St. Patrick's Day Slow Cooker Round-Up



It's almost St. Patrick's Day!

Bring on the Shamrocks!

Adam and I have been married for 100 million years 20 years this upcoming July. Before marrying into an Irish family, I ate corned beef a handful of times, and honestly wasn't all that impressed.

That's because I was wrong. Corned beef is DELICIOUS. And (unless you like it that way), it doesn't need to be soggy and greasy.


There are a few things that I've learned you really must do --- the  "secrets" of corned beef ---

otherwise you'll end up with a super salty and somewhat soggy dinner.


And nobody wants that! ;-)

Secret #1 to perfect corned beef: Rinse it like crazy. Get off as much of the brine as you can before slow cooking. 

Plop it into a colander and let cold water run (but not too long because of the drought and you don't want the water police to come knocking).

Secret #2 to perfect corned beef: Trim away the thick white layer of fat with a sharp knife.

 A lot of times you'll pick out a gorgeous piece of meat in the store, but once you unwrap it you'll find a thick band of fat hiding underneath. 

Use a sharp knife or poultry shears to cut it away.

BONUS Secret #3: Don't Drown Your Meat! Click through to read the best ways to make corned beef -- the old-school way of drowning it in lots of water, broth, or beer just doesn't cut it! :-)

These are the two best recipes:

Dijon Corned Beef




 Glazed with honey, brown sugar, and dijon mustard, this is absolutely fantastic corned beef that will wow your family and guests.

Mary Jayne posted on my Facebook page that she cooked 8 corned beef roasts with this recipe for her annual St. Patrick's Day open house and everybody liked it so much she didn't even get any!

Bourbon and Brown Sugar Glazed Corned Beef






Brown sugar and bourbon belong together, and they mix to create a sweet crust to this salty roast -- the meat simmers in the juices and truly becomes fork tender after slow cooking all day.

If you don't have bourbon in the house or prefer to not cook with it, you can use apple juice instead.



Traditionally, corned beef is boiled on the stovetop all day with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and celery. 

I like to keep my meat and vegetables separate so the natural flavors stand out on their own.




Yukon Gold or Russet Potatoes are cooked in butter, lemon,and dill to create a velvety sauce that coats each and every bite of potato. 

My kids love these potatoes, and I really should make them more often. 

This is a fantastic side dish.




If you aren't in the mood for Corned Beef and Potatoes, you can certainly layer in some leftovers and make a delicious Shepherd's Pie. 

The linked recipe calls for ground turkey or beef, but I've made many a Shepherd's Pie in the slow cooker completely vegetarian by using beans and chopped vegetables. 

This is a pretty customizable dish, and a great one for cleaning out the crisper drawer.


Have a VERY HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!



Happy Slow Cooking!!


I always use my crockpot for corned beef but never knew that I should be doing this in order to have it turn out perfectly each time! St. Patrick's Day slow cooker roundup from AYearofSlowCooking.com includes: Bourbon and Brown Sugar corned beef, Irish Potatoes, Shepherd's Pie, and Roasted Cabbage



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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at March 08, 2024

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What they say about this article

  1. I can't wait to try these! Only ever made corned beef in the slow cooker and there's no better way! I personally would not dream of slicing off the fat layer, maybe a little trim to cut back on the greasy factor though.
    I can't wait to try the roasted cabbage and potatoes because I get more excited about the cabbage personally.
    One more thing, Right after St. Patty's, corned beef goes on sale ridiculously cheap. It keeps for a long time, and for anyone who has a smoker, you can rinse it and smoke it and boom- homemade pastrami.

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  2. Hiya Steph, nice to see ya posting:) My CB last week was done in crockpot w/carton of beef broth and bay leaves, nothing else, cooked on low 12 hrs, was divine w/mashed taters, coleslaw and steamed veggies. Saved/strained the stock, sent stock to fridge overnight, skimmed fat on top the next morning. Sent that glorious liquid gold to the freezer, intending to use the stock for cabbage soup, nummy num num.

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  3. Always have roasted my corned beef with mustard & brown sugar rubbed on. Since we like the flavoring of corned beef cooked with our potatoes, cabbage & carrots, I just dump a can of corned beef in the vegetable pot. Throw in some onions, the seasoning pckt from the beef & bay leaves and you can use the veg leftovers for a killer soup while saving your meat for reubens. Works great!

    BTW - Some folks who think corned beef is tough or stringy do not realize that, like flank steak, you MUST slice it across the grain.

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