Leftover Corned Beef Soup – Kalyn’s Kitchen

posted by Kalyn Denny on March 8, 2021

You can make this delicious Leftover Corned Beef Soup in the Instant Pot or on the Stove, and this soup is really low in carbs. Make it with thick-sliced corned beef from the deli when you don’t have any leftover corned beef!

PIN Leftover Corned Beef Soup!

I know you don’t have leftover corned beef yet, but St. Patrick’s Day is this month, and all the corned beef fans (like me!) will be cooking Instant Pot Corned Beef or Slow Cooker Corned Beef for a special dinner. So I’m reminding you about this amazing Leftover Corned Beef Soup; this is one of my favorite things to make with leftover corned beef! Or just buy some corned beef from the deli to make this soup, it’s that good! And when made this recently to take better photos, Kara and I decided to create a version for the Instant Pot, so now you have two methods to choose from for this tasty soup.

For the Instant Pot version we used less sauerkraut and more corned beef to make a soup that’s lower in carbs, and I’m changing those amounts for the stovetop version as well. Kara is not a big corned beef fan, but she pronounced this soup to be “very good” when we tested it. And for the Instant Pot version everything goes in at once and it only needs 5 minutes under pressure, which makes that version a fairly quick and really easy recipe.

We loved the soup with some coarsely grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, and grated Swiss cheese would also be good if you want Reuben sandwich flavor notes. I also recommend serving it with your best balsamic vinegar in case people want to drizzle a little more on at the table. I hope you enjoy trying this soup if you’re a corned beef fan! And check out Low-Carb and Keto Soups with Cabbage if you’d like more soup ideas while cabbage is on sale.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

• onion
• olive oil
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
• Dried Thyme (affiliate link)
• canned beef broth
• canned chicken broth
• crushed tomatoes
• Worcestershire sauce, or Gluten-Free Worcestershire Sauce (affiliate link)
• chopped fresh parsley
• Bay Leaves (affiliate link)
• sauerkraut
• cooked corned beef
• Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link)
• balsamic vinegar
• fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• coarsely grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese, optional

What Balsamic Vinegar did I use?

You can make this soup with any balsamic vinegar you buy at the grocery store and it will be just fine. But if you really want to boost the flavor (without buying a super pricey bottle of balsamic vinegar at an import store) I’ve been thrilled with this Colavita Aged Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (affiliate link) that I buy at Amazon.com. It’s sweeter and thicker than regular balsamic vinegar, and you only need a tiny amount when you use it, so it’s not that much of a splurge at $11.99 a bottle!

How to Make Leftover Corned Beef Soup:

(Scroll down for complete recipe including nutritional information and stovetop instructions.)

1. Drain sauerkraut in a colander placed in the sink. (If your sauerkraut doesn’t seem that chopped up, I used kitchen shears to chop it up a bit more.)
2. Cut up the corned beef into medium-sized cubes (or smaller if you prefer.)
3. Set Instant Pot to SAUTE, MEDIUM HEAT. Heat the olive oil, then add onion and cook 4-5 minutes; add minced garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more.
4. Then add chicken stock, beef stock, dried thyme, diced tomatoes, drained sauerkraut, diced corned beef, Worcestershire Sauce, bay leaves, and chopped parsley.
5. Set Instant Pot to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, 5 minutes.
6. When the cooking time is up, let the Instant Pot NATURAL RELEASE for 10 minutes; then release the rest of the pressure.
7. Stir in balsamic vinegar and Monkfruit sweetener, season with fresh ground black pepper and serve hot.
8. We ate it with coarsely-grated Parmesan Cheese sprinkled on top and a drizzle of  extra balsamic vinegar.
9. This soup would be delicious 100% Whole Wheat Irish Brown Bread to dip into the soup if you don’t mind the extra carbs!

More Corned Beef for St. Patrick’s Day:

Leftover Corned Beef Low-Carb Reuben Bake from Kalyn’s Kitchen
The BEST Slow Cooker Corned Beef Recipes from Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
The BEST Instant Pot Corned Beef Recipes from Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
Irish Eggs Benedict from Big Red Kitchen
Low-Carb Reuben Sandwich Cabbage Cups from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth (see notes)
• 2 cups homemade beef stock (see notes)
• one 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley (see notes)
• 3 large bay leaves
• 12 oz. sauerkraut, drained but not rinsed
• 12 oz. cooked corned beef
• 1 T Monkfruit sweetener (see notes)
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Instant Pot Instructions:

1. Drain sauerkraut in a colander placed in the sink. (If your sauerkraut doesn’t seem that chopped up, I used kitchen shears to chop it up a bit more.
2. Cut up the corned beef into medium-sized cubes (or smaller if you prefer.)
3. Set Instant Pot to SAUTE, MEDIUM HEAT.
4. Heat the olive oil, then add the chopped onion and cook about 4-5 minutes; add minced garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more.
5. Then add chicken broth, beef broth, dried thyme, diced tomatoes with juice, drained sauerkraut, diced corned beef, Worcestershire Sauce, bay leaves, and chopped parsley.
6. Set Instant Pot to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, 5 minutes.
7. When the cooking time is up, let the Instant Pot NATURAL RELEASE for 10 minutes; then release the rest of the pressure.
8. Stir in balsamic vinegar and Monkfruit sweetener, season to taste with lots of fresh ground black pepper and serve hot.
9. We ate it with coarsely-grated Parmesan Cheese sprinkled on top and a drizzle of  extra balsamic vinegar.

Stovetop Instructions:

1. You will need about one cup more beef broth to make this on the stove.
2. Chop one onion to make 1 cups chopped onion.
3. Heat olive oil in a heavy soup pot, add onion and saute 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are starting to get lightly browned.
4. Add minced garlic and saute 2-3 minutes more.
5. Add chicken broth, beef broth, diced tomatoes with juice, Worcestershire sauce, chopped parsley, and bay leaves and let soup simmer on low for 30 minutes.
6. While soup simmers, drain the sauerkraut in a colander placed in the sink.
7. Cut corned beef into medium-sized cubes
8. When sauerkraut is drained, coarsely chop with kitchen scissors or a large chef’s knife.
9. After 30 minutes, add sauerkraut, corned beef, and sweetener to the soup.
10. Stir soup to see if it’s getting too thick, and add a little water if needed. (You probably won’t need the water if you add the extra cup of beef stock.)
11. Let soup simmer 15 minutes more.
12. After 15 minutes, stir in 1 T balsamic vinegar and season to taste with fresh ground black pepper. 
13. Serve hot, sprinkled with coarsely-grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese and an extra drizzle of balsamic vinegar if desired.

Notes

If you have homemade chicken stock or homemade beef stock, that would be amazing in this soup! I used flat-leaf parsley but either kind will be fine. I love Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), but use any sweetener of your choice.

I haven’t frozen it yet, but I’m sure this soup freezes well.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 162Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 1139mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 10g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:

This is a tasty soup for low-carb and low-glycemic diet plans, although sauerkraut and tomatoes do have some carbs. Corned beef isn’t really recommended for the original South Beach Diet, due to the amount of saturated fat. However, if you indulge in it for a special occasion like St. Patrick’s Day, this soup is packed with other low-glycemic ingredients which makes it a healthful way to use the leftovers.

Find More Recipes Like This One:

Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.