Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage
This family loved traditional corned beef recipe has all the customary trimmings and is cooked in one easy pot on the stove top.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 180 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: main meal beef
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients
- 3 pounds corned beef brisket with spice packet
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 onion quartered
- 2 tablespoons pickling spice
- 4 medium red potatoes halved
- 4 large carrots peeled and chunked
- 1 head green cabbage cut in wedges
Instructions
- In dutch oven or large stockpot add corned beef and cover with water. Add spice packet, bay leaves and onions. Add pickling spice to spice ball infuser and drop in pot with corned and water. Cover and simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours. The brisket should be fork tender.
- Add potatoes and carrots; cover and simmer for additional 30 minutes. Add cabbage; cover and simmer for 15 additional minutes.
- Fish out bay leaves and discard. Remove corned beef and vegetables from pot and cover to keep warm. Remove any fat from the corned beef and slice against the grain.
Notes
- Buy good quality corned beef after all it is going to be the star of the show.
- Leave the fat on the corned beef when simmering as it helps cook it really tender and gives it lots of flavor.
- Don’t skip the pickling spice. Just place it in a spice ball infuser and hook it to the side of the pot so it simmers in the water with the beef and vegetables.
- The key is too simmer not boil the beef and vegetables. Low and slow as my late mother used to say.
- For aesthetic purposes peel your carrots as you will really appreciate the bright orange color.
- Red Potatoes are traditional and they are waxy enough to stay together through the simmering. Other types of potatoes will begin to break down during the cooking process.
- Don’t forget to fish out and discard the bay leaves. They are sharp on the edges and could cut your mouth or pose a choking hazard.
- Once cooked trim the fat from the beef. I like to leave just a very small portion of fat on for more flavor but my husband likes it completely trimmed. As my mom always said “Different strokes for different folks.”
- Slice the corned beef against the grain as this produces the most tender bites.
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