Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m not a fan of all of the green beer, but I do love delicious food and corned beef and cabbage is super yummy! Last year was my first time trying to make corned beef and cabbage and I have to say, it turned out ok but I’m not all that crazy about how soggy the cabbage gets and that the flavor is sort of sucked out of it. I love cabbage raw and when I eat cooked cabbage, I like it to have some crunch to it. So this year, that was my goal. This is what I came up with – make the corned beef and veggies in the slow cooker and the cabbage completely separate. BEST decision ever! Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
- 3 Celery Stalks, cut into 2-3″ pieces
- 3 Carrots, peeled and cut into 2-3″ pieces
- 1 Medium Yellow or Sweet Onion, cut into wedges
- 5-6 Medium Red Potatoes, quartered
- 1 Package Corned Beef Brisket (mine was just under 3 pounds), including the Pickling Spice Packet that comes with it
- 1 head of Green Cabbage, coarsely chopped
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Pepper
- Butter
- White Vinegar – to taste
Directions
- In a larger oval slow cooker (this makes it way easier since the meat fits better!) place the celery, carrots, onions and potatoes.
- Place your corned beef brisket on top of the veggies fat side up.
- Sprinkle the pickling spices all around and add your sprigs of thyme.
- Add 6 cups of water – this should cover most of the meat.
- Cover and cook on high for about 5-6 hours or until corned beef is tender.
- About 30 minutes before the corned beef is done, chop up your cabbage and place in a large skillet with about 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Sprinkle generously with Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper. Cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the cabbage is the consistency you prefer. I left mine still sort of crunchy.
- Towards the end – splash the cabbage with white vinegar. I put probably about 4-5 tablespoons of it in there because we really like vinegar in my house!
- Serve corned beef (slicing it against the grain) with the vegetables and cabbage and enjoy!