Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe
Easy Corned Beef with Cabbage
Follow our easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions to learn how to make our Corned Beef and Cabbage using canned corned beef. Printable recipe included.
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We’re using canned corned beef to make this quick and easy meal. You’ll have supper on the table in no time.
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You might be wondering what an old Southern boy is doing posting a recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage on a website devoted to Southern foods and Southern cooking. I have your answer.
It’s just good eating. Smile.
Here in the South, we have our traditional New Years Day menu. That includes Collards, Black Eye Peas, Hog Jowl or some type of pork, and of course, some corn bread. It’s just good eating.
I know St. Patricks Day is a few months away, but I had to respond to a request for this recipe when I saw it, because it had been a long time since I’d had this myself.
John D. is a subscriber to our Newsletter and asked if I could “help an old timer out” by posting a recipe for canned corn beef and cabbage and the photos to show how to make it.
John said he was a widower, over 70, and he loved cabbage cooked in a skillet. He said he enjoyed Taste of Southern and was looking for an easy recipe he could fix for himself.
Cooking for just one can sometimes be difficult. I know this all too well myself.
Now, you could spend four or five hours waiting on a piece of beef to cook in a crock pot, or you can have this super easy meal on the table in under 30 minutes. Your choice. Smile.
John was looking for a version that used the canned corn beef and I was more than happy to try to help him out. Thank you for the suggestion John.
I’d forgotten how good this combination of ingredients could be. While I’m not much of a fan of “greens” I do enjoy cabbage, but prefer it when used as cole slaw to go along with some pulled pork.
Don’t let the canned corn beef throw you off. I know it has a unique smell when you open the can, and if you have a dog or cat, they will probably come running. Smile. But, once it’s heated up with the cooked cabbage, you’ll also be thanking John for the reminder.
Even though the house still has the aroma of cooked cabbage on the day after, I’m looking forward to enjoying the leftovers for supper in just an hour or two. It’s just good eating.
So, if you’re ready to give it a try, then let’s head on out to the kitchen, and Let’s Get Cooking!
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Canned Corned Beef with Cabbage Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.
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I like to remove the outer layer of leaves from the cabbage, you know, the one’s that get handled so much in the grocery store. Then, I rinse the head of cabbage under some cool running water.
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Next, cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the hard center core.
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Discard the hard core, then cut the remaining sections into bite sized pieces.
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Place your skillet over Medium heat on the stove top and let it warm up. Once it’s warm, add two tablespoons of bacon fat to the pan and let it begin to melt.
You could use butter if you don’t have the bacon grease, or you could use a combination of the two. Whatever works best for you. Smile.
If you’re not saving your bacon fat, fry up three or four slices of bacon first, then cook the cabbage in the grease from that. Save the fried bacon and crumble it on top of the finished dish. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
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Add the cut up pieces of cabbage to the skillet. This is almost the entire head. Once it cooked down a bit, I added the remaining two cups or so that wouldn’t fit in to begin with.
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Add the salt. I’m going easy with the salt because the corned beef will have a good amount of salt in it. You can always add more later if you think it needs it.
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Next, add the black pepper.
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And you know me, we have to add a little bit of sugar… just because Mama always did.
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Finally, add about 1/4 cup of water.
The cabbage will produce water on it’s own once it starts to cook down, so you don’t want to add but just a small amount to help get it cooking to start with.
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Stir everything together to help distribute the seasonings.
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Cover the skillet and let the cabbage simmer for about five minutes.
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Once you get the can of corned beef open, just take a tablespoon and spoon it into the cabbage.
I hadn’t seen a twist key on a can in a long time. I wish I had taken a photo to show it to you because you might be using some other brand. These old twist keys use to be seen on a lot of cans, like sardines etc., and were sometimes difficult to use.
Once I had the can opened, I just spooned it out and into the cabbage and left it in large pieces. Of course, if you prefer, you could crumble it up first then add it to the pan.
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Cover the skillet once again and let it simmer for about 8 to 10 more minutes.
The canned corned beef is already fully cooked. We’re just heating it up here, but mostly you’ll want to cook it until the cabbage reaches the desired tenderness that you like. Some folks like cabbage still a little bit crispy, while the rest of us like to cook it down to a more tender state. Smile.
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Enjoy!
It’s all done when you get the cabbage cooked the way you like it. I served this with a side of some red skinned potatoes that I had also quartered and boiled in some salted water then topped with butter once I placed it on the plate. Only thing missing was a few hoe cakes and sweet tea.
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Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish, Beef
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American, Southern
Description
Canned Corned Beef makes this meal come together in just minutes as opposed to having to spend hours waiting on a crock pot. It’s so easy.
Ingredients
1 can Corn Beef – 12oz
1 small Cabbage
2 Tablespoon Bacon Grease
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
½ teaspoon Sugar
¼ cup Water
Instructions
Rinse the cabbage under cool running water.
Cut cabbage into quarters, discarding the stem.
Slice cabbage into bite sized pieces.
Place a skillet over Medium heat on your stove top and let it heat up.
Add the bacon grease and let melt.
Add the bite sized pieces of cabbage.
