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Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup
This Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup is everything you love about the traditional Irish comfort food, made all the more delicious and comforting when simmered together into cozy stew.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds corned beef, with seasoning packet
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer (I used a pale ale)
- 4 cups beef stock
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 3 cups roughly-chopped green cabbage
- 1 bay leaf
- fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- chopped fresh parsley or chives, for garnish
Instructions
- Soak the corned beef (optional). Rinse the corned beef briefly under cold water. Transfer to a cutting board, then trim off and discard any excess fat. Cut into 2-inch chunks. Transfer to a bowl, cover the beef with cold water and soak for 15 minutes to draw out some of the extra salt. Drain and pat dry with a few paper towels.
- Brown the beef. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add half of the corned beef and sauté, flipping occasionally, until lightly browned on all sides. Transfer the cooked meat to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining oil and beef, then transfer the cooked meat to a clean plate.
- Sauté the veggies. Add the remaining olive oil to the stockpot, along with the carrots, celery and onion. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Simmer. Add the beer and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the stockpot. Add the beef stock, potatoes, cabbage, bay leaf, browned beef, and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the broth reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low (or whatever temperature is needed to maintain the simmer), cover and simmer for 60-90 minutes or until the beef shreds easily.
- Shred the corned beef. Use tongs to transfer the beef to a cutting board. Shred with two forks into bite-sized pieces, then return the beef to the soup and stir to combine. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Season. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with your favorite toppings, and enjoy!
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
If my corned beef is already cooked (leftovers) should I adjust the cooking time?
Hi Shelby! We would suggest adding the beef during the last hour of cooking. The potatoes will still need the full cook time, so we wouldn’t recommend shortening the overall cooking time. We hope you enjoy this! :)
How do you think this would work with beef broth as a substitute for the chicken broth? Or is that the combination of tastes you are looking for?
Excellent recipe. Going to make up a pot for lunches.
Hey Brian! Good question. Beef broth will actually work just fine. We hope you enjoy! :)
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Made it today for tonight’s dinner. We loved it!
You’re welcome Laura — we’re so glad you loved it! :)
If you were going to thicken this and make it more like a stew, would you use cornstarch, or flour? I will be making it in my thermal cooker and taking it with me to my kids’ homeschool co-op for lunch. We all prefer thicker, not watery.
Hi Angela! That’s a good question! I think we would opt for flour. We hope you all enjoy!
This might be a silly question but do you put the corn beef seasoning packet in as well? Sounds yummy!!!
Hi Lee! We didn’t use a seasoning packet for this. We hope you enjoy!
This recipe turned out perfectly. I added a jalapeño and 4 cloves of garlic because I like my soups a little spicy and I love garlic. So easy and delicious!
Thanks Sherri — we’re glad to hear that! :)
My daughter is gluten intolerant could I omit the beer? Or would a gluten free beer work just as well.
Hi Brittany, we think a gluten-free beer would work just fine! We hope you enjoy! :)
Hello. I came accross this delicious soup while i was looking for slow cooker recipes and decided to give it a try. I didnt have much success unfortunately :(
I shredded the cabbage with a grater, i chopped the veggies up and added the broth. I did change 2 things, i used regular stewing beef because i couldn’t find anything other than canned corned beef or thinly sliced and i used sweet potato rather than yukon(taste preference) i left this in the slow cooker for 8hrs on low and it has not come together like yours. The cabbage is still in shreds and the broth is still quite watery, unlike yours that looks thicker with a yellow/greenish tint. Any thoughts as to why mine looks nothing like yours?
Hmmm, I’m not quite sure. The broth in mine was still fairly thin, so I wouldn’t expect too thick of a broth. But it sounds like the cabbage somehow didn’t get fully cooked. Maybe your slow cooker doesn’t get that hot on the low setting? If you try it again, I would let it cook for 4-ish hours on high, or until the meat is tender and the cabbage is soft. Sorry about that — hope it turns out better next time!
Was just wondering if you are supposed to add in the season packet that comes with the corned beef? Planning on making this tomorrow!!! Looks so good
Nope, no seasoning packet needed. Enjoy!
Looking forward to making this wonderful soup. It will be a very special meal as I haven’t made this before. I have enjoyed cooking for 57 years , my man loves soup and casseroles, we are 75 & 78 , so we like to get 2 or 3 meals from whatever I cook. Thank you for your time and work you put into this. Carolyn
Very cool Carolyn! We think it’s wonderful that you’ve been cooking for so long, and that you still enjoy it! We hope you and your husband enjoy the soup. Thank you for giving it a try!