Crispy Slow Cooker Corned Beef with perfectly juicy slices of beef and crispy crust this is the only corned beef recipe you’ll ever use!
We’re getting all of our St. Patrick’s Day recipe ready to go, and this year we’re serving Roasted Cabbage Steaks (these are AMAZING as leftovers in my Cabbage Soup), Roasted Carrots, and Scalloped Potatoes and we’re using leftovers in our Corned Beef Hash!
CRISPY SLOW COOKER CORNED BEEF
Crispy Slow Cooker Corned Beef has been a dish we make year round since we bought our deep freezer. Why you ask? Because since I had the ability to stock up during the “season” we now enjoy corned beef dinners and sandwiches all year long. You can serve this slow cooker version of this Irish-American classic with carrots, cabbage, or potatoes for St. Patrick’s Day.
The magic of the Crispy Slow Cooker Corned Beef is in the liquids. I normally say don’t add any liquid, but in this case the vinegar and the bay leaf need a helping hand. The little bit of water you’re using is a vehicle for your bay leaf and vinegar to help flavor the meat. This recipe needs a total time of 9-10 hours, so I recommend setting this up in the crock pot in the morning if you’re having it for dinner that night.
CAN YOU OVERCOOK CORNED BEEF IN A CROCK POT?
It is definitely possible to overcook any beef in the crock pot, resulting in a cut of beef that is bordering too soft. This recipe calls for cooking on low for 9-10 hours. I would try to stick with this cooking time. I also like to keep the slow cooker on low so the brisket has more time to cook, making it tender and juicy. You could try cooking this for a shorter time on high if you’re pressed for time.
DO YOU HAVE TO RINSE OFF CORNED BEEF BEFORE COOKING?
You can rinse corned beef, but it’s not a requirement. Rinsing the brisket removes any excess salt from the meat, resulting in a more mild flavor. Or you can put the beef in the crock pot without rinsing at all.
WHICH CUT OF CORNED BEEF IS MORE TENDER?
You can buy pre-brined corned beef, or get a brisket and add the seasoning to the corned beef yourself. I like to go with a round cut of brisket in the slow cooker, because it holds its shape better than a point cut and shrinks less in the pot, which is better if you have people over for St. Patricks day. But due to the point cut having more fat, it can turn out more tender than round cut. It’s a personal choice, because in the end both are used for this dish.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN CORNED BEEF IS DONE?
For food safety, you want to make sure your beef is cooked to at least 145 degrees F. Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature. There shouldn’t be an issue if you cook the beef for the entire time.
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MORE ST. PATRICK’S DAY CABBAGE, CARROT, AND POTATO RECIPES
- Ultimate Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Classic Buttered Carrots and Peas
- Slow Cooker Corned Beef Dinner
- Easy Mashed Potatoes
HOW DO YOU STORE CORNED BEEF?
You can store leftover crock pot corned beef in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Honestly, this usually doesn’t last past the second day at my house. You can also freeze your beef brisket with your favorite cabbage recipe for several months.
TIPS FOR MAKING CRISPY CORNED BEEF
- You can fill the slow cooker up with water for a more traditional corned beef, but keep in mine that the texture of the dish will not get crispy if it’s completely covered in liquid.
- You can add cabbage, sliced carrots, onions, and potatoes to the slow cooker when there’s about 2 hours left in the cooking time. The liquid from the corned beef will add a ton of flavor to the vegetables.
- This may look like a lot of spices, but crock pot corned beef gets its signature flavor from this so don’t worry, go ahead and use the seasoning packet as direction on your beef brisket.
- If your corned beef or beef brisket is too fatty, you can cut some of it off before placing in the crock pot. But leave a little bit, as this adds a lot of flavor to the dish.
- If you need more cabbage recipes try my Stuffed Cabbage Casserole, or Stuffed Cabbage Sloppy Joes! Or mix shredded cabbage together with mashed potatoes for a basic colcannon.
- In the morning shred leftover beef together with cabbage and potatoes to make Corned Beef Hash.
- I don’t recommend using the leftover drippings from the beef brisket in the slow cooker for any kind of gravy, because it will be really salty. Cooking bland vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, and cabbage, work well with this water because it will season them. Add some more flavor with allspice or celery.
- Serve your slow cooker corned beef recipe with horseradish or dijon mustard (you can also roast potatoes with dijon like these Dijon Roasted Potatoes) on St. Patrick’s Day!
Tools Used in making this Slow Cooker Corned Beef:
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is more open.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds corned beef , with packet
- 1 cups water , maybe less depending on size of slow cooker
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add corned beef, fat side up, to the slow cooker.
