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The absolute BEST Crock Pot Guinness Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe with Guinness reduction sauce! Fall-apart corned beef that melts in your mouth!
Married to Mr. Fantabulous and him being a GINORMOUS beer snob I’ve been ‘coerced‘ to try umpteen different types with the line of “baby, maybe you’ll like this one. If you loved me, you’d try it.”
My response is always “..and if you loved me you’d remember that we’ve yet to find one that I like or can even get past the smell. If YOU loved me you’d figure out how to pick up your clothes, put the dishes in the dishwasher and figure out that vacuuming CAN be fun.” Sounds fair, right?
But like the good wife I give in to spousal pressure, take the god-awful sip, make the funniest yucky squinched-up-7-year-girl-I’m-gonna-die face and then say that I still hate it while he chuckles at my response.
I LOVE Cooking and Baking with Beer!
It’s funny though as I don’t like the taste of beer straight from the bottle but I LOVE the flavor of it when it’s cooked or reduced.
The flavors tend to be mellow and almost create this magical taste. I use beer quite often in various chocolate cakes (reduced stout in a chocolate cake is EPIC!) as well as in brownies. Heck, I’ve even made beer syrup and used it in ice cream.
From Stovetop to Crock-Pot For Corned Beef
Now I’ve been making corned beef & cabbage since I was little. I can remember my Mom making it on the stovetop for hours on end.
When she got her first crockpot you would have thought Sweet Baby Jesus delivered it to her personally! From then on, corned beef was made in the crock. And as always it had a beer in it.
What about making Corned Beef in the Instant Pot?
I got you guys! I have the instant pot recipe already posted. You can’t go wrong with either method, to be honest!
The beer matters in this recipe
Being married to a beer snob we always have a ton on hand to work with. I tried more than my fair share. The best beer I’ve found for this recipe is Guinness Draught Stout. It, as it cooks, adds such incredible depth of flavor that any other beer.
What I did find was that the stout beers – those darker beers, when cooked infused such an intense flavor that you find yourself being unable to stop eating the beef (case in point last night when I made this recipe).
If you’re not a beer drinker, like I am, you can buy just single cans/bottles in most grocery stores so you don’t have to feel concerned about having to buy a whole case.
Ingredients needed to make THE BEST Guinness Corned Beef
- Flat Cut Corned Beef Brisket with seasoning packet – flat is best for slicing
- Veggies – carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and onions
- Beer – Guinness Draught Stout
- Seasonings & liquids – mustard, Worcestershire, water, horseradish, salt, pepper, honey
- Sugar – This depends on how sweet you like your meat and sauce. Start with less for the sauce as you can always add more if you need
How to Cook The Best Corned Beef with Beer!
It’s super simple to make as you throw most of it in the crockpot and let it cook the day away!
- Pat your meat dry and place it fat side up in the crockpot. Add the carrots and potatoes around the meat.
- Mix the mustard and seasoning packet and spread it all over the meat. Next, add the beer around the meat (not on top).
- Sprinkle some sugar over the top of it all and cover.
- Cook on low for 7 hours.
- Add the cabbage and cook for another 2 hours.
Guinness Reduction Sauce
- Once the meat is done, strain all of the juice out and place it in a pot over high heat.
- Once boiling, add in some sugar and the rest of the ingredients. *Remember this is where you want to start off in small amounts
- The sauce can take 30-55 minutes to reduce. This depends on how liquid your beef is.
Difference Between Corned Beef Cuts – Flat and Point
So there are a few different cuts of corned beef brisket but the two most popular are Flat Cut and Point Cut.
Flat Cut Corned Beef
The flat cut is leaner though it still has a fat cap layer that helps keep the meat moist. This is what you want to use when you want to slice your corned beef and have it lay nicely on the plate or sandwich.
Point Cut Corned Beef
The most obvious difference is the pointed tip at the one end. This type of cut has more fat to it so when you cook it up, it comes out super tender and juicy. This is perfect for when you want to shred it for nachos and sandwiches.
Uses for Corned Beef Leftovers
- Reuben Nachos – simply shred the meat and layer it on the nachos with some Irish cheddar, green onions, and some braised cabbage/slaw. You can even drizzle some of the Guinness sauce on the side!
- Pulled Corned Beef Sliders – these paired with Irish Cheddar – EPIC!
- Reuben Sandwiches – The hardest part is deciding if you want mustard of 1000 island dressing
- Reuben Tart – tart dough filled with sauerkraut, corned beef, and cheese!
- Reuben Pizza – need I say anymore?
- Cheesy Reuben Dip – all the great flavors of a Reuben sandwich but in a dip!
Guinness Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 9 hours
- Total Time: 10 hours
- Category: Beef
- Method: CrockPot
- Cuisine: Beef
The absolute BEST Guinness Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage with Guinness Reduction Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2–3” chunks
- 6–8 small-medium size red potatoes (unpeeled)
- 1 large yellow onion, rough chopped
- 2–3 lb flat cut corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
- 1 14.9 ounce can of Guinness Draught Stout
- 3 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup brown sugar, divided *See note
- 2 tablespoon grainy mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 medium size head of cabbage, cut into wedges
Instructions
Make the Corned Beef
- Rinse the corned beef under cold water and pat dry. Place the corned beef, fat side up in a 6 quart (or bigger) crock pot. Add the potatoes, onions and carrots around the beef. In a small bowl, mix the yellow mustard and seasoning packet together. Spread the mustard mixture all over the top of the corned beef. Pour the beer around the beef. Sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar over top the beef, veggies and beer. Cook on low for 7 hours.
- Remove the lid and add the cabbage wedges. Cook for 2 more hours. Remove the meat from the crock pot and set aside. Place a tent foil on top. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the veggies and place in a bowl.
