New England Boiled Dinner (aka: Corned Beef & Cabbage with Root Veggies)

March 10, 2025
New England Boiled Dinner is a traditional hearty one-pot Northern classic of corned beef and cabbage with root vegetables -- all boiled together until tender and delicious. It's a big pot of New England Sunday dinner memories at their best!

New England Boiled Dinner with Corned Beef on White Platter Image

New England Boiled Dinner is a hearty pot of corned beef, cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes, and turnip or rutabaga all simmered together until tender and delicious. And oh, how I love it!

Being born and raised in Vermont, I grew up on this stuff. We had New England Boiled Dinner a whole lot in my growing up years. -- I remember having it most at my grandmother's house when our entire family would get together for a Sunday dinner. She'd serve up a big old pot of this tender deliciousness with slices of buttered white bread alongside for soaking up the tasty juices. My Mom made it often at our house, too, and I always loved it.

Now until we met and I started making it for him, my Southern-born-and-bred husband had never had New England Boiled Dinner. His Mama's stovetop pork roastBaked hamWhole roasted chicken? -- Sure. But corned beef? -- Never. But now, I'm happy to report, it's one of this Southern boy's favorites.

If you can chop, boil water, and babysit a pot for a few hours, then New England Boiled Dinner can easily be on your table.

And this one-pot Northern classic truly couldn't be easier to whip up. If you can chop, boil water, and babysit a pot for a few hours, then New England Boiled Dinner can easily be on your table.

New England Boiled Dinner starts with corned beef brisket, a cut of beef brisket that's been preserved through a salt-curing and brining process. While readily available year-round in some parts of the country (including New England), around St. Patrick's Day it can typically be purchased in most grocery stores, regardless of region. -- Yes, even in the sunny South.

And check this out -- I just love this grocery store leaflet from 1963, providing shoppers with this classic New England recipe:

1963 Grocery Store Leaflet with New England Boiled Dinner Recipe Image

New England Boiled Dinner Ingredients:

New England Boiled Dinner comes together with just a handful of ingredients. To whip up a pot, you'll need:

  • Corned beef brisket + its spice packet - Corned beef is a cut of brisket that's been preserved through a salt-curing and brining process. It's available year-round in some parts of the country, and around St. Patrick's Day can typically be purchased in most grocery stores, regardless of region. A 4 to 5-pound corned beef brisket works best for New England Boiled Dinner.

  • Cabbage - A head of cabbage, cut in wedges, makes up the main veggie element of New England Boiled Dinner. Green cabbage, rather than red, is traditional.

  • Carrots - Use whole carrots, peeled and cut in large chunks. Pre-prepared baby carrots are too small and will cook too quickly in the pot.

  • Red potatoes - Small halved or quartered red potatoes are perfect in New England Boiled Dinner. Yukon Gold potatoes also work well as a substitute for red, if you prefer.

  • Onions - Medium-sized peeled onions both flavor the pot's cooking water and turn into delicious boiled onions when the cooking process is done.

  • Turnip - A root vegetable traditional in New England Boiled Dinner. Rutabaga, another similar root vegetable (pictured in the center of the photo below), can be used instead.

  • Bay leaf - An herb often used when preparing soups and stews, it adds distinctive flavor to the pot's cooking liquid. 

Vegetables for New England Boiled Dinner on Cutting Board Image

How to Make New England Boiled Dinner:

It's pretty simple to create this one-pot hearty meal. In a nutshell, all you do is simmer a corned beef brisket for a couple of hours on the stovetop, cut up a bunch of veggies, and throw those in the pot, too! Yes, making New England Boiled Dinner is truly that easy.

To be more specific, start a pot by first removing some of the saltiness from a corned beef brisket. Since corned beef is preserved through a salt-curing and brining process, it can be quite salty if this step is not completed.

To remove some of the saltiness from the corned beef, first rinse the beef brisket with cold water. Then place the rinsed corned beef brisket in a large Dutch oven and cover the beef with cold water. Let the meat soak for 30 minutes to remove some of the salt, and then discard the water.

To get the corned beef cooking, add fresh water to the Dutch oven until the water level reaches about 1 inch over the top of the beef brisket. Add the spices from the spice packet that comes with the corned beef and a bay leaf to the pot. Bring the water up to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the corned beef for 2 hours or until the beef is fork tender.

Close-Up of New England Boiled Dinner Cooking in Pot Image

Then add carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, and turnip (or rutabaga) to the pot. Continue to simmer it all together for another hour until the veggies are tender. -- And then you've got New England Boiled Dinner, all yummy and ready for enjoying!  

So if you'd like to enjoy the classic combination of corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day, rest assured this traditional New England recipe's got you covered -- with a few other delicious veggies thrown in, too.

Top View of New England Boiled Dinner with Corned Beef on White Platter Image
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New England boiled dinner recipe, classic New England recipes, corned beef recipes, corned beef cabbage recipe
Main Dishes
Yield: about 8-12 servings

New England Boiled Dinner

A traditional hearty one-pot Northern classic of braised corned beef and cabbage with root vegetables. It's Sunday dinner memories at their best!
prep time: 40 Mcook time: 3 hourtotal time: 3 H & 40 M

ingredients:

  • 4 to 5 lb. corned beef brisket + its spice packet
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 carrots, peeled and cut in large chunks
  • 1 head green cabbage, cut in wedges
  • 8 small red potatoes, halved or quartered
  • 4 to 5 onions, peeled
  • 2-3 small turnips or 1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into chunks

instructions:

How to cook New England Boiled Dinner

  1. Remove the corned beef brisket from its packaging, setting aside the spice packet that comes with it. Rinse the beef brisket with cold water. 
  2. Place the beef brisket in a large Dutch oven and cover the beef with cold water; let stand for 30 minutes to remove some of the salt. After soaking, discard the water.
  3. Add fresh water to the Dutch oven until the water level reaches about 1 inch over the top of the beef brisket. 
  4. Add the spices from the spice packet and the bay leaf to the pot. 
  5. Bring the water up to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours or until the beef is fork tender.
  6. Add the carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, and turnip to the pot. Increase the heat and bring the pot to a boil. 
  7. Reduce heat and continue to simmer for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender.
Created using The Recipes Generator


New England Boiled Dinner ~ A traditional hearty one-pot Northern classic of corned beef & cabbage with root vegetables. It's Sunday dinner memories at their best! #NewEnglandboileddinner #cornedbeef  www.thekitchenismyplayground.com

12 comments

  1. I am southern born and bred, too. I have made cabbage and potatoes with corned beef before many times, but haven't thrown in the carrots and turnips. I love all of these ingredients and it is so very Irish looking for SPD! Thanks for sharing yet another wonderful looking recipe.

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  2. Mmmmmm. I had this recently in a restaurant and loved it. (I'm a Southern girl too). The homemade version is bound to be even better. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Hi lovely lady.
    Your recipe for Corned Beef looks so Yummy. I need to add the Turnips this coming weekend, hoping you have a wonderful week with your family. Im your newest follower on your blog now, hoping you will come join my blog also.
    Diane

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  4. My Mom added beets, she would make Red Flannel Hash with the left overs. Winters in New Hampshire are bitter cold, we had this dinner frequently, the house would be fragrant and warm.

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  5. I make a version of this, but I replace the corned beef with ham (this is the version we had when I was growing up). Still very tasty - and for something a little different, after I eat, I take the leftovers and puree it into a soup. You end up with a nice, thick, orange-y colored soup - and you can still taste all the ingredients. Perfect for freezing. :)

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  6. I have only had the corned beef and cabbage version, but the veggies make it look even better! Love the sweet story too!!!

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  7. I would always take some of the broth and in a separate pot whisk in some Colmans mustard powder (English isle at the supermarket) and a thickener such as a little corn starch, season to taste with a little pepper, vinegar and voila a fantastic mustard sauce to poor over all the meat and vege.

    Now that is what *I* grew up on (in New Zealand).

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  8. We love Corned Beef and your recipe looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great day and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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  9. Looks yummy. Thanks for linking up at Friday Frenzy Link Party. PINNED!

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  10. On of my family's favorite dinners! Love it and pinned it. Thanks for linking up to the Friday Frenzy! <3

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  11. I am originally from Bar Harbor Maine and I grew up on boiled dinners and Boston Bake beans My grandmothers beans were to die for.

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