This slow cooker corned beef and cabbage is seasoned corned beef cooked with potatoes, carrots and cabbage. A crock pot meal that’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!
Whether you’re looking to celebrate the Irish holiday or simply want a hearty yet easy meal, this crock pot corned beef is a great choice. Complete your holiday meal with a Shamrock Shake for dessert!
St. Patrick’s Day is the one day a year that many people flock to the grocery store in search of ingredients for a corned beef dinner. This slow cooker corned beef and cabbage only has a few minutes of active prep work, and produces a festive and delicious meal that the whole family will love!
What is corned beef made of?
Corned beef is a beef that’s been brined and cured with salt and seasonings. Corned beef gets its distinctive pink color from sodium nitrate which is used during the curing process. Corned beef comes in multiple different cuts, and it’s always best to cook corned beef for a long period of time so that it becomes tender.
How do you buy corned beef?
The first step to this recipe is to choose your meat. Most stores sell pre-seasoned corned beef, especially in March. There are a few different cuts of corned beef to chose from, including corned beef round roast, flat cut brisket, and point cut brisket. The round roast tends to have the least fat, but is also much more prone to drying out for that same reason.
Flat cut brisket and point cut brisket tend to be the better corned beef options. I used a flat cut brisket for these photos, as you can see by the uniform size and shape of the slices. Point cut brisket is the fattiest cut, but can also sometimes be the most tender. So it’s really up to you which cut you use!
How do you make slow cooker corned beef?
Corned beef comes pre-brined and pre-seasoned, so all you have to do is put it in a slow cooker with carrots and potatoes, then walk away. The cabbage gets added in towards the end, simply because a corned beef needs to cook for a long time, and the cabbage would turn to mush if you left it in for the whole cook time.
Crock Pot Corned Beef Tips
- This recipe really works best on the low heat setting. I know the temptation is there to crank up the heat and have your meal done in half the time, but you run the risk of a tough corned beef if you do that.
- The potatoes and carrots get quite soft from cooking all day in the crock pot. If you prefer your veggies on the firmer side, try adding them halfway through the cooking time.
- Corned beef makes for great leftovers, it’s great in sandwiches, hash or in a reuben dip.
You don’t need to add any extra seasoning to your crock pot other than the packet that comes with the corned beef; the meat is plenty salty to flavor the potatoes and vegetables. That being said, I like to add a little drizzle of garlic and herb butter over the top of the veggies before serving. It adds a nice finishing touch that you typically don’t see with corned beef meals.
This slow cooker corned beef is on our table every St. Patrick’s Day and we always look forward to it!
More St. Patrick’s Day favorites
Slow Cooker Corned Beef Video
Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 corned beef brisket 3-5 lbs
- 3 carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3/4 lb small yellow potatoes halved
- 1/2 head green cabbage cut into wedges
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- grainy mustard for serving optional
Instructions
- Remove the corned beef from the package. Rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Place the corned beef brisket (fat side up), carrots and potatoes in a slow cooker. Add 3 cups of water to the slow cooker, plus the seasoning packet that comes in the corned beef package.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours.
- Add the cabbage on top of the corned beef and cook on LOW for another 2 hours.
- Remove the cabbage, corned beef, potatoes and carrots from the slow cooker. Slice the corned beef against the grain.
- Place the butter, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments or until melted.
- Drizzle the garlic butter over the carrots, potatoes and cabbage. Place the meat, potatoes and vegetables on a platter and serve with mustard on the side if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on February 19, 2018 and was updated on February 26, 2019 with new content.
Rhiannon says
Hi Sara, have never had or known of a spice packet that comes with a corned beef. Hense I’m Australian, some things a bit different. What is in the spice packet you get?
Sara says
It’s typically pickling spice, you can just omit it if needed.
Danielle says
What if I started the recipe on low for about 2 hours but then I want to turn it up to high . Can I do that ?
Sara says
That should be fine!
Tim says
If I double up on all the ingredients will I have to double up on the amount of water I put into the crock as well? So I’ve got two almost 5 lb corn beef biscuits and did double all the veggies…..so would I add 6 cups of water instead of 3??
Sara says
You want the water to reach about halfway up the crock pot, the depth of the water is more important than the amount of cups!
barbara says
my family laughed their butts off at the thought of half a carrot , one-eighth lb potatoes and one-sixth of a small cabbage each for a 3 – 5 lb corned beef for a family of four. i tripled the veggies and added more pickling spices, but the meat was tender as could be. for a family that loves vegetables, you must add more but the method is terrific. be sure to enclose the spices in a spice bag to keep them out of the cabbage leaves.