This slow cooker corned beef and cabbage features fork-tender, fall-apart chunks of beef thanks to braising with beer and vegetables for an unbelievably delicious one-pot dinner.
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“Made this today, so easy and turned out perfectly tender and delicious!! Followed your thorough directions, except subbed three-quarter bottle of beer for some of the beef broth. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you for sharing!” -Doree, FoodieCrush reader
The Corned Beef Recipe I Keep Turning to After All These Years
Each spring as the pansies peek through the snow and college basketball’s March Madness plays through the weekends, slow cooked corned beef and cabbage is the highlight of our spring menu, particularly on St. Patrick’s Day.
I’ve made my corned beef and cabbage so many different ways over the years — cooking it on the stovetop or in the oven. But the method I always come back to is tossing everything in the slow cooker for one of the simplest dinners you’ll make all year.
This easy corned beef and cabbage with potatoes, carrots, and a tangy horseradish sauce for dipping takes all of 5-10 minutes of prep and 4-5 hours in the slow cooker. (Or, make it in the Instant Pot pressure cooker and it’s done in just about 1 hour 30 minutes.) The ease of making this meal is why I’ll cook a whole corned beef just so I can make my favorite Reuben sandwiches.
Corned beef and cabbage. It’s how we do March around here.
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Corned beef usually comes with its own spice packet included. If your spice packet feels a little skimpy, feel free to make your own pickling spice, or add an extra teaspoon or more of coriander seeds and allspice and another bay leaf or two to the whole deal once you’ve popped it into the slow cooker. Or, you can always brine your corned beef yourself (here’s a recipe for that) but in my opinion, that’s simply taking the ease right out of this slow cooker corned beef recipe.
Cook the veggies with the corned beef for more flavor, except for the cabbage. Because of its delicate nature, add the cabbage in the last 45 minutes to an hour of cooking time. You could also add the potatoes at the 3-hour mark if you like a firmer potato.
Don’t overcook the potatoes. The only part of this cooking cautionary tale is I would recommend removing the vegetables from the slow cooker at about 4 hours so they don’t turn into mush, then returning them when you add the cabbage to the cooker. The result is a fall-apart tender chunk piece of corned beef.
The Main Ingredients
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Corned beef — You’ll need a 3- to 4-pound corned beef round (leaner) or brisket (fattier), plus the seasoning packet it comes with.
- Vegetables — I keep things simple yet hearty by using a mix of carrots, onion, and potatoes (I recommend small red or purple potatoes).
- Beer — A brown ale or lager works great, but even Bud Light will do.
- Fresh thyme — For some earthiness.
- Head of cabbage — You’ll want to cut the cabbage into wedges or else it will fall apart in the braising liquid.
- Sour cream + prepared horseradish — Creates a super simple yet delicious dipping sauce for the corned beef.
Heidi’s Tip: If beer isn’t your thing, simply cover the beef and veggies with 16 ounces or so of cold water or beef broth and let the stewing begin. The spices should flavor it all well enough. Or, you can always go half and half water/broth to beer. It’s totally your choice.
How to Cook Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Slow Cooker
- Arrange everything in the slow cooker. I always place the veggies into the bottom, then top with the corned beef (fat side up). Then, sprinkle in the pickling spices, thyme, and top with beer.
- Cook until tender. Many recipes recommend you cook the brisket for 4 to 4 ½ hours on high in the slow cooker. While these will be mostly tender, the meat is still pretty solid and doesn’t shred easily. So, if you’re like me and want that fall-apart texture, cook longer to make it more tender.
- Add the cabbage. Place the cabbage on top of the beef and continue cooking for 1 more hour until the cabbage is tender.
FAQs
Corned beef is made with beef round (leaner) or beef brisket (fattier) that has been preserved through salt-curing. This preservation method goes back forever and is especially popular in Irish and Jewish cuisine. Herbs and pickling spices are added to the beef and then slowly cooked making it flavorful and tender.
Traditionally served in the U.S. each and every St. Patrick’s Day, you won’t likely find it served at the local pub in Ireland, but it IS Irish-American.
You’ll want to purchase either a corned beef round or corned beef brisket for this easy slow cooker recipe.
Corned beef is usually offered in two cuts: beef round and beef brisket. Brisket comes from the front of the cow and round is from the back. Because these beef muscles are used most often, both cuts are relatively tough unless cooked low and slow. That’s what makes corned beef the perfect slow cooker meal.
Beef brisket cuts into more shreddy pieces with lots of juicy flavors while beef round cuts into more uniform slices that don’t fall apart. I’ve made corned beef with both cuts of beef with different results. So, which cut of corned beef is best?
Beef brisket has more marbling and fat which makes this corned beef juicy, fall apart-tender, and delicious. Brisket is offered in a point or flat cut. The flat cut has a generous fat cap on top of the meat that melts flavor into the meat as it cooks. The point cut has lots of fat and connective tissue for loads of flavor, but not as much meat.
