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New England boiled dinner has become a St. Patrick’s Day favorite in America, but it really is an easy one-dish dinner you can serve any time of year. Made with corned beef brisket that’s slow-simmered on top of the stove and served with cabbage, potatoes and assorted root vegetables, it takes about 2-1/2 hours to cook. Hands-on time is really minimal though, making this dish an ideal choice for a relaxing Sunday supper with the family.
Notes From the MGC Kitchen
Our boiled dinner recipe features practical tips for a truly delicious New England classic. Changing the initial cooking water on the corned beef helps to minimize its overly salty flavor and careful timing when cooking the vegetables ensures that everything is cooked to perfection. A simple horseradish cream sauce and some whole grain mustard for serving complete the dish.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
This is an overview of the key ingredients for this recipe. Please see the printable recipe card below for the complete listing, including quantities.
- CORNED BEEF: Corned beef is most commonly made from the brisket, an inexpensive cut of beef taken from the breast section of the cow. The meat is brined in a seasoned solution made with salt, pickling spices, and sodium nitrite (pink curing salt). Just like an uncured brisket, corned beef needs to be cooked for a long time in some quantity of liquid in order to be tender. This recipe calls for a traditional, flat-cut, corned beef brisket weighing somewhere between 2 and 3 pounds.
- GREEN CABBAGE: When shopping for cabbage look for vibrant green heads that feel firm and moderately heavy for their size. Avoid any with blemishes, yellowing leaves, or cracked stems. Uncut cabbage should stay fresh in your refrigerator’s crisper for up to 2 weeks.
- BABY (NEW) POTATOES: We like to use baby red potatoes in this dish. When shopping, do your best to choose evenly sized potatoes that are on the small side and leave them whole for easy serving and an attractive presentation. If you can’t find baby red potatoes, the yellow variety is fine to use, as are regular-sized Yukon Golds cut into chunks.
- BABY CARROTS: Our choice of baby carrots is all about presentation. Like whole carrots, they cook up tender and sweet, but they also look really appealing on a serving platter.
- TURNIPS: Purple-top turnips are tender with an earthy, sweet-and-savory quality that we happen to love, but if you’re not fond of them, replace them with parsnips or omit them altogether.
- PEARL ONIONS: We use fresh pearl onions in our boiled dinner because they hold their shape and texture better than frozen ones. They are a bit of a job to peel, but we’ve included an easy method in our recipe notes.
How to Make New England Boiled Dinner
This is an overview of how this recipe is prepared. Please see the printable recipe card below for detailed step-by-step instructions.
COOK THE CORNED BEEF: First, simmer your corned beef in water for a few minutes, then drain and start again with new water. Add your spices and simmer for several hours until the beef is fork tender. Transfer it to a plate and cover to keep warm.
COOK THE VEGETABLES: Cook the veggies in the water the corned simmered in for added flavor. Par-cook the potatoes, then add the carrots, turnips, and onions. Last, add the cabbage wedges and cook until everything’s perfectly tender.
MAKE THE SAUCE: Whip up a quick sauce with sour cream and horseradish and dish up some grainy mustard for serving.
PREPARE TO SERVE: Slice the corned beef. Arrange the vegetables on a serving platter. Return the beef to the pot for a minute or two to warm, then add to the platter with the veggies and serve.
Tip: How to Mellow the Saltiness of Corned Beef
Because corned beef is a salt-cured product, it’s wise to take steps to mellow its salty flavor.
Discarding the first batch of simmering water as recommended in our recipe instructions will help reduce the saltiness of the meat and let the infused flavor of the cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaf shine through.
You can also soak and rinse the meat before cooking, but the simmering is quicker and also eliminates a little bit of extra fat.
How to Store and Reheat New England Boiled Dinner
Leftovers will keep for up to three days in the refrigerator. You can reheat them either on the stove or in the oven. Because the whole baby potatoes will likely take a little longer to warm than the other ingredients, you may want to cut them in half before reheating.
TO REHEAT ON THE STOVE: Set a shallow pan with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add a little water to the bottom and add the meat and vegetables. Cover and cook until everything is heated to your liking. It should only take 5 to 7 minutes, and if you want to test for temperature, the meat should be about 165°F.
