This rich and meaty corned beef hash soup is filling enough for dinner. A recipe handed down from my parents and is still a family favourite. It's ready in 30 mins too!
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My dad made this every autumn and winter when I was growing up, and now I always look forward to cooking up a huge pan once the weather starts getting cold.
I know tinned corned beef isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I'm not a fan of tinned meat generally, but this corned beef hash soup is a MUST.
📋 What do we need?
Ingredients Swaps
If you don't want to use the vinegar from sliced pickled beetroot then you can swap it out for cider vinegar.
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Back when I was growing up in the 80's, corned beef was a staple! I used to love having corned beef and salad cream sandwiches for lunch (and I wouldn't turn one down now actually!).
Tinned, packet and frozen foods were way more fashionable back then. Let me see..... some of my favourites.....
- Findus minced beef crispy pancakes
- Boil-in-the-bag beef and gravy
- Boil-in-the-bag 'fish' in butter sauce (served over a pile of mashed potatoes)
- Smash (powdered mashed potatoes) - I used to like smash, but only when made with loads of butter!!
- Chicken and Ham spread (on thick white bread!)
- Coco pops (my kids love these, but I can't buy them because I'll eat them all)
- Canadian steaks (those really thin, reformed meat slices, where the slices were seperated by paper, and you fried them from frozen. I haven't eaten them for years! - I had a huge craving for them when I was pregnant with Gracey!)
- Hollands Cheese and Onion pie - with that gooey cheesy centre!
Ha ha it sounds like I lived off junk food, but actually, both my folks made lots of lovely homemade dinners too. My mum's specialties being her roast dinners, chicken stroganoff and THE BEST fried rice.
My dad's specialties mainly consist of spicy foods such as homemade samosas, Mee Goreng, and curries, plus goulash and this corned beef hash.
👨👩👧👧 More of my childhood favourites
We always looked forward to my dad's corned beef hash, and now my kids love it too.
I have so many fond memories of growing up and my Mum and Dad spending time in the kitchen. Here are some of my other family favorites from when I was a kid.
The drizzle of vinegar in the soup is a must. It's doesn't make it acidic, it just adds an extra dimension of flavour. I always serve this corned beef hash soup with pickled red cabbage or beetroot, so I use a slug of vinegar from the jar - exactly as my dad has always done. Cider vinegar works well too though.
My dad would probably also suggest adding a good sprinkling of white pepper. I like it too as it adds a bit of heat, but it can make it a little too peppery for the kids.
🍽️ What to serve it with
Serve on this Corned Beef Hash Soup its own, or with a big wedge of bread. It's a tummy filler, so if you do have bread, you'll probably need a nap afterward 🙂
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Corned Beef Hash Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflour oil
- 1 medium onion - peeled and diced
- 340 g (12 oz) tin of corned beef - roughly chopped
- 1 ⅓ litres (5 ½ cups) beef stock - (Hot water plus 3 stock cubes. Use gluten free cubes if required.)
- 4 medium carrots - peeled and chopped into bite-size chunks
- 2 medium potatoes - peeled and chopped into bite-size chunks
- 1 small head cauliflower - chopped into small florets
- 1 tsp cider vinegar - or use the vinegar from a jar of beetroot or pickled cabbage as I often do
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp cornflour - (cornstarch)
- 3 tbsp cold water
- Freshly chopped parsley - to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions softens.
- Add the chopped corned beef and stir into the onions (no need to cook it through).
- Pour in the beef stock, stir and bring to the boil.
- Add in the carrots and potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir a few times to break up the corned beef.
- Stir in the cauliflower, cider vinegar, salt and pepper, then simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times during cooking.
- Mix the cornflour with the cold water in a small bowl to make a slurry. Stir a little of the slurry at a time into the soup, until the soup thickens to your liking.
- Taste the soup and season further if required, then divide between four bowls. Top with parsley before serving for a dash of colour.
Video
✎ Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was first published in January 2017. Updated in November 2021 with an improved recipe, a video, and for housekeeping reasons.
🥣 More Soup Recipes
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Dawn says
This has to be one of the tastiest, easiest soups to make ever!😁
It was a borderline stew, so filling and full of flavour.
Definitely going to be a regular meal in this house through the cold months.
Doesn't need any thing else..wish I had made twice as much though 😆
Toby PLATT says
I’m not sure we have tinned corned beef in U.S. supermarkets—at least I’m not familiar with it. Do you know of any American brands?
David King says
Love this recipe so easy and tasty and fetched great memories back from when my mam made it Thanks
Sharon Midgley says
Just how I remember my mums corned beef hash, love it with Yorkshire puds or crusty bread
Rita says
This soup is just the best. We tried it with the pickled red cabbage as suggested by Nicky and it really did work the magic
Hayley Burgess says
Absolutely delish, this recipe has improved my own. Thank you x
Jen says
Tasty, comfort food. Quick and easy to make.
Ricky says
What do you mean by "11/3 liters of water"?
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Ricky - it means one and one third of a litre (i.e 1333 ml).
Mary says
My Irish mum made this with just potato, onion, corned beef and a tin of baked beans. Delicious. Good to see it is still out there in some form! As you say, meaty and a very wholesome, tasty dish.
Nic clark says
Added some garlic and Worcester sauce, the whole family loved it,
Mary says
This brings back so many memories, filling dinners made from what we had to hand. Tins of corned beef being in everyone's pantry. Great recipe from one of your older followers.
Darren says
I tweaked this recipe a little bit with the addition of 4 sprigs of thyme, 3 cloves of garlic, 6 small potatoes, celery and green beans and an extra tin of corned beef.
Brought back many childhood memories.
Excellent