Mom’s Dutch Oven Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

Mom’s Corned Beef and Cabbage is full of flavor, due to slow-and-low braising of the brisket in a flavorful broth, combined with a delicious glaze of mustard, brown sugar and cloves. Potatoes, carrots and cabbage are cooked in the meat broth, infusing them with onion, garlic, clove and corned beef flavors.

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Table of Contents

1. Best Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe
2. Corned Beef Cabbage Recipe Ingredients
3. How to cook Corned Beef and Cabbage
4. Serving Braised Corned Beef
5. Corned Beef Cabbage FAQs
6. Corned Beef and Cabbage (Stove Top Recipe)

Best Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner! While my family isn’t Irish, growing up, every March we were treated to my mom’s distinctive Corned Beef and Cabbage. In her typical style, she took the basic boiled corned beef brisket and amped up the flavor through two steps:

1. She braised the brisket (cooking in a moderate amount of liquid over low heat for several hours) in a scrumptious broth of onion, garlic, whole cloves and bay leaf. Braising the meat in this spicy liquid not only ensures the meat comes out super flavorful, it’s also very moist and tender.
2. As if that wasn’t enough, mom finished the brisket off with a glaze of Dijon mustard, brown sugar and cloves.

Cooking the potatoes, carrots and cabbage in the broth leftover from cooking the meat just layers in even more deliciousness. So put on some green and get cookin’!

What is Corned Beef Brisket?

Brisket is an inexpensive cut of beef, which is cured for around a week in a salt brine (a mixture of large salt crystals and water, sometimes with added seasonings) to make corned beef.

Why is it called Corned Beef?

The term “corned” refers to the size of salt crystals used to salt-cure beef – they are the size of a corn kernel.

Why is Corned Beef served with Cabbage?

Eating corned beef was popularized in the United States by Irish immigrants during the 19th century. They chose to pair it with cabbage, because it was an inexpensive vegetable. The two flavors work well together, so the combination stuck!

Corned Beef Cabbage Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this delicious one-pot dinner:

• Corned beef brisket
• Yellow onion
• Garlic
• Whole cloves
• Bay leaves
• Small white potatoes (Yukon Gold or red-skinned)
• Carrots
• Cabbage,
• Dijon mustard
• Brown sugar (light or dark)
• Ground cloves

Do you put onions in corned beef and cabbage?

Yes! Mom always flavored the corned beef cooking water with onion.

What kind of cabbage is best for corned beef?

I recommend using green cabbage which is readily available in grocery stores. When cooked, the leaves become soft, with a slightly sweet flavor. And, the taste, color and texture perfectly complement the the corned beef, carrots and potatoes.

What kind of mustard is best for corned beef?

For her corned beef brisket, mom liked to coat the top of the meat with Dijon mustard. For corned beef sandwiches, I recommend Dijon, yellow or spicy brown mustard.

How to cook Corned Beef and Cabbage

Corned Beef and Cabbage is truly one of the easiest one pot meals you’re ever make! Here’s all you have to do:

• Braise corned beef.
  Place corned beef, onions, garlic, whole cloves and bay leaves in large Dutch oven. Cover with water, cover and simmer on a stovetop for 3 hours (one hour per pound) or until fork tender.
• Prep oven.
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Remove beef; cook vegetables.
  Remove meat from liquid and set aside, leaving cooking liquid and spices in the pan. Add the potatoes and carrots. Cover, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cabbage wedges and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the vegetables are done.
• Finish beef in oven.
  While the vegetables are cooking, spread the Dijon mustard on the fat side of the meat. Mix together the brown sugar and cloves and sprinkle over the top, pressing down to adhere to the mustard. Place beef in a shallow baking pan and bake for 20 minutes or until top is nicely glazed.
• Slice beef and serve.
  Slice beef and serve with potatoes, carrots and cabbage on the side.

Serving Braised Corned Beef

Here are 3 suggestions for how to serve Corned Beef and Cabbage:

1. Arrange slices of corned beef down the middle of a large serving platter, with the vegetables around the side. Serve buffet style (platter can be too heavy to pass at the table with everything on it!)
2. Arrange beef slices on a serving platter, and place each vegetable in a serving bowl. Either serve buffet style or pass at he table family style.
3. Place beef slices on individual dinner plates with single servings of the vegetables on the side.

How to Cut Corned Beef

Like slicing any beef, cut corned beef across the grain. The “grain” are those lines in the meat that all run in one direction – cut across those lines.

Best Side Dishes to Serve with Corned Beef and Cabbage

One of the beauties of this dish is that it’s a one pot meal so no additional side dishes are needed. I do like to serve some bread on the side – Anise Bread, Herb Quick Bread, or Parmesan Buttermilk Cornbread are all delicious!

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