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!
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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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Im a long time corn beef lover and the instant pot really increases your odds of it turning out great! One secret that I learned from my husband who Likes corn beef, but doesnt Love corn beef like I do… he comes home from Costco and tells me, he picked the one that felt the most tender when he was trying to choose 1 from the 100 packages they had in the case.. and I gotta tell ya it was a fabulous corn beef! So tonight when I was at Safeway I paid $6 more than I wanted ir needed to.. just to get the 1 that was the most tender. Again it was Fab and not tough at all. As for the recipe, I forgot the Guiness when I was at the store, so I used beef broth and a bottle of Miller Lite… and it was out of this world! Drove us crazy with the delicious smell while it cooking!! Thank you, for such a simple delicious recipe!!
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback Amy!
Excellent and Easy
Yum! The corned beef came out perfect. I skipped the carrots and just did cabbage and served it with sour dough and butter. Perfect Sunday dinner. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
It truly is the best for Sundays! 🙂
We made it Sunday and it turned out perfect. I will use it again.
I decided to follow this recipe over others because I’ve had previous good experiences with this website. Turned out great! Corned beef was firm yet tender. Vegetables were cooked to perfection. Sauce was flavorful and spicy.
I just made this for my husband for St. Patrick’s Day, and it was definitely damn delicious! We made our own pickling spice, and it was so easy and yummy. I’ll definitely make it again.
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Wow! I was going to give up making this dish altogether because of past failures. I’m so glad I gave your recipe a try. This was delicious! The meat was juicy and tender. The vegetables were perfect and not overcooked. For those of you for whom the dish didnt turn out, it is possible that it was just a bad batch of brisket. It happens…
Thanks, Stephanie! So glad it turned out great for you! 🙂
I just made this tonight and it was soooooo good! The prep time was super short and I love throwing stuff into the instantpot and leaving the kitchen to do whatever else I need to and coming back to deliciousness!! My kids and husband loved the corned beef too! Thank u!
It’s the best, isn’t it?!
Best. Ever. The meat was amazing…. so glad I gave this recipe a shot! Any time I make meat in the insta pot, I know half the battle is getting the weight of the meat right.
That’s very true!
I have this in the instant pot right now and it smells FAB!! Followed the recipe to the T and can’t wait for dinner!
We’re going to make this tonight, but my husband bought a 4 pound beef. How much longer should we make this in the instant pot? TIA
Unfortunately, without having tried these modifications myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
My corned beef was 4.17 lbs. and I used the same cooking time. It came out perfect!
85 minutes divided by 3.5 lbs = 28.33 minutes per lb. Take 4lbs. times that you got total time.
85 divided by 3.5 = approx. 24.3.
In theory, but it doesn’t work this way with the pressure cooker. I saw another recipe and it was for 90 minutes for a 6 lb one. I think anything over 85 minutes is fine. If not, put it back in the IP.
I made this with a 6 pound corned beef I purchased from Costco. It turned out fabulous! I doubled the recipe but kept the cooking time the same. The meat was tender and the vegetables were perfect! I used the 8 quart instant pot.
That’s great!
I used two corned beef briskets total 6 lbs in an 8Qt. and they turned out stringy and tough.
This was such a good recipe I am making it again this weekend for a much larger crew. If I where to use a 6lbs corned beef should I increase the cook time?
Thanks, Matt! That’s a great idea but unfortunately, without further recipe testing, we cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications. Also, keep in mind that the Instant Pot has a certain capacity limit.
Help please! I followed the recipe as written except I replace beef broth with just water. The meat was very nice and tender but very salty! Almost inedible. I had to slice it and soak in in water to get rid of the excess sodium. What went wrong? I bought the brand Bailey from Costco
I am so sorry to hear that! Did you rinse the brisket with cold water as outlined in step 1?
I sure did. Knowing that it’s given corned beef is salty, I even soaked it in water for 30 minutes. Maybe it was just a bad batch?
That could be it. Corned beef is also just generally super salty!
Great, love corned beef, and all the veggies to go with it!!
Perfect. My brisket was 3.5 pounds, so cooked it for 90 minutes. Perfectly tender. Another damn delicious recipe from you. Thank you.
Awesome!
Have made other recipes from this site so was excited to try this out. The taste was terrific, however the meat was pretty tough. Not sure what I did wrong – hoping to ask and see if others might have suggestions.
I’m so sorry to hear that, Kaykay. Did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions? What size corned beef brisket did you use?
can I make this is crockpot?
You can try this recipe instead:
https://damndelicious.net/2015/03/02/slow-cooker-corned-beef/.
Perfect Recipe! Be sure to try Portillo’s it’s a fantastic place for Italian Beef Sandwich’s and SO much more. You will love Chicago in the Summer so much too do and see and great restaurants. Love your site:)
What do you suggest as a substitute for the beer? No gluten, no alcohol…thanks!
Hi Robbie! You can simply omit the beer entirely or substitute with extra beef broth. If you’re feeling experimental, this is what I found on the internet as other subs for dark beer: Use beef broth, chicken broth, mushroom stock, apple juice, apple cider, root beer, or coke instead of dark beer. But as always, please use your best judgement when making substitutions and modifications.
We use black tea or a non alchololic beer. I have wheat allergies and both work well.
Great ways to do it! Thanks for sharing your tips, Judith!