Corned Beef and Cabbage
The Irish-American St. Patrick's Day dinner: flat-cut corned beef braised low and slow in the oven, then cabbage wedges, carrots and red potatoes simmered in the strained, buttered cooking liquid.
After the Famine of the 1840s, Irish immigrants in America found pork expensive and beef cheap, and kosher cured brisket sold by Jewish butchers in New York is thought to have replaced bacon as the centerpiece of the Irish-American St. Patrick's Day (The Irish Times, Aoife McElwain:). Smithsonian goes further, saying the immigrants "almost solely" bought meat from kosher butchers, so the dish is really Jewish corned beef cooked with cabbage and potatoes; we treat that strong version as DISPUTED. Wikipedia places the swap in the mid to late 19th century and notes that the dish overlaps with the older New England boiled dinner of corned beef, cabbage and root vegetables, whose leftovers become red flannel hash. Corned beef and cabbage never caught on in Ireland itself (Smithsonian).
🇺🇸 This one is American
The Irish-American St. Patrick's Day dinner: flat-cut corned beef braised low and slow in the oven, then cabbage wedges, carrots and red potatoes simmered in the strained, buttered cooking liquid.
🇮🇪 The original
The Irish original is a boiled joint of cured pork (Irish bacon) with cabbage and potatoes, finished with a white parsley sauce. See the Irish Bacon and Cabbage with Parsley Sauce recipe.
📖 : Corned Beef vs Pastrami: What's the Difference? → 📖 Myth check: Is Corned Beef and Cabbage Actually Irish? →
Why it works the kitchen science
Oven, not stovetop
A covered pot in a 300°F oven holds a gentle, even heat, so the brisket turns tender without the dry, stringy edges a hard boil can give (ATK).
Vegetables last, in clean liquid
Straining and skimming the broth before the vegetables go in keeps them from turning greasy, and adding them in stages keeps the potatoes from going mushy while the cabbage cooks.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 300°F with a rack in the middle. Combine the beef, broth, water, chopped carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme and allspice in a large Dutch oven.
- Step 2
Cover and bake 4 1/2 to 5 hours, until a fork slides easily in and out of the meat (it will be far above USDA's 145°F minimum by then).
- Step 3
Move the beef to a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Strain the cooking liquid into a large bowl, throw away the solids and skim off the fat. Pour 1 cup of the liquid over the beef, cover tightly with foil and rest 30 minutes.
- Step 4
Pour the rest of the liquid back into the Dutch oven, add the butter and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and simmer about 10 minutes, until they start to soften.
- Step 5
Add the halved carrots and the cabbage wedges, cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes, until everything is tender. Lift the vegetables onto a platter and season with pepper.
- Step 6
Slice the beef against the grain into 1/4-inch slices, arrange it with the vegetables, spoon a little liquid over the top and serve with mustard.
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Serves 8 · 1 brisket (about 4 1/2 lb raw), sliced, with vegetables · 5 hr 45 min total
Beef and braising liquid
- 1 (4 to 5 lb) flat-cut corned beef brisket, rinsed, fat trimmed to 1/4 inch
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp minced fresh thyme
- 1 tsp whole allspice berries
Vegetables
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 lb small red potatoes
- 9 carrots, peeled and halved crosswise
- 1 head green cabbage (about 2 lb), cut into 8 wedges through the core
- Black pepper
- Grainy mustard, to serve
Method
- Heat the oven to 300°F with a rack in the middle. Combine the beef, broth, water, chopped carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme and allspice in a large Dutch oven.
- Cover and bake 4 1/2 to 5 hours, until a fork slides easily in and out of the meat (it will be far above USDA's 145°F minimum by then).
- Move the beef to a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Strain the cooking liquid into a large bowl, throw away the solids and skim off the fat. Pour 1 cup of the liquid over the beef, cover tightly with foil and rest 30 minutes.
- Pour the rest of the liquid back into the Dutch oven, add the butter and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and simmer about 10 minutes, until they start to soften.
- Add the halved carrots and the cabbage wedges, cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes, until everything is tender. Lift the vegetables onto a platter and season with pepper.
