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Best Corned Beef and Cabbage (in Oven)

Kathleen

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Enjoy this traditional Baked Corned Beef recipe this St. Patrick’s Day! By slowly roasting salty and sour corned beef with a head of cabbage and some earthy leeks, potatoes, and carrots, all of their flavors meld and balance perfectly, creating a fork-tender baked corned beef recipe. A sweet, smoky bourbon glaze ties everything together with a delicate sweetness. 

When you bake corned beef, it develops a crispy crust on the outside that gives way to tender, juicy and flavorful meat on the inside, plus its hands off! Love that!

Baked Corned Beef recipe on plate with potatoes, carrots and roasted cabbage with bread in background.
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Traditional Irish Baked Corned Beef Recipe

This St. Patrick’s day, blow everyone away with some tender, oven-roasted corned beef, and cabbage.

My recipe is inspired by an old James Beard Irish corned beef and cabbage recipe, with a few fundamental changes: a slow simmer in a large Dutch oven at a low temperature in stout beer, and I’ve reduced the sugar and bourbon in this gorgeous brown sugar and bourbon glaze. 

On its own, this meat is salty and sour. By slowly roasting with a delicious stout beer, all of the deep, rich flavors of the meat are brought to the surface. It’s served with soft, sweet vegetables and coated in my rich, warm bourbon glaze. Yum! 

Why You Will Love this Recipe

  • Traditional Irish flavors: A classic meal is just the way to celebrate with family and friends. The bourbon and beer make this dish particularly holiday appropriate! 
  • The perfect balance of sweet, salty, and savory: Mild cabbage and briny meat is toned down with a few earthy veggies to balance the flavor scales perfectly. 
  • A bold bourbon glaze: I can’t hype up this glaze enough! The sweet cider, bourbon, and brown sugar is offset by the tangy mustard and sharp garlic. It’s bold, aromatic, and beyond scrumptious. 

Oven Corned Beef and Cabbage Ingredients

Ingredients labeled for baked Corned Beef Recipe.
  • Corned brisket of beef | The crowned jewel of the baked corned beef recipe, if you can find one purchase without nitrates or nitrites
  • Peppercorns | this will replace the spice packet, but you can add the flavor packet instead of the peppercorns if you wish.
  • Guinness Beer | Or other dark stout beer
  • Carrots, Leeks, and Potatoes | Use Yukon gold, new or red potatoes.
  • Cabbage | You can choose to slow roast the cabbage in the beer or oven roast it; either way is delicious

Bourbon Glaze Ingredients

Bourbon Brown Sugar Glaze Labeled ingredients for baked corned beef recipe.
  • Brown Sugar
  • Apple Juice or Cider
  • Mustard | I used Dijon, but you can use your favorite mustard
  • Bourbon | Replace this with additional apple cider if you choose.
  • Garlic | Just a few garlic cloves add a little more depth to the glaze.

How to cook Corned Beef in the Oven

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 1 – Important Rinse Corned Beef

Rinse the meat and pat dry with paper towels. Do not worry about rinsing away the flavor, the meat is fully infused with flavor by this point and this way you rinse some of the extra salt. 

Pro Tip

  • If you don’t rinse the corned beef, there is a good chance that your corned beef will be way too salty! So don’t skip this step!

Place fat side up in the covered pot you’ll use for baking, 5-8 quarts in size — I use my Dutch Oven for thorough, even heating. You can also use an oven safe pot with a lid.

Step 2 – Add Seasoning and Liquids

First, open the Guinness, or your choice of stout, and pour over the corned beef adding cold water until it is covered two-thirds of the way.

Second, add the black pepper peppercorns or seasoning packet to the pot. If baking with leeks or carrots, add them now if you don’t mind super soft carrots, or wait and add them with the potatoes. You will not need excess salt for the meat or the veggies; it is salty enough.

And finally, cover the pot, and cook for 4 hours. Remove the meat and place it in a baking dish.

Pouring beer on top of corned beef in dutch oven.
Pour beer over corned beef
Adding peppercorns or seasoning package to baked corned beef recipe.
Add peppercorns or seasoning
Adding leeks to the beer and corned beef in dutch oven for baked corned beef recipe.
Sprinkle leeks around the corned beef

Step 3 – Add carrots and potatoes

Third add the carrots and potatoes to the beer mixture, cover, and bake for another 45 minutes. After the veggies have softened, add the cabbage*. You can also roast the greens separately in the oven or in a covered pot on the stovetop.

I highly recommend roasting the cabbage, it doesn’t get quite as soggy as boiling, is a bit crisper in nature and roasting adds great flavor to each individual cabbage wedge. Be sure to brush with some melted butter or better, browned butter.