Guinness Reduction Sauce
- Place a sieve/strainer over top a medium pot and strain the juices into the pot. Place the pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, add in the remaining 1tablespoon – 1/4 cup of the remaining brown sugar (depends on how sweet you want your sauce. Start off with a little, taste and adjust from there), water, horseradish, salt, pepper, grainy mustard, Worcestershire, honey and mix. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer to reduce the sauce by half and it starts to thicken. ~35-50 minutes.
Serve
- Slice the meat against the grain and serve with the reduction sauce over top with a side of potatoes, carrots and cabbage.
Notes
With regards to the brown sugar, keep in mind that reducing the Guinness will render the sauce sweet however I still add up to the last 1/4 cup of brown sugar personally as I found it was a tad ‘bitter’ without it. My advice is to start off with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, taste the sauce as it reduces and add more if necessary.
Nhatasha says
The Worcestershire sauce was only mentioned in the ingredients.
TKWAdmin says
Oops! Fixed it! Thanks a bunch!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Kelley says
This was so good! I doubled this and made a 7 pound corned beef brisket. I, too, cut back a bit on the sugar (only by like a 1/4 cup) and it was amazing. I put this in the crock before we went out for kegs and eggs and then the parade. After lots of drinking we came home to the house smelling incredible. I didn’t make the reduction sauce as we were starving but I did save it to make later today. All we did was remove it, let it cool and then carve it. WOW so so good!
Thank you so much! Love your site!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Kelley!
Wow that sounds you like you had a blast yesterday! Thanks for the tip on cutting back on the sugar. As you can see above, I cut back on the sugar as well. So happy you guys loved this!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Shane says
Wow this was awesome! I’m surprised to see someone said it was too sweet and another said too salty. Mine was perfect! The Guinness really shined through but yeah, folks need to realize when you reduce Guinness it does become sweet. However since I had a smaller cut of meat (just shy of 2 pounds) I reduced the amount of brown sugar to about a 1/3 cup in the crock and then when I made the sauce I only put in about another 3 Tbl. Perhaps maybe reduce the sugar next time?
Great recipe!
TKWAdmin says
Aw thank you so much Shane! And thanks for your comment about how Guinness does become sweet when reduced – you know your stuff *wink*. Yeah I updated the recipe too to adjust for less sugar.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Paula says
I had the opposite outcome- mine came out way too salty. I’m blaming the corned beef brisket which was purchased from Costco. Maybe it was the solution the brisket was sealed in. I did thoroughly rinse it. It was tender, but just too salty.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Paula!
I’m not familiar with their corned beef. What did you mean by solution it was sealed in? This recipe calls for a cut of the corned beef and the seasoning packet that it comes with. It’s then vacu-sealed. There is no solution. If it was in some liquid other than it’s natural blood/juices with the separate seasoning packet then I would err on the saltiness coming from the solution it was in. I bought mine from Sam’s club if that helps.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jack says
Just finished eating this.
I think it may have been created so kids would eat it. It’s certainly not for adults! Too sweet. Far sweeter than BBQ, completely hid the flavor of the Guinness & carrots.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Jack,
No, this wasn’t made for kids – well unless you consider me a big kid. I updated the recipe and post to explain further something I failed to mention about what happens to Guinness (any beer in general really) is that when you reduce it, it actually becomes syrupy and sweet. Also I updated the recipe stating 1/2-3/4 cup of brown sugar and updated the notes section in the recipe to state when reducing the sauce start off with 1 Tbl and taste along the way.
I literally just made this as well, using the same recipe and loved it. Mine was 2.6 pounds with the seasoning packet enclosed with it. To me the beer taste was strong and the corned beef was tender. I’m sorry you didn’t like it though.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Claudia says
Okay, I’ll try this again; I wrote several comments, but only the first line published!
The rest of what I had to say: I made this recipe for dinner today for 3 of us, all adults, one of whom is a professionally trained chef (not I
Claudia says
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, 2015!
TKWAdmin says
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you as well Claudia!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Katie says
I am a day or two late and more then a dollar short but I am excited to make this for a belated St. Patrick’s Day meal.
I will be cooking a five pound corned beef brisket and am wondering how much more then eight hours I should let it go in the crock pot. Can I do some time on low and then kick it up to high?
Thanks!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Katie!
Hey I’ve done that; celebrated a day, two or week later 😉 5 pounds eh? What time should I be there to eat? LOL I would go 10 hours on low and then when you add the cabbage bumping it up to high cooking for an 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours (I’m assuming you’re adding more cabbage than what I have listed above).
That last burst of high heat will help make even more tender.
Let me know how it turns out! And if you want, I’d love for you to snap a pic and post it on our Facebook page! (http://www.facebook.com/thekitchenwhisperer)
Best Kitchen Wishes!
MeShellaBella says
I am going to forgive all of the negative beer comments in the above post because I agree with your husband… 😉
I will NEVER make corned beef any other way after trying this recipe! The glaze was Uh-MAZING! So, so, so happy with this! Our tummies are full and our hearts are happy! THANK YOU!
Michelle
TKWAdmin says
Hi 🙂 I don’t think they were negative beer comments. Actually I’m not sure if he commented on this recipe or recipes in the past he tried. And the reason that cabbage turned out bitter was due to not using Guinness like the recipe said but rather an ale. Ales, when slow cooked will turn bitter due to the high hops in them.
I’m thrilled that you LOVED it! And I soooooooo agree about the glaze! It MAKES the dish! If you have extra glaze and corned beef, try it as a slider with a little glaze over top and some Irish cheese melted! OMG to die for!!!
Best Kitchen Wishes!