How to Cook a Corned Beef in the Instant Pot - Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe (2024)

by Amy Blevins 20 Comments

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For years, I’ve heard people talk about serving Corned Beef and Cabbage as a traditional meal for New Year’s Day and Saint Patrick’s Day. And I’ve always felt like I’ve been missing out on something really cool and wished I had planned better. I’m not of Irish descent, but something about this dish seems fanciful and festive and I do love new traditions. As we approach New Years Day or Saint Patrick’s Day lots of people are asking how to cook a corned beef in the Instant Pot – can it even be done? And the answer is a resounding yes! Just look at how this turned out:

Of course, I didn’t have any idea how to even cook a corned beef, so I found someone who has Irish roots and Instant Pot know-how — and asked her to re-create the recipe for me using her Instant Pot. The result is a scrumptious recipe for how to cook Corned Beef in the Instant Pot complete with cabbage and potatoes and carrots.

In researching I discovered that there is some controversy about the origins of the Corned Beef and Cabbage meal and not everyone serves it on both holidays. The best I can tell is what I found on Wikipedia, which is thatIrish immigrants to the United States began substituting corned beef for back bacon when making a traditional Irish dish (bacon and cabbage), thereby creating corned beef and cabbage.

My thought on the whole thing — any excuse to get tasty, home-cooked holiday comfort food and make family traditions is a good reason. There is almost nothing I like more than some meat and tasty root vegetables cooked in a pot! If you are one of those people who agree with me – than we came up with this recipe for how to cook corned beef in the Instant Pot just for you.

You should know that you are going to need to brine the brisket at least overnight and up to one week. So don’t wait until the day of to buy your brisket. When you put everything into the Instant Pot, you only need to add one cup of the original brine. I recommend starting the liquid on sauté while you chop the vegetables so that your pot is already steaming when you seal it. This will bring it up to full pressure more quickly once you get everything in the pot and switch it to pressure cook. Doesn’t this look pretty in the pot?

The cabbage will turn white during the cooking process, which is why it is not pictured in any of the finished plated recipe pictures. It just wasn’t showing up well for the camera, but is quite tasty and adds important flavor to the dish. I love the flavor cabbage adds! If you decide to try our method for how to cook corned beef in the Instant Pot we would love it if you would comment below and let us know how much you love this recipe!

Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

Brine (if using a plain brisket)

3 Cups Water
1 Cup Salt
1 Teaspoon Whole Mustard Seeds
1 Tablespoon Whole Peppercorns
1 Teaspoon Whole Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 Tablespoon Pimentos
1 Teaspoon garlic (Minced)

Main Dish

3 Pounds Beef Brisket (brined and trimmed)
3 Large Carrots (Chopped)
1/2 Head Green Cabbage (Chopped)
2 Cups Small Potatoes (Chopped)

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Instructions

Brine

Combine all brine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Let cool completely before pouring over the brisket and refrigerating.
Refrigerate for up to one week.

Cook

Place brisket and one cup of the brine in the Instant Pot.
Select the meat/stew setting for 40 minutes and natural release.
When the timer goes off, chop the cabbage, potatoes and carrots into large rustic chunks.
Add the vegetables to the Instant Pot and select meat/stew for 15 minutes.
Natural release.
Shred or slice the corned beef to serve.

Notes

Note: to save time, you can purchase a corned beef brisket. You need at least one day of brining a plain brisket.