Home Cured Nitrate Free Corned Beef

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Home-cured corned beef is easy to make a home
corned beef and cabbage on a plate with carrots and potatoes

Beef brisket is brined in a salty seasoned mixture to make nitrate-free corned beef. It’s fork tender and tastes much better than store-bought corned beef. It’s perfect to serve on St. Paddy’s Day or any day.

brined corned beef brisked which is brown on a blue plate with carrots potatoes and cabbage

You will be surprised at how easy it is to make your own corned beef at home. All it takes is a little planning ahead and some extra room in your refrigerator. And the best part? you can enjoy all of the delicious flavor without worrying about the healthy implications of sodium nitrate. This recipe uses natural ingredients so that you can enjoy homemade corned beef that is not only tasty but free of harmful additives.

Why you will love homemade corned beef

  • It’s healthier than packaged corned beef; this recipe is lower in sodium, free of refined sugar, and sodium nitrate (pink curing salt) which is a preservative that also gives cured meats a pink color.
  • You can select the quality and cut of meat, and seasonings. We like grass fed beef brisket brined in homemade pickling spice to make this recipe.
Ingredients in a pot: sea salt, garlic cloves, bay leaves, pickling spice and coconut sugar

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Ingredients

  • Flat cut beef brisket
  • Sea salt or kosher salt
  • Coconut sugar
  • Garlic
  • Fresh grated ginger
  • Pickling spices
  • Bay leaves
  • Crushed ice
  • Water

🥄Equipment

 

Prepare the ingredients: smash the garlic cloves with the back of a spoon, and measure the spices, water and sugar.

corned beef brine ingredients mixed in a pot

STEP 1: Five to six days before cooking your corned beef, add the brine ingredients to a medium saucepan and heat it over medium heat. Cook the brine mixture until the sugar and salt have completely dissolved.

STEP 2: Stir crushed ice into the brine to cool it off to at least room temperature, then place it into the refrigerator for at least an hour until the brine is completely chilled.

Corned beef brine with ice cubes
brine pouring over meat

STEP 3: Remove the chilled brine from the refrigerator. Place the beef into the container and pour the cool water brine over it until the meat is fully submerged.

STEP 4: Store the meat and brine mixture in the refrigerator for 5 days. Each day turn the meat to ensure that it is brined evenly.

a photo of meat in brine in a glass dish
beef brisket in a crock pot withonions

STEP 3: Drain and rinse the meat quickly under cold water. Add the beef to a slow cooker, sprinkle it with onions, garlic and pickle spice and cover it with water and cook for 6 hours.

Ingredient notes & substitutions

Beef Brisket – Brisket is the traditional cut of beef that is used for corned beef because it benefits from low and slow cooking methods. This helps break down the tough fibers whcih results in fork tender slices of beef.

If you can’t find brisket at your local store or prefer a leaner option, beef round, which is a leaner cut of beef can also work. While it may not have as much marbling as brisket, it still produces a delicious corned beef.

Coconut Sugar – Sugar is a common ingredient in most brines. It does not affect the texture of the meat, but enhances to the flavor. Any type of sugar can be used in this recipe, I prefer coconut sugar because it is less processed. However, you can use any type of sugar such as honey, brown sugar, or regular sugar.

Pickle Spice – This is a spice blend that is used to pickle all different kinds of food. It’s made of spices such as bay leaves, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, ground ginger, mustard seeds, cinnamon an allspice berries. You can homemade pickle spice, or you can also use a packaged pickle spice that is available in most grocery stores.

Garlic and Ginger – If you don’t have fresh garlic or ginger they can be substituted with 1/4 teaspoon per clove of garlic and 1/4 tsp ground ginger per tablespoon grated ginger.

corned beef and cabbage on a plate with carrots and potatoes

Serve home-cured corned beef with a side of steamed cabbage and potatoes. We enjoy corned beef with any combination of simple boiled potatoes with butter and parsley, smashed baby potatoes, air fryer baby potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, sauteed carrots and zucchini, green beans, air fryer broccoli and cauliflower and a salad.

