These are delicious and a fantastic way to use up all those summer cherries, even though cherries and pork may seem like an odd combination.
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 4 hrs 50 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 5 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (4 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet
- 1 medium yellow onion, thickly sliced
- 2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 quarts cold water, or as needed to cover
- kosher salt to taste
- 2 small heads Savoy cabbage, cored and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 medium carrots, thickly sliced
- 5 large russet potatoes, quartered
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into slices
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup grated Irish Cheddar cheese, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped scallions, or to taste
Instructions
- Put corned beef in a pot with onion and celery and sprinkle spice packet over top. Pour in cold water to cover. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Skim off and discard any foam if desired. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer gently until tender, about 3 1/2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
- Carefully remove corned beef to a bowl and let cool. Taste broth and add salt if needed.
- Bring broth to a boil over high heat. Add cabbage to the boiling broth. Cook until cabbage just starts to soften and sweeten up, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and remove cabbage to a bowl.
- Add carrots to the boiling broth. Cook until carrots start to soften, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and remove carrots to a bowl.
- Add potatoes to the boiling broth and reduce heat to medium. Cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, slice the cooled corned beef along the fatty seam to separate into 2 pieces. Identify the direction of the meat fibers and cut across them (against the grain) to slice into 1/4-inch thick slices, trimming off and discarding any giant pieces of fat. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 9×15-inch casserole dish.
- Use a slotted spoon and remove cooked potatoes to a bowl. Reserve broth. Add butter, salt, pepper, cayenne, and milk to the potatoes. Mix and mash until very smooth. Toss in 3/4 cup Cheddar cheese and mix until incorporated.
- Pour cabbage into the prepared casserole dish and press on it until nicely compacted. Evenly distribute and press carrots over the cabbage. Place a nice, even layer of corned beef on top, overlapping a bit and distributing the nice fatty pieces evenly until fully covered. Pour in 1 cup of the reserved broth. Dollop mashed potatoes over top, then spread into a uniform layer with the back of a spatula. Switch to a fork and push potatoes to the edge of the dish. Then drag the fork sideways back and forth over the potatoes to create a texture. Repeat this texture going top to bottom over the potatoes. Sprinkle with a little more Cheddar.
- Bake in the center of the preheated oven until beautifully browned and piping hot, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, warm any remaining broth over medium-low heat.
- Cut Shepherd’s pie into squares and garnish with scallions. Serve with warmed broth.
- Chef’s Notes:
- When you buy your corned beef you usually have a choice between a flat, lean one and a thick, fatty one. Use the thick, fatty one if you can get it.
- You can use any green cabbage in place of Savoy, and any Cheddar cheese you like.
- This technique is perfect for making individual-sized portions, just use small baking dishes.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of corned beef broth. The actual amount of broth consumed will vary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 664 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 59 g |
| Cholesterol | 144 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 10 g |
| Protein | 31 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Sodium | 1330 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 35 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made this for my Ladies Appetizer Club. I was lucky (Irish luck??) enough to have March. It was a huge hit!! It is the only way to serve Corned Beef and Cabbage.
My son’s favorite dinner he looks forward to is St Patrick’s day traditional meal. So this year we made the traditional meal and this at sane time doing some shortcuts like microwaving carrots. We made a small version and it was wonderfully savory! I think this a great meal to use up leftovers too! I’ll definitely be making it again. You cant go wrong with meat, mashed potatoes and cheese in a recipe!
Much more interesting than the basic boiled dinner. This makes a lot and the leftovers were great.
As with every Chef John Recipe, absolutely delicious. . Love to cook, this dish was worth every minute it took to prepare. Thank you. CHEF John for another award winning recipe.
This is the most amazing shepherd’s pie I’ve ever eaten. My family demolished a double recipe in an hour. I used white Irish cheddar from Aldi’s and it’s become my favorite new cheese. Also, just cooking the potatoes in the corned beef broth makes the most incredible potatoes I’ve ever had. Thank you! Since I cure my own corned beef, this is rapidly becoming a regular dish here.
Didn’t use scallions
Will be more than St Pat’s day favorite,
This was an absolutely fantastic recipe! Not only was it delicious on St. Patrick’s Day but the leftover continued to please.
I made this recipe using green cabbage and shredded cheddar cheese. I used Yukon Gold ‘Taters rather than Russets adding a little Sour Cream and a dash or two of Chipotle Powder during the mash. I used Half-And-Half rather than milk. This recipe turned out amazing! I plan to make it again, and again, and again. Sooo good!
Chef John has the most amazing ability to pull the most flavour out of the food in his recipes. I also appreciate trying new techniques. Have never boiled a corned beef before or considered using the broth to boil the vegetables. The result was delicious. I used a 1.5 lb corned beef and I would say that that was still a good amount of meat. Used one regular green cabbage head also enough for this recipe. It was a happy St. Patrick’s Day meal.
This was a great dinner!! We will be making this every St. Patrick’s Day!
Made this today for St. Patrick’s Day. It is absolutely delicious. I was in a hurry, so I put the corn beef in my slow cooker and covered it with low sodium vegetable broth. Followed the directions for the balance. Thank you for this great recipe.
Absolutely delicious! Make sure you wait the full 15 minutes before you serve it! I will definitely make this again. Much better than the traditional corned beef and cabbage. Thank you Chef John!
Making this now and the whole house smells amazing 10/10 ⭐
Absolutely delicious and easy to make. As usual Chef John knocked it out of the park!
As with all of Chef John’s recipes, I followed it exactly, and it was amazing! This will be our St. Patrick’s Day dinner from now on! Even my grandson, who claims to not like corned beef, is a new convert. Time consuming, but worth the effort! Thanks Chef!
CJ!! This is amazing! 10 stars! I didn’t change a thing. Followed exact except only added the cheese to the top the last 15 minutes. There is a time investment but the results are worth it! Hubby even suggested this replace our traditional thanksgiving turkey!! I am tempted to agree!! Thank you!!
I have to agree with Chef John on this one, the best way to serve Corned Beef ever. And the best part are the mashed potatoes. I make about four times the required amount and freeze them for later. Give this one a try!
It’s incredibly good! I made it in small tins for individual servings because they’re just for me and froze them. This stuff is great!
Wonderful and savory! We loved it. The only thing I would change is that I thought 3 medium carrots was not enough to make a good layer, so I would go for 4 or even 5. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
It takes a while to make but it turned out great. will probably make it again next year