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Baked Corned Beef

Kathleen

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This traditional Baked Corned Beef is the perfect comfort food meal for St. Patrick’s Day! With just 30 minutes of prep time and a handful of easy to find ingredients, the oven will slowly roast the brisket for hours until it’s fork tender. Serve with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage, it’s the traditional Irish recipe right at home.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ One reader said: “The best corned beef my husband has ever experienced.” – Judy

Baked Corned Beef recipe on plate with potatoes, carrots and roasted cabbage with bread in background.
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This St. Patrick’s day, blow everyone away with this tender, oven Baked Corned Beef and cabbage. While it may seem intimidating to make at first, I promise, it’s truly so easy! It’s practically a hands-free recipe since the oven does the majority of the cooking.

My recipe is inspired by an old James Beard Irish corned beef and cabbage recipe, with a few fundamental changes that I’ve made over the years. I like to slow simmer the corned beef brisket in a large Dutch oven at a low temperature in stout beer, and put my twist on it with a brown sugar and bourbon glaze. It’s truly one of my husband’s most favorite meals I make the whole year!

If you’re looking for an even easier recipe, try my Crock Pot Corned Beef and if you have any leftovers, be sure to make a Corned Beef Sandwich. Your friends and family will definitely be asking for seconds!

Why You Will Love this Recipe

  • Traditional Irish flavors: It’s truly the classic recipe to celebrate on St. Patrick’s Day.
  • Quick to prep in 30 Minutes: Since this corned beef is oven-roasted, the prep work for you is minimal!
  • Perfect for feeding a Crowd: If you are hosting a lot of people, this is an easy recipe to make. Plus, if you have any leftovers, it makes for a great hash the next day.

What is Corned Beef?

And where did it get its name? The history and origin of corned beef was first started in England in the 17th century. It’s almost always made from beef brisket.

However, the Cattle Acts of 1663 and 1667 prohibited the export of live beef from Ireland to England. The British actually came up with the term corned beef or salted beef to describe the size of the salt crystals used to cure the beef. The salt crystals were corn kernel-sized, which is how corned beef brisket was created and named.

Ingredients

Corned Beef and Cabbage:

  • Corned brisket of beef | The crown jewel of this recipe, if you can find one without nitrates or nitrites, I recommend purchasing that. I typically buy a flat cut, but you can also buy a point cut (more marbling) it may need to bake a bit longer, so keep that in mind.
  • 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. Use low-sodium chicken stock if you wish to omit beer, but not condensed it will be too salty!
  • Carrots, Leeks, and Potatoes | Use Yukon gold, new, or red potatoes. Use baby carrots or whole carrots, peeled and and cut.
  • Green Cabbage | You can choose to slow roast the cabbage in the beer or oven roast it; either way is delicious.

Bourbon Glaze:

  • Brown Sugar | Adds a hint of sweetness to the glaze and is responsible for making it shiny.
  • Apple Juice or Cider | The liquid that adds a hint of fruity sweetness, and great depth of flavor.
  • Mustard | I used Dijon, but you can use your favorite mustard, whole-grain mustard is used on traditional corned beef.
  • Bourbon | Adds so much rich and decadent flavor. Replace this with additional apple cider if you choose.
  • Garlic | Just a few garlic cloves add a little of that signature taste.

Get the full recipe in the recipe card below.

Ingredients labeled for baked Corned Beef Recipe.
Bourbon Brown Sugar Glaze Labeled ingredients for baked corned beef recipe.
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How to Make Baked Corned Beef

Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175° C). Oven baked corned beef is the easiest way to get the best tender meat ever! That and your slow cooker of course!

Step 1 – Rinse the Corned Beef

This is so important. 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 or a roasting pan.

Step 2 – Add Seasoning and Liquids

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

Then add the 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 in preheated oven 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.

*Pro Tip: I highly recommend roasting the cabbage separately, 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 – Make the 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 over the top 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.

Corned beef sliced with roasted cabbage.

