Corned beef and cabbage is a classic St. Patrick’s Day meal. Make it even easier by cooking corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
You’re guaranteed to find a corned beef brisket in the Instant Pot at my house on St. Patrick’s Day.
It takes just under two hours to cook the beef to perfection, making it tender yet sliceable without falling apart. With a generous pile of pressure-steamed cabbage, carrots, and potatoes on the side, you’ve got a full Irish-American dinner to celebrate the holidays.
Corned beef can be prepared with brisket or round, but brisket is my favorite as it tends to be more tender. If you’re lucky yours will come with a nice thick cap that keeps things extra moist.
The “Corning” process is a salt cure, and the name comes from the large chunks or “grains” of salt. Salt curing is actually common in many countries, with roots in British, Irish and Eastern European cuisines.
So it’s not surprising that Irish immigrants living in New York often bought their corned beef from Jewish butchers, a fact that makes serving this dish all the more fun in my Jewish-Irish-Mexican household.
Every year in March I buy at least two corned beef briskets at the supermarket. Like a tender spring vegetable, they only appear to be “in season” (and on sale) for just a few weeks before vanishing from store shelves. I always store the extra in the freezer to enjoy a few months later when the cravings strike again.
How to make corned beef less salty
When I prepare my corned beef, I like to add an extra step to the process: a 12- to 24-hour cold water soak in the refrigerator.
This helps take some of the salt out of the beef, which is more to my liking (and I feel less puffy the next morning!). Rest assured that even after a full day of post-cooking soaking, the beef will still be flavorful.
Of course, if you don’t mind the extra salt, you can simply prepare your corned beef straight from the packet after rinsing it thoroughly under cold running water.
What to serve with corned beef
For dinner, I like to serve my corned beef with a generous pile of steamed cabbage, carrots, and potatoes.
These will steam right in the Instant Pot after you’ve cooked the corned beef. I usually just start the corned beef in the morning and then leave it on the “warm” setting until dinner when I steam the veggies. Cooked corned beef just hangs in the Instant Pot on the keep warm setting all day without overcooking. Once you’ve steamed the veggies, you can simply serve them with some of the cooking liquid on top, or toss all the veggies in butter and parsley.
What to do with leftover corned beef?
If you have any leftover corned beef, consider yourself lucky – sandwiches are in your future!
For a lunchtime treat, layer reheated corned beef between slices of rye bread with plenty of yellow or brown mustard. You can go all out and spice it up with some melty Swiss cheese and beet-style sauerkraut.
More St. Patrick’s Day Recipes!
- Colcannon
- Irish soda bread
- Lamb stew
- Chocolate Guinness Cake
- Salted ground beef
- Hot Reuben dip
Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
For Stovetop Pressure Cookers: Follow recipe as directed but reduce cooking times to 47 minutes for the corned beef and 3 minutes for the vegetables.
ingredients
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1 Corned beef brisket (up to 4 lb)
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1 lb yellow waxy potatoescut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
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1 lb carrotspeeled and cut into 2 inch lengths
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1 small Kale (1 1/2 pounds or less), cut into 2 inch thick wedges
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1 tablespoon Salted butter or margarine, optional
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1 1/2 teaspoon chopped Parsely, Optional
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1/2 teaspoon Salt, Optional
method
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Rinse Meat:
If there is a spice pack, set it aside. Rinse the corned beef under cold running water.
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Soak Meat:
Place the corned beef in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Place in the refrigerator and allow to soak for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
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Cook meat under pressure:
Place the corned beef in the Instant Pot, fat-side up, and add 6 cups of water. Add the seasoning packet to the water, if available.
Secure the lid and set the pressure relief valve to its closed position. Select the Meat/Stew or Manual setting on your pressure cooker and set the cook time to 55 minutes at high pressure.
The pot needs about 20 minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking program starts.
At the end of the cooking program, completely release the pressure naturally. This takes approximately 40 minutes. Natural pressure relief ensures the most tender corned beef.
At this point, you can either immediately open the pot to continue with the recipe, or leave the corned beef in the pressure cooker on “Keep Warm” for up to 10 hours.
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Transfer the beef and prepare the pot for the vegetables:
Using tongs, carefully place the corned beef on a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil. Wearing heat-resistant gloves, lift out the inner pot and pour out all but 1 cup (or 1 1/2 cups if using an 8 quart IP) of the cooking liquid and place back in the housing.
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Cook Vegetables:
Place a wire mesh steamer basket in the pot. Place the carrots and potatoes in the steamer basket and layer the cabbage on top so it fits in the pressure cooker with the lid on. It’s okay if the veggies are just over the 2/3 mark “max. filling” is in the pot, but it should not be stacked far over the rim of the pot where it could jam the pressure valve mechanisms in the pressure cooker lid.
Secure the lid and set the pressure relief valve to its closed position. Cancel the cooking program and then select the “Steam” program for 4 minutes at high pressure.
The pot needs about 15 minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking program starts.
At the end of the cooking program, perform a quick depressurization by immediately turning the pressure relief valve to the vent position, being careful not to burn yourself on the steam.
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Arrange the vegetables:
Open the pot and use tongs to carefully place the cabbage, carrots, and potatoes onto a serving platter. Or, if you prefer, toss the veggies in butter, parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then transfer to the serving platter.
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Carve and serve the beef:
Slice the corned beef to desired thickness (I like slices about 1/3 inch thick) and arrange on serving platter. Pour some of the cooking liquid over the beef and vegetables and serve immediately.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 1019 | calories |
| 56g | Fat |
| 34g | carbohydrates |
| 92g | protein |
