This tender, beer-infused Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage is the perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Using the pressure cooker function makes it easy and convenient to cook a traditional corned beef dinner in less time. For a recipe without an Instant Pot, check out my Beer-Braised Corned Beef.
Since I got my Instant Pot, I’ve been having fun adapting and testing some of my classic recipes in it, mostly to see how the results differ using the pressure cooker function.
Being perfectly honest, I’ve found that I do prefer some dishes cooked with traditional processes. As I’ve said before, I don’t think my heart will ever stray from its devotion to slow-braises in my Dutch oven!
Many times, though, the dishes that have emerged from my pressure cooker have been just as well-enjoyed as their slowly-cooked counterparts, with an added bonus of the convenience of not having to watch a pot for 3 or 4 hours on the stove or in the oven. Our yearly Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner has been one of those.
Adapting my beer braised corned beef for the Instant Pot was one of the first things I had in mind when I bought it. We were not disappointed! The pressure cooker corned beef, infused with aromatic pickling spices and lager, was just as tender, succulent, and full-flavored as when I make it in my Dutch oven.
Making Instant Pot Corned Beef
As with most classic recipes I’ve adapted for the Instant Pot, I found that I needed more spices and less liquid than when I cook a corned beef on the stove or in a Dutch oven. I doubled my usual pickling spices from 1 tablespoon to 2 to infuse into the brisket, and only needed 4 cups of liquid total, as compared to 5-6.
Unlike other meats, I don’t recommend making Instant Pot Corned Beef with the minimum amount of liquid required for the unit (usually 1 to 1-1/2 cups). Corned beef can be very salty, and without adding enough liquid to reach to the sides of the brisket, you won’t draw enough of that salt out of the meat during the cooking process.
How Long Does it Take to Cook Corned Beef in a Pressure Cooker?
Instant Pot corned beef saves you about an hour of time, as compared to braising in the Dutch oven. In comparison to crockpot corned beef recipes, which can take up to 8 hours, it’s substantially quicker.
For a 4-pound corned beef (flat or point cut), we liked the texture of the meat best when cooked at high pressure for 85 minutes, with a 20-minute natural release. The meat was fork-tender, but still sliceable against the grain without falling apart. Adding about 15 minutes to the cooking process for the Instant Pot to heat up to pressure, the corned beef itself takes about 2 hours total.
Read about the difference between flat and point cut brisket in “Tips for Buying Brisket” from Cooks Illustrated.
We always make a corned beef around 4 pounds to ensure leftovers for sandwiches and corned beef hash, but if you make a much smaller brisket, it will likely need a shorter cooking time. Instant Pot recommends 70 minutes at high pressure for 2 pound briskets, with an abbreviated natural release.
Cooking Vegetables for a Pressure Cooker Corned Beef Dinner
Adding potatoes, carrots, and cabbage to an Instant Pot corned beef dinner is a breeze. I like to strain the cooking liquid after I remove the corned beef from the pot, and discard the pickling spices and solids. Then, I just add some of strained liquid back into the pot with the vegetables, and cook on high pressure for 3-4 minutes, with a manual release.
I love the flavor that the pressure cooker infuses into the vegetables from the beer-based cooking liquid. I don’t usually get that excited about boiled or steamed cabbage wedges, but I really enjoyed the flavor of these.
Serving Instant Pot Corned Beef
When the corned beef comes out of the Instant Pot, I like to place it in a dish with a bit of the reserved cooking liquid and cover with foil to keep the meat warm and juicy. When ready to serve, slice the brisket against the grain in 1/8 to 1/4-inch slices.
Check Out: Here’s How (and Why) to Slice Meat Against the Grain from Kitchn.
If there is a substantial fat cap on the corned beef, you might want to trim it down or remove it entirely before slicing. This is entirely a matter of personal preference. We like to serve the brisket with some of the fat left on.
When serving, spoon a little bit of the strained cooking liquid over the sliced corned beef on the platter, and offer guests whole grain mustard on the side. I sprinkle the vegetables with chopped fresh parsley for a pop of color and freshness, and sometimes, treat them to a light drizzling of melted butter.
Have leftovers? Try making my Corned Beef Hash and Eggs for breakfast!
