Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage, the iconic meal for St. Patrick's Day made easy in the pressure cooker. Traditional one pot recipe for tender corned beef, vegetables and cabbage, served with horseradish cream sauce and Irish soda bread.
For years I've been making corned beef on St. Patrick's Day and have shared how I make it on the blog here. This year I tried something a little different, making it in my Instant Pot. Same delicious result, far less time and monitoring of the boiling pot. This is my new way to make this celebratory meal.
Corned beef and cabbage is essentially a one pot boiled meal of corned beef brisket and vegetables. What takes it from ho-hum to really good is a quality brisket and how it's cooked and seasoned. Frankly, a lot of the flavor comes from the cooking liquid. I like to add a few things to season the pot for cooking the corned beef, then cook the vegetables and cabbage in the strained broth.
I prefer the flat cuts of corned beef, I recommend you look for a flat cut for this recipe. I rinse it well, reserving the seasoning packet that comes with it, and add it to the pot with some onion, carrot, celery, garlic and parsley. Then cover with water, add the contents of the seasoning packet and toss in a bay leaf. Let the Instant Pot do the rest, takes about an hour and a half.
When the corned beef is done, the cooking liquid is flavorful and exactly what you want to cook the veggies and cabbage in. Always cabbage, and I do potatoes, carrots, parsnips and red onion wedges. Sometimes, I add a few leeks. And guess what? Takes only three minutes to cook all those veggies under pressure. Pretty cool. I normally add them in batches when I cook on the stovetop, this was so much easier, faster and just as flavorful.
My favorite way to serve this Instant Pot corned beef and cabbage is to arrange it on a platter, sliced corned beef in the center, surrounded by the vegetables, each grouped together. I always serve horseradish cream sauce on the side, and I've included how to make that below. And, of course, Irish soda bread. The perfect St. Patrick's Day dinner. If you're lucky, you'll have some leftover corned beef for Reuben sandwiches the next day. Slàinte! ~ Kelly
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage, please rate it below in the comments and let me know how it went ~ I love hearing from you! HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my Newsletter and come hang out with me on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK for all the latest updates.

Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
Ingredients
- ½ onion, quartered
- 1 medium carrot, cut in 2-3 pieces
- 1 rib celery, cut in 2-3 pieces
- 2-3 sprigs parsley
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 pound corned beef brisket, flat cut, rinsed well, seasoning packet reserved
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- 8 small red potatoes, halved
- 3-4 carrots, peeled, cut into 2½-inch chunks
- 3-4 parsnips, peeled, cut into 2½-inch chunks
- 1 red onion, peeled, cut into wedges
- 1 medium green cabbage, cored, cut into 6-8 wedges
Horseradish Cream Sauce
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup good-quality mayonnaise
- ½ cup horseradish, drained (not cream-style)
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- Pinch of sugar
- Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place first five ingredients in Instant Pot insert. Place rinsed corned beef on top, sprinkle with contents of seasoning packet and bay leaf. Cover with 4-6 cups water to cover (I used 5 cups water). Seal pressure cooker and cook at high pressure for 85 minutes. When finished, let pressure naturally release for 20 minutes.
- Open Instant Pot and remove corned beef to shallow dish. Strain cooking liquid and return to pot. Cover corned beef with 1½ cups cooking liquid to keep from drying out, loosely cover with foil.
- In 3-4 cups of remaining cooking liquid in the insert, add the chopped parsley, a generous pinch of salt and some cracked pepper, then the potatoes, carrots, parsnips and red onion. Top with the cabbage wedges. Seal and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Quick release the pressure.
- To serve, slice corned beef and arrange in center of large platter. Surround with vegetables, preferably grouped together by type, it's more pleasing to the eye and easier for guests to choose what they want. Ladle some cooking broth over meat and vegetables. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley and serve with horseradish cream sauce on the side.
- To make horseradish cream sauce: Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, combine mayo, horseradish and mustard. With a spatula, fold in the whipped cream until combined. Add a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Holly
Thursday 16th of January 2020
I am loving your website & all the delicious recipes, thank u so much! Can’t wait to cook this and all the other ones for my family?The photography is really nice too!
Kelly
Friday 28th of February 2020
Thank you so much for such a nice compliment, glad you found my recipes and are inspired to try some.
Carol
Tuesday 27th of August 2019
I am reading to cook this on high for 85? minutes to start and release for 20? Will this not turn the veggies to mush?
Kelly
Tuesday 27th of August 2019
The vegetables that cook with the meat for 85 minutes are for flavoring the broth and meat. You will strain those out and discard. Then you'll cook more vegetables for just a few minutes in the broth to go with the corned beef. Hope that clarifies things ??
Carol
Tuesday 27th of August 2019
So I just reread the recipe and see that it is only a bit of the vegetables you use for this and it will just be the base to cook the meat. I wish I would have read that through the first time round. This recipe sounds so amazing.
doyle
Tuesday 9th of April 2019
We made this recipe for St. Patrick's day this year. The meat turned out very tender and the vegetables were great. Thank you for sharing.
Christine Durrett
Monday 18th of March 2019
This recipe is amazing! I made a lighter version of the horseradish sauce. Can't believe how yummy the vegetables were after just three minutes!
Kelly
Thursday 21st of March 2019
I know! The vegetables were so quick and easy and delish! I'm sure your horseradish sauce was yummy, too!
Mateo Pedersen
Thursday 14th of March 2019
I grew up on a pressure cooker – chicken and potatoes was often the meal my mom would make. Received my first cooker of my own in my 20’s and I’ve been using one ever since! I now have one that is stainless steel so it’s easier to clean than the old Presto model – it also has an easy release button to vent the steam when done.
Kelly
Thursday 21st of March 2019
It's amazing all the great food that comes out of the pressure cooker. I'm still learning and loving it.