Instant Pot Corned Beef [No Cabbage]

See how you can cook a perfectly done corned beef in the Instant Pot. And no, don't cook the cabbage at the same time with it! (We will show you how to cook it separate though!)

This is how we cook our corned beef every St. Patrick's Day. Yummy anytime of the year.

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Let me tell you a little story.

I was going to write this blog post last year. I had it planned. I cooked the corned beef and took some photos.

However the post was never published.

Why?

Here is why:

My wife had high blood pressure so the baby had to come. Everything worked out fine and my daughter was born and my wife and her were great. That is what is most important.

Everything did not work out for the corned beef. Sadly we ended up having to throw out the corned beef because we never had time to eat it before it went bad.

I think that is a pretty good reason to have waited a year for this post to appear.

The much waited "Can You Make Corned Beef in the Instant Pot?" is finally here.

The answer is of course you can. Can you can make GOOD Corned Beef in the Instant Pot? Oh you can make GREAT Corned Beef in the Instant Pot. 🙂 The best corned beef I have had!

Let me show you how.

Jump to:

• 🏆 Best Method
• 🐄 Type of Corned Beef
• 🛒 Ingredients
• 🧂 Seasoning
• ⏲️ Cooking Time
• ☘️ Cabbage Recipe
• 🍞 Side Dishes
• 📧 Sign Up for Emails
• 🍽️ Leftover Corned Beef Recipes
• Instant Pot Corned Beef

🏆 Best Method

The results of my Instant Pot cooked corned beef were perfect. I was able to cook the beef in less time than I normally would in a pot or slow cooker and I was still able to achieve tender beef that I could slice. I do believe that corned beef is Instant Pot worthy and you should give it a try this year.

🐄 Type of Corned Beef

For this post I want to address those that are buying prepackaged corned beef that you can find at pretty much all grocery stores. For those that aren't going trough the process of brining their own, which is probably most people.

If you are interested in that I do have a technique to Quickly Brine Corned Beef using an unseasoned flat cut beef brisket.

Learn about what's the difference between flat cut brisket and point cut brisket.

🛒 Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make our recipe -

• 4 pounds flat cut corned beef brisket
• 2 cups unsalted beef broth (be sure it's unsalted)
• 4 garlic cloves crushed
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice seasoning or make your own custom blend

🧂 Seasoning

I never want to miss a chance to add flavor. Adding water to the corned beef is what most recipes on the package of corned beef say to do. This won't add any flavor to your corned beef. Instead use a flavorful liquid.

Some people use beer. I like to use unsalted beef stock. I choose unsalted stock because corned beef is pretty salty on it's own, we don't need to be adding excess salt. Be careful if your going to use stock that no salt has been added.

The sodium amount listed on the nutrition label will not be 0 even if no salt was added. The reason is that some sodium naturally occurs in beef, thus will be in the beef stock. Just go to the ingredient list instead and make sure no salt is listed.

Most packaged corned beef comes with a small seasoning packet. It is definitely small. I like to go bigger and add more spices and herbs.

What I like to adds includes mustard seeds, dill seed, bay leaves, juniper berries, and all spice berries. I toss these spices in whole, no need to grind them.

If you don't have these spices in your pantry and they are NOT something you think your going to use much then I might consider getting a spice blend meant for corned beef. The Boston Spice Company Southie Blend is my recommendation.

⏲️ Cooking Time

Recommended cook time - 1 hour 25 minutes at high pressure with a natural release for a brisket around 4 pounds.

When it comes to making corned beef in the Instant Pot one of the key thing is that I don't want to cook the beef to the point where it falls to pieces. Normally meat falling to pieces is the goal. When you want to do pork for pulled pork you want to be able to shred it. But with corned beef I want to be able to put it on a cutting board and cut it into slices - a key for sandwich making! Let's be honest most people make corned beef for the leftover sandwiches or for corned beef hash.

You want to find that perfect cook time that will make the meat tender enough without falling apart. I used about a 4 pound flat cut corned beef brisket that I got from Costco. 1 Hour and 25 minutes was the perfect amount of time to cook it so that both my goals - tender and slice-able were achieved.

Tip - You want to place your corned beef fat side up, so that the fat melts melts over the meat.

☘️ Cabbage Recipe

This is a No Cabbage Instant Pot recipe, but that doesn't mean your St. Patrick's Day celebration needs to be missing the green cabbage.

I know it's nice to have that one pot meal. But in no circumstance should you include the cabbage when you are cooking the corned beef. The number one thing I have heard people say that didn't like a corned beef dinner is the cabbage smelled bad and was mush.

I always cook the cabbage separately so it's cooking needs can be meet exactly for perfectly cooked cabbage. Cabbage doesn't need long to cook at all. You can prepare it while the Instant Pot is naturally releasing.

I follow Alton Brown's method for cooking cabbage.

• Shred the cabbage with a good knife
• Brig a large pot of water to a boil with some salt (just like salting pasta water)
• Cook for about 2-3 minutes until al dente.

Your cabbage won't be overcooked and still have some bite to it. And best yet, you won't have that awful cabbage smell in the air which ruins the smell of all those lovely spices cooking in your Instant Pot.

🍞 Side Dishes

Here are some ideas for what to serve with your corned beef

• Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread
• Irish Colcannon
• Buttery Roasted Carrots

When your corned beef is done don't just toss the cooking liquid. You can use it to make our amazing Mustard Sauce. It's so good, you got to try it.

📧 Sign Up for Emails

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🍽️ Leftover Corned Beef Recipes

Want to know what to do with those leftovers? Here are some ideas.

• Serve Them with Boxty Cakes
• Make Pizza
• Add to egg for Egg Bites