Add salt.
Add black pepper.
Add the sugar.
Add the water.
Stir well to combine.
Cover and let simmer 5 minutes.
Crumble the corn beef over the cabbage.
Cover again and let simmer 8-10 minutes or until cabbage is done as desired.
Enjoy!
Keywords: canned corned beef, cabbage, bacon fat, bacon grease, easy, southern, simple
Your Comments:
Have you tried this super easy recipe to make Corned Beef and Cabbage or do you prefer the more labor intensive version using a piece of corned beef?
Share your memories of this great Southern dish with us. It will only take a minute or two for you to leave your comments in the section below.
Just remember, all comments are moderated. That just means that I personally read each and everyone before they are approved for viewing on our family friendly website. Thank you in advance for sharing.
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Be Blessed!!!
Steve
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You might also like: Beef Tips with Rice and Gravy
Or, maybe this one: Beef Hash Recipe
Okay, I know you’ll like this one: Macaroni and Beef Recipe
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Category: Beef, Main Dishes
I’m so grateful to find this recipe! My mom just passed away a few days ago and a television show reminded me of her corned beef and cabbage that I loved as a kid. I thought I had the recipe but could not find it in my recipe box. I found this one and it was exactly like my mom’s recipe!!! My picky family loved it and I’m overjoyed to share one of my favorite meals with my own family. I miss my mom so much already but this recipe will help me keep her memory alive!!!
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Oh my Goodness!!! Best I have ever had, and I ain’t no spring chicken! Thanks so much for your step-by-step photo instructions. A big happy smile for you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! And I did compliment it with sweet cornbread and home baked peach cobbler. Ah, contentment!!!
I love this recipe. I first ate this 43 years ago while working in a grocery store. Just before lunch time once a week one of the coworkers would cook this for us back in the stock room. It was the best lunch. No worries about the smell, we just knew we had something good to look forward to. Happy New Year! I hope 2021 serves you well.
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I have always cooked mine in a pressure cooker. My variation includes 1lb. Of carrots cut into 1in Slices(don’t bother peeling), 3 sweet onions quartered. The carrots and onions add sweetness. No need for added sugar.
Hi Janice, Thank you for sharing your comments with us and your variation on the recipe. I bet yours turn out to be very tasty. Carrots and onions help a lot of dishes. I do appreciate your visit and I hope you’ll visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Steve, my grandmother cooked her cabbage and corned beef exactly like your recipe!! When I read your recipe it was good memories coming back from a while ago. Thank you and keep on cooking!!
Thanks for this recipe. Tried it, however, did not like the taste of this particular corned beef, to me smelled like dog food. Was very easy to make and will try again but with different brand of meat. The cabbage was very good and may just try cooking it again with just the bacon grease. Might also buy a few slices of corned beef from a deli and see how that turns out. I just like cabbage and the smell does not bother me at all. Hope you have a wonderful and healthy week. Best Wishes.
Hi Page, This was the only brand available when I shopped for it. It does have a unique aroma, I admit that, but it tasted good to me. I’m glad you tried the recipe though, and I appreciate you taking the time to add your comments on it. I hope you find a brand of corned beef that you like and that you’ll try it again. I do appreciate your visits, and I hope you’ll visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Sorry Steve. Not my favorite recipe. But I look forward to seeing all your recipes on cakes.
Best wishes for a Happy New Year and Good Health.
Gisele
Hi Gisele, Easily understood, not a problem with me. Which do you like the least? Corned Beef or Cabbage? Thank you for stopping by and sharing your comment with us. I appreciate you being a subscriber to the Newsletter. I wish you and yours a very Happy 2019 and beyond. May they be your best years ever. Be Blessed!!! -Steve PS: Visit with us again… real soon.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for your newsletters, don’t change a thing! Look forward to them every week, and the recipes too. This weeks looks very good, but like some one else said, my husband doesn’t like the smell of cooked cabbage either. But I would love to try this. I pray that your vertigo will just up and go away and you can get back to your road trips. Good to hear about Billy and Jan too.
Hi Marilyn, What’s up with all the husbands not liking the aroma of cooking cabbage? Maybe you can try it one day when he’s going to be away for a few hours. Just leave all the windows up and all the doors open. Smile. Thank you for being a subscriber to the Newsletter and for your prayers. I agree with you on the Vertigo just going away. And, thank you for your prayers for my friends Billy and Jan. I hope 2019 and beyond will be your best years ever. Please visit with us often, the door is always open for you. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
I love this but haven’t had it in a long time. I live with my daughter and her family. My son-in-law hates the smell of cabbage cooking. They will eat the canned corned beef if I add it to fried potatoes. So I have to wait until they go away for a few days to have boiled or fried cabbage, sauerkraut and hot dogs, or cauliflower. So I encourage them to take every day they can. But I really prefer my cabbage with fried fatback when I can find a decent size slab. With corn bread of course.
Love your website and newsletter.