If you prefer a leaner corned beef, go with the round cut. It’s leaner with far less marbling. But just like the meat of any kind with less fat and collagen, this cut won’t have quite the flavor and won’t be as juicy as beef brisket.
-When choosing your package of corned beef, remember it will shrink by about one-third when cooked.
-Look for an uncured corned beef round that has had no nitrates or nitrites added, which could have potential carcinogenic effects.
-I usually buy a 3 to a 4-pound piece of the pre-brined point-cut beef that handily serves 4 for dinner with enough leftovers for Reuben sandwiches.
-Like any meat, cut your corned beef against the grain for the best slices.
Yes! I rinse my corned beef before cooking to get rid of the brining solution and so the broth doesn’t get too salty.
You’ll need to cook your 3- to 4-pound corned beef for 10 to 12 hours on low. You can also cook it on high for around 6 hours, but cooking it on low ensures super tender, fall off the bone corned beef.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe (Instant Pot Option)
Ingredients
- 3 carrots , peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion , peeled and quartered
- ½ pound small potatoes , halved
- 1 corned beef brisket , (about 3-4 pounds), plus pickling spice packet or 1 tablespoon pickling spice
- 2 (8 to 12-ounce) beers , (I prefer ale or lagers)
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ head cabbage , cut into 1 ½-inch wedges
Horseradish Sauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- 3-4 tablespoons prepared horseradish , to taste
Instructions
To Cook in the Slow Cooker:
- In a 5-to-6-quart slow cooker, place the carrots, onion and potatoes. Place corned beef, fat-side up, on top of the vegetables and sprinkle with pickling spice. Pour the beers over the vegetables and brisket. Sprinkle with the sprigs of fresh thyme. Cover and cook on high until corned beef is tender, 5-6 hours or 10-12 hours on low.
- Arrange cabbage over corned beef, cover, and continue cooking until cabbage is tender, 45 min to 1 hour (or 1 ½ to 2 hours on low). Thinly slice the corned beef against the grain and serve with the vegetables and cooking liquid with the horseradish sauce.
To Cook in the Instant Pot:
- Cut the corned beef into 2-3 chunks so it cooks faster and more evenly. Add to the insert of a 6 quart Instant Pot with the fat cap up. Layer with the onion, spices, thyme and beer. Cook on HIGH pressure for 90 minutes then do a quick release.
- Add the potatoes, carrots and cabbage to the insert, close, and set to HIGH pressure for another 5 minutes. Natural release for 5 minutes, cut, and serve.
For the Horseradish Sauce:
- Mix the sour cream and horseradish together in a small bowl. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
What to Serve With Corned Beef and Cabbage
More Irish Recipes to Make
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Doree
Made this today, so easy and turned out perfectly tender and delicious!! Followed your thorough directions, except subbed three-quarter bottle of beer for some of the beef broth. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you for sharing!
So great to hear you liked it Doree and it sounds like the beer worked out too. Thank you for the comment and 5 stars!
Cindy
No! Don’t do this on high ever. ONLY LOW. I just tried it for the first time today. Love her but just don’t’ do this. Not at all ‘tender’ or ‘falling apart’.
Sorry it didn’t work for you Cindy. Maybe it was your cut of corned beef?
Steve Richards
The recipe was good, but when I tried to print it, i got about 30 or 40 pages of comments. I would suggest you format it so it’s printer friendly.
If you want to print the recipe, make sure you hit the PRINT icon in the recipe card so it only prints the recipe, not the whole blog post.
Ðee
two questions. How do i take the saltinnes out of meat, and dont u think the meat gets too mushy in crock? i still use it, but i get mush
Rinse the meat of the brining solution before cooking. And no, mine always turns out great. You can always test for doneness an hour before my recommended cooking time.
Shayna
I did half beer half beef broth from bouillon but it left it too salty so I added some Worcestershire sauce and the vinegar in that balanced it out and added a nice bit of flavor, I enjoyed it immensely.
Happy to hear you enjoyed Shayna!
Alene
Perfect! I used my instantpot for it. Good timing. The only thing I had to change was the beer. I am gluten free. I have some gluten free beer, but I thought our turkey stock was a better choice. And my veggies came out perfectly. Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed!
Claire
What is the horseradish sauce for? Looking forward to making the recipe this weekend!
Hayley
Hi Claire! The horseradish sauce is just for serving, because we love the tangy, zesty flavor it adds and how it helps cut some of the richness. It’s optional though, so feel free to leave it out if it’s something you don’t care for.
Cindy Kehoe
Do the vegetables get mushy
The veggies soften, but aren’t mushy. If you want, add them later in the cooking process.
Leslie
Your recipe for corned beef has been my go-to for YEARS. When the briskets show up at the butchers, I buy extras so I can have more than once a year. Making another one today for Memorial Day sandwiches.
Thank you, Leslie! I’m glad you like it!
Julie Theirl
Best corned beef I have EVER had!! Amazing!
Happy to hear that!