Corned beef, cabbage and potatoes is an easy, quintessential one pot meal. While not the most colorful or artsy of presentations , this traditional St’s Patrick’s Day dish is very tasty nonetheless.
Stuff you need to know:
The pit falls of this dish are that it’s often too salty and made from a tough/cheaper cut of meat. We solve these problems by rinsing the brisket before you make it (don’t worry, you won’t rinse out the deeply infused flavor) and tenderize the meat by cooking it on low heat. Remember, *low and slow* are the way to go.
This recipe uses beer, chicken broth and an array of savory spices. These ingredients add more depth to the flavor as opposed to simply salty meat. That being said, I am aware you might not have all these spices in your pantry and don’t want to purchase them all at one time. In that case, you can purchase a box of Bell’s seasoning which is a blend of some of the seasonings that I listed below. Please see the note about this in the recipe section.
I toss all the spices in the broth mixture so they’re floating all around. If you’re not find of chewing bits of peppercorns and thyme, you can use a piece of cheesecloth wrapped with twine or use a premade pouch like this one.
For the brisket, we have the choice of flat cut or point cut corned beef brisket.
Corned Beef: point cut vs. flat cut
The point cut corned beef is a smaller cut shaped like a wedge. It has more fat marbling and a big swath of connective tissue throughout the meat. This fattier cut is more flavorful; however, there will be more shrinkage as the fat renders during cooking. Remember to account for this in your total meat portioning. It’s never fun when the “serves 4-6” cut shrinks to the size of one sandwich.
The flat cut is larger and relatively uniform in shape and thickness. It is easier to slice after you rest the meat (allowing it to rest just after cooking to let the juices seep back into the meat). There is a bit of marbling but much less fat (though there is a thin fat cap) and more meat in this cut.
Flat cut is resoundingly my preference. I think it’s a better buy for your money and you reduce the risk of biting into a mouthful of goopy, gelatinous fat. Yes, I’m reliving childhood trauma here, sorry.
Serving size suggestions
Corned beef does shrink as its cooked, regardless of cut. Estimate about 1/2 lb per person or 3/4 to 1 lb if you’d like sandwich leftovers or, if you have a family like mine, they eat like they’ve never seen food before. An easy hack is to add 2 lbs to your total to accommodate for leftovers and differing appetites.
Finally, the potatoes and cabbage are added in stages towards the end so everything gets cooked evenly, finishing around the same time.
Erin go Bragh and have a great meal!
Tracy from Real Not Perfect
Corned Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 large 8 quart Dutch oven or large 8 quart pot
Ingredients
- 3 lbs corned beef brisket
- 12 ounce bottle of lager beer that's not bitter
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp oregano ***see note
- 1 tsp ground sage ***see note
- 1 tsp thyme **see note
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary ***see note
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger ***see note
- 1 medium onion, peeled and diced large
- 1 large head of cabbage, chopped in 1/8ths
- 1 1/2 -2 lbs potatoes, peeled and halved
Instructions
- To figure out how much corned beef for your dinner, estimate about 1/2 lb per person or 3/4 to 1 lb if they're big eaters. or you want leftovers.
- Rinse the corned beef brisket and place it in the dutch oven.
- Add chicken broth, beer and add enough water to cover the corned beef about 2-3 quarts (depending on size of pot used)
- Add all the spices from black peppercorns through bay leaves. You can either put them straight in the water or put them in cheesecloth tied with kitchen twine.
- Cover and set over high heat. Bring to a boil, decrease the heat to low and cook at a low simmer for 2 1/2 hours. (Start checking the internal temperature of the meat at 2 hours ***see note below).
- After 2 1/2 hours, add the onions and potatoes. Return to a simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, add cabbage and cook for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes and the cabbage are tender.
- Remove the meat when the internal temperature hits 200-210 degrees F. **see note**Remove cabbage and potatoes from the cooking liquid. Let the corned beef rest for 15 minutes before cutting. See what direction the grain of the meat is. Slice the corned beef across the grain. Serve sliced corned beef on a platter with potatoes and cabbage.
