A heaping plate of corned beef and cabbage has become synonymous with St. Patrick's Day here in the United States but it isn't as well-known a dish in Ireland. How did this salt-cured beef brisket become the meal to eat on March 17?
And why is it called corned beef? The "corn" part of corned beef refers to the large salt crystals, as large as kernels of corn, used to cure beef according to Smithsonian Magazine. Salt-curing has long been a popular way to preserve meat. How corned beef became the dinner to have on St. Patrick's Day is a more complicated story. Historically, beef wasn't a popular meat in Ireland. Cows were used for their milk, not their meat, and people ate far more pork than beef. Corned beef only became an Irish-American staple in the 19th century after immigrants in New York found the meat affordable, accessible, and extremely tasty.
More often than not, corned beef is served atop a bed of fresh cabbage, but you can also use leftovers in a classic Reuben sandwich or chop trimmings into a pan-fried hash. And that cabbage can be a bright green slaw or crispy roasted wedges. We also love to steam fresh vegetables alongside a rich gravy, or even frying up vegetables and corned beef at breakfast time, too.
Serving a classic corned beef and cabbage dinner is easy with set-it-and-forget-it recipes (this slow-cooker recipe is a prime example) and can be done in as little as 45 minutes using your Instant Pot.
Whichever way you slice or dice it, you simply can't go wrong with corned beef in your kitchen. Here are our favorite ways to eat corned beef and cabbage.
