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Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage with creamy baby red potatoes and carrots is a flavorful easy meal with the most tender meat that falls apart and melts in your mouth!
A marinated corned beef brisket is cooked in the instant pot with homemade beef broth and Guinness stout 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. I make this complete meal every year for St. Patrick’s Day with a side of Irish Soda Bread!
Why This Recipe Stands Out
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.
- Quick and easy in the Instant Pot! 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 the corned beef brisket, baby red potatoes, and green cabbage and carrots. Nothing else is needed except for maybe a tasty Guinness beer bread on the side.
- 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. If you’ve never made corned beef before, the flavor is incredibly unique because of the seasonings which often include mustard seed, coriander seed, bay leaf, and hot pepper. Sometimes you’ll also see allspice berries, dill seed, or even cloves.
- 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!
What You Will Need to Make This Recipe
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 comes pre-marinated. The package instructions say to cook in it water, but my recipe packs a lot more flavor because the corned beef is cooked in beef broth and stout beer.
- Vegetables: I make this using onions, potatoes, cabbage, and carrots. I also add garlic and bay leaf as aromatics.
How to Make Instant Pot Corned Beef with Guinness Beer
Detailed step by step instructions are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a summary. Because the meat takes longer to cook that the vegetables, the trick is to make this recipe in stages.
1. Rinse and combine: Rinse the corned beef using a colander so that you remove any of the excess super salty brine but still use all of the pickling spice. Add a quartered onion, beef broth, stout beer, and bay leaves.
2. Pressure cook: This mixture gets cooked for 90 minutes on high pressure.
3. Set corned beef aside: When the corned beef is done cooking, you’ll set the meat on a plate and loosely tent it to keep it warm.
4. Cook the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the cooking liquid first. The cabbage and carrots get added later because they need less time.
5. Cook the cabbage and carrots. They really only need a minute or two under pressure in the hot liquid to soften.
6. Serve. Slice up the roast and serve it alongside the vegetables. The liquid can be added to a gravy boat.
Learn From My Mistakes
Fortunately for you, I’ve made this recipe many times and have made a few errors along the way that resulted in a very good recipe I know you will enjoy.
- Rinse that corned beef! Yes, I not only have made this recipe without rinsing the roast, but I also cooked it with all of the marinade. It was so salty we couldn’t eat it. Definitely take the time to rinse the roast prior to cooking but I do advise preserving the pickling spice and adding it to the Instant Pot.
- 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 using this.
- 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. If you like them a bit firm, just adding them to the hot cooking liquid will soften them enough to enjoy.
Storage and Reheating
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!
Make ahead or freezing: If you’re planning on making this recipe ahead of time and freezing it, I highly recommend holding off on adding the cabbage and carrots until you’re ready to serve. This will preserve their texture.
Reheating: You can reheat leftovers in the oven by covering them tightly with aluminum foil to prevent them fry drying out. You can also add everything to a covered pot on the stove and reheat them gently over low heat. Finally, you can use the microwave but reheat on low power for the best results.
More Recipes To Make
Here are some other great St. Patrick’s Day recipes! Most of them use Guinness stout beer to enhance their flavor.
- Bangers and Mash with Guinness Onion Gravy
- Irish Cheddar Shepherd’s Pie
- Irish Stew
- Guinness Chocolate Sauce that I use to make a Guinness Float
- Guinness Chocolate Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pounds corned beef marinated uncured round flat roast, Trader Joe's recommended
- 4 cups beef broth
- 12 ounces stout beer I used Guinness
- 1 large onion quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pound small potatoes halved (quarter if medium sized), red or gold potatoes recommended
- 4 large carrots peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 small head green cabbage cut into 6 wedges with core removed
Instructions
- Cook meat: Using a metal colander or strainer, thoroughly rinse the marinated corned beef. Put the rinsed 3 pounds corned beef along with any of the remaining pickling spices, 4 cups beef broth, 12 ounces stout beer, 1 large onion, 4 cloves garlic, and 2 bay leaves into the pressure cooking pot. Lock the lid in place. Select "High Pressure" and set the timer for 90 minutes. Once done, allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, and then do a quick pressure release to release any remaining pressure.
- Set aside roast: Remove the roast from the pressure cooking pot and transfer to a plate. Loosely cover the corned beef with aluminum foil until ready to serve. Scoop all of the solids out of the pot and discard, leaving only the broth.
- Cook potatoes: Add the 1 pound small potatoes to the cooking pot, cover, lock lid in place, and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Instant release pressure so you can open the lid, add the 4 large carrots and 1 small head green cabbage. If you like them soft, cook on high pressure for 1-2 minutes. Quick release pressure when done. If you like the cabbage and carrots soft enough to eat but still pretty firm, simply stir them into the hot liquid and wait a few minutes for them to soften before serving.
- Serve: To serve, arrange the cabbage, potatoes, and carrots on a platter. Slice the corned beef against the grain and add to the platter. Ladle the cooking liquid into a gravy boat and serve alongside the meal.
Notes
- If your roast is too big for your Instant Pot, you can cut it into smaller chunks.
- 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.
- If you have any leftovers, you’ll want to make corned beef hash!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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!
Man oh man this was scrumptious. 1st time I used the instapot for my recipe. Your directions helped me greatly. I actually cooked 3 2+lb corned beef rounds and added 3/4 of a cup of malt vinegar along with my own spice pack (mustard seed, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, dill seed, and allspice, bay leaves) The veggies and corned beef texture was perfect. Thank you for doing the work and sharing.
So mine overflowed for like three minutes, what did I do wrong?!?!
What size Instant Pot do you have? Do you know if the seal was properly fitted and the pressure release valve was seated in the correct spot?
Can’t wait to try this. I have a frozen Trader Joe’s Uncured Corned Beef Brisket in the freezer. Can I cook it from frozen? Do I need to add time to the Pressure Cooker?
Thanks!
Hi Sandy, I cook frozen solid meat in the Instant Pot. I will usually add at least 20 minutes plus it will take more time to come to pressure so keep that in mind. You would still want to open the packages and hold the brisket under running water to wash away all of the marinade first. When you’re done, if the meat isn’t super tender I would just close the lid and continue cooking in 10min increments, but it shouldn’t need the extra time. Enjoy! Krissy
Hi Sommer,
I’ve tried a different recipe that called for less liquid and the brisket on a trivot. Came out dry. 😒
This one looks good. I even have some Guinness!
Two questions.
·Does it matter if the fat side is up or down?
·I have an 8quart. Is there a rule of thumb for how high the liquid should be on the brisket?
Thanks!
I always cook fat side up but don’t know if that matters in a pressure cooker. I don’t think there’s a necessary rule of thumb about how high the liquid is on the meat. Seems like that as long as it’s under pressure and there’s liquid present, that’s all you need. Enjoy!
So good and so easy! The pressure cooker is definitely the way to go!
Another great recipe! Love that I can make this in one pot!
The texture of the meat is perfect and the flavor is fabulous!
Such a great recipe! The corned beef turned out juicy and delicious!
Made this for St.Paddy’s Day. SO GOOD.
What size instant pot did you use for a 3-lb roast?
I believe I have a 6 quart