Instant Pot Corned Beef is tender and delicious, served with cabbage and potatoes, cooked in the pressure cooker in a fraction of time. This is the ultimate dish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! It is a good old-fashioned Irish meal that is cooked faster and better in the pressure cooker.
St. Patrick’s day is one of my favorite and I love cooking traditional Irish dishes. For this occasion, you can also try Bacon Fried Cabbage, Shepherd’s Pie, and Mint Chocolate Chip Truffles.
Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
Instant Pot Corned Beef is so incredibly tender and delicious, and it can be done in a fraction of time than baking or cooking it in the slow cooker. This recipe is very easy, basic and impossible to get wrong.
Also, to make it even better, after the beef is cooked, simply add the cabbage and potatoes to the pressure cooker and cook them for an additional 4-5 minutes. This way you will have a rounded meal of delicious meat and vegetables.
In addition, I do recommend making this dish with a decent amount of liquid in it. Usually, I use at least 1 1/2 cups of broth with an equal amount of beer or water added. Corned beef can be very salty, and without adding enough liquid to reach the sides of the brisket, you won’t draw enough of that salt out of the meat during the cooking process. Therefore, it is essential to use enough liquid when cooking it. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, check my recipe for Slow Cooker Corned Beef.
What is Corned Beef?
The name comes from the treatment of the meat with large grained rock salt, also called “corns” of salt and with some pickling spices for added flavor. It gets its name “corn” from an old English word for grain.
How to Choose the Best Cut of Corned Beef?
- The “flat” cut – leaner and features a more consistent thickness.
- The “point” – it is the thicker end of the brisket, fattier, with inter-muscular fat or marbling.
- A whole brisket, which includes both the flat and the point, is the best choice.
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HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO COOK CORNED BEEF IN the Instant Pot (PRESSURE COOKER)?
- I cook this dish in the pressure cooker for about 1.5 hours, but it also depends on the size of the meat. For a 4-pound corned beef (flat or pointcut), I recommend cooking it at high pressure for 90 minutes, with a 20-minute natural pressure release. As a result, you will end up with fork-tender meat, but still sliceable against the grain without falling apart. However, if you make a much smaller brisket, it will need a shorter cooking time. I would recommend reducing the cooking time to about 75 minutes for a 2-pound brisket, with an abbreviated natural release.
- If you want to make it in the crockpot, the cooking time will be about 8-10 hours on LOW or 4-5 hours on HIGH.
- In the oven it will take about 4-6 hours, it depends how big is the brisket.
How to cook the vegetables in the pressure cooker?
Once the brisket is cooked remove it from the pot. Then, add the potatoes, carrots, and cabbage to it. I like to strain the cooking liquid after removing the corned beef from the pot and discard the solids.
Then, I use some of the strained liquid back into the pot with the vegetables, and cook on high pressure for 4-5 minutes, with a manual release.
How Do You serve Corned Beef?
When the brisket is cooked, I like to place it in a dish with a bit of the reserved cooking liquid and let it rest for a bit, covered with foil. Before serving, it is best to slice the brisket against the grain in 1/8 to 1/4-inch slices.
- Serve it with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.
- Also, shred-it and make Reuben Sandwiches or go a step further and make a Reuben Grilled Cheese.
- Serve it over pasta or mashed potatoes.
- Make corned beef hash!
Can I Make My Own Blend of Pickling Spices for Corned Beef?
Yes, you totally can, if the corned beef you bought didn’t come with pickling spices, you can make your own, just mix these ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
- 3-5 whole cloves
- 5 bay leaves
Expert Tips:
- For a tender corned beef, use a whole brisket.
- I love using beer in this recipe, you can use a traditional Irish beer like Guinness or go for your favorite brew.
- If you prefer not to use alcohol a mix of water and some beef broth is a great choice.
- If your corned beef didn’t come with pickling spices, scroll down to see how you can make your own blend.
- To save time, you can use baby carrots and baby potatoes.
- I like to add 1/2 of a larger cabbage to the pot, a whole one seems excessive to me.
- Add more or less garlic, based on taste preference.
- Slice the beef across the grain, it will result in more tender slices.
- This is the Instant Pot I have.
Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 1 hour 50 minutes Total time: 2 hrs
Ingredients
Corned Beef:
- 2-4 pounds corned beef brisket (rinsed)
- 2 cups beef broth or cold water
- 2 cups beer of your choice (water or broth)
- 1 large sweet onion (quartered)
- 6-8 garlic cloves (crushed)
- pickling spices
- 3 bay leaves
Vegetables:
- 6 medium carrots (peeled and cut into 2.5 inches ling sticks or use baby carrots)
- 6-8 red potatoes (quartered)
- 1/2 cabbage (cut into 4 wedges)
Instructions
Add corned beef to the pressure cooker pot. (I used a 6 QT pot)
Add quartered onion, crushed garlic cloves, pickling spices and the liquid. The liquid should cover the brisket, if needed add one more cup of water. Make sure you don't go over the Max fill line.
Gently stir and add the bay leaves.
Close lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 75 minutes for a 2-pound brisket, 80 minutes for 3 pounds and 85 minutes for 4 pounds. Followed by a Natural Release of 15-20 minutes. Release the remaining pressure by turning the venting knob from the sealing position to the venting position.
Note: If your brisket is thicker than 1.5 inches, adjust the pressure cooking time by adding 5 – 6 minutes for every additional 1/2 inch.
Set aside cooked brisket in a deep dish or container, and add about 1 1/2 cups of the liquid to it.
Vegetables:
Add quartered red potatoes and carrots to the pressure cooker into the remaining liquid. Add the cabbage wedges. The veggies can be added with a steamer basket for easier removal later.
Close lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 3 minutes followed by a Quick Release.
Open the lid carefully and remove the vegetables using a spider strain.
Cut the Corned Beef against the grain into slices and serve with the veggies.
Strain the cooking liquid, and pour some over the beef before serving. Store remaining beef in the cooking sauce in an airtight container.
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