Store leftover cooked corned beef in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Use leftover corned beef to make a sandwich, a Reuben sandwich with swiss cheese and homemade sauerkraut or cut the meat into cubes and fry it with onions and potato cubes until crispy for quick corned beef hash.

Freeze corned beef. Uncooked corned beef can be frozen for up to three months. Once the brining process is complete, rinse and pat the beef dry. Wrap it tightly in a freezer-safe wrap.

Thaw it out in the refrigerator overnight and cook it the next day.

Freezing cooked corned beef is not recommended since we have not tried it.

carrots corned beef cabbage and potatoes on a plate with a fork

St. Patrick’s Day dinner is not complete unless there is Irish Soda Bread.

Homemade corned beef recipe variations

Spicy Corned Beef and Cabbage – Add a few teaspoons of red pepper flakes to the cooking liquid.

Spices – Add more spices to the cooking liquid such as any combination of cinnamon stick, celery powder, bay leaf, juniper berries or cloves.

Beer corned beef and cabbage. Add a bottle of Guinness to the slow cooker and a little bit of water to cover the meat.

Tips

  • If you don’t like the unappetizing brownish-gray meat color, add 1/4 cup of beet juice to the brine which will give the beef a pink color.
  • Make sure the top of the beef is submerged through the brining process for even brining.
  • To avoid the growth of bacteria, make sure the brine is cold before adding the meat to it.
How do you make homemade corned beef and cabbage in the oven?

Place the brisket into a dutch oven with spices and a little bit of water or beer. Cover it and bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the cover and cook for 30 minutes longer.

How do you make stovetop nitrate-free corned beef?

Place the home brined brisket into a large stockpot, add seasonings and submerge it in water. Cook the beef over low heat (do not let the water boil rapidly) for approximately 3 hours.

What is corned beef?

Corned beef is a type of salt-cured beef that has been preserved with a mixture of pink curing salt, sugar and spces. The name “corned beef” comes from the use of large rock salt grains that look like corn kernels.

Why does the brine need to be completely chilled before adding the meat?

Placing the meat into warm water will introduce the meat to the temperature danger zone which can cause bacteria to grow quickly.

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corned beef and cabbage on a plate with carrots and potatoes

Home Cured Nitrate Free Corned Beef

Home-cured corned beef is easy to make a home
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Curing time: 5 days
Total Time: 5 days 4 hours 10 minutes

Click on serving size to scale this recipe

Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Irish American
Keyword: corned beef recipe, home cured corned beef
Servings: 8
Calories: 424kcal
Author: Anne Lawton

Equipment

Scale this Recipe 8

Ingredients

  • 1 3 to 4- pound flat-cut beef brisket
  • 3/4 cup sea salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 7 cloves garlic 5 for brine & 2 for cooking – smashed
  • 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
  • 5 1/2 tablespoons pickling spices 4 1/2 for brine & 1 for cooking
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup crushed ice
  • Water to cover the meat about 1 to 2 cups

Instructions

  • Add 3/4 cup sea salt, 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 5 cloves of smashed garlic, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, 4 1/2 tablespoons pickling spices, and 2 bay leaves and 4 cups water to a saucepan and heat it over medium heat. Cook the mixture until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
  • Turn the heat off and add 1 cup of crushed ice to cool the brine off.
  • Once the brine has cooled to room temperature, place it in the refrigerator for approximately one hour.
  • Pour the cold brine into a glass or ceramic dish and add the meat to the brine in the casserole dish, make sure that the meat is completely covered with the brine. Cover and place it in the refrigerator for five days.
  • Flip the meat over every day.
  • COOK THE MEAT: After the meat has gone through the brining process, rinse it off and place it into a slow cooker. Add 2 cloves of smashed garlic and 1 tablespoon pickling spice and enough water to cover the meat.
  • Place the cover on the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours.

Notes

store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight conatiner for up to 4 days. 
See above for tips, variations and more.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 424kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 141mg | Sodium: 10795mg | Potassium: 808mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 24IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 5mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used

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