Expert Tips

  1. Make sure you rinse the corned beef before baking it. This will help to remove some of the brine so that it isn’t too salty after cooking.
  2. Place the corned beef brisket fat side up in the oven. This helps the fat to render as it roasts for hours, which makes for the most delicious flavor and tender texture in the meat.
  3. If you would rather omit the beer or the bourbon, you can use chicken stock for the beer and additional apple cider for the bourbon in the sauce. Note: not condensed chicken stock, but low-sodium chicken broth or stock.
  4. 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.
  5. With the cabbage, you can either add it to the pot or roast it separately. It’s up to you, if you add it to the pot during the roasting process, it will be much more tender and soft in texture than if you roast it separately.
    • If you want to roast the cabbage, cut it into wedges, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast on a baking sheet in a 450ºF oven for 10 minutes per side, flipping halfway through.
  6. Allow the meat to rest before you slice it against the grain. Just like with a good steak, you want to let the corned beef sit for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the juices to settle. The cut against the grain into slices for the most tender bite.
  7. Do NOT add salt! It’s tempting to salt your veggies, but this dish is plenty salty!
  8. 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.
  9. You’ll know when the corned beef is finished cooking when 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.

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 to try with oven-roasted corned beef and cabbage — turnips, onions, green beans, and brussels sprouts are also excellent choices!
  • Serve with a side of horseradish sauce.
Close-up of baked corned beef sliced on platter with potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

What to Serve with Baked Corned Beef Brisket

To make this a whole menu, I have so many other great recipes to cook alongside. Here are some of my favorites:

Storage

Store leftover corned beef in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, you can quickly fry slices of corned beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, microwave for a couple of minutes, or place into the oven at 300ºF for 8 to 12 minutes. Or try this corned beef hash.

Use leftovers to make a Corned Beef 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 too!

Looking down on a platter of sliced corned beef with roasted cabbage, potatoes and carrots with bread.

FAQs

What is the best way to roast cabbage?

Roast cabbage at 450ºF 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.

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!

More Irish-Inspired Recipes:

Like this recipe?

Don’t forget to give it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating and leave a comment below the recipe!

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

Baked Corned Beef Recipe

4.41 from 10 readers
Author: Kathleen Pope
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Additional Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 8 – 6 Servings
Print Pin
This traditional Baked Corned Beef is the perfect comfort food meal for St. Patrick's Day! With just 30 minutes of prep time and a handful of easy to find ingredients, the oven will slowly roast the brisket for hours until it's fork tender. Serve with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage, it's the traditional Irish recipe right at home.  

Equipment

Ingredients 
US Customary – Metric

Baked Corned Beef

  • 3 – 5 pounds corned beef brisket, rinsed and patted dry (flat cut preferred)
  • 8 whole peppercorns or use spice packet
  • 12 – 16 ounces Guinness or your favorite dark beer, stouts work great too (or replace with low-sodium chicken broth, not condensed)
  • 3 large carrots peeled and quartered (about 18-30 baby carrots)
  • 2 whole leeks sliced, rinsed well 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 (optional)

  • 1 cup brown sugar packed, I use light brown
  • 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 well, 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, 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 meat’s saltiness overpowering, you can boil the corned beef before baking to reduce it. 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. 
Tip: I highly recommend roasting the cabbage! It stays crisper (not soggy like boiling), and roasting adds incredible flavor to each wedge. Be sure to brush with browned butter. For step-by-step photos and extra tips, see the full post.
Brown Butter: Melt butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Swirl as it foams and quiets down. Continue cooking until brown specks form and it smells nutty. Remove from heat.
Roast the Cabbage: Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C). Line a baking sheet with foil. Brush cabbage wedges on both sides with browned butter (or olive oil) and season with salt and pepper. Roast 10 minutes, flip carefully, and roast another 10–15 minutes until tender and golden. Serve with corned beef and vegetables.
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 leftover corned beef sandwich or this corned beef hash
More details and tips in the post. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 566kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 2189mg | Potassium: 840mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 4795IU | Vitamin C: 81mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 4mg
Baked Corned Beef recipe on plate with potatoes, carrots and roasted cabbage with bread in background.
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Kathleen Pope

Meet Kathleen

Recipe Innovator | Food Photographer | Food Writer

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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  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  11. 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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