- Add the minced garlic, spice packet, sugar and pepper to the top of the meat and rub on.
- Add the vinegar and bay leaf to the side of the corned beef and add just enough water to come up about 25% of the way to the top of the meat.
- Cook on low for 8-9 hours.
- If for some reason the corned beef is not browned on top, or enough to your liking, put under a broiler (6-7 inches away) for 1-2 minutes.
- Leave the oven door open a bit so you can look in, this isn't something you can leave unattended.
Nutrition
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Since the 1st time I found your recipe, I’ve been making it about every 2 weeks! It’s so easy and delicious! Thank you SO much for sharing!!!
Love it!!
I am hoping this will go well on a Ruben sandwich love them, this will be my 1st attempt. I plan to cut vacuum seal and freeze so I can make a sandwich on the fly. Thanks for the information.
You’re welcome, Enjoy!
Mine is in the slow cooker now!! Oh I can’t wait to try!!
This as the best corned beef I’ve ever made. Delicious!! We made rubins but was so good we couldn’t stop picking on it while we made our sandwiches.
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
My son Salvatore brought corned beef for his Easter dish. From a slow cooker! I’m using your recipe tonight and cooking low.I’m making it for sandwiches. So excited! Thank you.
I hope you enjoy it!
Made exactly as listed and it was the best corned beef I’ve ever had. It was so good when we went to make it again I asked the hubby if I should sub a beer for the water and he said, “No, you don’t mess with perfection, we should make it just like it was because we already know it’s amazing”.
Yay! I’d definitely call that a success! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Crock pot cover on or off???
On 🙂
I made this today and followed the recipe. My husband who claims to not like corned beef ate every last bite.
The only yhing different I did was after cooking this in the slow cooker, I put it in a baking dish and baked it for 20 mins on 375 instead of broiling.
Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I love it when you’re able to convert someone into liking it!! You know it’s a winner!
What do you mean when you say “spice packet”? Is this something you purchase somewhere? I have no idea what this means in the Crispy Slow Cooker Corned Beef recipe. Help!!
Usually the corned beef comes with a spice packet but if it doesn’t you can easily make your own by simply mixing together mustard seeds, bay leaves, allspice berries, salt and pepper.
Aaahhhhmazing! I made this for my family a few nights ago and was skeptical. Best I’ve ever made. I did broil on low for 5 minutes after letting it rest under foil for 15-20 minutes.
Fantastic! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!
Made this today, and not only super easy but super yummy! I didn’t have fresh garlic on hand so just used garlic powder & onion powder. Put under the broiler for about 8 minutes for a little extra browning. Cut up carrots & potatoes & cooked in microwave, then in the oven for a few minutes while letting the corned beef rest before slicing. Delicious and best of all so easy! Thank you! 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Sherri!
Sabrina, thanks for sharing this recipe! I made it yesterday, followed it exactly as written and it was the best corned beef I’ve ever made. Day 2 reheated was even better. I’ll only make it this way from now on! I took your advice and bought an extra for the freezer. Can’t wait to make it again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Just wanted to clarify that the liquid coverage is a quarter of the way up and that the meat fat side up should show without liquid covering it??
Yes 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made it yesterday and it was delicious. Rice vinegar was substituted for ACV only because that’s all I had in the cabinet. The flavor was wonderful! Next time I’ll use ACV to see if I notice a difference. Thanks again!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Made this again this weekend with ACV and it is DELICIOUS! Thanks again for this super yummy recipe! You’re a rockstar!! TEN STARS 🙂
Awww, you just made my day!! Thank you so much!
Hi Sabrina
Made this yet again during our “Safer At Home” here in California for the virus outbreak ?. This is the ONLY recipe I use now for corned beef!! Stay safe.
So glad you love it so much!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! The whole family gave it two thumbs up! Will be delicious in reuben sandwiches too!
Love it! Thanks for the 5 star rating!!
I used this recipe today. Changes made were: substituted brown sugar for the regular sugar, used a little more than called for, and added 1.5tsp yellow mustard powder to the spice mix. I also used dehydrated garlic.
It was DELICIOUS; cooked 5 hrs on high and removed a bunch of liquid at about 3.5 hours. Next time, I’d increase the sugar and mustard a bit more and I would not use the dehydrated garlic unless I soaked it first. That was my own mistake, though it came out great anyway. The texture was better than other slow cooker corned beef that I’ve had, the fat cap was crispy after a few minutes under the broiler and looked very nice. The flavor was much better than other recipes.
