You won’t need to slice it, just pull it apart, as it will be very tender.
Decorate the beef and vegetables on the plate, and enjoy
We make a few dishes all year round because they are so flavorful. And pioneer woman crockpot corned beef is one of those.
It’s a super simple recipe that you can make at home. And using a crock pot will turn this corned beef into a delicious melt-in-your-mouth experience.
Imagine the smell of veggies and the umami aroma of the juicy and tender corned beef.
All this is heavenly! And the perfect comfort food for everyone.
This post shares the most authentic recipe to make pioneer woman crockpot corned beef at home.
How to Make Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef
The adored corned beef and cabbage dinner are better than the so-called meat and potato dishes.
It is an Irish-American delicacy and is quite popular in the U.S. and Canada.
It is also known as boiled dinner or Jiggs dinner because the corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots are cooked together.
Corned beef is beef cured in brine (salted water).
Some people also add pickling spices to brine to enhance beef’s flavor.
The following is the easy-to-make Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef recipe:
Ingredients
- Corned beef with seasoning packet (3 pounds)
- Beef broth (2 cups)
- Onion (1 piece quartered)
- Red-skinned potatoes (1 pound halved or quartered)
- Carrots (2 cups sliced)
- Cabbage (½ cut in wedges form)
- Freshly crushed pepper (for taste)
Instructions
Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef is slow-cooked, boiled, or pressure cooked to obtain tender and flavorful corned beef briskets.
Corned beef is also available in the ready-to-cook form, but if you wish to cure your beef, you can do it yourself too.
We have used ready-to-cook corned beef in this recipe, which is available with a spice packet. Below are the step-by-step instructions for this recipe:
Step 1
Cut the carrots into 3 to 4-inch pieces and the onion into quarters. Make sure that you leave the root ends intact on the onion.
Now cut the potatoes and cabbages into quarters and put them aside.
We will only add some of the veggies in the crockpot as some can get mushy when cooked for so long.
Step 2
Wash the corned beef and put it aside. Take a pan and put two tablespoons of oil in the pan; now add the beef briskets.
Cook both sides of the beef briskets for 4 to 5 minutes until the sides are brown.
Now add the onions to the bottom of the crockpot and put corned beef over it.
Ensure the corned beef has a fat-cap side up in the crockpot. Pour the seasoning from the spice packet on the beef.
Add 2 cups of beef broth and turn on the slow cooker. Cook it for around 4 to 5 hours.
Step 3
When the corned beef is cooked for around 4 to 5 hours, it’s time to add potatoes and carrots to the crockpot.
After being cooked for 4 to 5 hours, the corned beef will be tender. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes more with the potatoes and carrots in the crockpot.
Make sure that the vegetables are tender after 30 to 40 minutes.
Step 4
Add cabbages to the crockpot and cook for 15 to 20 minutes more.
You must add cabbage to the crockpot around 30 minutes prior to serving.
Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef should have slightly cooked cabbage that is neither too crispy nor too tender.
Thus, wait to add cabbage; otherwise, it will become ultra-tender.
Step 5
Take a fork and check if the beef is fork-tender. Now take out the corned beef and vegetables on a plate.
The smell of the melt-in-your-mouth corned beef and veggies will take you back to those days when we used to have it at your college’s cafeteria.
Now slice the corned beef just like you would cut a brisket.
You won’t need to slice it, just pull it apart, as it will be very tender.
Decorate the beef and vegetables on the plate, and enjoy!
Ingredient Substitution
Remember that Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef is a dry dish containing no gravy.
You must ensure that all the liquid has dried in the crockpot before the Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef is entirely ready.
The result should be a steak-like beef piece with veggies.
If you don’t find any ingredient or don’t like one of them, you can consider the following substitutions:
Cauliflower
You can use cauliflower as a substitute for cabbage.
Though cabbage is the main ingredient in Crock Pot corned beef, you can still enjoy this delicious meal if you don’t like it.
Cabbage has a unique peppery taste, and cauliflower is its great replacement as it offers the same crunchy bite.
Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes can be a good substitute for red potatoes, especially if you want to limit your carb intake.
These potatoes are delicious and have a slightly more mushy texture than regular potatoes.
They are fiber-rich and are considered healthier than other types of potatoes.
What to Serve with Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef
The Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef requires a few hours to cook, but all that wait is worth it.
You’ll notice this when you slice the beef and your knife moves like butter.
It is delicious, nutritious, and a complete meal for lunch and dinner.
The dish goes well with many side dishes, appetizers, and bread.
You can serve the following sides with the Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef:
Cream Cheese Garlic Bread Rolls
Cream cheese garlic bread rolls can prove to be
perfect sides for corned beef and veggies. They have a nice crispy crust, and the interior is soft, buttery, and rich.
You can make these rolls yourself or buy them from a nearby bakery. No matter what, they’ll be a perfect match with the crockpot corned beef.
Fried Pickles
Fried pickles add that tanginess to the whole meal that most of us need. The dill pickle snacks are sour, delicious, and a fantastic appetizer with corned beef.
The best thing about having fried pickles with corned beef is that they will neutralize the saltiness of corned beef and overpower it.
Mustard Sauce
Don’t need any heavy side because you think corned beef is already too heavy? Worry not, because you can have a sweet and sour sauce.
A mustard sauce with grainy mustard and honey is straightforward to make, and it will enhance the overall eating experience of corned beef and veggies.
How to Store Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef
You can store the Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef in the refrigerator or freezer. The following are some tips for keeping this corned beef dish:
Airtight Container
Use an airtight container whether you keep it in the fridge or the freezer. For storing the corned beef in the refrigerator, you can keep the vegetables along with it.
The corned beef and veggies in the refrigerator will remain fresh for up to three days.
