Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage (St Patrick’s Day)
This dish is basically like an Irish pot roast. Slow cooked veggies and corned beef makes a hearty dish with wonderful Irish-inspired flavors.
Ingredients:
1 Corned Beef Brisket
1 Cabbage
3-4 Carrots -and/or- Parsnips
5 Red Potatoes or 1 mesh bag of small potatoes like Baby Dutch, Jewels, Fingerling, etc.
1 small Onion -or- 3/4 cup Frozen Pearl Onions
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar (optional)
1 Guinness
1.5 cups Beef Broth or Water
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Directions:
We’ve found that cooking this lower for longer makes the meat more tender. We also like to keep our veggies from becoming mush by adding them in stages. If you’re a crock pot pro, feel free to adjust things as you see fit.
- Trim the fat off of the brisket then place meat in the bottom of slow cooker.
- Add one Guinness, the seasoning packet from the corned beef, and 1.5 cups of beef broth or water. (Alternative: instead of Guinness, use seasoning packet with 3 cups of beef broth OR water with the seasoning packet.) Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
- Peel and chop carrots and parsnips into 1/2” slices and carefully layer on top of corned beef. (The thinner the carrot the faster the cooking.)
- Add in the small potatoes whole, or cut large potatoes into 3/4” wedges and place in slow cooker.
- Add thinly sliced onions (or use frozen pearl onions). Top with a little fresh cracked salt and pepper.
- Cover and raise temperature to high and cook for 2 more hours.
- Chop cabbage into 2” wedges. Remove lid and stir the brown sugar into the liquid, leaving the meat on the bottom. Add cabbage to slow cooker.
- Cover and continue to cook on high until cabbage and veggies are tender and beef is thoroughly cooked, about 1 to 2 hours longer. Total time is typically about 8 to 10 hours, depending on the size of your brisket.
We like to pair ours with a fresh parsley sauce, by making a simple peppered gravy (like you have with biscuits) but adding in a small bunch of chopped fresh parsley at the end, and using some of the cooked juices from the crock pot to make it thinner.
You will need: Unsalted Butter, Flour, Fresh Garlic, Milk, Fresh Parsley, Juices from the finished meat in the slow cooker, Salt and Pepper
Make it:
- Start by measuring 2.5 cups of milk and setting it aside.
- Melt 1/4 cup unsalted butter in a pan over medium/medium low heat, add in flour and stir with a whisk until it makes a lump-free smooth paste.
- Slowly add the milk and stir with whisk until mixture begins to thicken. Turn off heat.
- Stir in 1 bunch of chopped fresh parsley and 1 clove of finely chopped fresh garlic.
- Add in small amounts of the fully cooked juices from the slow cooker to thin out the gravy until it is the thickness of a thick syrup or drizzle. Salt and pepper to taste.