I served it with your dijon potatoes and the brussels sprouts in garlic butter from Genius Kitchen. Will make again!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I’m sugar free, is the sugar what causes the crispy? Typically I just slow cook with the packet but the crispness looks divine.
The fat rendering down is what makes it crispy so if you want to omit the sugar, you’ll still have the crisp. I hope you enjoy it!
Not sure how much water to actually add?
You want the liquid to cover the corned beef about a quarter of the way up from the bottom. For me, that was about a cup of water but you may need more or less depending on the size of your slow cooker.
made this but. rubbed it with the spices & browned lt then used 1 cup beer instead of water …turned out great!
My crock pot isn’t large enough to accommodate the size meat that I need. I’d like to cook it in the oven with my Dutch oven. Can you recommend a cooking time and temperature?
So sorry I’m just now seeing this. 🙁 I haven’t tested it but I would recommend 3-4 hours at 325 degrees.
Is there a way to incorporate some Guinness in this I wonder … ? 🙂
I haven’t tested it but you could always use Guinness in place of the water. Enjoy!!
So you don’t cook the cabbage with the corned beef? How do you make the cabbage?
I love making crispy roasted cabbage steaks! They are so good!
Just to clarify, you open the spice packet ad add to the other spices as rub on in the beginning? And, 1/4 inch up from the bottom, or 1/4 inch down from the top?
***Novice cook-Corned beef junkie!!!
You want to add the spice packet to the other spices and rub on the top of the corned beef. The vinegar, bay leaf and water get poured into the slow cooker (around the corned beef) to come up a quarter of the way up….so up from the bottom. I hope this helps clarify things and I’m so glad you asked!! Enjoy!!
Hello Sabrina,
First off, your corned beef looks delicious!
I just finished brining my brisket for two weeks with my own blend of pickling spices. I believe that I’m going to use your recipe but I’m curious to hear your opinion on two things:
Instead of putting the corned beef under the broiler at the end of cooking, would it work to brown the brisket on both sides prior to cooking? The same way that you would do so to a beef bourgenion.
Secondly, have you ever tried using a beer as your liquid?
Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
You could brown each side vs broiling but broiling only takes a few seconds so that’s just an easier route, at least for me. Also, I love the idea of using beer in this recipe. Sounds delicious!
Can I cook the brisket for 4 hours then chill it and put in refrigerator and continue to cook it more the day after?
Also when do I add the potato’s?
And last one-how do I know when it’s ready?
No, I’m sorry. This just won’t work.
This is hands down the best Corned Beef recipe I have ever used. Even the son who doesn’t usually like Corned Beef asked for more. It was so juicy, tender, and flavorful! Definitely will continue to make this one. Thank you so much!
I’d definitely call that a winner! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Hello this is Annie I am going to cook this and I woke up early to make sure I gave enough time to cook it I have a 3 pound corn beef point cut and was wondering exactly how long does it need to cook because I am confused by all the coments and how do you know witch side should be facing up also do I boil the veggies in water a hour before the meat is done
The instructions listed for time should be totally fine for you. Always cook in the slow cooker with fat side up, it helps to keep the meat moist. You can see in the photos the fat is on top of the cuts of meat. I served mine with roasted vegetables, but if you wanted to boil them I’d guess do it a half hour before hand? No need to finish them an hour ahead.
Just wondering , what is the spice packet? Mine does not come with one.
The packet contains a mixture of whole pickling spices such as allspice, coriander, mustard seed, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, dill seed and others. They also make a corned beef spice blend or a pickling spice blend that you can find in the spice aisle as well.
Have you tried this method then shredded for corned beef hash?
Yes, it works great!
Halfway through cooking, i checked on it, and it was almost fully submerged in liquid even though i only put the recommended amount of water. Is this normal? I ladled out most of the liquid until it was back to where it started.
Yea, that’s not normal but you definitely did the right thing by ladling it out. There are a few reasons why there was more water than normal. Sometimes the meat isn’t fully thawed but more times than not, the meat packer has pumped the meat with a water solution before packaging. Glad you checked and were able to make a quick fix.
Amazing! I had a 2.4 lb point cut and it was perfect at 5 hours on low. The only thing I changed was adding citrus champagne vinegar in lieu of ACV because I had run out. Broiled for a few minutes to get it nice and brown. So good!!!!
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed it!!
I made this yesterday and while it was very tender (8 hours on low), the meat turned out to be very salty. Has anyone else had this problem? I wonder if it was due to the small amount of water used compared to the traditional method of cooking corned beef in a pot of boiling water.
