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Home » Slow Cooker » Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

February 19, 2020 By Sara 149 Comments

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

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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 loaf of Irish soda bread and a Shamrock Shake for dessert!

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A platter of slow cooker corned beef, cabbage wedges, potatoes and carrots.

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 brisket that soaks in brine and then cures with salt and seasonings. This cut of meat has a distinctive pink color from sodium nitrate which is an ingredient in the curing process. Corned beef comes in multiple cuts, and it’s always best to cook corned beef for a long period of time so that it becomes tender. Typical cooking methods include boiling, slow cooking or oven roasting the meat.

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!

A corned beef roast in a slow cooker with carrots and potatoes.

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. I add the cabbage during the last part of the cooking process so that it doesn’t get overly soft. Slice your beef, then serve it on a platter with the potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

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. I recommend putting your meat in the crock pot first thing in the morning to ensure perfection by dinner time.
  • 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.
  • Be sure to slice the meat against the grain for the most tender bites of beef.

A corned beef brisket with potatoes and carrots in a slow cooker.

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. However, I prefer to add a little drizzle of garlic and herb butter over the top of the veggies. It adds a nice finishing touch that you typically don’t see with corned beef meals.

Cabbage wedges inside a crock pot.

This slow cooker corned beef is on our table every St. Patrick’s Day and we always look forward to it!

Sliced slow cooker corned beef on a plate with carrots, potatoes and cabbage.

More St. Patrick’s Day favorites

  • 48 St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
  • Irish Nachos
  • Cabbage Roll Soup
  • Irish Stew
  • Colcannon

Slow Cooker Corned Beef Video

A platter of slow cooker corned beef, cabbage wedges, potatoes and carrots.
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5 from 42 votes

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

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!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Main Course
Keyword corned beef, corned beef and cabbage, slow cooker corned beef
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 564kcal
Author Sara Welch

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

The potatoes and carrots will get quite soft being cooked all day in the crock pot. If you prefer firmer veggies, add them halfway through the cook time.

Nutrition

Calories: 564kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 987mg | Potassium: 1133mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 5345IU | Vitamin C: 97.4mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 6.1mg

This post was originally published on February 19, 2018 and was updated on February 19, 2020 with new content.

Filed Under: Dinner, Gluten Free, Slow Cooker Tagged With: Beef, St. Patrick's Day

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Comments

  1. Nique says

    July 26, 2019 at 11:57 am

    Hello. I have a 4-qt crock pot. Would it be too small for this recipe? What size brisket should I get for this to work? I would love to try this recipe since it got good reviews. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Sara says

      July 27, 2019 at 1:20 pm

      I’d just cut your brisket into a couple of large pieces so it fits in the pot you have, I’ve done that before with great results!

      Reply
  2. Isee says

    April 24, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    5 stars
    Where can I buy the beef with the packet?

    Reply
    • Sara says

      April 24, 2019 at 9:31 pm

      Almost all corned beef comes with a seasoning packet in the bag. That being said, every corned beef is cured and seasoned, so if there’s no packet it’s not really a big deal!

      Reply
  3. Rich McCaffrey says

    April 21, 2019 at 9:06 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely stellar. Every year, it seems like we’re trying something different with our CB&C. This year, my wife really wanted the cabbage in the pot (which I’m not usually a fan of). But we did a quick search, and while the meat/veg part sounded normal, we were intrigued by the garlic butter addition.
    Variants I used: 1/3 of my cooking liquid was unfiltered apple cider; I used the smallest baby red potatoes I could find and did not cut them; I added potatoes / carrots at 3 hours remaining and cabbage at 2 hours remaining.

    It is now in our recipe manager as ‘the recipe’, and I will hunt no more. Thanks for publishing this.

    Reply
  4. Louis M Covington says

    April 21, 2019 at 7:09 am

    Can. U. Cook corn beef on. High

    Reply
    • Sara says

      April 21, 2019 at 8:44 pm

      Yes, cook it for 5-6 hours on high.

      Reply
  5. Erin says

    April 8, 2019 at 5:06 am

    Hi! Excited to try this but I’m a little confused about the time. Is the cooking time for the corned beef total of 6 or 8 hrs? I don’t have the cabbage as of yet so will make seperate later but don’t want to dry out the corned beef? Thanks

    Reply
    • Sara says

      April 8, 2019 at 11:03 am

      The corned beef cooks for 8 hours total, it’s a tough cut of meat and needs a lot of time to get tender!

      Reply
  6. Cathy says

    April 1, 2019 at 11:32 am

    Will this recipe still work without the potatoes and carrots? Would I need to make any adjustments to the amount of water or cook time? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Sara says

      April 1, 2019 at 8:17 pm

      Yes it will work and you shouldn’t need to make any adjustments!