- Slice the beef against the grain into 1/4-inch slices, arrange it with the vegetables, spoon a little liquid over the top and serve with mustard.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Corned Beef and Cabbage" (Cook's Country, February/March 2012), as written, with 8 servings from ATK's "6 to 8". ATK gives no internal temperature; the 145°F minimum is from USDA FSIS (see Food safety baseline). America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Flat cut cooks more evenly than point cut; keep the cabbage core on each wedge so it does not fall apart (ATK).
- Make ahead: refrigerate the moistened beef and the liquid separately up to 24 hours; slice the cold beef, reheat it covered at 350°F for about 25 minutes, and cook the vegetables while it warms (ATK). Reheated leftovers should reach 165°F (USDA FSIS).
- Save the extra corned beef for our Reuben Sandwich, Diner Corned Beef Hash and Sheet-Pan Reubens recipes.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Irish immigrants bought their corned beef from Jewish butchers. Disputed: Smithsonian (2013) says they bought "almost solely" from kosher butchers; The Irish Times says kosher brisket "is thought to" have become popular with them.
- Corned beef and cabbage is an Irish dish. Disputed: it is Irish-American; Smithsonian says it never crossed back to Ireland, and Wikipedia calls corned beef's link to St. Patrick's Day a North American development.
- Lincoln served corned beef and cabbage at his first inaugural luncheon in 1861. Folklore: Smithsonian repeats it; we found no menu.
- It is the same as New England boiled dinner. Disputed: Wikipedia calls them similar but says the Irish-American dish usually has fewer root vegetables.
- Pink means undercooked. Documented false: USDA FSIS says the nitrite in the cure keeps cooked corned beef pink.
Every other corned beef
Irish Bacon and Cabbage with Parsley Sauce
The real Irish dinner behind America's corned beef and cabbage: a cured bacon joint simmered in a big pot, cabbage cooked in the salty bacon water, and a white sauce full of parsley.
Cork Spiced Beef
Cork's Christmas beef: a corned joint marinated for a week in allspice, brown sugar and three peppers, simmered gently, cooled in its liquid and sliced thin.
Homemade Deli Corned Beef on Rye
Cure your own brisket for six days in a salt, sugar and pink curing salt brine, simmer it in a low oven, then slice it thin, steam it and pile it on rye with deli mustard.
Reuben Sandwich
Corned beef, Swiss cheese and quick-cooked sauerkraut on rye with a Russian-style dressing, griddled in butter until the bread is golden and the cheese melts.
Diner Corned Beef Hash
Leftover corned beef and diced potatoes, steamed tender in one skillet, partly mashed so they hold together, then browned hard in butter on both sides and topped with fried eggs.
Montreal Smoked Meat
Montreal's answer to pastrami: a whole brisket dry-cured for a week, soaked, crusted with pepper, coriander and dill, smoked low, steamed in foil until tender and piled on rye with yellow mustard.
Filipino Corned Beef Silog (Corned Beef, Garlic Rice and Egg)
The Filipino breakfast plate: tinned corned beef fried with browned garlic and onion, a mound of crisp garlic fried rice and a sunny-side-up egg.
Jamaican-Style Bully Beef
Tinned corned beef simmered with onion, tomatoes, sweet peppers, thyme, ketchup and a whole Scotch bonnet into a quick, peppery stew for rice.
British Corned Beef Hash
The British storecupboard supper: parboiled potatoes and cubes of tinned corned beef fried with onion, pressed into a crust, splashed with Worcestershire sauce and served with baked beans.
Sheet-Pan Reubens
Four Reubens at once in 30 minutes: quick sweet-and-sour cabbage instead of sauerkraut, a mayo-mustard spread, deli corned beef and Swiss on rye, baked on a preheated sheet pan so they toast without flipping.
Pastrami on Rye, Inspired by Katz's
Inspired by, not official: store-bought corned beef soaked to pull out salt, crusted with cracked black pepper and coriander, smoked low, finished in foil to 203°F and hand-sliced onto rye with mustard, the way Katz's Delicatessen serves it.
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