Saint Patrick’s Day may be behind us, but it’s always a good day to have a good dinner, especially when that dinner is a one pot, set it and forget it crockpot corned beef! In years past I have failed miserably at making a decent corned beef. Not anymore with this tried and true recipe that will give you the perfect corned beef for a festive Irish holiday, or any day!

I grew up eating corned beef regularly as my parents would make it for family dinners. It is a hearty meal that really can feed a crowd. With a big family to feed everyday, I think that’s why my parents made it pretty often. Plus we are a wee bit Irish so it fit right in.

Although my dad can probably make this with his eyes closed, he never could quite convey how to cook it to others.  That’s where my sister came in. She found this recipe (article photo above) with the exact seasoning our dad would always describe to us and gave it the first try. After years of not being able to replicate a good corned beef, our luck was changed! Try this crockpot corned beef recipe for yourself; it will deliver all the classic Irish flavors with ease!

Building off the recipe from the above article, the recipe below is adjusted for a smaller family and smaller corned beef. Next time we make this though, we will probably go with the original recipe measurements because we want the leftovers!

Crockpot Corned Beef For A Small Family

• 1 corned beef 3 pounds in size, rinsed from packing seasonings
• 1 tablespoon pickling spice
• 1 pound small red potatoes (sized or cut to size no larger than 2 inches)
• 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 2 inch spears (use whole carrots, not baby carrots)
• 1 small cabbage, about 1 pound, cut into quarters with stem intact so it does not fall apart
  
• 2 tablespoons butter (for tossing cooked veggies at the end)
• 4 cups water

Cooking Directions:

Start by removing the corned beef roast from the packaging. Rinse to remove packing seasoning. Then place in bottom of large crockpot.

Now sprinkle pickling spice over meat.

Next, tuck carrots and potatoes around corned beef. You can see here that some potatoes are cut while others are whole. That is just based on their sizing. We also had a mix of red and white potatoes on hand. I think any small potato variety would work.

Top it all off with the cabbage wedges.

Last, fill with water to cover corned beef. Be careful not to overfill and cover cabbage. The cabbage will steam during cooking this way. Cover and cook on low for 5 1/2 hours. (Ignore the timer reading in this photo as it is inaccurate.)

When cooking is complete, remove cabbage to a platter. Remove veggies to a large shallow bowl and toss with butter. Remove corned beef and allow to rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes. Once rested, cut against the grain into thick slices. Sorry I neglected to take pictures of these finishing steps of cooking. We were all anxious to dig into this!

Plate and enjoy! Glad I did manage a snap of this plate before it disappeared at least!

There you go! Now you’re ready for your next Irish dinner night with the perfect recipe for crockpot corned beef. We will be making this again very soon. I will buy the largest corned beef I can and may even use the leftovers to make a corned beef dip sandwich like our Irish Dip Sandwiches we also love.

 

Crockpot Corned Beef Recipe Large Family Size

• 1 corned beef 3-4 pounds in size, rinsed from packing seasonings
• 1 tablespoon pickling spice
• 1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes (sized or cut to size no larger than 2 inches)
• 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 2 inch spears (whole carrots, not baby carrots)
• 1 head cabbage, about 1 pound, cut into quarters with stem intact so it does not peel apart during cooking
• 2 tablespoons butter (for tossing cooked veggies at the end)
• 4-6 cups water

Remove corned beef from packaging. Rinse to remove packing seasoning. Place in bottom of large crockpot. Sprinkle pickling spice over meat. Tuck carrots and potatoes around corned beef. Place cabbage wedges on top. Fill with water to cover corned beef. Cook on low for 7 hours.

When cooking is complete, remove cabbage to a platter. Remove veggies to a large shallow bowl and toss with butter. Remove corned beef and allow to rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes. Once rested, cut against the grain into thick slices. Plate and enjoy!