      Reply
  7. Carol Picardi says

    April 1, 2019 at 6:22 am

    I just put the corned beef in the slow cooker but instead of just water, I combined 2 cups beef broth with 1 cup of water. Does this sound okay?

    Reply
    • Sara says

      April 1, 2019 at 8:18 pm

      I wouldn’t use beef broth only because the corned beef is salty enough on its own!

      Reply
  8. Anita says

    March 25, 2019 at 3:06 pm

    This was a fabulous recipe! I scoured the internet looking for a corned beef and cabbage recipe last night. Every one that I came across had “issues” reported by people having attempted the recipes. “Corned beef too dry, too tough, vegetables not done properly, no flavor” etc. I followed this recipe pretty close to the recommendations. I did add a bottle of beer when I added the water to the beef. I also waited for 4 hours to add the vegetables. They came out perfectly! The cabbage went in 2 hours before completion. All cooked on low for 8 hours total. I was worried that the cabbage would never be done in those 2 hours. Nothing to worry about. It was a big hit! Definitely going to be my “go to” corned beef and cabbage recipe! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Sara says

      March 25, 2019 at 9:54 pm

      So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!

      Reply
  9. Rebecca Scalia says

    March 21, 2019 at 1:23 pm

    I added my veggies at beginning before I found this recipe. Can I remove them halfway through so as to avoid mushiness? I’m also afraid I won’t have room for the cabbage at fhe end if I do to!

    Reply
    • Sara says

      March 21, 2019 at 2:51 pm

      Yes that’s totally fine!

      Reply
  10. Sherri says

    March 18, 2019 at 2:03 pm

    My corned beef is only 2.5 pounds. Would I adjust this recipe’s time in half to 4 hours total?

    Reply
    • Sara says

      March 18, 2019 at 7:28 pm

      I would cook it for a minimum of 6 hours still!

      Reply
  11. Vicki says

    March 18, 2019 at 9:19 am

    5 stars
    This was amazingly easy & delicious. The corned beef cut with a spoon 😊
    Thank you for keeping this so simple

    Reply
    • Sara says

      March 18, 2019 at 1:32 pm

      So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for coming back to comment!

      Reply
  12. Kay says

    March 18, 2019 at 12:00 am

    5 stars
    I’ve never been the cook for our family’s corned beef and cabbage. I found your recipe, trusted it and followed to the “T” and it was a HIT!! Best any of us have ever had! I am so glad I chose your recipe!!! Could not have aske for a better dinner! My husband can’t quit raving!! Would not change a thing!! Thank You!! It is truly a GREAT corned beef & cabbage!

    Reply
  13. Kim D says

    March 17, 2019 at 7:36 pm

    5 stars
    I LOVED this recipe! The extra addition of the garlic butter over the vegetables put it over the top. The meat was so tender and the vegetables were incredibly delicious. I added the vegetables halfway through, as recommended and it was perfect. Otherwise, they would have been mushy. I added parsnips and am so happy I did.

    Reply
    • Sara says

      March 17, 2019 at 8:23 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!

      Reply
  14. Marcia says

    March 17, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    Just made this!! Wonderful all came out perfect the cooking on slow perfect, spent the day on the lake came home it was ready to eat!! The garlic butter drizzle over veggies, wonderful. Thank you for a great recipe. Wouldn’t change a thing.

    Reply
    • Sara says

      March 17, 2019 at 8:23 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!

      Reply
  15. Patti says

    March 17, 2019 at 5:28 pm

    5 stars
    I made this recipe today, and my husband and I loved it! I will definitely make it again. BTW-this was my first time making corned beef! The meat was so tender and tasty. I added onions, which added another flavor.

    Reply
    • Sara says

      March 17, 2019 at 8:23 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!

      Reply
  16. Karyn says

    March 17, 2019 at 4:32 pm

    Amazing corned beef. However the one I bought didn’t come with the seasoning packet so I had to do my own seasoning with what I had in my kitchen and it was amazing! Definitely will be making again!!!

    Reply
  17. Amy says

    March 17, 2019 at 4:31 pm

    5 stars
    This is the last corned beef recipe I will ever use. So easy and delicious!

    Reply
  18. Shannon says

    March 17, 2019 at 4:17 pm

    5 stars
    My first time making corned beef and cabbage, followed the directions exactly and it came out perfect. Thank you!

    Reply
  19. Brian D Case says

    March 17, 2019 at 3:02 pm

    5 stars
    Awesome, the corned beef was fork tender and delicious. My wife is not a big corned beef fan and she loved it. Thanks for posting this recipe.

    Reply
  20. Rhonda says

    March 17, 2019 at 2:55 pm

    Cooking right now! The smell is driving my Doggos crazy!!

    Reply
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With 3 young kids, dinner can feel like feeding time at the zoo! I'm a mom on a mission to create easy, healthy and family friendly recipes ...Read More
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