The easiest way to cook your corned beef!
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I know a lot of people have a green dinner to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I like green food but I don’t like food that is green that is not suppose to be green (i.e., eggs, potatoes, pancakes etc.) So instead of celebrating with a “green dinner” I’d rather celebrate with a little more traditional cuisine. Corned Beef seems to be a favorite choice. Now I have been to Ireland and must admit I never was served or ate corned beef while I was there. I’m thinking we here in the US eat a lot more corned beef to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than they do in Ireland. Any Irish readers want to weigh in on this? Would love to know what you have to eat to celebrate!
So what is corned beef? That is the question my husband asked me the other day after having eaten corned beef.
Honestly, I couldn’t answer him so guess what I did? Yes, I googled it. Here’s what I found: Corned Beef is a salt cured beef product and probably became popular in the 17th century when they began curing meat with salt. For me, corned beef is more like ham than it is like beef. It has the salty flavor and similar texture.
I decided to try cooking the corned beef in the slow cooker. It works and it works well. You end up with a really nice tender, tear apart piece of meat and it is so simple to do. After a little research I discovered that a flat cut corned beef was the way to go. It is lean and when cooked properly, it is tender and flavorful. Sliced against the grain, the slices of corned beef are fantastic for sandwiches the next day, or they can be diced for a wonderful meal of corned beef hash. I bought mine at Costco.
Cooking it is easy. I just placed it in my slow cooker and sprinkled the seasoning packet that comes with it on the top. I also poured in 4 cups of beef broth. It did not quite cover the corned beef all the way. I then set it on low for 8-9 hours.
About half way through I added my potatoes and carrots so they didn’t get too mushy. Of course to make it more authentic you could also add some cabbage but I don’t care for cabbage and care even less for the way it smells while it is cooking. It takes me back to those days when the school cafeteria fixed it! Don’t add the cabbage until the last hour though if you are going to use it.
Slice the corned beef like you would a brisket, across the grain. It will be nice and tender and basically pull apart.
Of course leftovers make a good sandwich or chop some up for corned beef hash!
For some other fun green food ideas check out these: (Click on photo)
***If you love EASY and DELICIOUS meals that you can make for your family in your slow cooker, please join me over on Instgram where I share ALL slow cooker recipes! Hope to see you there! Find me on Instagram at @slowcookerrecipelove ***
- 1 3-4 lb. corned beef with spice packet flat cut
- 4 carrots cut into pieces
- 8 small red potatoes halved or quartered depending on size
- 1 onion peeled cut into chunks
- 4 C beef broth
- 1/2 head cabbage coarsely chopped
- Place brisket into slow cooker
- Add beef broth
- Sprinkle meat with seasoning packet
- Cook on low for 8-9 hours
- Half way through cooking process add vegetables
- If using cabbage add that one hour before ready to eat.
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This looks delish! I’m like you and not much on food that’s green but not suppose to be. However, sign me up for the corned beef!
Thank you for the nice recipe Leigh Anne. Have a Great Day!
I never knew this meal was to celebrate St. Patricks because as kids, my mom always made this. It’s now one of my kids’ favorite and March is always the cheapest time to buy it so we stock up. I have never tried it in broth. Cooking it in water with the season packets us good too if you didn’t have broth on hand.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I’m in love with my slow cooker…it makes life so much easier! I featured this on my own blog for St. Patty’s Day. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! http://frugaltiredmom.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/st-patricks-day-slow-cooker-corned-beef-feast/
Glad you liked it – thanks for sharing it!
this looks incredible!!! i love corned beef – anytime!
Leigh Anne- I have an answer for you! My great-grandmother was an Irish immigrant and I asked her the same question when I was younger. Corned beef and cabbage is an Irish-American dish, not a traditional Irish meal. Pork is a staple in Irish cooking, and when we started to come to the United states, pork was not as readily available like beef was. ( due to cost and supply) Irish were also discriminated against like the Jews and Italians were, and would find themselves in Jewish delis for lunch eating cured or corned beef. That is how corned beef came about! When the beef is cooked with cabbage and potatoes, which were both inexpensive, it was hearty and able to feed your whole family. I hope that helps (-:
Thanks so much for the great info!
You’re right about it not being a traditional Irish meal. The Irish side of my family never made it, my German/American side did.
I love this, it sounds a great recipe for the slow cooker. I do love my slow cooker 🙂
My grandparents and my husbands parents are Irish and have Ham, cabbage and potato’s as their traditional St Patricks Day meal.
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