In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day,  you will love this Corned Beef recipe with horseradish cream sauce.

Purchasing the corned beef has become a straightforward task as most stores have it all packaged with all the needed spices ready to be placed into our Dutch oven pot and cooked following the instructions that come with the packaging. 

corned beef with horseradish cream sauce

I had lots of fun preparing this easy, no-fuss meal.

However, I added a few ingredients to give it a savory and rich flavor. 

In this Article

What is Saint Patrick’s Day?

St. Patrick’s Day celebrated on March 17, is the patron saint of Ireland. It was initially observed as a religious celebration with a feast and services.

The Irish have observed the anniversary of his death in the fifth century for over a thousand years.

When the Irish immigrants reached the United States, they brought this day of celebration.

The first and on record St Patrick’s Day parade was held in 1601, but not in Ireland but in a Spanish colony now St. Augustine, Florida.

More than a century later, Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched on New York City in 1772 to honor the Irish patron saint.

Nowadays, New York and Boston have a spectacular parade every year. Irish or not, everyone joins in the celebration.

You may wonder what exactly is “Corned Beef”? 

It is beef that has been cured in a salt solution. Long ago, that was the process of preserving meat. Today’s process remains the same, and beef brisket is the cut of meat.

One of the most asked questions is: why serve it with cabbage? When young immigrants came to America, those were affordable food at the time.

Horseradish Cream Sauce

A delightful and entirely complimentary side sauce to this corned beef recipe.

The sour cream tames the horseradish, and the scallions bring another flavor to this mix.

A great sauce that you will be happy you give a try.

corned beef with horseradish cream sauce

Here are a few helpful tips for the ingredients needed to make this Corned Beef with Horseradish cream sauce.

This is a quick introduction. Please read the recipe for complete instructions.

Corned beef brisket: Most stores have it with all the spices in a packet to go alongside. Just remove it from the sealed package and follow the instructions.

Bay leaves: When boiled, they release such d deep flavor to most dishes, here included. 

Guinness pale ale: The key ingredient of this dish must not be skipped. A good stout beer gives this dish a deep flavor to it. 

Onion and Carrots: add richness and balance between sweet and mild bitterness. 

Cabbage: It would not be a complete dish without cabbage. Quarter it and leave the bottom base to keep it united when cooking.

Boiling potatoes: all even sizes for good even cooking. Scrub them well with a brush to remove all external dirt that may have encrusted itself in the small potatoes crevices. 

Sour cream: Adds softness to your sauce.

Horseradish: spicy and yet such a great addition to this dish. 

Scallions: Finley chopped, they release another layer of flavor.

Equipment needed 

I only recommend what I use and love. To achieve this recipe, I used the following:

Small bowl

Large Dutch oven

Long slicing sharp knife 

corned beef with horseradish cream sauce

Cooking tips and step by step to make this delicious Corned Beef with Horseradish sauce recipe

Cooking the vegetables after the corned beef was a tremendous help to me. Only 20 minutes and I could pull out a couple of potatoes that were cooking faster.

  • Use a great Irish stout beer. Either Guinness or Murphy’s Stout. Nothing like it own taste gives this dish the depth of flavor it deserves.
  • Yes, it may take a couple of hours of cooking. However, the stove does it all. The only thing you have to do is remember that you have a pot on the stove.
  • Remove the corned beef from the cooking water, which you will reserve, wrap it in foil and set aside.
  • Use the cooking water for cooking the potatoes, cabbage, onion, and carrots at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes. This step is my step which is not traditional. However, to eliminate the guessing of when everything was cooked, I got tired of over-boiled potatoes, thus coming up with this method.
  • Toward the last couple of minutes of cooking, the potatoes will be almost ready, knife test inserted and you should have no resistance back, add your corned beef to warm up.
  • Cut the meat across the grain and arrange it on a plate surrounded by the vegetables and the horseradish cream sauce.
corned beef with horseradish cream sauce

I could not get enough of the horseradish cream sauce.

Storage instructions and reheating

It will store well in the refrigerator in an airtight glass container for several days. 

You can also freeze it for up to two months. 

The beauty of corned beef is that you can reheat it slowly in the oven covered so as not to dry and enjoy it another day or corned beef or make beautiful sandwiches.

What can you prepare with leftovers? 

Ruben sandwich is one of my favorites, with 1000 island dressing, horseradish sauce, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and lots of sliced corned beef.

If you have leftover corned beef, you can always make corned beef ash with an egg for Sunday brunch.

If you enjoy this Corned Beef with Horseradish Sauce, check out these flavorful recipes:

Corned Beef with Parsley Sauce

Champ

Broiled Beef Tenderloin with Asparagus and Roasted Red Onion Vinaigrette

Pepper Crusted Racks of Lamb with Horseradish Creme Fraiche

Have a grand celebration!

Equipment and ingredients used to make this wonderful recipe of corned beef with horseradish sauce

Corned Beef with Horseradish Cream Sauce

5 from 29 votes
corned beef with horseradish cream sauce
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 5
Author: Giangi Townsend
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day,   you will love this Corned Beef recipe with horseradish cream sauce.
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Ingredients 

  • 3 lbs corned beef brisket
  • 2 oz bay leaf
  • 12 oz pale ale beer, Guinness
  • 1 cup yellow onion, peeled and halved
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and halved
  • 32 oz cabbage, quartered and cored
  • 36 oz potatoes, scrubbed and boiled
  • 0.5 cup sour cream
  • 4 tbsps cream horseradish
  • 0.52 oz scallions, finely chopped

Instructions

  • In a small bowl mix together the sour cream, the horseradish and the scallions. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving.
  • Put the corned beef in a Dutch oven. Pour the beer and enough water to cover the meat. Add the bay leaves.
  • Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and skim the foam from the surface of the water. Cover and simmer for about 2 ½ hours, or until the corned beef is tender.
  • Remove from the liquid, wrap in foil and set aside.
  • Add the potatoes, cabbage, onion and carrots to the pot, cover and cook over a gentle boiling simmer for 20 minutes, or until tender.
  • Return the corned beef to the pot to warm up, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Cut the meat across grain and arrange on plate with the vegetables and a little of the cooking juice.
  • Serve with horseradish cream sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 822kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 158mg | Sodium: 3473mg | Potassium: 2300mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 9605IU | Vitamin C: 177.5mg | Calcium: 306mg | Iron: 17.3mg

Giangi’s Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.

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Originally published on March 14, 2018. Updated on February 27, 2023.