After 4 hours removing corned beef from dutch oven and place in pan for glaze.
Remove corned beef to pan for glazing
Quartered potatoes in pot with carrots and beer to cook for corned beef recipe.
Toss potatoes and carrots in beer mixture
Brushing cabbage wedges with browned butter for baked corned beef recipe.
Brush cabbage with browned butter

Increase the oven temperature to 400° F (204° C) while you prepare the bourbon glaze.

Step 4 | How to Make Bourbon Brown Sugar Glaze

Add all of the glaze ingredients to a saucepan and whisk together. Heat the mixture on low and slowly simmer, stirring regularly until it has reduced to a thicker, glossy glaze. 

Pouring apple juice on top of brown sugar for baked corned beef recipe.
Add apple juice to brown sugar
Pouring bourbon into pot for bourbon glaze for baked corned beef recipe.
Pour in bourbon
Whisk and cooking glaze until glossy and slightly reduced for baked corned beef recipe.
Whisk until combined and simmer until glossy

Lastly, brush the glaze over the meat, coating it thoroughly. Bake for 30 minutes, basting or spooning the sauce over the meat every 10 minutes. 

Finally, remove the meat from the oven and tent it with aluminum foil on a cutting board, allowing it to rest. After 10-15 minutes, slice into half-inch, thick slices, cut against the meat’s grain, and transfer to a serving dish; nestle the carrots, potatoes, and cabbage around the beef.

Pour the remaining glaze overtop and serve the baked corned beef with cabbage and roasted veggies. The veggies are incredibly delicious when brushed with melted browned butter (or regular melted butter) before serving.

Baked corned beef recipe on platter sliced with roasted cabbage, potatoes and carrots.

Be sure to check out my post on Traditional St. Patrick’s Day Food or this comforting Skillet Shepherd’s Pie that’ll warm you up from the inside out. And for dessert, serve Guinness Chocolate Cake and this traditional Irish coffee cocktail.

Baked Corned Beef Recipe Variations

  • Skip the Alcohol – Substitute the stout with mushroom, chicken, or beef broth. The complex flavor of bourbon is harder to replicate, but you could use ginger beer or more apple cider if preferred. 
  • You can replace the peppercorns in this recipe with the seasoning packet that comes with the meat. 
  • Add More Veggies – Plenty of other delicious vegetables, with oven-roasted corned beef and cabbage — turnips, onions, green beans, and brussels sprouts are excellent choices!

Fresh Tips

  • The original James Beard baked corned beef recipe also serves carrots, cabbage, and potatoes with a butter coating. I browned the butter, adding more flavor! Try it!
  • If you find the salty flavor of the meat too overpowering, you can boil the corned beef before baking to remove some of the salt. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Then, discard the water and pat the meat dry.
  • Oven-roasted corned beef and cabbage go well with Irish Soda Bread, or try this hearty Irish Brown bread.
Horizontal image of baked corned beef recipe on platter with loaf of Irish Soda Bread behind.

Storage

Store leftover corned beef in an airtight container refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for up to 3 months. To rewarm, you can quickly fry slices of corned beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Use leftovers to make a Reuben sandwich, give these fun variations from fellow bloggers a try, like this Rachel Sandwich (use leftover corned beef instead of the turkey), which is so good on toasted rye bread.

Try this classic Reuben sandwich or this delicious Cream of Reuben Soup using leftover corned beef!

Easy and delicious baked corned beef recipe on platter with cabbage, potatoes and carrots.

Corned Beef and Cabbage (Oven) FAQs

What is the best way to roast cabbage?

Roast cabbage at 450 degrees F on a baking sheet lined with foil. Slice into wedges, coat with either browned butter or olive oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Once it begins to brown, after 10 minutes or so, turn and roast the other side so that it bakes through completely.

How do I know if corned beef is cooked?

The safe internal temperature of beef is 145 degrees F. Once cooked, this cut should be fork-tender. If in doubt, use a meat thermometer; corned beef brisket looks bright pinkish red.

What is in the spice packet for corned beef?

The seasoning packet is a blend of pickling spices made up mostly of peppercorns, bay leaf, coriander seeds, and mustard seeds.

What is Corned beef?

And why is it called corned beef? This article from The Smithsonian is fascinating with the history and origin of corned beef, which in fact was first started in England.
However; the Cattle Acts of 1663 and 1667 prohibiting the export of live beef from Ireland to England. The British actually came up with the term corned beef or salted beef describing the size of the salt crystals used to cure the beef — they were corn kernel sized; corn beef or corned beef was formed, this was in the 17th century.

