The Simple Breakfast To Make With Your Leftover Corned Beef

Unlike the viral "leprechaun bait" St. Patrick's Day snack that made the TikTok rounds, corned beef is a yummy, traditional meal that's imbued with history. Corned beef, made with the historically inexpensive brisket, was popular with Irish American immigrants because it was a cost-effective celebratory meal. For this reason, we still chow down on corned beef on St. Patrick's Day, the one day of the year when everyone is at least a little Irish. When you are drinking your beer on St. Patrick's Day and washing down a delicious Irish-inspired repast, you probably won't be thinking too much about leftovers. But then March 18 comes along, and you have a bunch of residual corned beef in your fridge. What should you do with it?

The answer is to use up your corned beef in an egg scramble that enables you to basically toss in whatever vegetables you have hanging around your fridge. Include some shredded potato and you'll have a hearty breakfast that will go a long way towards alleviating that St. Pat's hangover. If you can scramble eggs, you can manage this easy recipe. As an added bonus, it's both scalable and customizable too.

This scramble is a major upgrade from normal scrambled eggs and is easy to pull off. (Of course, making this recipe is just one of many ways to elevate everyday scrambled eggs.) Take your leftover corned beef and chop it finely. Then, grab whatever vegetables you have hanging around. Peppers, onions, and mushrooms are delicious with corned beef, but feel free to get creative. Again, dice these into small bits. Next, you want to grate some potatoes. You could certainly grate a fresh spud, but grating a couple of frozen hashbrowns will do the trick too.

Take all your vegetables and toss them in a hot, oiled frying pan until everything is nice and crispy. Then, add the beef and fry it until it is hot and browned. (Don't cook it for too long or it will dry out.) While the meat is cooking, crack a few eggs — use one or two per person — and stir them in a bowl with a splash of milk or cream. Pour the eggs over your beef mixture and stir gently until the eggs set. Season the dish with salt and pepper to taste. Now, all that's left to do is to serve your scramble. 

Corned beef scramble tastes lovely when served over some thick slices of buttered toast or bread. You can even add a slice of juicy tomato, a dash of hot sauce, or even some cheese. Whatever you decide to add, this dish will be delicious. Trust us when we say you'll enjoy this breakfast so much that you'll be looking for multiple excuses to cook corned beef well before next March.