Recipe Video
Instant Pot Corned Beef
A tender corned beef and cabbage dinner, infused with the light flavor of lager-style beer and warm pickling spices. This recipe is written for a 4-pound corned beef using a 6-quart Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion , sliced
- 4 cloves garlic , peeled and lightly smashed with the back of a knife
- 2 tablespoons pickling spice
- 2.5 cups water
- 4 pound corned beef brisket , rinsed
- 12 ounces lager-style beer (nothing too bitter)
- 1 pound tiny potatoes (about 1-1/2 inches in diameter), or red-skinned potatoes cut into 1-1/2 inch wedges
- 1 head cabbage , cut into 8 wedges
- 1 pound baby carrots
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley , for garnish
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted (optional)
- whole grain mustard , for serving (optional)
Instructions
Combine onion, garlic, pickling spices, and water in the insert of an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker. Place the corned beef brisket, fat side up, on a rack on top of the onions. Pour beer over the brisket.
Seal lid and set the unit to HIGH pressure for 85 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.* Remove corned beef and place on a dish or a cutting board, spooning a bit of the cooking liquid over the top. Cover with foil to keep warm.
Strain cooking liquid and discard solids. Return 1-1/2 cups of liquid to the Instant Pot and add potatoes, carrots, and cabbage wedges. (Reserve remaining cooking liquid.) Seal lid and set the unit to HIGH pressure for 3-4 minutes, depending on how soft you like your vegetables. Quick release pressure.
Slice corned beef against the grain. Spoon a little bit of the reserved cooking liquid over the corned beef slices on your platter. Sprinkle parsley over the vegetables, and if desired, drizzle with melted butter. Serve corned beef with mustard.
Recipe Notes
*Since the beer foams up in the pressure cooker during the corned beef cooking process, you might find that the initial force of manually releasing the steam (after the 20 minute natural release) causes some liquid to spray out of the valve. Sometimes it's happened to me, other times, it hasn't.
A little bit of liquid is fine, but if you release the pressure and find that too much liquid is coming out, re-seal the valve, and try releasing the remaining pressure again in another 5 minutes. Or, release the steam more slowly by turning the valve just until you hear a hissing noise and carefully holding it in that position (be sure to wear a heat-proof glove).
Read more about gradually releasing the steam in this article, section #3.
Some have recommended covering the lid/valve with a towel while releasing the pressure. Do not do this, as obstructing the vent can damage your pressure cooker and cause a safety issue.
To Glaze The Corned Beef (Optional)
This corned beef is also delicious served with my Irish Whiskey-Mustard glaze. The ingredients and directions can be found in my recipe, Beer Braised Corned Beef with Whiskey Mustard Glaze. After fully cooking the corned beef in the Instant Pot (instead of Dutch oven braising), follow the directions to "Glaze and Serve".
More Instant Pot Recipes on Striped Spatula
Moani says
I made this yesterday for St. Patrick’s day for my family. It was a BIG hit! Many thumbs up! It was also my first time using my Instant Pot. It’s an 8 quart and easily fit the 4.2 pounder. I rinsed the meat really well under cold water and patted it dry prior to placing it into my IP. I chose not to double the pickling spice but otherwise followed your recipe exactly. Delicious! There have been requests now to add this into regular dinner rotation.
Melissa Tigera says
Just finished cleaning up from dinner and my family has already asked when I will make this again. I had a flat cut 4.1 pounder from Costco and my corned beef connoisseur husband said it came perfect. :) It was easy and no shredded meat like so many other recipes. Thanks for sharing this!
Debbie says
Great corned beef recipe. Made it after seeing the video on Facebook. I never get that excited about cabbage with the corned beef but like others said it had great flavor pressure cooked with the strained cooking liquid. The meat is very tender but not stringy like my crockpot corned beef came. We’re making reubens with the leftovers tonight!
Amy says
Can I use beef broth instead of beer? My husband has Celiac .
Striped Spatula Team says
Hi Amy,
Yes, beef broth can be substituted. You can also use all water (4 cups total for the recipe).
Happy Cooking!
The Striped Spatula Team
Kelly F Guncheon says
If the meat is too big for your One Pot, can you cut it in half and stack one on top of the other? If so, should cooking times/processes be altered?
Striped Spatula Team says
Hi Kelly,
We don’t recommend stacking the meat for this recipe. In order to draw the salt out of the corned beef during the cooking process, the liquid needs to reach the sides of the brisket. While we haven’t tested stacking, it seems that doing so would require adding too much liquid to the pot. That said, it’s okay if the brisket touches the sides of the pot in areas to fit, as shown in the video.
