Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Brisket Point Cut

As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, Aldi gets in on the holiday by stocking all manner of green decor and green food. You’re likely to spot green gnomes, shamrock garlands, green cupcakes and cookies, green frappe mixes, and more in the middle aisle.

While a lot of St. Patrick’s Day goodies at Aldi are sugary treats, Aldi also sells all of the components to make a traditional Irish American St. Paddy’s Day meal. That means corned beef. The selection might vary from year to year, but in 2024, I found name-brand Morton’s of Omaha Black Angus Corned Beef Brisket Flats as well as Aldi-brand Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Brisket Point Cuts stocked in the grocer’s fresh meat section. The brisket flats are more expensive, priced at $4.99 per pound, while the point cuts are cheaper at $2.99 per pound.

Because we’re all about reviewing Aldi brands, I picked up a package of the Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Brisket Point Cut to make my family’s annual corned beef and cabbage dinner this year. I’ve had both flat and point cuts before. Flats are a premium leaner cut, while point cuts have more marbling and fat.

Corned beef served with cabbage, potatoes, and carrots is one of my family’s favorite meals. While my own family has some Irish heritage, I didn’t start eating corned beef until I was a young adult. My husband and I, then young newlyweds, used to eat dinner at the home of some friends every week. One week, corned beef all the fixings was on the menu in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. My husband and I immediately fell in love with the savory, tender corned beef, which was perfectly augmented by all the vegetables.

The corned beef and cabbage meal we associate with St. Patrick’s Day in America is not a tradition in Ireland. In Ireland, cows were primarily raised for milk and dairy product production, or cows were raised to work in fields. Common St. Patrick’s Day meals included bacon and cabbage, lamb, or stew. While Ireland eventually came to produce a lot of corned beef for export to England, France, and America, it was usually not an affordable meat for the Irish to eat. During the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1852, many Irish people immigrated to the United States. There, they discovered that corned beef was more affordable, and it became associated with celebratory meals on St. Patrick’s Day.

And in case you’re wondering, corned beef does not have anything to do with corn. The name comes from the large kernels of salt originally used to cure the meat.

Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Brisket Point Cut is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store receives one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone until next year. Aldi does not offer online ordering for this if it’s sold out at your local store.

This does tend to sell out as St. Patrick’s Day nears, so if you see it and want it, go ahead and buy it. My package had a use-by date of May 3rd, 2024, which was more than a month out from when I purchased it. Corned beef does freeze well if you don’t intend to use it right away.

This cost $2.99 per pound at the time of publication. I bought a 4.46-pound brisket, which was one of the larger cuts in my store, and I always look for larger cuts because my family is very fond of corned beef. It cost $13.34 in total.

The package states that it comes with corned beef brisket and up to a 35% solution of water, salt, sodium phosphates, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, flavorings, and papain. The packaging also states that the corned beef is MSG free and gluten free. In addition to the brisket, a small packet with spices is included.

A 4-ounce serving has 220 calories, 17 grams of total fat (22% DV), 7 grams of saturated fat (35% DV), 1,010 mg of sodium (44% DV), and no carbohydrates, dietary fiber, or sugars. One serving also has 15 grams of protein.

Nutrition information, ingredients, and cooking directions. (Click to enlarge.)

The package has directions for simmering this on the stovetop or baking it in the oven.

To simmer on the stove, remove the meat from the package. Place the meat in a pot and cover with water. Add the contents of the spice packet if desired. (The directions note this corned beef is already seasoned, hence the reason why the spice packet is optional, but we always use the packet.) Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 50 minutes per pound or until fork tender. When the corned beef is cooked, take it out of the pot and let it cool for 20-30 minutes. Slice the meat against the grain and serve.

To bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the meat from the package and place it on a rack in a pan, fat side up. Add approximately one inch of water to the bottom of the pan. Cover with the contents of the included spice packet if desired. (Again, the corned beef is already seasoned, so you don’t have to use the spice packet, but I recommend using it.) Cover the pan with a lid or foil. Bake for 50 minutes per pound or until fork tender. When 10 minutes of baking time are left, uncover the pan and bake at 375 degrees. When the corned beef is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 20-30 minutes. Slice the meat against the grain. Pour juices over the sliced meat and serve.

The package recommends that any juices included in the package be used in the cooking process.

Cooking Our Corned Beef and Cabbage:

My husband has developed his own system for making corned beef and cabbage in a large 12-quart stockpot on the stovetop, and this has been our go-to method for years. You can read about that in detail here, or I’ve offered a brief summary of the process below. (I’ve also tried making corned beef and cabbage in my slow cooker, which you can read about here.)

The ingredients you’ll need are:

• Corned beef (approximately 4 pounds)
• Potatoes (we prefer red, and we use roughly 10-12 potatoes)
• Whole carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces (we use about 5-8 carrots)
• One head of cabbage, chopped or sliced into large pieces

We start by placing the corned beef with seasoning packet in a large pot. Then fill the pot with water so it covers the beef by about one inch. Bring it to a boil, then simmer it for about 50 minutes per pound. (In the case of this most recent corned beef package I bought, I cooked it for about 3 hours and 40 minutes.) When there are 40 minutes left in the cooking time, we add the red potatoes. You can add the potatoes whole, or cut them in half if they’re larger. Then we add cut carrots when there are 30 minutes of cooking time left. Finally, the chopped cabbage goes into the pot when there are 15 minutes of cook time left.

It may not look all that impressive when you first pull the cooked corned beef out of the pot, but know that it will be delicious. This point cut has more fat than a flat cut, but we didn’t think it was excessively fatty.

When everything is done cooking, remove the meat from the pot and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing against the grain. This makes a lot of food, so we usually put it in a few different serving bowls. We often sprinkle a little salt and pepper over our individual servings, especially the potatoes. The corned beef is tender and perfectly seasoned and makes a great meal. Because this makes so much food, it’s always nice to have lots of leftovers to enjoy over the next few days.

Sliced and ready to serve with veggies.

The Verdict:

Cattlemen’s Ranch Corned Beef Brisket Point Cut is an inexpensive corned beef option at Aldi. It’s great for a St. Patrick’s Day meal that includes cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. We cook it long and low in a stockpot and it comes out tender and flavorful.