping carrots in the pot. Well before it was even time to add the potatoes they were complete mush and same with potatoes.. when it was time to pit in the cabbage my potatoes were total mush. So I made it again. I had to corned beef briskets I got on sale for St. Pattys Day. The next day when I made the 2nd batch I took the carrots amd potatoes out of the pot when they worked both cooked and tender. I moved them to a covered bowl to keep warm. Then when the cabbage was done I moved them back to the pot for 2 minutes. This time everything was perfect! Both times the meat was so tender it just fell apart with your fork. Delicious! We are making it again on the actual day for company.
Sarah Hernandez
Suggestion: Add the spice packet AFTER you skim the foam.
Ryan Barnes
as good as it gets.
Kevin Weber
I used a “flat” cut in lieu of the “point” cut. Was out of red potatoes so instead used russets.
Chelsea Peters
It’s the same as my Irish family made all my years. Today, it can be stewed in a crock pot. Enjoyed all the same!
Tony Mathis
No I haven’t yet needed to try it is original first time but it would be for myself because I like horse radish corned beef and horse radish
William Park
After reading several reviews and reviewing my own previous receipe – I made a couple additions. Used a 1.5# corned beef roast (there are only 2 of us), added an additional 1 Tbl. pickling spices (packet had 1 Tbl.), and added 2 bay leaves, omitted the salt and pepper. Also substituted 12 ounces of water for light beer. Cooked the large carrots in with the beef and removed them when fork tender about the 2-hour mark. Added the Potatoes and cabbage wedges for the last hour. Put the carrots back in the pot to reheat when I took the meat out to rest. Best Corned beef dinner ever!
Brian Garza
Perfect. The corned beef was so tender!
Hannah Nash
Turned out perfectly. The meat and every vegetable was cooked ideally. With stoneground and Dijon mustard on the side for dipping, this is our all-time favorite Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe.
Amanda Fleming
Love it. My only difference was to stud the onion with cloves. Adds a little kick I think. I also cook the cabbage in wedges and serve with a splash of vinegar.
Kelly Russell
As I always do with Chef John recipes, I followed this one exactly and everything turned-out perfect. The corned beef was tender, juicy and flavorful. The vegetables were cooked to perfection. Next time, I will try making this while drinking Guiness.
Luis Humphrey
Don’t throw out the leftover broth. I froze mine and used it later for braised greens and beans. Fantastic!
Jonathan Gray
Easy tasty great recipe will be a regular fir our family!!
Robin Frye
My husband said this was the best Corned Beef and Cabbage he ever had. He’s an oldie so that is great praise. So easy to follow Chef John’s recipe.

 

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