Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage will become your go to method to cook tender Beef for St. Patrick's Day! Pressure cook the traditional corned beef in less time than you would cook it on the stove. This hearty Irish meal was designed to be pressure cooked!
In this Instant Pot Corned Beef recipe you've got a huge chunk of tasty meat in the fraction of time! With all the Instant Pot friendly vegetables in one pot. I'm talking potatoes, cabbage and carrots! Talk about comfort food such as this fork tender and fall apart beef!
If the pressure cooker was available to the Irish back in the day, it would be their preferred choice of making this signature dish! And without the use of a slow cooker. This braised corned beef is juicy, succulent tender and packed with flavor! So easy and delicious.
The details
- 70 minutes in the Instant Pot will produce a wonderful flavor and tender. Yet still firm in texture, which is ideal in my opinion. However, if you want corned beef to be even more tender, go up to 90 minutes, but not more than that.
- Keep in mind that Instant Pot Corned Beef will shrink after pressure cooking! Therefore I suggest buying the largest available piece and squeezing it in. That's what I did with my corned beef brisket.
- It's also important to keep the beef warm while vegetables are cooking. I suggest placing it on the plate, covering with foil and keeping warm in the 200 degree oven.
- I cooked corned beef for 90 minutes. Next, I added vegetables for only 6 minutes. Once you finish corned beef, you will need to keep it warm until vegetables are done.
Can I cook vegetables without removing the corned beef from the Instant Pot?
If the size of your Instant Pot allows it, you can surely do it. Just make sure to not overload it. Simply add 1 additional cup of water to the pot in addition to the veggies.
Can I cook frozen corned beef in the instant pot?
If you bought frozen corned beef, add just a little bit of time. The rule of thumb is to cook frozen corned beef in the Instant Pot on manual high pressure for about 34 minutes a pound.
For example, if you have 3 pound corned beef, cook it for 102 minutes. If it's 4 pounds - 136 minutes.
Can I use broth instead of water?
Certainly, just make sure it's sodium free or low sodium broth. Otherwise you will end up with way too much salt in all the ingredients. As a result it won't taste good.
More St. Patrick's Day recipes
Irish Mashed Potatoes with Bacon (Colcannon)
Classic Irish Soda Bread with Whiskey Raisins
You might also like Irish Whiskey hot drink
Craving more beef recipes?
Italian Style Beef Liver with Marsala
Homemade Cabbage and Beef Soup
Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
Ingredients
- 4-5 cloves garlic
- 4 cups water
- 4 lb. corned beef brisket (and spice packet)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 lbs red potatoes
- 1 lb baby carrots
- 1 head green cabbage quartered
Instructions
Preparing Corned Beef for the Instant Pot:
- Remove Corned Beef Brisket from the package, reserve the spice packet and rinse the meat thoroughly. Place the brisket in the Instant Pot on the lift-out rack (if there is a fattier side, put that side facing down).Sprinkle the seasonings evenly on top of the brisket. Add whole garlic cloves on top of the meat. Pour in water around the edges of the Instant Pot, making sure to keep the spices on top of the brisket in place.
Pressure Cooking Corned Beef Brisket:
- Secure lid and move steam vent to "Sealing"Select “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” and set time to "01:30" (90 minutes), select "High Pressure".
- The digital display will show "On". One thing to keep in mind that since the Instant Pot is cold and we just added 4 cups of water to it and a huge chunk of cold meat, it will take a long time for it to come to pressure, about 15 minutes. So when it stands there doing seemingly nothing for the first 5 minutes - don't panic - perfectly normal. After about 5-10 minutes, you will hear hissing and see steam coming out. Next the red pin will pop out and 2 minutes later you will hear one beep and "On" on the Digital Display will be replaced by the Countdown: "01:30". Pressure cooking has began!
- When done, use Quick Release Method to release pressure.
- Remove corned beef brisket from the pot and discard garlic (or keep it if desired). Put the brisket onto a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Keep the water inside the pot.
Pressure Cooking Vegetables:
- Make sure the rack is removed. Without discarding liquid, add salt, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage to the Instant Pot. Keep in mind that it'll be packed, but will shrink after cooking.
- Press "Pressure Cook" and set timer to 6 minutes. Because of so much stuff in the pot it will take a while (about 15 minutes) for the pressure to build up. Once you hear hissing and see steam coming out - you're getting close. Next you'll hear a beep and the countdown to 6 minutes will start.
- Once done, perform a quick pressure release before removing vegetables. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon or tongs.
- While the veggies are in the pot, slice the corned beef brisket against the grain. Make sure you use a sharp knife.
- Add the cabbage and veggies to the brisket dish and serve. Spoon the broth from the instant pot over the meat to keep it moist.
Eva says
The 34 min/lb for the frozen roast was spot on. I had a 3.44 lb frozen corned beef roast, and set it at 117 min, and it was PERFECT! I cooked it in vegetable broth (highly recommend). Added the salt and veggies afterwards, as stated (basically followed recipe to the tee, substituting veggie broth, and instead of small, red potatoes, I cut some russets to match thre size). Great instructions. Thanks so much!
Olya says
Thank you Eva for such a detailed review! And the tip about vegetable broth!
Gail says
My corned beef tastes fine, but my vegetables had no flavor at all. I've added more seasoning and placed them back in the IP for a few minutes. Hopefully this will help!
Olya says
Probably the spice packet!
Cecile Kelly says
I love your recipe, I bought a large steamer basket for 6 or 8 q instant pots, I simply prep my veggies, put in steamer basket, when cored beef is done basket goes in for 6 min.. Works perfectly. I have also substituted Brussel Sprouts for the cabbage, sweeter taste. Yumm
Olya says
I'm so glad you made this, Cecile. I should try it with Brussels sprouts too!