TO REHEAT IN THE OVEN: Preheat your oven to 325°F and arrange the corned beef and vegetables in a single layer on a rimmed baking pan. Pour a little water over them and cover the pan tightly with foil. Heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until everything is heated to your liking.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Corned beef and cabbage is classic comfort food and a great choice for a home-cooked St. Patrick’s Day dinner. But, if you’re looking for other options you might want to try our traditional shepherd’s pie made with ground lamb or, for a more traditional meat-and-potatoes meal, pan-seared loin lamb chops served with a side dish of colcannon (buttery mashed potatoes blended with sautéed kale).
New England Boiled Dinner
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 lb corned beef brisket, uncooked
- 10 peppercorns
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-1/2 pounds baby red potatoes
- 1/2 lb baby carrots
- 1 lb purple-top turnips, peeled and cubed
- 3/4 lb pearl onions, peeled (see notes)
- 1 head green cabbage, cut into wedges (see notes)
- Whole grain mustard, for serving
For the Horseradish Cream Sauce:
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the corned beef in a Dutch oven, cover it with water, and bring it to a rapid simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, discard that water, replace with fresh, and bring to a simmer once again (see notes).
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaf. Cover and continue cooking until the corned beef is fork-tender, 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Note: You may need to reduce the heat to low if the liquid continues to bubble rapidly.
- While the corned beef cooks, prepare the vegetables (see notes below).
- Transfer the corned beef to a cutting board and cover with a double thickness of foil to keep warm.
- Add the potatoes to the liquid in the Dutch oven and increase the heat to medium-high. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the carrots, turnips, and pearl onions.
- Simmer for an additional 10 minutes, add the cabbage wedges, and continue cooking for 10 to 12 minutes longer or until all the vegetables are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.
- While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the horseradish cream sauce. Combine the sour cream and horseradish in a small bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper, then transfer to a serving bowl.
- Once the vegetables are cooked and tender, leave them in the Dutch oven for a couple of minutes while you slice the corned beef across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.
- Using a slotted spoon, quickly transfer the vegetables to a serving platter and reheat the corned beef by returning it to the pot for 2 minutes while you arrange the vegetables around the edges of the platter.
- Using tongs, arrange the corned beef slices in the center of the platter and serve with the horseradish cream sauce and some coarse-grain mustard for dipping.
Notes
How to Mellow the Salty Flavor of Corned Beef
Because corned beef is a salt-cured product, it’s wise to take steps to mellow its salty flavor. Discarding the first batch of simmering water, as recommended in our recipe instructions, will help reduce the saltiness of the meat and let the infused flavor of the cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaf shine through. You can also soak and rinse the meat before cooking, but the simmering is quicker and also eliminates a little bit of extra fat.Tips For Preparing the Vegetables
CUT THE CABBAGE INTO WEDGES: Trim the stem end from the cabbage, and cut it into 6 wedges, leaving the core intact. This keeps the wedges from falling apart. HOW TO PEEL THE PEARL ONIONS: Immerse the onions in rapidly boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, then plunge them into ice water for 2 minutes. Drain well, cut off the root end of the onion with kitchen shears, then squeeze gently from the opposite end. The onion should pop out of the skin through the trimmed end.How to Store and Reheat New England Boiled Dinner
Leftovers will keep for up to three days in the refrigerator. You can reheat them either on the stove or in the oven. Because the whole baby potatoes will likely take a little longer to warm than the other ingredients, you may want to cut them in half before reheating. TO REHEAT ON THE STOVE: Set a shallow pan with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add a little water to the bottom and add the meat and vegetables. Cover and cook until everything is heated to your liking. It should only take 5 to 7 minutes, and if you want to test for temperature, the meat should be about 165°F. TO REHEAT IN THE OVEN: Preheat your oven to 325°F and arrange the corned beef and vegetables in a single layer on a rimmed baking pan. Pour a little water over them and cover the pan tightly with foil. Heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until everything is heated to your liking.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My family has always been a fan of NE Boiled dinner and your recipe is my new go-to when I make it. I’d never added turnips before and we all really like them.
Hi Annie,
Glad you like the recipe. Turnips are a favorite in our house too!