This Instant Pot corned beef is pressure cooked until tender, then served with potatoes, cabbage and carrots in a garlic butter sauce. An easy one pot meal that’s great for St. Patrick’s Day or any other day of the year!

When March rolls around, I always celebrate by making St. Patrick’s Day recipes such as colcannon, Irish soda bread, an Irish mule and this super easy and delicious pressure cooker corned beef.

Instant Pot corned beef sliced and served with cabbage, carrots and potatoes.

You can never go wrong with a succulent and savory corned beef, but let’s be real, this cut of meat takes a long time to cook. My easy Instant Pot corned beef recipe solves this problem and drastically reduces the cooking time to just 90 minutes. The end result is a perfectly delicious dish that is sure to get rave reviews. It is one of my favorite Instant Pot recipes!

Instant Pot Corned Beef Ingredients

When you make your Instant Pot corned beef you will need corned beef brisket, onion, garlic, carrots, small yellow potatoes, green cabbage, butter, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.

A raw corned beef in a pressure cooker.

How Do You Make Instant Pot Corned Beef?

Start by placing onions and garlic in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place the corned beef on top and sprinkle seasonings over the meat. If your meat doesn’t come with a seasoning packet, it’s fine to just cook it without the seasoning. The corned beef in these photos came pre-seasoned. Add water to the pot, then cook on high pressure until the meat is tender. Release the pressure. Remove the meat from the cooking liquid in the pot, and cover to keep warm. Add carrots, potatoes and cabbage wedges to the pot, then cook until the veggies are tender. Remove the vegetables from the liquid in the pot, and arrange on the plate with the brisket. Drizzle garlic butter over the vegetables, then slice the meat and serve.

Bowls of potatoes, cabbage and carrots.

Tips For The Perfect Dish

  • Most packaged corned beef contains a packet of spices to sprinkle over the meat when it cooks. If your meat does not come with a spice packet, you can use 1-2 teaspoons of pickling spice instead, or simply omit the extra spices.
  • This dish stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze cooked corned beef for up to two months. I don’t recommend freezing the vegetables as they can become soft and watery when thawed. Save some of your leftovers to make corned beef hash the next day!
  • Cut your cabbage into wedges with the core attached so that it doesn’t fall apart as it cooks.
  • Be sure to slice your meat against the grain for the most tender slices.
  • I serve this dish with a side of grainy mustard which pairs perfectly with the savory beef.

Quick Tip

Cut your carrots and potatoes into similar size pieces so that they cook at the same rate.

Cabbage wedges, potatoes and sliced carrots in an Instant Pot.

Recipe FAQs

What is corned beef made of?

Corned beef is a beef brisket that soaks in brine and then cures with salt and seasonings. This meat gets its distinctive pink color from sodium nitrate which is an ingredient in the curing process. It is a tough cut of meat, so cook corned beef for a long period of time until tender. Typical cooking methods include boiling, slow cooking or oven roasting the meat, as well as using an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker.

How do you buy corned beef?

Most stores sell cured and seasoned corned beef, especially in March. There are a few different cuts of corned beef to chose from including corned beef round roast, flat cut brisket, and point cut brisket. The round roast tends to have the least fat, but is also much more prone to drying out for that same reason.

Flat cut brisket and point cut brisket tend to be the better corned beef options because they stay juicy when cooked. I used a flat cut brisket for these photos, as you can see by the uniform size and shape of the slices. Point cut brisket is the fattiest cut, but can also sometimes be the most tender. You will want to choose a piece of meat that fits inside your pressure cooker. It’s really up to you which cut you use!

What happens if you don’t rinse corned beef before cooking?

You should rinse corned beef in cold water before cooking it to remove excess salt. The meat will taste better if excess salt is removed before it is cooked.

What is the best method for cooking corned beef?

There are a lot of great methods for cooking corned beef. You can cook it on the stovetop or in the oven. I have an amazing slow cooker corned beef recipe. However, if time is a factor, you can save time and keep all of the flavor with an Instant Pot.

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A plate of sliced Instant Pot corned beef with cabbage wedges, carrots and baby potatoes.

Instant Pot Corned Beef Flavor Variations

This dish is delicious as-is, but you can absolutely add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.

  • Liquid: Instead of water, feel free to use a light colored beer such as a lager. I have heard of people using Guinness, though it’s flavor is a little strong for me. You can use low sodium beef broth or low sodium chicken broth. It’s imperative to use low sodium broth or the finished dish could be overly salty.
  • Potatoes: I typically use baby Yukon gold potatoes, but baby red potatoes also work. You can also use regular sized potatoes of any variety cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Keep the pieces similar in size and shape so that they cook at the same rate.
  • Vegetables: Try Savoy cabbage instead of traditional green cabbage. You can also add other types of root vegetables to the mix such as parsnips, turnips and rutabaga.
  • Seasonings: You can try some other flavors by adding a few bay leaves or coriander seeds to the Instant Pot.
  • Sandwich: I love to keep leftover corned beef for sandwiches the next day. Corned beef goes great on rye bread with mustard or you can make a Rueben sandwich with sauerkraut, Russian dressing and Swiss cheese.

