It’s time to plan your St. Patrick’s Day Jiggs Dinner now!
I don’t know who needs to hear this but it’s time to make your shopping list and plan your trip to the grocery store for your St. Patrick’s Day Jiggs Dinner groceries! Seriously, do it early before they run out of the cute little red potatoes, or the “good” bakery bread. Trust me, pick up some baby red potatoes, a perfect 3-4 pound corned beef, some carrots, and other root veggies soon! I’ve waited until the week of St. Patrick’s Day before and had to scrounge for ingredients!

Jiggs Dinner
Jiggs Dinner, AKA St. Patricks Day Cabbage Boil, AKA Boiled Dinner … Whatever you want to call it, is an easy slow, and slow-cooked corned beef and vegetable meal. Check out my recipe, and modify it to fit your tastes. For example, my mom doesn’t like cabbage or beer so she boils potatoes and corned beef in onion soup mix.



Leftovers
For some great recipe ideas to use up some of the raw cabbage, visit this post and scroll down to the leftovers section.
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Jiggs Dinner (St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Boil)
Equipment
- crockpot or Instant Pot
- knife
- cheesecloth or a tea ball – optional
Ingredients
- 3.5 lb corned beef brisket Raw. Rinse in cold water to remove some of the salty brine. Prepare the corned beef before you chop your vegetables.
- ¾ head cabbage 3/4 to 1 cabbage. Cut into large wedges, like a watermelon. As much as you can fit in with all the other vegetables.
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard (Or enough to cover brisket)
- 1 Spice Packet I prefer to wrap the spices in cheesecloth or a tea ball like this one and tie in a bundle.
- 1 garlic Coarse chopped, as many cloves as you'd like. I use 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 Optional. Peeled and quartered. A ceramic peeler is amazing for peeling veggies!
- 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 Optional. More if you like them!
- 1 lb baby red potatoes 1 lb or as many as you can fit in with the cabbage.
- 2 cups water Or enough to cover brisket and some veggies.
- marbled rye Optional -We love serving this with a slice of rye.
Instructions
Prepare the brisket
- Rinse the corned beef brisket in 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 or a tea ball, 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, spices 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 enough water/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 low for 8 hours for a 3-4 lb brisket (or on high for about an hour per pound.) *Don't peek, keep the lid closed! 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 crockpot and allow it to rest for at least ten to fifteen 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
If you love a one-pot meal like this St. Patrick’s Day Jiggs Dinner, try InstantPot Grandma’s Spinach and Meatballs! Find more holiday recipes, like my Valentine’s Day Sweet Potato Hearts, by clicking on the “Holiday recipe” category