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Craving a comforting, home-cooked meal? Look no further than the classic European favorite: Honey Glazed Corned Beef and Cabbage. It's more versatile than just for St Patrick’s Day! Deliciously slow-cooked with hearty vegetables, this recipe is easy enough to make to feed your whole family delightfully. For an extra sweet touch (and who could resist?) I expertly glazed my beefy masterpiece in dark honey – Buckwheat or Bamboo work particularly nicely as they have bigger, bolder molasses flavors - alongside mustard, ginger, and coconut sugar; it made for such heavenly flavor harmony anyone would think angels were singing about it from above.
The quality of the meat you buy will have everything to do with how much everyone loves this meal. Treat yourself, go to a butcher, and ask for a first cut of beef. Also, depending on where you get the beef, it may already be corned and, therefore, won’t come with pickling spices.
How to make Honey-Glazed Corned Beef
First things first. Go to the butcher and your local market for your ingredients. Here's your list:
- Corned beef brisket that weighs around 5 pounds
- You'll need 4 quarts of water
- Pickling spices
- A large white onion
- Garlic cloves
- A few Medium carrots
- A couple of ribs of celery
- Small red potatoes
- A large head of cabbage
- Bee Inspired Honey
- Coconut sugar
- Dijon mustard
- Ground ginger
The term corned comes from the process of using large "corns" of rock salt to treat this beef cut. The corning process allowed the beef to be stored for long periods in the past.
Cook the Corned Beef
- Tie pickling spices in a disposable paper tea bag or cheesecloth.
- In a large stockpot, combine corned beef, water, pickling spices, one carrot, one celery rib, quartered onion, and garlic cloves. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350*F.
- Place a cooking rack in a shallow baking pan or dish.
- Remove all cooked veggies and pickling spices from the broth and discard.
Prepare the honey glaze and bake
- Place on rack fat side up, reserving broth
- Mix honey, sugar, mustard, and ginger in a small bowl. Brush glaze evenly over the meat.
- Dry off corned beef
- Grab a baking dish and cover it in foil.
- Add corned beef- Salt, + Pepper, then add glaze
- Wrap in foil, and bake for around 45 minutes to 1 hr per pound of corned beef, making sure the internal temp is a minimum of 145 degrees.
- Take off the top of the foil, and broil for around 5 minutes or until the fat on top is crispy.
- Allow corned beef to stand for 10 minutes before carving.
- Twenty minutes before serving, return reserved water to a medium boil.
- Add remaining fresh-cut carrots, celery, cabbage, and potatoes to boiling water for 15 minutes before serving beef.
Cook carrots, cabbage, and potatoes and serve
- Prepare a platter.
- Carve corned beef across the grain.
- Place beef beautifully on the platter.
- Decorate the platter with cabbage quarters and veggies.
I cook my honey-glazed corned beef in a big stockpot. But, if you prefer, make this recipe in a crockpot. If your crockpot has a rack, use it. It will take 6 hours on high. Follow this recipe. Pull the crockpot liner out in the final step and move it to the stovetop. Remove all the veggies you cooked with, and use the cooking liquid to boil the carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. You won't need to boil these for long: just enough to finish them.
Glazed Corned Beef is Even Better, Your Way!
The best thing about any of our recipes is that you can make them entirely your own. Want more veggies? Add them! Want to use our honey glaze but don't have beef? Use ham or even fish! Have fun with your food, and make it however you like. Here are some suggestions from our test kitchen:
- Add in parsnips or turnips
- Serve with crusty rye bread and horseradish mustard
- Add a little red pepper to the glaze for a touch of heat.
And that's how you make the perfect Honey Glazed Corned Beef and Cabbage! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. Every time we sit down to eat it, we can't help but smile and savor every bite of this home-cooked comfort food. What are some of your favorite recipes that bring back warm memories?