You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to use your Instant Pot to turn a simple meal into something extraordinary.

More St. Patrick’s Day Recipes

Instant Pot Corned Beef Video

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5 from 35 votes

Instant Pot Corned Beef

AuthorSara Welch
Instant Pot corned beef sliced and served with cabbage, carrots and potatoes.
This Instant Pot corned beef is pressure cooked until tender, then served with potatoes, cabbage and carrots in a garlic butter sauce. An easy one pot meal that's great for St. Patrick's Day or any other day of the year!
Time
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 40 minutes
Total Time2 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine Irish
Serves 6

Ingredients 

  • 1 corned beef brisket 3-5 lbs, look for a size that will fit in your pot
  • 1 onion peeled and cut into wedges
  • 4 whole garlic cloves lightly smashed
  • 4 carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
  • 1 pound small yellow potatoes whole or halved, your choice
  • 1/2 head green cabbage cut into 6 wedges
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • grainy mustard for serving optional

Instructions 

  • Remove the corned beef from the package. Rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Place the onions and garlic cloves at the bottom of an Instant Pot. Set the corned beef on top of the onions. Add the seasoning packet on top of the meat if your corned beef came with a packet. If there's no packet, you can skip this step.
  • Pour 4 cups of water into the pot.
  • Seal the lid, then set the Instant Pot to manual pressure cook on high for 90 minutes.
  • Carefully release the pressure using the quick release method as described in the Instant Pot owners manual.
  • Remove the corned beef, onions and garlic from the pot. Discard the onions and garlic, and place the meat on a plate. Cover to keep warm.
  • Place the carrots, potatoes and cabbage into the liquid in the pot. Seal the pot, then cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes. Carefully quick release the pressure.
  • Place the butter, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments or until melted.
  • Remove the vegetables and potatoes from the pot. Arrange around the corned beef. Drizzle the garlic butter over the potatoes and vegetables.
  • Slice the meat against the grain, then serve with mustard if desired.

Notes

  1. Most packaged corned beef contains a packet of spices to sprinkle over the meat when it cooks. If your meat does not come with a packet, you can use 1-2 teaspoons of pickling spice instead, or simply omit the extra spices.
  2. This dish stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze cooked corned beef for up to two months. I don’t recommend freezing the vegetables as they can become soft and watery when thawed.
  3. Cut your cabbage into wedges with the core attached so that it doesn’t fall apart as it cooks.

Nutrition

Calories: 564kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 987mg | Potassium: 1133mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 5345IU | Vitamin C: 97.4mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 6.1mg

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5 from 35 votes (18 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I love that there are so few dishes with this recipe. It’s definitely the way I’ll be making the corned beef and cabbage this St. Patrick’s Day.

  2. 5 stars
    Super easy! So yummy! Cabbage, corned beef and mustard really hits the spot for me.

  3. Very yummy and super easy recipe. Made it tonight for St Patrick’s Day and the wife and kid loved it. One adjustment though… only cook the veggies 1-2 minutes and then immediately quick pressure release. I did 2 minutes and they were just barely overdone. If I had cooked them for 5 minutes they would have been mush.

  4. 5 stars
    I am trying to decide which of recipe to use for my corned beef dinner.
    Do you prefer the slow cooker method or the insta pot.
    Thank you!

  5. 5 stars
    I still don’t have an instant pot but with every new recipe I try I think I should have one.

  6. 5 stars
    Such a delicious recipe! Using the Instant Pot makes it so easy and convenient. Gonna make this again soon!

  7. 5 stars
    So good. I was super nervous to try this because the instant pot intimidates me haha! But it was excellent. My corned beef was around 4 lbs and was perfectly tender. The veggies were a bit mushy but they were still good even so. I ended up using russet potatoes cut into quarters since thatโ€™s what I had on hand. Thanks for a delicious recipe, it was nice to use the instant pot for this.

  8. 5 stars
    Perfect timing to find this recipe. I’m late in planning my St. Patrick’s Day dinner and I’m so glad to find such a great recipe using my favorite small kitchen appliance. This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!

  9. 5 stars
    What great flavors in this and we corned beef and just got an instant pot!, on my list to make soon~!

  10. 5 stars
    This is definitely a must-make for St. Patrick’s Day! I love that you made this in the instant pot. ๐Ÿ™‚