Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup: My tasty alternative for a festive St. Patrick’s Day Meal
Growing up I always complained when my mom made corned beef and cabbage and to this day it’s just not my thing. Then, 5 or so years ago, Megan had us over for St Patrick’s Day and made this Skinnytaste Corned Beef and Cabbage soup and admittedly I wasn’t thrilled about it; how could it be that different than regular old corned beef and cabbage? Well, to my surprise, I loved it and I have made it every year since for St Patrick’s day. So not only do I really enjoy the soup, especially when paired with cheddar beer bread, but I think it’s always more fun to make meals festive! So, we highly recommend you give this tasty and festive one pot meal a try for the upcoming holiday! It can be made on the stove or in the crock pot and how nice is it that us Seattleites can be eating al fresco in MARCH?! See both the stove top and crock pot recipe below and grab yourself a box of this beer bread from Trader Joes!
Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 leeks, chopped (whites and light green only)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 medium carrots, chopped (I also include 1 mirepoix chopped vegetable mix from Trader Joes – a blend of carrots, onions & celery)
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped
- 1 lb lean corned beef brisket, yields 9 oz cooked
- 4 cups vegetable stock(1 carton) and 2 cups of water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish (I leave this out but does make for pretty garnish)
- 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
- 1 small head cabbage, cored and chopped (I use one bag of Trader Joes pre shedded green cabbage)
- fresh pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Stove Method:
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium low heat.
- Add leeks and sauté until soft, about 4-5 minutes; add garlic, carrots, mirepoix mix and yellow pepper and sauté about 2-3 minutes.
- Add corned beef (remove fat first), peppercorns or seasoning packet that comes with the corned beef, bay leaves, vegetable stock and water; cover and bring to a boil.
- Simmer covered on low heat for 3 hours, until the meat becomes tender.
- Remove the corned beef, set it on a cutting board and shred with a fork.
- Return it to the pot then add the cabbage and potatoes, taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
- Cook until the potatoes and cabbage are tender, about 45 more minutes.
Slow Cooker Method:
- In a skillet heat oil over medium low heat, add leeks and sauté until soft, about 4-5 minutes; add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker with the carrots, mirepoix mix, yellow pepper, corned beef, potatoes, peppercorns or seasoning packet that comes with the corned beef, bay leaves, parsley, vegetable stock and water.
- Cover and cook on high until corned beef is tender, 4 1/4 hours (or 8 1/2 hours on low). Remove the corned beef, set it on a cutting board and shred with a fork, return to the pot, arrange cabbage over corned beef, cover, and continue cooking on high until cabbage is tender, 45 minutes (or 1 1/2 hours on low).
(Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste)
Happy Friday! Let us know if you give this tasty and festive Irish dish a try for St. Patty’s day!
