Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage with creamy baby red potatoes and carrots is a flavorful easy meal with the most tender meat!

A marinated corned beef brisket is cooked in the instant pot with homemade beef broth and Guinness stout. The corned beef completely falls apart and melts in your mouth. This complete meal is great for St. Patrick’s Day!

Why this recipe works:

• Quick and easy in the Instant Pot! If you’ve ever made corned beef and cabbage, you probably used your slow cooker. I will guarantee that this Instant Pot corned beef and cabbage is a million times better than any crock pot recipe you’ve ever tried. It takes much less time and the Instant Pot infuses the liquid into the meat. This not only enhances the flavor, but makes your corned beef so incredibly tender that it falls apart when you cut it.
• The complete meal. I love this recipe because it comes complete with your meat (corned beef brisket, carbs (baby red potatoes), and veggies (green cabbage and carrots). Nothing else is needed except for maybe a good wine pairing or dark beer.
• So much flavor. Marinated corned beef already has a ton of flavor, but when it is pressure cooked with a dark stout beer like Guinness, the flavor will blow your mind.
• Turn leftovers into another meal. Every time I make this corned beef and cabbage, I use the leftovers to make corned beef hash for breakfast or a Reuben Sandwich!

Ingredients needed:

Exact quantities are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a summary.

• Corned beef brisket: I recommend Trader Joe’s corned beef because it does not have any added nitrates or nitrites. The roast is marinated. The package instructions say to cook in water, but my recipe packs a lot more flavor.
• Liquid: The roast is cooked in beef broth and stout beer.
• Vegetables: onions, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, garlic, and bay leaf (technically a vegetable?)

How to make Instant Pot Corned Beef:

Detailed step by step instructions are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a summary.

1. Cook: Add the corned beef and spices or marinade to the cooking pot of your Instant Pot, or whichever brand you use. Add a quartered onion, beef broth, stout beer, and bay leaves. Cook for 90 minutes on high pressure.
2. Release pressure: When the beef is done cooking, you’ll allow it to naturally release pressure for about 10 minutes and then you’ll quick release the remaining steam. Set the meat on a plate and loosely tent it to keep it warm.
3. Cook the vegetables. Add the potatoes to the cooking liquid first. The cabbage and carrots get added later because they need less time.

Cooking tips for perfect results:

• Size of roast: If your roast is too big for your Instant Pot, you can cut it into smaller chunks.
• Corned beef buying tips: The specific cut of meat I used was an uncured corned beef brisket flat roast from Trader Joe’s. It already came marinated in spices. I highly recommend finding corned beef that is made without nitrates or nitrites.
• Vegetable cook time: The carrots and cabbage will cook fast. If you like them soft, follow my directions to cook them for a couple minutes. Otherwise, just adding them to the hot cooking liquid will soften them.
• Leftovers: If you have any leftovers, store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator. You can reheat for another meal or you can use them to make corned beef hash or a Reuben Sandwich!

Corned beef spices:

If you’re buying a corned beef to make, chances are it will come marinated or with a spice packet.

Most often, you’ll find that the spice packet consists of mustard seed, coriander seed, bay leaf, and hot pepper. Sometimes you’ll also see allspice berries, dill seed, or even cloves.

The flavor of corned beef spices is indeed unique, and when cooked in the pressure cooker, really gets infused into the meat and vegetables.

Why you should add beer:

I chose to add stout to my cooking liquid because it not only adds flavor, but it helps make the meat even more tender. The darker the beer, the more intense the flavor.

If you don’t like Guinness, don’t worry. You can’t really taste it in the finished meal. Not at all, actually. It’s hard to explain, but it will add amazing flavor that will please anyone, even if you hate beer.

All of the alcohol burns off as it cooks, so you can feel fine about serving it to minors or people who don’t drink.

Other great recipes:

Here are some other great St. Patrick’s Day recipes!

• Bangers and Mash with Guinness Onion Gravy
• Irish Cheddar Shepherd’s Pie
• Irish Stew
• Irish Cheddar Stout Bread
• Guinness Chocolate Sauce
• Guinness Chocolate Cake

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

This post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated with more information, photos, and cooking tips. Don’t worry – I didn’t change the recipe!