It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day and that means it’s Jiggs Dinner time! This crockpot meal is as simple as it is delicious.
If you love a good corned beef and cabbage boil, I recommend gathering your ingredients early. Every time we wait to shop we can never find baby red potatoes or a medium head of cabbage, and all the good bakery marbeled rye bread we like to have with it is gone! This year we went to our local meat market and he hooked us up! We had the most beautiful lean cut of brisket I’ve ever seen! It was huge, but the leftovers are ooh soo good!
Jump to Recipe and leftover ideas!
Jiggs dinner is so easy! I highly recommend rinsing your corned beef in a large bowl of water to get some of the salty brine off of it. The corned beef usually comes with a packet of spices. I like to dump the spice mix in a piece of cheesecloth, bundle it up and toss it in the crockpot. My husband likes to sprinkle the herbs in, but I find them too crunchy. Pat the corned beef dry and slather it up on all sides with yellow mustard. Set it aside while you gather, peel and chop the veggies.
All you need, in addition to the corned beef, are some root veggies like peeled carrots cut in large chunks or left whole, red or gold potatoes, (I like baby reds or quartered reds!) a couple of stalks of celery cut in long pieces, a turnip quartered (it ends up tasting a lot like a potato!) a couple of parsnips (if you’re feeling adventurous, peeled and cut in large chunks, these end up tasting a lot like carrots) an onion quartered if you have one, a few cloves of peeled chopped garlic if you feel like it, and about a half a head of cabbage cut in large wedges, like a
To assemble, start by adding the onions to the crockpot. Nestle the corned beef on top. On top of that, add the garlic, then add about half your veggies, nestle the spice packet in, or sprinkle in the spices, and about half of the cabbage. Save the other half of the veggies and add them to the crockpot in the last hour of cooking. That way some are in the pot flavoring the broth getting kind of mushy and the rest are cooked to perfection at the end. Pour in one entire beer. (If you don’t want to use beer, use beef broth.) You want enough liquid to cover the meat so that it boils, and so that some of the veggies are partially submerged, so you’ll also add some water. I definitely suggest dumping in one entire can/bottle of beer for flavor. I sprinkle a little black pepper on top. Put the lid on it and set it to cook. I usually set my crockpot on high for six hours, or longer on low. Don’t peek! You want it to keep cooking and not have to heat back up. As they say, set it and forget it! Well, actually set a timer. About an hour before you want to serve dinner, place the remaining veggies on top. Replace the lid. Once the veggies on top are fork-tender, dinner is ready!
Remove the corned beef from the crockpot and allow it to rest for at least ten minutes. Slice it across the grain of the meat. If you cut it with the grain in long stringy slices, it will be tough.
Serve slices of corned beef in a shallow bowl along with the veggies, a ladle of broth, and a slice of marbled rye. My husband sent me a picture of his bowl, I forgot to take a picture! After smelling it cooking all day, I dug strait in!
My mother doesn’t like beer. She uses beef broth, water and a packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix. She throws away the spice packet. I haven’t tried hers yet, but I bet it’s good!
I also have not tried pressure cooking Jiggs Dinner, but I suppose you could cook the onions, brisket, spices, and a few veggies for flavor, with the beer, and liquid to cover for about an hour and a half on high pressure. Quick release, and remove the brisket to rest. Refer to the instructions that came with the Instant Pot for exact cooking times for the size of brisket you have.
Then I would add the rest of the vegetables. They should cook in the hot liquid fairly quickly, probably about three to five minutes on high and another quick release. I’ll have to experiment and post Instant Pot instructions! If you have tried it already, let me know how successful it was!
Jiggs Dinner (St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef & Cabbage Boil)
Ingredients
- 3 lb Corned Beef Brisket Raw. Rinse in a pot of cold water to remove some of the salty brine.
- 1 head Cabbage Cut into large wedges, like a watermelon.
- 2 tbsp Yellow Mustard (Or enough to cover brisket)
- 1 Spice Packet I prefer to wrap the spices in cheese cloth and tie in a bundle. I don't like to chew the spices.
- 1 Garlic Coarse chopped, as many cloves as you’d like. I used three.
- 1 can Lite Beer I prefer a lite beer.
Add about half the veggies on top of the meat in the crock pot, reserve some for the last hour of cooking.
- 1 Turnip Peeled and quartered
- 1 Onion Quartered
- 4 Carrots Large carrots work best. Cut them half or into large chunks.
- 2 Celery Stalks Use more if you like it. Cut it up into large chunks.
- 2 Parsnips More if you like them!
- 1 lb Baby Red Potatoes Cleaned, whole. Or Red or white potatoes will work if you can’t find Baby Reds. Just cut them in half or quarters.
- 3 cups Water Or enough to cover brisket and some veggies.
Instructions
Prepare the brisket
- I recommend rinsing your corned beef brisket n a large bowl of water to get some of the salty brine out of it.
- The corned beef usually comes with a packet of spices. I like to dump the spice mix in a piece of cheesecloth, tie it up and toss it in the crockpot.
- Pat the corned beef dry and slather it up on all sides with yellow mustard. Set it aside while you gather, peel and chop the veggies.
Assemble
- Start by adding the onions to the crockpot, break them up a bit and nestle the corned beef on top.
- On top of the brisket, add the garlic, nestle in the spices or sprinkle those in, and add about half your root veggies.
- Pour in one entire beer. (If you don't want to use beer, use beef or other broth or all water.)
- Add a few cups of water. You want enough liquid to cover the meat so that it boils, and so that some of the veggies are partially submerged.
- Put the lid on it and set the crockpot on high for about six hours, or longer on low. Don’t peek! You want it to keep cooking and not have to heat back up.
- About an hour before you want to serve dinner, taste the broth and adjust for salt and pepper. Place the remaining veggies on top. Replace the lid. Once the veggies on top are fork tender, dinner is ready!
- Remove the corned beef from the crock pot and allow it to rest for at least ten minutes. Slice it across the grain of the meat. If you cut it with the grain in long stringy slices, it will be tough.
- Serve slices of corned beef in a shallow bowl along with the veggies, a ladle of broth, and a slice of marbled rye.
Notes
Nutrition
I look forward to leftovers for 2 reasons.
1 – Leftover Corned Beef Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash!
Dice some raw sweet potatoes and/or regular potatoes into small cubes. Dice up an onion or shallots. If you have bell peppers, dice some of those up too! Dice up some leftover cooked corned beef. Add diced potatoes in and about a tablespoon olive oil to a cast iron pan and cook, stirring occasionally until they start to brown. Add in the onions and peppers, about 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika, a large pinch of salt, some black pepper, about a half teaspoon of garlic powder. Continue to brown stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. If the pan looks too dry just add a drizzle of olive oil. If potatoes are still raw in the middle but browned and crispy on the outside, add about a tablespoon or two of water, stir and cover with lid or foil for a minute or two. They’ll steam up quickly. Remove the lid and allow any excess moisture to cookout. I serve this up alongside eggs, or add it to a flour tortilla for breakfast burritos!
2 – THIS RECIPE!
I never tried cooking cabbage as a side dish before. It never sounded good to me. UNTIL I READ THIS RECIPE from my food blog idol. It’s ridiculous! I add black sesame seeds and instead of celery I had sugar snap peas. A drizzle of sriracha is also fantastic on this!
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