You can definitely soak it in water to adjust the salt level to your liking.
Oh my goodness! This was the best corned beef I’ve ever made! Thank you, thank you – the sweet and vinegar offset the usual overkill of salt and the method resulted in a tender, but crispy roast. Definitely will do this again!
So glad to hear this!! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know what a success it was!
Terrific! Added quartered red potatoes & carrots the last 30 minutes under brisket. So delicious, thank you!
Also made the crispy cabbage. Next time am making 2 heads! Delicious.
I forgot to mention that I cooked it on high for 4.5 hours. Thought this could be helpful for others!
Thanks Marie for letting us know the cooking time.
I made this tonight with colcannon as a side. I did go ahead and add some carrots/onions to crock. I thought they were great. I did end up putting brisket under broiler- excellent idea. I love corned beef but not the huge fat cap that is otherwise left after cooking. I also put the veggies under broiler for a couple of minutes to carmelize then a little extra seasoning. Amazing recipe! I will be sure to use it again! Thanks for sharing!
Any cooking time suggestions on a 5.5lb corned beef using this method?
Because you’re just about doubling the meat, you could almost double the rest of the ingredient list as well. The timing will need to adjust too so I would suggest putting it on high unless you’re cooking overnight. You’re looking for it to be done with it reaches 145 degrees F.
Do you think I’d be able to cook it on high for 4-5 hours instead?
Yes, others have commented that they were able to cook it on high for 4.5-5 hours. Enjoy!
Would it be ok to carrots and onions with it? This looks great and I’m excited to try a different way to cook my corned beef! Thanks for sharing and any advice!
The vegetables might need a bit more water and adding that would effect the crisp of the corned beef. I do have that another recipe that included carrots and onion here: //dinnerthendessert.com/slow-cooker-corned-beef-dinner/. Enjoy!
Thanks Sabrina! That recipe looks great as well! I did happen to leave extra water in the crock for the veggies. And you’re right about the crispness, I did put it under broiler to accomplish it. Thanks again!
So glad it turned out well! Hope you had a great St. Patrick’s Day!
Best Corned Beef recipe I have ever tried. It is my favorite by far. Tons of flavor and very juicy. My whole family loved it.
Fantastic! I know how hard it is to please everyone so I take that as a huge compliment! Thanks for dropping back by to let me know how much everyone loved it!
This was fantastic- super satisfying texture and I really enjoyed it. We had a 3lb’er and three of us ate it right up.
Thank you for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed it! I have a lot of other slow cooker recipes you should try as well!
What is in the packet with cornbeef recipe. Dont have a packet
The packet contains a mixture of whole pickling spices such as allspice, coriander, mustard seed, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, dill seed and others. They also make a corned beef spice blend or a pickling spice blend.
If using pickling spice how much should I use?
I suggest using 1 1/2 tablespoons. 🙂
Such a cool idea! One I’ve never seen before. 🙂
I’m amazed you haven’t seen it! This is my husband’s favorite thing I use the slow cooker for!
Your Corned Beef looks absolutely drool worthy. I like to stock up on what’s on sale too and freeze it. It’s so much more economical.
Great minds think alike, Dawn! I’m glad you’re already on the Corned Beef boat!
I’m headed over to see that potato recipe. Sounds like something our whole family would love.
Those potatoes are a staple in our house, and they’re the perfect complement to this corned beef!
I love corned beef! I never have made it in the crock pot this sounds delicious and what a great way to make it too!!
It’s the perfect way to keep it tender and delicious and ensuring it gets fully infused with corned beef flavor!
I’m not a fan of corned beef but my husband loves it. I will have to make this for him! He’d be thrilled.
My husband loves corned beef too! He gobbled this one up within a couple days!
I’ve really discovered the magic of a good crock-pot recipe, and this one just looks nummy. I especially like how you bent your own rule about liquids because you knew the recipe needed it.
Thanks Brett! I do love my slow cooker and I am realizing I need to add more of my slow cooker recipes here. 🙂
scrumptious looking dish! crispy outside but looks juicy inside.. love it!
Thanks! This really does infuse the beef with a ton of flavor!
Can y write to me can I use Apple cider vinegar how much garlic fresh or the jar
Yes, you can use apple cider vinegar…it’s essentially the same product as cider vinegar. You’ll want to use 3 cloves of fresh garlic for this recipe. Enjoy!
Nice and easy and sounds good. Thank you. Happy Easter!
Thanks! And happy Easter!