Slow Cooker Corned Beef Recipe
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Slow Cooker Corned Beef is so delicious and super easy to make! Learn how to cook corned beef in the crockpot for a simple dinner.
Corned Beef is a St. Patrick’s Day favorite and we think this slow cooker corned beef recipe is the best way to prepare it!
Your corned beef will never be dry with this foolproof recipe! Plus, it’s super easy to make and it’s a complete meal! Protein, vegetables and potatoes cook together all in one pot.
Liz’s Tips for the Best Corned Beef
- Make sure you get enough corned beef! You’ll need about 1/2 lb raw corned beef per person. Corned beef does shrink a little when cooked.
- Let the corn beef rest before slicing. Let your cooked corned beef sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing it. This will help keep the juices locked in.
- Cut against the grain when slicing to serve
- Cook with fat on and cut it off at end– this helps your corned beef have flavor and stay moist!
Ingredients
Substitutions
Corned Beef Brisket: Corned beef is simply a beef brisket. The flat cut is the best cut for corned beef but you can also use the point cut. You can cook other cuts of meat in the crockpot too! Check out our Crockpot Whole Chicken and Crock Pot Turkey Breast.
Carrots/Potatoes: Potatoes and carrots are used for flavor and make a great side dish. Feel free to add more or less. We always use russet potatoes, but you can also use red potatoes or yukon gold potatoes.
Celery, Onions, Garlic, Bay Leaf: All of these are used for flavor. Feel free to omit.
Beer: You can replace beer with water if you want. It’s only used for flavor. If you’re gluten free, paleo, or Whole30 sub the beer with water.
Cabbage: You can omit the cabbage, it’s meant to be enjoyed as a side for the corned beef. Use green cabbage, not red cabbage.
Pickling Spice: Pickling spice is optional, but recommended! The pickling spice is usually just a mixture of peppercorns and mustard seeds.
Nutrition facts: Beer and pickling spice weren’t included in the nutrition facts calculation. Pickling spice will increase the amount of sodium in this recipe.
How to cook Corned Beef in Slow Cooker
- Add corned beef brisket, carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves and pickling spice packet to the crockpot. Add beer and fill to the top of the crockpot with water.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 1 hour before serving, add sliced cabbage. Stir into broth and cover for the remaining hour. When ready to serve, slice the corned beef against the grain and enjoy!
You should cook corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot for 6-8 hours on low. It’s best to cook it low so it doesn’t get tough or over cooked. Brisket doesn’t do well when cooked at a high temperature. It will get tough and chewy.
No. You can easily over cook corned beef. 6-8 hours on low is the perfect amount of time for corned beef! It will be dry if cooked at high heat for too long.
How do you know when corned beef is done in slow cooker?
The best way to test if corned beef is cooked is to use an internal meat thermometer. This is a great thing to have in your kitchen and for less than $10. It should be cooked to an internal temp of 145°.
When cooked, it will also become fork tender.
Storage
Refrigerating: Cooked corn beef will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Can cooked corn beef be frozen? We haven’t tried freezing this. I think it would be fine in the freezer if stored in an airtight container.
Reheating: It’s best to reheat corned beef and cabbage on low heat on the stovetop or in the toaster oven. We don’t recommend microwaving it.
What to do with Corned Beef Leftovers:
There are lots of different ways to use up corned beef. here are some of our favorites:
- make sandwiches on rye bread
- make reuben with it!
- try a corned beef hash. You can add cooked corned beef to this sweet potato home fries recipe for a delicious breakfast!
Want more slow cooker recipes? Get our 40 best crock pot recipes in a printable ebook for less than $11!
What to serve with crock pot Corned Beef:
This is a complete meal in itself because the potatoes and carrots and cabbage all act as sides. Here are some other sides you can serve with corned beef:
- Traditionally corned beef is served with Rye bread. We also like this Low Fat Irish Soda Bread.
- Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Green Beans Almondine
- Balsamic Mushrooms
- Honey Roasted Carrots
- Sauteed Cabbage
- St. Patrick’s Day Cookies for dessert!
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Slow Cooker Corned Beef
Ingredients
- 3 lb corned beef brisket
- 3 whole carrots peeled
- 4 large potatoes peeled, about 1.5 lbs
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 onion quartered
- 5 garlic cloves whole
- 2 bay leaves
- 12 oz light beer can sub water
- 8 cups water or less, depends on crockpot size
- ½ head of green cabbage about ½ lb cut in 1 inch slices
- 1 pickling spice packet
Instructions
- Add corned beef brisket to the crockpot. Place carrots, potatoes, celery, onion and garlic on top.
- Add bay leaves & pickling spice packet if using. Add beer and fill to the top of the crockpot with water (about 8 cups)
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Corned beef should not be cooked on high. It will result in chewy corned beef!
- 1 hour before serving, remove onion, garlic and celery. Discard. Add sliced cabbage. Stir into broth and cover for the remaining hour.
- When ready to serve, slice the corned beef against the grain and enjoy.
Thank you for walking me through this step-by-step! It was so easy and turned out absolutely perfectly! Delicious!
It was a great recipe for our family to enjoy this past St. Patty’s Day. We look forward to eating this in the future!
Super easy and tasty recipe! It was a hit for St. Patrick’s Day.
Is the pickling packet to use in place of a brine? I was looking at a different recipe yesterday and planning to brine my brisket for a few days before I cook it. I thought you had to but I have never made corned beef before so I’m clueless lol
I’ve never brined mine. You can add the pickling packet in to the crockpot when you cook it!
I cannot leave a review because I have not cooked the rrecipe yet.
What does this mean?:• Optional: pickling spice packet
Some corned beef comes with a pickling spice packet in the package. You don’t need it though!
Can I substitute bone in ham for the corned beef?
No – bone in ham and corned beef are very different and this would not work with ham. Sorry!
By far, the easiest recipe I’ve tried for Corned beef! The meat was perfect and lots of veggies! I’ll definitely be making it again.
I made this for St Patrick’s Day today and it was so good! My whole family enjoyed and the corned beef was perfectly cooked and not dry or tough at all! Highly recommend if you like corned beef or just want to celebrate St Patty’s Day.
Hi! Is it possible to use this recipe to just cook the corned beef (for sandwiches) without the vegetables?
Sure! The cook time doesn’t change. You can follow the recipe as is and just skip the veggies. They add a little bit of flavor but it will be fine without them 🙂
I have a quick question. What are the best potatoes use for the Crockpot Corned Beef Brisket Dinner?
Any potato will work. I find the gold potatoes get very soft so I prefer to use russet