Guinness Glazed Corned Beef (2024)

I never really ate corned beef until I started dating the man that became my husband. He is second generation Irish American and every year on St. Patrick’s day, he always ate corned beef. Of course, I knew I had to learn how to cook it. What better way than to combine corned beef and Guinness?

St. Patrick’s day, for many people in America, is a day of drinking and wearing green. To my husband and his family, however, it’s a day to celebrate Irish pride and heritage. This holiday, in fact, has nothing to do with drinking. It is actually an official Christian feast day commemorating Saint Patrick and how he brought Christianity to Ireland. It is held on March 17th as that is the day that tradition says Saint Patrick died.

Who was Saint Patrick? The saying says that he “got rid of the snakes” in Ireland, which is symbolic for getting rid of paganism as there were never actually any snakes in Ireland. According to tradition, he converted thousands in the northern half of Ireland to Christianity.

It is a day to celebrate Irish culture and heritage. There are parades and festivals. Wearing green and shamrocks is a part of it as they are symbolic of Irish heritage. The drinking aspect came out of the fact that restrictions on drinking alcohol were traditionally lifted for the day. This became commercialized, especially here in America, and is criticized by many as perpetuating negative stereotypes of the Irish.

Corned beef is more of a traditional Irish American dish. It was used as a substitute for bacon by immigrants in the late 19th century. This recipe is another one that I have slowly been tweaking and adjusting to improve every year. It’s been delicious every year, but this year, it came out the best yet! The taste of the Guinness is absorbed as the corned beef cooks in the crockpot. As a finishing touch, it is also glazed in Guinness.

I love eating this just on its own with potatoes and cabbage. It’s a very traditional St. Patrick’s day meal for many Irish Americans like my husband and I am very happy that I have been able to carry on this tradition for him in our own family. This year, my son even ate it and loved it. That brought a huge smile to my husband’s face and warmed my heart.

The corned beef is cooked in a crockpot. First, you slice an onion and mince some garlic.

Then you layer your crockpot with the onion, garlic, corned beef, and a little brown sugar.

Next, pour a bottle of Guinness stout over it all and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Once the corned beef is cooked, you strain the solids out of the cooking liquid and transfer the liquid to a saucepan. Add some more brown sugar, some Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper and reduce it down.

Using the reduced Guinness, glaze the corned beef and finish it in the oven. Then, you just slice it and enjoy!

We always end up with leftovers as well. That’s because I like to cook enough to make sure that we do. These leftovers are great for sandwiches. With some melted Swiss and Russian dressing on rye bread, it makes a perfect lunch! If you like the traditional Reuben, just add sauerkraut. We are personally not fans of the sauerkraut and so we usually leave that off the sandwiches.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Don’t forget to drink a Guinness on the side and toast to the Irish heritage!

This delicious corned beef is cooked in a crock pot and glazed with Guinness to perfection! Great on it's own or in sandwiches.

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