Instant Pot corned beef and cabbage transform traditional ingredients into a tender, flavorful pressure cooker meal. The brisket is glazed with a Dijon mustard and brown sugar crust, ensuring not a single piece is leftover!
Table of Contents
Each year, corned beef and cabbage is the highly anticipated meal to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, especially if you’re Irish like my husband. The combination of salty beef brisket, hearty potatoes, carrots, and cabbage makes for a complete feast.
I usually cook this meal using either my slow cooker corned beef or baked corned beef method, but this time I was anxious to see what results I could get from the Instant Pot. To my surprise, using an electric pressure cooker yields exceptionally tender meat; now I have another go-to method in my repertoire.
Purchasing corn beef
Look for a brisket that’s flat cut or point cut on the packaging with minimal fat cap. Some come pre-trimmed. I bought a 3 ½-pound brisket that came with a seasoning packet, but once I cut away the extra fat, it hit 2 pounds on my kitchen scale.
Therefore, if the only choices you have at the market are fatty, buy a more substantial weight and plan for it to get smaller after trimming. The thickest part of the meat was 1 ½ inches, so if your cut of beef is thicker, add about 5 more minutes of cooking for every additional ½ inch.
How to cook corned beef in the Instant Pot
The beef and vegetables pressure cook in two phases. First, the cured beef brisket cooks on high pressure in the Instant Pot for about an hour with pickling spice packet, onions, minced garlic cloves, bay leaf, beef broth, and Guinness draught beer.
Then remove the corned beef and add in the carrots, red potatoes, and cabbage wedges straight into the cooking liquid. All the meat, aromatics, and beer flavors transfer to the vegetables. It takes about 3 minutes of high-pressure cooking to soften.
If desired, add a glaze and broil
At this point, you can serve the meal straight from the Instant Pot or add a two-ingredient glaze and quickly broil it to take the flavor to the next level. I recommend using coarse ground Dijon mustard and a sprinkle of brown sugar on top.
Broil in the oven until the mustard is warm and the sugar caramelizes to create a delicious crust on top. The little mustard seeds pop with each bite to add a slight tang to the sweet crust.
Serve this with
Recipe Science
How does this cook so quickly in a pressure cooker?
Corned beef contains connective tissue that benefits from moist heat cooking by transforming tough collagen into soft gelatin. The Instant Pot uses high-temperature steam around 229 to 250° F (109 to 121°C) depending on the setting. The pressure inside cooks the brisket in about ⅓ of the time, compared to over 3 hours on the stovetop or in a slow cooker at atmospheric pressure.
Corned Beef and Cabbage (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds corned beef brisket, 1 ½" thick
- pickling spices, from corned beef package
- 1 yellow onion, medium-sized, peeled and quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 3 cups beef stock
- 1 cup guinness stout beer
- 1 ½ pounds red potatoes, quartered
- 5 carrots, cut into 2" pieces
- 1 head cabbage, cut into 8 wedges
- 3 tablespoons coarse ground dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
Instructions
- Prepare the Meat – Trim any excess fat from the brisket. Rinse under cold water and dry with paper towels. Transfer the meat to the Instant Pot.
- Add Seasonings and Cover – Add pickling spices, yellow onions, garlic, bay leaves, beef stock, and beer. Make sure the release valve is in the "Sealing" position. Place the lid on, turn and lock.
- Pressure Cook the Meat – Press the "Manual" button on the Instant Pot on high pressure, and then set the timer to 70 minutes using the "+" or "-" buttons. It will take about 10 minutes for the pot to heat up and build pressure. You will see some steam release from the lid, and then the time will start on the display.
- Release Pressure – Once cook time is complete, allow the pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes.
- Open Lid – Use an oven mitt or towel to slowly and carefully twist the steam release handle on the lid to the "Venting" position. The initial release will spray some moisture around the pot so be careful. Remove the lid, opening the top away from you as steam will be released.
- Transfer the Beef – Line a sheet pan with foil and place the corned beef on top.
- Pressure Cook the Vegetables – Add the potatoes, carrots, and cabbage to the Instant Pot. The pot will be nearly full. Place the lid on and lock it. Make sure the steam release handle is in the "Sealing" position.Press the "Manual" button on high pressure, and then set the timer to 3 minutes. Use an oven mitt or towel to twist the steam release handle on the lid to the "Venting" position. Transfer the vegetables to a platter.
- Glaze the Beef – Evenly spread mustard on top and sides of the corned beef with a spoon. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly on top and sides.Optional: For a nice browned crust. Broil the beef in the oven on high, about 12 inches from the top heating element until a golden brown crust forms, about 5 to 8 minutes. Make sure to check every few minutes as oven temperatures vary.
- To Serve – Slice the meat against the grain and serve with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Garnish with parsley.
Notes
- Buying Weight: Purchase a 3 to 3 ½-pound brisket as the excess fat will be trimmed off giving about a 2-pound yield.
- Meat Thickness: This recipe is for a 1 ½-inch thick corned beef brisket once the fat has been trimmed. Add an extra 5 minutes of cook time for every additional ½-inch thickness.
- Beer Substitute: Guinness beer can be substituted with 1 cup of beef stock.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Soren says
Ok. Wow! This came out amazing! Finishing in the broiler with the simple glaze was a magnificent touch! By far the best corned beef I’ve cooked or eaten! I will be repeating this one. 😍
Charles Franks says
Thank you for a great recipe. Just finished a great meal. When removing the Corn Beef from the pot, the meat was so tender it fell apart. Had to be very gentle, was still able to spread the mustard glaze. Melted in your mouth. When I made the gravy adding cornstarch, water, and a couple drops of liquid smoke. Awesome!!!
Now I have some great broth for bean soup. Great flavor.
Jessica Gavin says
I love that you added some liquid smoke to the gravy, yum! Great idea to use the broth for bean soup!
Chloe says
This was really good! I used a 4 pounder and added more onions and garlic (you can never have enough) It was my first ever time cooking corned beef but oh my it was so good. I’ll be using this recipe again
Jessica Gavin says
Great job, Chloe! I love garlic and onion too.
Robin says
I don’t have beef broth can I use onion soup mix instead? Or chicken soup mix?
Jessica Gavin says
You can use rehydrated onion soup or chicken soup mix. It may be a little saltier.
Zane says
Just made this recipe and corned beef came out great. I made just the corned beef because I’m using it for corned beef hash. I made it without the Guinness and used the extra cup of broth instead. I relized that the leftover broth and onions is basically French onion soup. So I’m going to separate the fat from it and make French onion soup.
Jessica Gavin says
Wow, what a great double use for the broth, I have to try making soup out if it too!
Marissa says
Love this idea too!!
Jessica Gavin says
Let me know if you give it a try!