Irish Eggs Benedict with Corned Beef (2024)

I think the saying goes that there are two types of people in the world: The Irish and those who wish they were! Good news though – you don’t have to be Irish to enjoy this Irish Eggs Benedict recipe! Layered with corned beef, sauerkraut, and a homemade Thousand Island hollandaise sauce, this is truly a special brunch dish!

St. Patty’s Day is right around the corner. You know… the day where we all pretend to be Irish so we can drink green beer and pinch people with reckless abandon?

My favorite thing about St. Patty’s Day though isn’t the oddly colored beer, but instead it’s a good corned beef. It’s not every year that I’ll spend the time (and plan ahead enough) tocorn my own brisket, but if I do, I’m definitely slicing off a few extra pieces for these benedicts the next day. WOWZA they are good.

Of course, there’s no need to corn your own brisket to make these Irish eggs benedicts with corned beef. Corned beef from your deli works perfectly as well.

Pile it high and good luck to ya!

• Want a sweeter breakfast? Try this Jameson French Toast!

What kind of corned beef to use?

There are a few options when selecting corned beef. If you’ve taken the time to make a homemade corned beef, then just slice the leftovers thinly and use can use those in this Irish eggs benedict.

If you don’t have leftover corned beef, you can use deli corned beef. This is a little different but you can have your butcher slice it thin and it works just as well.

What I wouldn’t use in this recipe is corned beef hash which usually has potatoes mixed in as well and doesn’t work well in benedict form.

The Thousand Island Hollandaise Sauce

This is actually a beginner-style eggs benedict! There’s just not a lot to cook here, especially if you’re getting corned beef and sauerkraut from the deli.

It would be a bit lazy to just toss on Thousand Island dressing though, so I decided to work on a mash-up between a hollandaise sauce and the dressing. The nice part about using the dressing is that it acts as a great emulsifier. If you screw up your sauce a bit, it’s no big deal because the dressing will smooth it out.

Whisk together your egg yolk, water, and vinegar in a medium bowl and whisk it over a pot of steaming water for a minute until the yolk is frothy and steaming. Then slowly whisk in the butter. This is the basics for a hollandaise sauce, but then add in the Thousand Island dressing!

Then you can season it with salt and pepper and your sauce is done! It’s about as easy as hollandaise gets!

Making Perfect Poached Eggs

Gotta have poached eggs for a benedict, in my opinion. I like to cook mine in a fairly small saucepan with simmering water a few tablespoons of vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar for this recipe). Carefully pour in the eggs and let them simmer for about 3 minutes. Make sure the water isn’t boiling or it’ll destroy the eggs.

When the whites are set, remove them with a slotted spoon!

Poached eggs are delicate things, but it’s worth it to let them drain on a paper towel to drain off some of the liquid.

If you don’t poach eggs regularly, be sure to have a few extra eggs around as you might lose one or two!

Other Eggs Benedict Ingredients

Don’t even think about serving these on English muffins (okay… you can if you want). But, rye bread is the way to go. I went with a basic marbled rye. Use the best bread you can find! I considered serving it on soda bread, but I think rye bread is the way to go.

Plus, you’ll need corned beef (sliced thin) and sauerkraut.

A reuben will traditionally also have swiss cheese on it, but I thought that was a bit too much on an eggs benedict. You could add a slice of swiss or cheddar if you wanted, but I didn’t miss it.

To Heat or Not To Heat:I made two versions of these benedicts. One, I tried with just cold corned beef and sauerkraut. In other words, I pulled it out of the fridge and tossed it on the toast!

The second version I warmed the corned beef and sauerkraut very gently in a small skillet over medium heat.

Both were delicious! I actually didn’t mind the cold one because the egg, sauce, and toast are all a little warm. But, if you really want to nail it, it’s probably worth it to gently warm up the fillings a bit.

These turned out pretty solid though.

Building the Irish eggs benedict is pretty easy. Toast. Corned beef. Sauerkraut.

Poached eggs and sauce are next. Then a little sprinkle of fresh chives or parlsey for some St. Patty’s Day green and you’re in business.

I think these are the easiest benedicts I’ve ever made which isn’t fair because they are really good.

And now for the required benedict yolk food p*rn shot! I wish I could send you a bite of these!

Variations for these Irish Eggs Benedicts

Here are a few fun change-ups you could try for this Irish Eggs Benedict recipe.

• Instead of hollandaise sauce, make a cheese sauce to go over the top of the benedicts
• Instead of poached eggs, make some soft scrambled eggs to go on top of the toast.
• Use golden brown hash browns as a base for the benedicts instead of toast or English muffins.
• Add these ingredients to your fullenglish breakfast spread!

Here are a few other great St. Patricks Day Recipes to try

• Homemade Corned Beef
• Hash Brown Benedicts
• One bowl beer cheese bread
• Apple Cider Braised Brats