Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
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A fast track corned beef dinner made in your pressure cooker! No brine, no fuss. The IP will do all the work for you!
Featured Comment
I had no idea that St. Patrick’s Day was such a big deal here in Chicago. Did you know that the Chicago River has been dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day every year since 1962? I’m not much of a history buff but the dyeing of the river is pretty stinking cool. Butters and I will be sure to check it out, and after we take a peak at the green river, we are going to eat all of the corned beef we possibly can.
reasons to make instant pot corned beef and cabbage
- Made in just a fraction of the time. A complete St. Patrick’s day dinner in just a fraction of the time in 85 minutes? Yes, please! There’s no brine, no fuss, no stress. Everything gets thrown in the Instant Pot®, and you can let the IP take care of all the hard work for you. There’s no searing, no browning, no nothing. Did I mention the no fuss and minimal hands on time?
- So tender and juicy. The brisket comes out perfectly tender and juicy, pairing so beautifully with the potatoes, carrots and cabbage, which are also cooked in the IP in just 4 minutes in all the flavorful corned beef juices.
CORNED BEEF VS. PASTRAMI
What is corned beef?
Corned beef is beef brisket, an inexpensive cut of meat, cured in a salt brine with pickling spices (peppercorns, bay leaf, mustard seeds and coriander seeds) for about 1 week, a process that was used to preserve and tenderize meat before refrigeration.
What is the difference between corned beef and pastrami?
Corned beef and pastrami are both brined cuts of beef, but corned beef is made from leaner flat brisket and is typically boiled after brining whereas pastrami is made from a fattier cut, point brisket, and is smoked and steamed.
tips and tricks for success
- Cook the vegetables after. Add the potatoes, carrots and cabbage to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes after the corned beef has cooked through. Cooking the vegetables with the corned beef will lead to overcooked, mushy veggies.
- Let your meat rest. Let your corned beef rest for at least 10 minutes prior to serving, allowing the juices to redistribute – this will allow for maximum flavor and juiciness.
- Slice across the grain. Corned beef is best when sliced across the grain, perpendicular to the direction of the fibers. This shortens the muscle fibers making the meat more tender. When slicing with the grain, the meat will be chewy.
- Serve with Guinness. For all the St. Patrick’s day holiday feels, serve corned beef and cabbage with Guinness beer. The malty, slightly bitter flavors of Guinness will beautifully contrast the salty, savory flavors of the corned beef, potatoes, carrots and cabbage.
- Repurpose leftovers. The leftovers make for great reuben dips, corned beef sandwiches, and corned beef hash for breakfast (or dinner).
- Reheat in the oven. Leftover corned beef can be rubbery when reheated. For best results with leftovers, reheat in the oven at 325°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, reaching an internal temperature of 165°F.
more favorited St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can soak the corned beef in cold water for at least 2 hours prior to cooking to help draw out the salt during the curing process.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.
Yes! Let cool completely; portion the leftover corned beef into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating at 325°F, covered in aluminum foil, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
Corned beef leftovers is the gift that keeps on giving. Repurpose the leftovers for reuben sandwiches, nachos, egg rolls, pizzas, quesadillas, mac and cheese, and of course corned beef hash (our favorite!).
No Instant Pot, no problem. You can try this recipe instead.
Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 (3-pound) corned beef brisket, plus pickling spice packet or 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling spice
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 (14.9 ounce) can Guinness beer
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 pound new potatoes
- 3 large carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 1 head Savoy cabbage, cut into 2-inch wedges
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- Rinse brisket with cold water and thoroughly pat dry.
- Place onion, garlic and pickling spice into a 6-qt Instant Pot®. Gently place brisket on top of the onion mixture. Top with beer and beef broth.
- Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 85 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Remove brisket from the Instant Pot®; keep warm. Remove and discard onion mixture, reserving 1 1/2 cups cooking liquid in the Instant Pot®.
- Stir in potatoes and carrots; top with cabbage. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 4 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Thinly slice corned beef against the grain and serve with potatoes, carrots and cabbage, garnished with mustard and parsley, if desired.
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I made it. It came out PERFECT!
Thank you for the perfect instant pot corned beef recipe! You saved the day since I had not been able to get it in the crockpot earlier and we would otherwise not been able to have this on St Patty’s day! The meat was tender and the veggies were perfect. 5 stars!! Thanks again
First time I’ve used this recipe–absolutely delicious. Even better than one I had recently that was cooked in the oven for 24 hours and included a lot of extra work with marinades, etc.
Good stuff. First time making corned beef and it worked perfectly. I kept all the leftover broth after straining out the onions and ladeled it onto everything else in big bowls. I used low sodium beef broth and didn’t add any salt while cooking and it was plenty salty for me. My husband added just a small shake for himself. A happy St. Patrick’s Day all around!
If I use a larger brisket how should I adjust the cooking time?
In my experience the cook time is the same but it will take a little longer for the IP to reach pressure.
I hope that helps.
Excellent! We all love this recipe!
Great recipe. I make it about 4 times a year. Aldi id a great place to get decent-priced CB.
Been using this recipe for years now.
This is so delicious and easy to make! I love that there’s no big mess of pots and pans to clean up afterwards. I also cooked my veggies in the broth.
Was the best Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe so far! Family loved it! I did 90 minutes instead of 85, and released at 17 min. with a 3.5 lb brisket.
This was perfect! I had two 2.5# briskets (one flat and one point) and cooked them at the same time. I did add both of the pickling spice packets plus about two tablespoons of my homemade pickling spice (with extra cloves and cinnamon).
Both briskets were so tender that no knives were needed. I did brush them with some brown sugar and mustard glaze and stuck them in the broiler while the Instant Pot got back up to pressure to cook the veggies. The glaze is a nice complement to the salty, savory meat.
I’ll be cooking another brisket tomorrow that won’t be glazed as I want to make Reuben sandwiches and a creamy Reuben soup for dinners later on this week. And I’ll definitely use your directions for that one also.
Extremely tender and delicious. Trying to cut back on sodium, so I roasted the carrots and potatoes in the oven at 425. Braised the cabbage in a skillet with a little chicken broth. Fantastic meal. Thank you for a great recipe.
YUMBO! Sitting on the coach in a calorie stupor! Great recipe!
Awesome
We loved it. Will repeat again soon
This is the only recipe I’ve used since I’ve found it. I’ve changed the minds of many people on corned beef after they’ve tasted the final product. Delicious!
Just made it, left in the onion before doing the taters and cabbage, and my wife thought it was quite good. Leftovers will become sandwiches. Nice recipe, easy to make, and I had almost everything on hand already, thank you for the tip.
Every recipe I’ve tried from Damn Delicious have been so so good. I would highly recommend trying them !!!!!……….☺
This recipe was excellent! Made just as directed. I had a 4 LB corned beef and 85 mins was perfect. Company greatly enjoyed the meal. I did however double the carrots as mentioned. Glad I did. Thanks for the recipe!
The corned beef turned out really well – tender and moist. The timing for the vegetables was off though. The carrots were done after 4 minutes. We cooked the potatoes and cabbage for another 4 minutes. This time the cabbage was done, but not the potatoes. Finally after cooking the potatoes another 5 minutes they were done. Thes were small potatoes too. Otherwise the flavors were great.
This is by far the best corned beef I’ve ever made. Both my husband and I agree. We didn’t do cabbage since we don’t care for cabbage, but the potatoes and carrots were also incredibly tasty. We both went back for seconds and left only 2 pieces of corned beef as leftovers. I would make this again and again! Followed the recipe to a “t” and wouldn’t change anything.