3 Delicious Ways To Cook Corned Beef - The Spruce Eats

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Learn three ways to perfect homemade corned beef with extra flavor by boiling, slow cooking, or baking

By Molly Watson Molly Watson An award-winning food writer and cookbook author, Molly Watson has created more than 1,000 recipes focused on local, seasonal ingredients. Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process Updated on 06/18/25 Close

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• Boil
• Slow Cook
• Bake

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Corned beef may be widely associated with St. Patrick's Day, but it's a delicious and versatile dish to enjoy year-round. A seasoned brisket that's been brined, corned beef is sometimes sold pre-cooked. However, if you've purchased it raw, the key to perfectly cooked corned beef is slow cooking.

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Whether you choose to bake, boil, or slow cook it, corned beef requires at least a few hours for a tender and flavorful result. Each of these methods is straightforward, and you can enhance your meal by adding vegetables during cooking for an effortless one-dish dinner.

Boil

Boiling is the traditional approach to preparing corned beef. This method serves multiple purposes: it cooks the meat, tenderizes the brisket's tough texture, and helps draw out excess salt. While the brine adds to the savory flavor and tender texture, balancing the saltiness is crucial for the perfect taste.

To boil corned beef, put the meat in a large pot and cover it with plenty of water. Add a tablespoon or two of pickling spice as well as a few garlic cloves, a quartered onion, a carrot, and a few stalks of celery if you like. Bring everything to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook (don't disturb it much) until the corned beef is completely tender when pierced with a fork, about 3 to 4 hours. Remove the corned beef from the pot and slice across the grain to serve.

You can also add potatoes and/or cabbage about 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Alternatively, wait until the corned beef is done, pull it out of the pot and cover it to keep warm, or set it in a 200 F oven. Cook whole small red potatoes and cabbage cut into wedges in the liquid until they are done.

Slow Cook

Cooking corned beef in a slow cooker has all the benefits of boiling, but you don't have to keep watch while it cooks. Place a quartered onion, a carrot, a couple of garlic cloves, and a few stalks of celery in the slow cooker. You can also add potatoes if you like. Set the corned beef on top of the vegetables, sprinkle it with a tablespoon of pickling spice, and add just enough water to submerge the beef. Cover and cook on high for about 4 1/2 hours or low for 8 to 9 hours.

Bake

Baked corned beef develops a fabulous crispy crust. Before you bake it, however, you must boil it to remove some of the curing salt. Place the corned beef in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil while you preheat the oven to 350 F. Discard the water and repeat to draw out more of the salt.

Set the corned beef fat-side up in a baking pan and cover with foil. Bake for 2 hours. Unwrap, position an oven rack in the top third of the oven and bake until the top is browned and crispy, about 30 minutes. You can also cover the meat with mustard or sprinkle it with brown sugar (or both) to add flavor and help the brown crust develop.

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