Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup {Creamy}
48 CommentsMar 09, 2026
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If you love corned beef and cabbage, you have to try this creamy Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup. The broth is rich and savory, making it a comforting twist on the classic dish.
I’ve always loved the classic corned beef and cabbage meal, but this soup takes it to a whole new level! The flavors are incredible, and the meat is unbelievably tender, even more so than when served traditionally with cabbage and potatoes on the side. Trust me, you won’t regret making this delicious twist on a favorite!
Key Ingredients
Corned Beef – Raw corned beef brisket that cooks until tender and easy to shred.
Vegetables – Potatoes, carrots, celery, cabbage, onion, and garlic make this soup hearty.
Seasonings – Just salt and pepper.
Other Ingredients – Butter for richness, broth for the base, and heavy cream stirred in at the end.
How to make Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup
- Add the corned beef to the slow cooker and layer in the potatoes, cabbage, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, butter, and broth.
- Let everything cook low and slow until the corned beef becomes tender and the vegetables soften.
- Shred the beef, return it to the soup, and stir in heavy cream for a rich finish.
Can I use leftover corned beef instead of fresh?
If you have lots of leftover corned beef you can add it to this recipe instead of fresh. Shred or cube your corned beef and add it during the last hour of cooking.
Do I have to add the butter or cream?
Both butter and cream go great with this dish to flavor the broth and vegetables. Though, you can leave the butter or cream out if you want to cut down on calories and the soup will still be great, just less creamy.
How to Serve Corned Beef Soup
- Ladle into bowls or hollowed-out sourdough bread bowls.
- For topping, freshly ground pepper, Parmesan cheese, and saltine crackers.
- For sides, we love buttered rye or pumpernickel bread and a green side salad.
Want to make this soup less salty?
You can boil the corned beef in hot water on the stove top for about 10 minutes before adding to this recipe. The slow cooker will finish cooking the corned beef until it’s tender.
Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup {Creamy}
How to Video
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. raw corned beef well (I use flat cut), cut into four large pieces
- 1.5 lbs. russet potatoes, diced (about 3 small potatoes, skins left on)
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 2 celery ribs, sliced
- 1/2 head green cabbage, sliced or cut into 2 inch squares
- 1 white onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 Tbsp. salted butter
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
- 4 cups broth, chicken or beef (I use chicken, it has a milder flavor)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Rinse the corned beef WELL, wipe off any remaining brine with paper towels. Cut into 4 large pieces.
- First, place corned beef fat side down in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, cabbage (make sure to not add too much cabbage or the lid won't close), onion slices, butter, minced garlic, pepper, and salt.
- Pour the broth into the slow cooker and cover.
- Cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4.5 hours.
- Take corned beef out of the slow cooker. Remove the fat and discard. Shred corned beef and return to the slow cooker. You can cut and cube the meat instead of shredding if you want smaller pieces.
- Pour in heavy whipping cream and stir to combine.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
How to Store this Soup
Place in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze the soup for up to 3 months.
For best results, freeze the soup before adding the cream. Simply, thaw and reheat with the amount of cream desired.
More St. Patrick’s Day Style recipes for your slow cooker
Try my Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage, Slow Cooker Cabbage, and Slow Cooker Pastrami for more slow cooker favorites.
Maple Mustard Corned Beef and Guinness Beef Stew are two more hearty dinners worth making.
You’ll also love Slow Cooker Reuben Dip, Guinness Corned Beef and Cabbage, and Slow Cooker Colcannon Potatoes.
As per a question that you answered when using leftover ALREADY-COOKED corned beef, instead of RAW corned beef, you suggested adding the shredded or cubed COOKED corned beef to the slow cooker in the last hour. I would like to know if, doing it this way, using either the high or low settings, the soup with only the vegetables, seasonings, broth, and whipping cream will still have to cook for 8 hrs on Low or the 5 & 1/2 hrs on High? But, because the corned beef is ALREADY COOKED, and I assume, already tender, can the vegetable mixture be cooked for a shorter length of time? I have always had leftover corned beef after St Patrick’s Day, and because I saw your delicious-sounding CORNED BEEF SOUP recipe, I am anxious to try this soup. Will the meatless vegetable mixture really take that long, since the meat is no longer taking up the space of the precious hot cooking juices? And because you always have, in my opinion, wonderful slow-cooker recipes and great cooking tips, I am giving this one 5 stars, because I will definitely make this recipe this year, the day after St Patrick’s Day, and it will be delicious, no matter how you tell me to make it!!
It depends on how big your vegetables are – I would do 6-7 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
This sounds delicious! I don’t have a slow cooker. Can this be made on the stove top? What would I need to do differently?
I would simmer this slowly on the stove top. Unsure on the timing, but you will need more broth.
heh….oops…..I weighed out a head of cabbage so I could get a rough idea of how much half a head weighs so I could ge the equivalent amount in cole slaw blend (shredded cabbage and carrots) but the closest I could get to 2.5 lbs and make sure I still had enough cabbage was 3 1-lb bags of cole slaw blend and apparently 3 lbs of coleslaw was more han I thought because between that and the meat and the diced celery and onion blends and the liquid it filled the slow cooker to the brim….might have to see if it will cook down to the point where I can fit the potatoes…..next time I know…..just 2 bags LOL
Yeah, I would add the potatoes first.
another thing is that it’s been in the slow cooker on high for 4.5 hours now and the brisket seems like it’s hardy cooked at all….is corned beef supposed to be pink even when fully cooked? it seems like it wouldn’t even fall apart at all….it was in my freezer for awhile but I did thaw it before adding it to the slow cooker
update: the beef cooked fine though next time I might use the same kinda flat cut you were using as the cut I had was marbled through every which way with fat and made the meat difficult to shred or maybe just use canned corned beef like others have done….this brisket cut was all I had on hand though….but the flat cut sounds like it’s a better choice for the slow cooker but at any rate it did cook down enough for me to finally add the potatoes after I shredded the meat and hopefully it doesn’t take much extra slow cooking time for the potatoes to cook
Can you use half and half instead of heavy whipping cream?
Yes, that will work just fine!
Can this be frozen and reheated?
Thanks!
I don’t recommend freezing this one, I don’t freeze potatoes and dairy much since they don’t freeze well.
Your top shelf, thank you for all the wonderful recipes
This is the BEST SOUP!! I am always going back for seconds for this one. Definitely a crowd pleaser when doubled. Would make an awesome addition to anyone’s Super Bowl menu or any party. Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe!. I had to double it recently and found my slow cooker couldn’t take the addition cream at the end so I utilized my 16 qt stock pot and added the butter and cream then. This recipe will be included in my family favorites for my kids to make as well.
Perfect. It didn’t turn out salty at all. I guess it depends on the meat. I can’t wait to make it again.
Made this recipe and feel that beef broth would maybe have given it a lot more flavor. It was good just not a lot of flavor
Thank you for the tip on the broth. I’m going to make this on 3/17!