Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup – with Leftovers

Cozy up with a comforting bowl of leftover corned beef and cabbage soup. Making use of leftovers has never been tastier!

Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup is a dish that we look forward to making any time we have leftover corned beef.

It’s quick, easy, and so deliciously warming. No one will believe you used leftovers.

Do you remember that fabulous corned beef brisket that we BAKED up recently?

We said that when corned beef goes on sale we buy a large one or even two. One of the reasons is because of the leftovers.

We’ve barely finished our corned beef dinner when we’ve got our palates wrapped around a steaming warm bowl of leftover Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup.

We go about making our soup a little different. You see, John and the kids always said they didn’t like cooked cabbage.

What they don’t like is wimpy soggy cooked cabbage.

We always have fresh cabbage, potatoes, and carrots in the refrigerator after our big St. Patrick’s Corned Beef Brisket dinner.

Sauteing them up fresh makes this corned beef soup in a delicious soup full of fresh flavor and textures.

Kitchen items we use

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• Dutch oven – This is the most used pan in my kitchen. I use it for everything including baking my sourdough.
• Vegetable Brush – Wash the veggies! Any germs or bacteria that were on the outside are transferred to the inside when they’re cut.
• Cutting Board – A good wooden cutting board is better on your knives.

Corned Beef Cabbage Ingredients

• Carrots – We had some beautiful rainbow carrots but you can use what you have.
• Potatoes – We use russet potatoes because they cook at about the same rate as our other ingredients. You could use Yukon Gold as a substitute.
• Cabbage – We’ve always used green cabbage. We like the way it cooks up and the variety of colors with our other ingredients.
  • There’s no reason you couldn’t use red cabbage.
• Beef Broth – Since we don’t boil our corned beef brisket, we don’t have leftover broth.
  • Using a low-fat low-sodium beef broth variety makes this soup a little better for you.
• Onion – We used a yellow onion. A white onion would be a good substitute.
• Corned Beef – Baked or our Instant Pot recipes make the best leftover recipes.

How we make our Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup Recipe

1. Saute the onions and carrots in a Dutch oven for 5 minutes, or until they just start to soften.
   • You don’t want to overcook them here because they will continue to cook when you add them to your hot soup broth.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pan. Cover the pan and let the ingredients cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

Helpful Tips

• If your vegetables are fresh, you don’t have to remove their peel. It’s a time saver and there are vitamins in that peel! Just scrub them with a vegetable brush.
• Cut up your soup ingredients so they all cook at the same rate. For example, carrots take a little longer to cook so we slice them thinly.
• We slice the cabbage a little thicker to prevent it from overcooking.
• Nothing should be cut larger than what will fit on a soup spoon. You shouldn’t have to serve your soup with a knife!
• Slightly undercook your vegetables. They will continue to cook in the soup.

Not a cabbage fan? Use more potatoes and skip the cabbage

You can make this a vegetarian soup. Use vegetable broth and skip the corned beef!

If you want to use leftover vegetables to make this Corned Beef and Cabbage soup recipe, cut everything up into serving-sized pieces and combine them with the corned beef in a soup pot. Cover with broth and cook on medium to medium-low until everything is hot.

Leftover Soup can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 days.

This soup also freezes well. To thaw it you either place it in the refrigerator overnight, leave it out at room temperature, or heat it over low heat on the stove-top.

Soup can be reheated in the microwave or warmed on the stovetop after it’s thawed.

What to serve with Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup

A great piece of bread such as:

• Sourdough Rye
• Waterford Blaa Rolls
• Potato Rolls
• Brown Bread Rolls
• Soda Bread

For dessert, Pistachio Pudding Trifle, Baileys Mini Cheesecakes, or how about an Irish Cream Cupcake?

We’re soup lovers and you can find all of our soup recipes here.

Are you still looking for recipes that use leftover corned beef?

• Corned Beef Sandwich
• Traditional Rueben Sandwich
• Corned Beef & Swiss Sliders

I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe as much as we do. Drop me a comment below, and don’t forget to give it a star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Your comments and ratings help others decide if this recipe is for them too.