You can keep the crockpot corned beef in any other container, but an airtight container works best.
Zip-Top Freezer Bag
Use a zip-top freezer bag to freeze the leftover Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef.
To add more protection to the corned beef, use aluminum foil and wrap the zip-top bag.
Make sure you squeeze out all the air so that it remains fresh for longer. And you can freeze Crockpot corned beef for up to three months.
How to Reheat Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef
If you want to reheat Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef after taking it out from the freezer, you must thaw it first.
Allow the corned beef to thaw so that you can reheat it.
The following are the different ways to reheat the Pioneer Crockpot Corned Beef:
Oven
To reheat the corned beef in an oven, you must preheat the oven to 355 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wrap the corned beef in aluminum foil and put it on an oven-proof dish or pan.
Keep it in the oven and heat it for around 4 to 5 minutes. Check the internal temperature of the corned beef and take it out if it’s warm enough for you.
Doing this is the best way to reheat the Crockpot corned beef as it brings it back to life.
Microwave
To reheat the Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef, put the food in a microwave-safe dish. You can overlap the corned beef or keep it stacked.
Now put a wet paper towel on the corned beef and veggies.
Turn on the microwave and heat it on high for around 20 to 30 seconds.
Check if the meat and veggies are warm enough, then take it out and enjoy.
This method is helpful if you have refrigerated the Crockpot corned beef and not frozen it.
Your Top Questions Answered
1. Why Is My Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef Tough?
Tough corned beef usually means it didn’t cook long enough.
The collagen in the brisket needs time to break down, and rushing it leaves you with chewy, dense meat.
I always use the two-fork pull test: if it resists, give it another hour on high.
Don’t skip that extra time; it’s worth it!
2. Why Does My Corned Beef Taste Flat or Bland?
This can throw you off, especially after hours of cooking.
The Pioneer Woman’s approach layers flavor through thyme and aromatics under the meat, and skipping those makes a real difference.
I also swap water for beer or chicken stock to boost depth.
Salt levels in briskets vary by brand, so taste before serving and adjust.
3. Why Did My Cabbage Turn to Mush?
Adding cabbage too early is the most discouraging mistake you can make with this dish.
Cabbage needs only the last two hours on high, just like Pioneer Woman specifies.
Keep the core intact on your wedges; it holds the leaves together and prevents total collapse!
To save over-softened cabbage, serve it as a rustic side and slice it thin.
4. How Do I Know the Fat Cap Is Doing Its Job?
Place the fat side up every time, no exceptions!
As it renders, you’ll see the cooking liquid turn slightly cloudy and golden.
That’s your visual cue that fat is basting the meat continuously.
If the liquid looks completely clear after two hours, your fat cap may have slipped; reposition it.
5. Why Are My Potatoes Still Hard at the End?
This can genuinely be alarming after a full cook cycle.
I always use small red-skinned potatoes, exactly as Pioneer Woman recommends, because larger ones just won’t cook through in time.
Push them down into the liquid so they’re partially submerged.
You’ve got this; a quick 20-minute blast on high usually finishes them!
6. What Should It Smell Like During Cooking?
Around the two-hour mark, your kitchen should smell savory, briny, and herby from the thyme and spice packet.
A sharp, sour smell is a signal that something is off, often from a very old brine.
In my experience, a pleasant, deeply savory aroma means your slow cooker is doing exactly what it should be doing.
7. Can I Use Pickling Spice Instead of the Packet?
Absolutely, and I do this regularly!
One tablespoon of pickling spice works as a direct substitute because it contains peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander, and bay leaves.
The Pioneer Woman even confirms this swap works beautifully.
What I do is wrap the spice in cheesecloth so it doesn’t scatter through the vegetables and broth.
Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef
- Crockpot
- saucepan
- Plate
- 3 pounds Corned beef with seasoning packet
- 2 cups Beef broth
- 1 piece quartered Onion
- 1 pound halved or quartered Red-skinned potatoes
- 2 cups sliced Carrots
- ½ cut in wedges form Cabbage
- Freshly crushed pepper for taste
- Cut the carrots into 3 to 4-inch pieces and the onion into quarters. Make sure that you leave the root ends intact on the onion.
- Now cut the potatoes and cabbages into quarters and put them aside. We will only add some of the veggies in the crockpot as some can get mushy when cooked for so long.
- Wash the corned beef and put it aside. Take a pan and put two tablespoons of oil in the pan; now add the beef briskets.
- Cook both sides of the beef briskets for 4 to 5 minutes until the sides are brown.
- Now add the onions to the bottom of the crockpot and put corned beef over it.
- Ensure the corned beef has a fat-cap side up in the crockpot. Pour the seasoning from the spice packet on the beef.
- Add 2 cups of beef broth and turn on the slow cooker. Cook it for around 4 to 5 hours.
- When the corned beef is cooked for around 4 to 5 hours, it’s time to add potatoes and carrots to the crockpot.
- After being cooked for 4 to 5 hours, the corned beef will be tender. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes more with the potatoes and carrots in the crockpot. Make sure that the vegetables are tender after 30 to 40 minutes.
- Add cabbages to the crockpot and cook for 15 to 20 minutes more. You must add cabbage to the crockpot around 30 minutes prior to serving.
- Pioneer Woman Crockpot Corned Beef should have slightly cooked cabbage that is neither too crispy nor too tender. Thus, wait to add cabbage; otherwise, it will become ultra-tender.
- Take a fork and check if the beef is fork-tender. Now take out the corned beef and vegetables on a plate.
- Now slice the corned beef just like you would cut a brisket.
- You won't need to slice it, just pull it apart, as it will be very tender. Decorate the beef and vegetables on the plate, and enjoy
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