Main Dishescarlsbadcravings
Homemade Corned Beef
Did you know corned beef is crazy easy to make?! This step-by-step guide will teach you how to cure your own beef brisket to create the best pink, salty, spicy, fall-apart-tender corned beef brisket of your life – way better than store-bought! Of course, if you’re short on time, you can simply follow the cooking instructions for store-bought corned beef. This corned beef recipe is made with beef brisket, pickling spices and kosher salt which cure for 5 days and then roast in the oven with a mustard brown sugar rub with carrots, potatoes and cabbage until tender – it’s essentially a one-pot meal after the curing process! The oven is my preferred cooking method, but I’ve also included instructions for crockpot corned beef, instant pot corned beef and boiled corned beef. Finally, dunk your juicy, tender, succulent corned beef brisket into creamy, tangy horseradish cream sauce and enjoy the perfect bite, after bite….
👥 6 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 129h⏳ Prep: 123h🔥 Cook: 6h👤 Jen📖 carlsbadcravings
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- frying pan
- pan
- bowl
- knife
- dutch oven
- oven
- pot
- whisk
- cutting board
- slow cooker
- baking sheet
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Prepare pickling spices:
2
Add pickling spices up through cardamon pods to a medium frying pan. Toast over medium heat just until fragrant, about ⏱️ 3 minutes (Don’t burn!).
3
Transfer spices to a mortar or medium bowl. Use a pestle, meat mallet or side of a knife or can to coarsely crush the spices. Stir in the crumbled bay leaves, ground ginger and garlic powder.
large bay leaves (crumbled)4ground ginger1 teaspoonsgarlic powder1 teaspoon
4
Make brine:
5
Remove 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling spices to an airtight container/sandwich bag to store for later (you will use these when roasting). Add remaining pickling spices to a large Dutch oven. Add Kosher salt, brown sugar, pink curing salt, cinnamon and a gallon of water.
Kosher salt (1 cup 3 1/2 TBS of Morton's Kosher Salt OR 2 cups of Diamond Crystal brand Kosher Salt300 gpink curing salt (optional, see Recipe Notes)4 teaspoons
6
Cover to bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature then refrigerate until chilled (cooling can take several hours).
7
Brine brisket
8
Once the brine is chilled, add the brisket. Weigh the brisket down so it's completely submerged in the brine with a bowl filled with pie weights or cans. Cover and brine the brisket in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
9
Rinse Corned Beef
10
Remove brisket from brine; discard brine. To rinse, add brisket back to the pot and cover with water. Repeat 3-4 times to remove excess salt.
11
Oven Roasted Corned Beef (Recommended)
12
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
13
Transfer brisket to a large roasting pan, fattiest side up. Add 2-3 cups unsalted beef broth to fill 1/4-inch up the sides of the pan. Stir the reserved 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling seasonings into the broth.
-3 cups UNSALTED beef broth, (more or less as needed)2
14
Whisk the Dijon and honey together (NOT brown sugar) and spread half all over the top of the beef. Add pearl onions if using. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 2 1/⏱️ 2 hours. If your brisket is closer to 6 pounds, then roast for 3 1/⏱️ 2 hours.
honey1 tablespoonspearl onions, peeled (optional)8 ounces
15
After 2 1/⏱️ 2 hours (3 1/⏱️ 2 hours for 6 lb. brisket), remove the pan from the oven and very carefully remove the foil starting with the opposite end (step away because it will steam a lot). Brush remaining honey mustard over the top of the beef then sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange the carrots, potatoes and cabbage, in that order, all around the brisket in the pan (you want the potatoes perched on top of the carrots so they’re not swimming in broth).
honey1 tablespoons
16
Tightly cover the pan with foil and bake an additional 2 1/⏱️ 2-3 hours or until the beef registers 185-200 degrees F and vegetables are fork tender. For spicy cabbage, submerge it in the broth the last ⏱️ 10 minutes of cooking.
17
Optional: Brown the meat. Remove vegetables to a serving platter using a slotted spoon and cover with foil. Broil the brisket on high (550F) for ⏱️ 5-10 minutes until the top is slightly caramelized.
18
Transfer corned beef to a cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest for ⏱️ 10 minutes before slicing across the grain. Serve with horseradish cream sauce (recipe coming Thursday!) and/or mustard.
19
Boiled Corned Beef
20
Use a Dutch oven/pot just large enough to hold the meat like the one you brined it in. Add the rinsed brisket and 1 ½ tablespoons pickling spices. Add unsalted beef broth until it covers the brisket by 1-inch, meaning there is one-inch of liquid above the top of the brisket. If you don't have enough broth, you can add water.
21
Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and gently simmer for ⏱️ 4 hours or until the meat is fork tender. You may need to add additional broth or water if it gets too low. Transfer corned beef to a cutting board while you cook the vegetables.
22
Add the carrots and potatoes to the pot. Add additional water so the vegetables are covered by 1-inch liquid. Simmer for ⏱️ 15 minutes, then add the cabbage and continue to cook until the vegetables are fork tender.
23
Crockpot Corned beef
24
Spray a 6 quart (or larger) slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer rinsed brisket to slow cooker. It will be large so you will have to squish it in or slice it in half. Add enough broth so it comes up 1/4 inch up the sides of the brisket. Stir 1 1/2 tablespoons reserved pickling spices into the broth. Brush brisket with half of the honey mustard sauce. Add carrots and potatoes on top of the brisket.
honey1 tablespoons
25
Cover and cook on LOW for ⏱️ 8-10 hours until brisket is very tender. Add cabbage on top of the carrots and potatoes the last two hours of cooking. If your brisket is tough, it just needs to cook longer.
26
Optional: Remove brisket to a foil lined baking sheet. Brush brisket with remaining honey mustard sauce and sprinkle with brown sugar. Broil ⏱️ 5-10 minutes, until slightly caramelized.
honey1 tablespoons
27
Instant Pot Corned Beef Adapted from Simply Recipes
28
For the instant pot, you will want to use a 4-pound beef. The brine can stay the same.
29
Transfer the corned beef to the Instant Pot, and add 6 cups of unsalted beef broth. Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons reserved seasonings.
30
Seal the lid and select the Meat/Stew or Manual setting on your pressure cooker. Set the cooking time for ⏱️ 55 minutes at high pressure. (The pot will take about ⏱️ 20 minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking program starts.)
31
When the cooking ends, let the pressure release naturally completely. This will take about ⏱️ 40 minutes. Transfer the beef to a cutting board and tent it with foil.
32
If adding vegetables: wear heat-resistant oven mitts, and carefully lift out the inner pot and pour out all but 1 cup of the cooking liquid (or 1 1/2 cups if using an 8-quart IP) and return the pot.
33
Place a wire mesh steamer basket inside the pot. Place the carrots and potatoes in the steamer basket, and layer the cabbage on top. It’s okay if the vegetables are slightly above the 2/3 “max fill” marking, but they should not be above the rim of the pot where they could block the pressure valve mechanisms in the pressure cooker lid.
34
Secure the lid and set the pressure release valve to its sealing position. Cancel the cooking program, then select the Steam program for ⏱️ 4 minutes at high pressure.
35
The pot will take about ⏱️ 15 minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking program starts.
36
When the cooking program ends, perform a quick pressure release by moving the pressure release valve to its venting position right away, taking care not to get burned by the steam.
Reviews & Ratings
Share your thoughts and feedback about this recipe
Write a Review
Community Feedback0 Reviews
Loading reviews...