History of Irish Corned Beef

“With the large quantities of cattle and high quality of salt, Irish corned beef was the best on the market. It didn’t take long for Ireland to be supplying Europe and the Americas with its wares. However; this was much different than the corned beef we enjoy today.
The Irish immigrants almost solely bought their meat from kosher butchers. And what we think of today as Irish corned beef is actually Jewish corned beef thrown into a pot with cabbage and potatoes. The Jewish population in New York City at the time were relatively new immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe.
The corned beef they made was from brisket, a kosher cut of meat from the front of the cow. Since brisket is a tougher cut, the salting and cooking processes transformed the meat into the extremely tender, flavorful corned beef we know of today.” Smithsonian
This is one of the many reasons I love food blogging and I love history, the history behind traditional dishes is fascinating to me. I encourage you to read the entire article as it chronicles much of the history behind this famous St. Patrick’s day dish.

How long to bake corned beef according to weight

The general rule of thumb when slow-cooking corned beef in the oven is about an hour per pound of corned beef brisket; however, use a meat thermometer once it hits 145° F (63° C), and it’s done! But let it rest!
– 1 pound – 1 hour
– 1 ½ pounds – 1. 5 hours
– 2 pounds – 2 hours
– You get the idea!

Baked corned beef and cabbage recipe the best on a platter with a wedge of soda bread in background.

Pin for Irish Baked Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe with image of corned beef sliced on a platter with potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

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Recipe Card
Baked Corned Beef Recipe with cabbage, potatoes, carrots for St. Patrick's day.

Best Baked Corned Beef Recipe

4.34 from 9 readers
Author: Kathleen Pope
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 6 -8 Servings
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Traditional Baked Corned Beef and Cabbage this St. Patrick’s Day! Slow roasting salty and sour corned beef with leeks, potatoes, cabbage and carrots, all of their flavors meld and balance in perfect harmony creating fork tender baked corned beef recipe with a delicious smokey bourbon glaze.

Equipment

Ingredients 
US Customary – Metric

Baked Corned Beef

  • 3 – 5 pounds corned beef brisket, rinsed and patted dry
  • 8 whole peppercorns or use spice packet
  • 12 – 16 ounces Guinness or your favorite dark beer, stouts work great too
  • 3 large carrots peeled and quartered
  • 2 whole leeks washed well, sliced, rinsed and chopped
  • 4 – 6 whole red potatoes washed and quartered
  • water enough water to come up to just about the top of the corned beef
  • Do NOT ADD SALT

Bourbon Glaze

  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • ½ cup apple juice or cider
  • 2 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup bourbon
  • 1-2 cloves garlic minced or pressed

Roasted or Boiled Cabbage

  • 1 small cabbage rinsed, cut into wedges
  • 2-4 tablespoons butter melted and browned, if desired
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350° F (177° C). Remove corned beef from packaging, rinse, and pat dry. 
  • Place corned beef fat side up, in oven proof 5-8 quart pot, I used my Dutch Oven. 
    3 – 5 pounds corned beef
  • Pour beer over the top, adding enough cold water if needed to bring about ⅔ – ¾ way up on the beef. Toss in peppercorns (or spice packet) and add leeks and carrots if desired.
    Add carrots with the potatoes later for a less mushy carrot. DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO ADD SALT, the corned beef is plenty salty and the liquids will impart that saltiness to your veggies!
    8 whole peppercorns, 12 – 16 ounces Guinness, 3 large carrots, 2 whole leeks
  • Cover and cook for 4 hours in the oven, checking quickly on the liquid level at about 2 ½ -3 hours. If necessary, add additional water to the pot. Remove corned beef to a 9×13 inch baking pan or rimmed baking sheet and set aside, make bourbon glaze. 
    water
  • Place carrots (if not added earlier) and potatoes into the pot with beer and juices from corned beef; adding additional water if necessary. Return the covered pot to the oven and cook for 45 minutes or so, until veggies are tender. Once tender, or close to it add cabbage if desired. Or roast cabbage separately.
    You can also do this portion on the stovetop if don't have enough oven space, place the covered pot with the veggies on the stovetop, over low simmer. Simmer until fork tender.
    4 – 6 whole red potatoes

Bourbon Glaze

  • Increase the oven to 400° F (204° C). In a small saucepan, mix all glaze ingredients with a whisk, bringing the mixture to a slow simmer; keep the flame low and stir, occasionally simmering until reduced, thickened, and glossy, about 10-15 minutes. Brush glaze over corned beef, brushing sides with glaze.
    1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup apple juice or cider, 2 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard, ½ cup bourbon, 1-2 cloves garlic
  • Return corned beef to the oven, roasting at 400° F (205° C) for 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with glaze. Remove and tent with foil for 10-15 minutes to allow the meat to rest before slicing. 
  • When ready to slice, slice against the grain into desired slices. Serve with a drizzle of glaze, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. Delicious with Irish Soda Bread. 
Last step! Leave a RatingRate this recipe here. This helps other readers and helps support this website.