Happy Cooking!
The Striped Spatula Team
Dana says
It was absolutely delicious! I cooked a 4.5# corned beef but is was so sad at how much it shrank down…barely enough for 3 and I only ate 3 ounces. What size would I need to a family of 5 with leftovers? I was SO looking forward to having this for a couple of meals.
Striped Spatula Team says
Hi Dana, we’re glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Corned beef does shrink down when cooking, but that sounds like an unusual amount of shrinkage. The standard buying guidelines for corned beef are 3/4 pound per person, up to 1 pound per person allowing for leftovers. A 4.5 to 5 pound cut should easily feed 5. Was it a particularly fatty brisket?
JesseK says
I’m such a snob when it comes to cooking and instant pot recipes have really pretty pictures but I find this isn’t always the case…
Until now… nailed it with cooking times and “doneness”…. of course there’s the obligatory “what I added” on a online recipe… just used some more salt and pepper on the vegetables and salted butter.
Amazing meal! Great recipe!
Dee Selk says
I loved the recipe and corned beef was awesome. I would like to know if you know why the meat seemed a little salty? Any suggestions. I didn’t add anything other than the original package of pickling spices that came with the beef and the lager beer.
Striped Spatula Team says
Hi Dee,
We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed the corned beef recipe! By nature, corned beef is very salty, and some brands are much saltier than others. (We’ve even found the same brand to vary quite a bit in salt from year to year.) A lot of the salt is drawn out into the cooking liquid during the pressure cooking process, but rinsing the meat before cooking can also help to tone it down a bit.
Happy Cooking!
The Striped Spatula Team
Opal Burgess says
I followed the recipe and I made it perfectly using my instant pot. Thanks for sharing your recipe Miss Amanda, you are awesome.
Ryan T says
Corned beef with beer is great wouldn’t change a thing. The flavor of the vegetables is much better than other recipes.
Nicole says
Best corned beef I’ve ever made. Did a trial run for a St. Paddy’s party I’m having. The meat was very tender without totally shredding and flavorful. This is my new corned beef recipe.
Sharon Kaplan says
I definitely want to make this but do you have any tips for making this in the 3 QT Instant Pot Duo?
Striped Spatula Team says
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for your question! To make the recipe as written, you’d need a 6-quart Instant Pot. The 3-quart wouldn’t fit a brisket of this size, or the volume of liquid. We haven’t tested this recipe with reduced quantities in the smaller IP.
The Striped Spatula Team
Jim says
Great recipe. I used a bottle of craft beer and cooked veggies 3 mins. I’d like to try it with the glaze from your other corned beef recipe next. But this one is excellent as it is.
John Little says
The corned beef itself was outstanding! I did embellish the cooking liquid, using amber ale mixed with brown sugar and coarse-grained mustard, but the texture of the corned beef was the best ever, and that’s due to the method, not my flavorings. If you like some firmness in your potatoes and carrots, I’d cut the time for the vegetables in half. After 4 minutes, even with quick-release, we thought they were too mushy for our taste.
Striped Spatula Team says
Hi John,
Thank you for your comment. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the corned beef recipe.
In developing the recipe, most of our taste testers preferred the vegetables cooked for 3-4 minutes. 3 minutes for a firmer bite, 4 for softer. We don’t recommend reducing the time in half to 2 minutes. In our tests, while the baby carrots were crisp tender after that period, the whole baby potatoes were inedible in the middle.
Thank you for visiting Striped Spatula,
The Striped Spatula Team
Jennifer Goldberg says
This is how corned beef should be. Soft, juicy, and not stringing apart. Thank you for all of your tips. Some food blogs don’t have a lot of helpful writing outside of the recipe but I love how your posts are about the recipe. Good read and great corned beef dinner.
Laura says
I’ll never make corned beef another way again. Fabulous. I only got a little sputter from the beer when I did the release. The flavor it gave everything was amazing. Hubs asked me to buy another corned beef and make it again.
Linda says
Agree with all of the other reviews. This corned beef is perfection. I’m going to try a bigger one in my 8qt and see how it comes.
Jillian says
Best corned beef dinner I’ve ever made. Looking forward to sandwiches today. Thanks for the great recipe!