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Corned Beef with Cabbage

This Slow Cooker Corned Beef with Cabbage is a great all-in-one meal. It’s easy, tasty, and amazingly fork-tender. It’s perfect for gatherings.

crock pot corned beef and cabbage with carrots
Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage is easy, flavorful, and tender

Corned Beef with Cabbage

Here’s our tried-and-true corned beef recipe originally created in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. This Crock Pot corned beef and cabbage is so good, it’s become an all time family favorite, and not just in March.

Despite everyone’s long standing infatuation with this tender pot roast I didn’t realize corned beef and cabbage would make it onto the fail-proof dinner list.

slow cooker corned beef and cabbage with potatoes
Use fresh corned beef brisket for the best corned beef.

key Ingredients for Your Best Corned Beef

  • As usual, we think easier is better: go with baby carrots instead of shredding and slicing big carrots.
  • 4 lb fresh corned beef brisket, trimmed, with its own separate little spice pack.
  • Regular beef broth provides essential liquid for cooking and full flavor.
  • You’ll need one 6 oz can of beer; almost any type should work here.
  • Fresh onion and garlic provide plenty of aromatics.
  • Grab some whole peppercorns for a fragrant kick to the dish
  • We opt for fingerling potatoes or baby red/gold potatoes, as their small size and inherent tenderness lets us skip any peeling and excess slicing.
  • We find one head of fresh cabbage is perfect for this corned beef,. Although it may seem like a lot of cabbage, it cooks down to a fraction of the original volume,
crock pot corned beef and cabbage in a dish
Set Crock Pot on low for 10-12 hours for the most tender corned beef

Pro Tips for the Most Tender Corned Beef and Cabbage

  • Let your slow cooker do the work, giving it plenty of time to cook the beef and cabbage down. We highly recommend the full 10-12 hours on low.
  • Go big on flavor. Plenty of garlic, peppercorns, regular strength beef broth, and the corned beef spice packet all go towards that goal.
  • Ensure that all ingredients are submerged in liquid so even the cabbage gains incredible flavor.
  • Add the potatoes and cabbage only during your last 2 hours of cooking; this is important to prevent them from becoming mushy and too overdone.
  • If you really prefer to slice yours rather than shred with a fork, simply decrease cook time by a couple of hours.

More to cook and eat:


You May Love this Beef Stew with Potatoes, Too:


Slow Cooker Corned Beef with Cabbage

4.91 from 42 ratings
This Slow Cooker Corned Beef with Cabbage results in fork-tender beef that doesn’t even need to be cut with a knife! The veggies are flavorful and tender, and potatoes are succulent. Extra sauce is great for pouring over noodles, if you like.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 hours
Servings: 10
Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

  • ½ lb baby carrots
  • 1 large onion, peeled and sliced thin
  • 4 lb corned beef brisket, trimmed, with spice pack
  • 4 cups beef broth, regular or low sodium
  • 6 oz beer
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 1 TB whole peppercorns
  • 7 fingerling potatoes or baby red/gold potatoes, halved
  • 1 medium head of cabbage, sliced

Instructions

  • Prepare In a large slow cooker, place baby carrots and onion into the bottom. Place corned beef on the veggies.
  • Season: Pour in the beef broth over the meat/veggies. Add the beer, garlic, and peppercorns. Sprinkle on the contents of spice pack that came with your corned beef.
  • Cook: Cover and cook on low for 10 hours. Then add potatoes and cabbage; submerge them in the liquid as fully as possible, and cook 2 more hours on low, for a total of 12 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

Notes

The 12-hour cook time will result in a corned beef that is fork-tender and can easily be pulled apart rather. If you prefer a firmer texture that you can slice, cook for a total of 9 hours instead of 12. 
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating ♡

Nutrition

Calories: 266kcal | Carbohydrates: 11.5g | Protein: 44.7g | Fat: 5.2g | Saturated Fat: 1.9g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 99.7mg | Sodium: 287.2mg | Fiber: 2.7g | Sugar: 6.7g
Course: Dinner, Main
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free
Method: Slow Cooker

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50 comments

    • Rosa

    Hello I am making this corned beef I was wondering if I am using two corned beef which equals to around 7lbs if 12 hour cooking time is enough time?

    • Lisa

    Can this be frozen?

      • chewoutloud

      The finished dish can be stored airtight and frozen, yes! 🙂 🙂

    • Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife

    Yum! Perfect Saint Patricks Day dinner!

    • Mark

    Hmmm yummy. Got to try this.

    • Maysz
    • 5 stars

    Wow this is looks yum and delicious healthy recipe. I would love to try to cook this at home thanks for sharing!

    • Sundeep

    Recipe looks so easy and doable. I am going to try this for sure. As we all know we are working from home so will definitely going to try this recipe

    • aisasami
    • 5 stars

    I miss eating corned beef and cabbage. My mom made this every year when I was growing up. Sadly, corned beef is super rare here in Japan and you can only find in Tokyo.

    • joanna
    • 5 stars

    I would have never thought about preparing corned beef in the slow cooker. It’s really an innovative idea. I like that you chose cabbage to go with it, not many people know what a great vegetables it is and how delicious it can be when cooked right.

    • Charlene

    Mmm this looks so good! And it doesn’t look too difficult either! I’m sad I missed this for St. Patrick’s day but I’ll have to give it a try sometime soon anyway.

    • Jon Maldia
    • 5 stars

    We’re going to have a late celebration this year. Would be cooking some potatoes, cabbage, and corned beef later this week. Actually making some empanadas out of leftovers after.

    • Monidipa
    • 5 stars

    So yummy! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try! I like it already..!!

    • Gervin Khan
    • 5 stars

    This recipe deserves to have a 5 star ratings, it’s healthy and delicious and I will definitely make this for my family.

    • Maartje van Sandwijk

    I’m vegan so wouldn’t eat this but my partner would love it!!

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