Notes

  • DO NOT ADD SALT! It’s tempting to salt your veggies, but this dish is plenty salty!
  • In the original James Beard baked corned beef recipe, the carrots, cabbage, and potatoes are served with a coating of butter. I browned the butter, adding more flavor! Try it!
  • If you find the salty flavor of the meat too overpowering, you can boil the corned beef before baking to remove some of the salt. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Then, discard the water and pat the meat dry.
  • Oven-roasted corned beef and cabbage go so well with Irish Soda Bread. With just 4 ingredients needed, don’t hesitate to go the extra mile and make this savory bread right at home. 
FRESH TIP | I highly recommend roasting the cabbage, it doesn’t get quite as soggy as boiling, is a bit crisper in nature and roasting adds great flavor to each individual cabbage wedge. Be sure to brush with some browned butter.
How to brown butter – To brown butter, heat butter in a small pan over medium-low heat, swirl until it foams up and gets quiet, then keep swirling the pan occasionally until brown dots form in the middle. Butter is ready when it smells nutty. 

How to Roast Cabbage

Preheat the oven to 450° F (232° C); line a baking sheet with foil for easier cleanup. Brush both sides of the cabbage with browned butter (or olive oil) and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes until starting to brown, then carefully turn and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Serve with sliced corned beef and veggies.
How do I know if corned beef is cooked?
The safe internal temperature of beef is 145° F. Once cooked, this cut should be fork tender. If in doubt, use a meat thermometer. Corned beef brisket looks bright pinkish red.
What is in the spice packet for corned beef?
The seasoning packet is a blend of pickling spices, mostly peppercorns, bay leaves, coriander seeds, and mustard seeds.
Storage Tips
Store leftover corned beef in an airtight container refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for up to 3 months. To rewarm, you can quickly fry slices of corned beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Use leftovers to make a reuben sandwich, give these fun variations from fellow bloggers a try, like this Rachel Sandwich (use leftover corned beef in place of the turkey) so scrumptious on toasted rye bread.
Try these Reuben Sliders or this delicious Cream of Reuben Soup using leftover corned beef!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 754kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 133mg | Sodium: 2918mg | Potassium: 1120mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 45g | Vitamin A: 6393IU | Vitamin C: 107mg | Calcium: 122mg | Iron: 5mg
Baked Corned Beef Recipe with cabbage, potatoes, carrots for St. Patrick's day.
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Kathleen Pope

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Hi, I’m Kathleen Pope. Here at The Fresh Cooky you will find easy, mostly from-scratch, trusted recipes for all occasions. From speedy dinners to tasty desserts, with easy step-by-step instructions. I am here to help teach you how to make mouthwatering recipes without spending hours in the kitchen.

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  3. Mary Lynn

    3 stars
    I followed the recipe, but by the time the corn beef had been in the oven for four hours the liquid was completely cooked away! Then I had to cook the vegetables in plain water. Update: Thank you for your quick response! I added water to the beer to about 2/3 covering the beef. And yes, I did use a lid. It was burned on the bottom and I had to cook the potatoes and carrots in water. However with that honey bourbon glaze it really turned out well! Next time I think I would use two beers and have it completely covered. I will definitely try it again.

    Reply

    • KathleenKathleen Pope

      First of all, I’m so sorry to hear this Mary Lynn, sounds like you did everything correctly, so I’m not sure why this happened, as it’s never happened to me. I will update the recipe to take a look at hour 3 and add more water, but I like your idea of adding more beer. 😉 So glad that it still turned out well with the glaze. But sorry you had this experience.

      Reply

  4. Maria Ross

    1 star
    Absolutely the worst corned beef recipe I’ve ever made. Followed the recipe to a tee. Never rinsed my beef before but I will NEVER do that again . This recipe is tasteless. I made a Rueben out of the meat since it was so bad and I couldn’t even tell if I’m eating bologna which probably would have had more flavor. Big waste of money and time!!!!!

    Reply

  5. Laureen

    I don’t know what I did wrong but it was WAY too salty. I rinsed it very well as stated and patted dry as instructed. I followed all instructions but the meat was just so incredibly salty. I was so disappointed because it looked so good.

    Reply

    • KathleenKathleen Pope

      Oh Laureen, I am so very sorry, I hate it when things like that happen. A few questions, did you use the spice packet (while it shouldn’t have salt in it, perhaps it did?), and did you use beer or beef broth, if you used beef broth and used canned that is condensed and could be way too salty for this dish. In the long run, I am just sorry that you had this experience and I’d love to help you trouble shoot.

      Reply

  6. Lynsey Cummings

    5 stars
    I always make my corned beef in the slow cooker and man, this was the way to go! Loved the glaze and roasted cabbage! 🍀

    Reply

  10. Michaela Kenkel

    I adore corned beef and I have always made it in the crockpot – this year I tried your recipe and it was really good! Thank you!!

    Reply

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