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Hi Priscilla, Thank you for your comments. Hopefully you’ll get to try the Corned Beef and Cabbage again soon. You made me chuckle when you said you encouraged your daughter and family to take every day away that they could. Smile. I must admit, I could still smell the aroma of cooked cabbage the following day after I cooked this. It kind of lingers in the air. And, I bet you can remember when fatback came in slices that were an inch or two wide. Don’t see that anymore, at least not around my area. I do appreciate you taking the time to write. I appreciate your compliments on the website and the Newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and for all of your support. I will always appreciate your visits and I do hope you’ll stop by again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
I grew up on a farm in the Midwest, and we always had corned beef and cabbage for our New Year’s Day dinner. Since I’m now a long-time Georgia girl, we celebrate with greens, black eyed peas, and pork for New Year’s dinner.
I look forward to your letter each week. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Karen, Thank you for sharing your memories of the Corned Beef and Cabbage. I’m glad you’re now enjoying the Southern way of life. Smile. Thank you for being a subscriber of the Newsletter and for all of your support. It’s my pleasure to share the recipes. I appreciate your visits and do hope you’ll stop by again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Wish you a great New Year. Want to express my appreciation for you introducing folks to “good ole plain sustenance food”. A recipe for a good dish and your encouragement to try it and adjust to suit your taste. Never eaten canned corn beef in cabbage. Have eaten a lot of it with hash brown potatoes browned up nicely and stewed tomatoes poured over an brought to a boil. Pretty ‘fitten served up with some kind of skillet bread. This was an invention of our old camp cook. Another interesting dish, Tom never wasted any leftover squash, pea or bean. These were made into breakfast fritters and griddled like pancakes. Quite good with some breakfast meat and cane syrup.
Appreciate your site, the reviews are very entertaining. May you be blessed with health and happiness.
Hi Anthony, It’s my pleasure to share the recipes and its folks like you that make it all worth while. Thank You. I do hope you’ll get to try the Corned Beef and Cabbage together some time soon. I think you might like it. I bet those breakfast fritters were mighty tasty in the mornings. I will always be grateful for your support and for your visits to Taste of Southern. May 2019 and beyond be your best years ever. Thank you for sharing your comments and for your visit today. I do hope you’ll stop by again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
That looks really good! I’ve always made corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot using regular corned beef. This would be a lot quicker.
Corned beef and cabbage is traditionally served in Savannah for St Patrick’s Day. They have an Irish festival with lots of corned beef served too.
Many thanks for sharing this recipe!
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Hi Kathleen, The Irish Festival in Savannah sounds like fun. It’s my pleasure to share the recipe. Perhaps I can do the longer version of cooking this for St. Patrick’s Day, but this was still good to me, and so easy to do. Thank you for your visit today. The door is always open for you, so please visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
love your website. I look forward to Monday’s I have tried several recipes don’t have favorite there all good
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Hi Teresa, Thank you for your compliments on Taste of Southern, and for being a subscriber to the Newsletter. Hopefully you’ll try the Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe one day soon. I appreciate your visits and do hope you’ll stop by often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Thanks again, Steve.
Parents used canned corned beef, sliced as sandwich meat. I never liked it . Thought I may buy sliced corned beef from the deli and lay it on the cabbage. Anything for a quick meal.
Remember that the key would break and Dad would finish opening with can opener.
Hope you are feeling much better. at 75 I know how slowing down isn’t much fun. Mom used to say the golden years weren’t so golden, but she was greatful for all she had. Amen
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Hi Marlene, Thank you for sharing your comments and memories with us. The canned corned beef, kinda like Spam, may be an acquired taste. Smile. I’ve certainly had more than one of those “key’s mess up on me. If you don’t twist them straight and keep the metal strip rolling up right, you’ll never be able to use it to open a can. I guess it serves it’s purpose though. We’re still having good days and bad days with the Vertigo. Not much fun, but like your Mom said, I’m grateful to be here too. Smile. Thank you for your visits and for being a subscriber to the Newsletter. I do hope you’ll stop by again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
This brings back memories! I had only been married a week when my husband and I were invited to his parents home for dinner and I was served this exact recipe. It didn’t look or smell good to this gal who was raised in a Dutch home, where we ate mostly beef meals, but I had to be polite and eat it. What a pleasant surprise! I also was surprised on other visits to be served pickled pig’s feet, sauerkraut and neckbone soup, stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut between the layers and raw mushrooms, which I had never tasted. I loved all of her Slovak
meals except for the pigs feet, which my father-in-law would sear with a hot metal rod to leave marks on it to give the jel a tan color. I’m going to go out and buy some corned beef and cabbage and we will eat well today.
Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes. I’ve used a lot of them. and I love reading your letters, and the fact that you love the Lord.
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Hi Joyce, Thank you for sharing your story and memories of Corned Beef and Cabbage. Sounds like you enjoyed lots of other good meals with your in-laws. Smile. I’m just sorry you didn’t like the pickled pigs feet. I’ve never had them heated up and don’t think I’d enjoy them that way. Those are best straight from the jar in my opinion, but I don’t have them very often. Maybe I can put those on Taste of Southern one day. Smile. I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipes and just want to say Thank You for being a subscriber to the Newsletter. The door is always open for you, so please visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve