Best Corned Beef Hash Recipe

Corned beef hash is one of those dishes that delivers far greater sum flavor than it’s individual parts.

But all hash is not created equal.

Some recipes want you to start with cooked—not raw—potato. They tell you to shred, pound or mash the meat. They add gravy. And then they ask you to cook all ingredients into a gooey mass that might more aptly be called smash than hash.

(Hash comes from the French, hasher, to chop or mince.)

The difference between a toothsome, savory hash and a pan of sludge lies in two points: Careful preparation and quality corned beef.

At Copywriters’ Kitchen our hash is made with crispy, pan-fried potatoes, sautéed onions and aromatic home-cured corned beef.

Though I’m usually the queen of short-cut cooking, this hash’s superior taste depends on step-by-step preparation. You cook ingredients separately, then combine for a final slow pan-fry.

The result is a delicious melange with each salty, sweet, crispy, chewy ingredient complimenting the other, while maintaining its own taste and texture.

Here’s the beef: Home-cured meat

I don’t like mass-farmed meat, for reasons of taste, health and humanitarianism. This year I corned my own grassfed beef for the first time. I have to tell you, it was the leanest, most aromatic and best tasting corned beef I’ve ever eaten.

In addition to sublime flavor, home-curing lets you select exactly the type and cut of meat you want. If you prefer organic, pastured or grassfed meat, home curing offers huge savings: Commercially corned, grassfed brisket of beef can easily cost you half your weekly food budget.

Think home-curing is a little extreme? Well, think again. You can throw together the spicy brine in five minutes. The key is planning ahead: You need to “corn”—cure—the brisket for a few days before cooking. See my easy recipe and complete directions for home-cured corned beef.

If you choose to buy commercially corned beef, purchase the leanest cut you can find. And buy extra. I want to laugh when recipes call for “2 cups of leftover corned beef.” The only way I can salvage leftover corned beef from my crew is to snatch away the plate before they reach for seconds.

Buy an extra pound and a half of brisket to make hash for 4-6 people.

Best Corned Beef Hash

3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion chopped fine
2 cups cubed corn beef
3 tablespoons bacon fat, lard or cooking oil—no olive oil!
Four eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons fat or oil over medium-high flame.
2. Add potatoes, tossing and sautéeing for 3-4 minutes to sear potatoes.




3. Cover skillet, reduce flame and continue to pan fry for around 5 minutes to cook center of potatoes.
4. In the meantime, chop the onion and cube the corned beef. Note: Brisket is a very stringy cut. It must be absolutely cold before you can cut it into even cubes, see photo below.





5. Remove lid from skillet, stir potatoes and continue to pan fry to let moisture evaporate and turn potatoes golden brown. Remove and reserve potatoes.
6. Add another tablespoon of oil to pan and heat over medium flame.
7. When oil is hot, add onions. Stir, adjust flame and sauté onions until very soft.
8. Add beef and potatoes to pan, stir and season with pepper—it’s unlikely you’ll need extra salt as the corned beef is very salty—stirring to incorporate.
9. With spatula, press hash into pan, turn to lowest flame and let hash slow cook to form a crispy crust. This can take 6-10 minutes.



10. Using a spatula, carefully scrape underneath to catch crust and turn over hash in sections.
11. Press other side of hash down and cook over low flame for 3-4 minutes.
12. Scoop out four hollows in the hash. Into each hollow crack an egg. Sprinkle eggs with salt and pepper. Cover skillet and cook until egg whites are firm.







13. Serve with toasted Irish soda bread or English muffins.

Serves 4