Making Corned Beef and Cabbage? Here’s What You Need to Know (2024)

• Skills
• Ingredients
• Meat
• Beef

updated Mar 15, 2022

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If this is the year you finally make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, we’re here to help! From buying the ingredients to choosing a cooking method, here is everything you need to know about making this Irish-American classic.

Corned Beef & Cabbage: Start Here

If you’re getting ready to cook corned beef and cabbage for the very first time, or even if you need a little refresher, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know.

We’re starting at the very beginning and introducing you to the essential items you’ll need to pick up at the grocery store, and what to expect when they eventually hit your plate. We’ll take you step by step through the process of prepping and cooking corned beef, and give you a few ideas on what to do with all the leftovers.

The Key Ingredients in Corned Beef and Cabbage

A successful corned beef and cabbage supper starts at the grocery store. Corned beef is traditionally made with beef brisket; you can buy it pre-brined and ready-to-cook.

In addition to the classic green cabbage sidekick, starchy potatoes are a nice accompaniment. Carrots and onions are typically cooked along with the meat for more flavor.

The Corned Beef: What to Buy and How to Prepare It

No, corned beef isn’t a prime cut of beef you’ve been overlooking at the grocery store — it’s what we call the resulting meat, most often brisket, after it’s undergone a long curing process. The meat is cured using large grains of rock salt, or “corns” of salt, and a brine. It’s then boiled or slowly cooked, turning a tough cut of beef into one that’s super tender and flavorful. The “corning” is what gives corned beef its unique, briny taste, infusing the beef with a salty, sour, spiced flavor.

If you’re planning to cook corned beef, you have two options for buying the meat. You can buy a ready-to-cook corned beef that’s already cured, or you can buy a beef brisket and cure the meat yourself. Each has its own merits, but time is a huge deciding factor. It takes at least seven days to brine your own corned beef, but you’re in control of the flavor. Purchasing it pre-brined is more convenient, but there aren’t many options available in terms of seasoning and size.

How much to buy: While our golden rule is eight ounces (or a half-pound) of meat per person, corned beef is an exception, since this cut will significantly cook down. When buying a brisket for corned beef, plan on about 3/4 pounds per person, or up to one pound per person if you want to make sure there are leftovers for things like sandwiches and hash.

Curing Corned Beef at Home

Have you ever brined your turkey at Thanksgiving? How about weeknight pork chops? Using a brine to cure brisket for corned beef is no different —see our guide to how to cure corned beef to learn more. The toughest part is starting early enough to give it sufficient time to cure. For a four- to five-pound brisket plan on at least seven (and up to 10) days to cure the meat.

The brine is made by heating water, salt (kosher or curing salt), and a combination of spices (like peppercorns, whole cloves, mustard seeds, and juniper berries, among others). Once cooled, the meat is submerged in the liquid and stored in the refrigerator for about a week.

Buying Ready-to-Cook Corned Beef

If you prefer to skip curing a brisket at home, there’s an easier way to make corned beef. Look in the meat section of the grocery store for ready-to-cook corned beef. You’ll find it packaged in a vacuum-sealed bag in brine, weighing an average of three to five pounds. Ready-to-cook corned beef can be cooked exactly the same as one that was cured at home.

For better slices, rest the meat first: Slicing through a hot, tender brisket is a messy affair. Want to get nice, firm slices of corned beef? Give the meat about 10 minutes to rest and firm up before taking a knife to it.

The Cabbage: What to Buy and How to Prepare It

Cabbage is traditionally boiled alongside the beef and served on the side. One medium head of standard green cabbage (about two pounds) is enough to get the job done.

Prevent mushy vegetables by cutting large pieces: In addition to cabbage, potatoes and carrots are popular additions to the dish. Because of the lengthy cook time, vegetables cuts into small pieces have a tendency to become mushy. Avoid this by cutting cabbage and onions into quarters and carrots into pieces a couple inches long.

Cooking the Corned Beef and Cabbage

It doesn’t matter whether you cured the brisket at home or bought a ready-to-cook corned beef, the cooking methods are exactly the same. The easiest and most basic cooking methods for success are simmering corned beef and cabbage on the stovetop or preparing the meal in the slow cooker.

What to Serve with Corned Beef

If you want to keep it totally classic, fill your plate with slices of corned beef, a wedge of boiled cabbage, thick potatoes, and a big dollop of grainy mustard. But that’s certainly not the only way to serve a corned beef dinner. Here’s a few of our other favorite sides.

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