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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Bought my Instant Pot during Black Friday sale, but today was the first day I took it out of the box and made this corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots!! It came out perfect and so flavorful!! The family loved it!! Definitely #DamnDelicious
Still in pot but I think it’s going to be great. The ingredients included dry mustard but instructions never mention Did I over see it or what???
It was at the bottom. The mustard is for the table.
This looks great and I can’t wait to try it! Any recommendation if I can’t use beer due to celiac’s? I was planning on increasing the beef broth. Thanks!
We don’t keep alcohol in the house. You can totally use more broth, I’ve also used apple juice in place of beer. I recently got an instant pot, I’m still new to cooking in it.
perfect instant pot recipe for St Patrick feast. Coming from Chicago St Patrick day has always been a big deal . It is sad no parade this year. And no celebration at the Emerald. Isle with Irish music. This year. This recipe sure helps bring the smells and tastes Of the day. Yummy .
This was the BEST (and quickest) Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner ever! The cooking times were perfect, the meat was moist, and the taste was incredible. Thanks for a great recipe–yummm!
Quite possibly the best corned beef and cabbage I’ve ever had. Came out perfect! Tender, juicy, delicious. And like others said, very little shrinkage. I’ll never cook one any other way now!
Did a 3.5 lb Harris ranch premium corned beef today followed this recipe and it was perfect. Moist, tender and just the right amount of saltyness (Can’t have corned beef without some kind of salty right) Thanks so much
I have a Bill Bailey Corn beef from Costco. It says to microwave it for 4 – 5 minutes per lb. It is 4.3 lbs.
Any suggestions on how this would translate to cooking it in the insta pot?
I think that is pre cooked corned beef if it gives microwave directions
I wouldn’t cook that in the IP. It’s already cooked.
my Bill Baileys corned beef round from Costco says to cook 90 minutes per lb! So perhaps you have a pre cooked already cooked meat package. So, i would not use the instant pot for that, either. I would heat in a skillet. & cook the cabbage & onions, veggies, in the insta pot
Very moist. But super salty. I mean it is corned beef, but I was expecting a little less salty because I rinsed it thoroughly and patted dry per instructions….
The meat was very tender and flavorful – I loved that part. The carrots were undercooked for my taste, but I used baby carrots. I bought two briskets at a very good price, so I will try this recipe again, either using chopped carrots or increasing the time I pressure cook the veggies. Thank you for such good IP recipes!
Can you use
Chicken stock and Guinness as I love chicken broth with vegetables?
I made this a few weeks ago as a test run for Sat Patrick’s and OMG is all I have to say. I’ve never had it come out so good in all the years I’ve been making it in the crock pot. Only thing I changed is I put a layer of Dijon mustard over the exposed part of the meat during cooking.
10/10 this is going to be on my regular list of recipes.
Great recipe! We followed it exactly except our brisket was only 2lbs. Curious though, your recipe calls for 3lb brisket that serves 6. Is this reflected in the recipe photos of the plated dish? Maybe our 2 pounder had lots of fat that shrunk during cooking because our portions were very small compared to yours! We will make this again, though, because it was tasty and easy to make in the iP. Thanks!
OH MY WORD! That is the best corned beef I’ve ever made! So good!
This turned out really well!!! We don’t drink alcohol so I used 1/2 apple cider vinegar and 1/2 clear soda instead of the beer. It turned out perfectly tender and the flavor was really good!! Thank you for this recipe!!
Your directions were spot on, and the dinner was damn delicious! Husband asked if we could have it again, I told him certainly, since it was a 3# brisket! Appreciate the time and recipe, it was a good one!
This was an excellent and simple-to-follow recipe. I made very few changes: added more spices-Whole peppercorns, bay leaves, whole all-spice, whole mustard seed. I did not have any beef broth handy, so I used bullion (Better Than Bullion) . Next time I would use unsalted beef broth to reduce the overall saltiness. Thank you for another great instant pot recipe!
This was incredible! Didn’t change a thing.
Seems to me pressure cooking onions for 85 minutes would turn them to mush. Are they supposed to be on top of the trivet/spacer/steamer thing?
Hi Karl, I’m not sure why it would matter to anyone if the onions are mush? (“Remove and discard onion mixture”).
No rating yet, mine is still cooking, though I always modify any recipe to my liking.
I have to ask, I understand why you rinse the corned beef, but why bother to pat it dry, when you are putting it into a pot that has liquid. I pat meats dry before putting into an oil, but into a container that will have liquid, what’s the ROI for that please?
I did once cook a goose breast that came out tough, and just redid the process for another x period of pressure, then the meat was real tender. So even with beef, tough beef, just pressure cook for longer time. Life’s too short for tough meat, I believe is written.
I am curious too. Why pat dry the meat??
Just asking!!
Wont onions be squishy? I guess it won’t matter if were removing them. Must be for taste…Im gonna try to make this RIGHT NOW! LET YOU KNOW IF I CAN COOK Y’ALL.
Perfectly tender and yummy! I doubled everything except the veggies as I had 5.5 lbs of meat. Hubs just got back from Ireland, and said mine was better! Ha! Thanks for the delish recipe!
Can you use any beer
Of course. Or no beer at all. You just need a liquid.
So glad to hear! What was your cook time for 5.5 lbs?