This Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage with Carrots and Buttered Potatoes is the perfect festive recipe for St. Patrick’s Day or any cozy winter meal! All of the ingredients cook in the pressure cooker, which cuts the cooking time in half and makes the flavors so good! You can also make this in your slow cooker or on the stovetop.
The Instant Pot corned beef is perfectly cooked to a wonderful, fall-apart, tender texture. The vegetables cook separately from the beef in the cooking liquid, which seasons them perfectly.
And the POTATOES. They are smothered in plenty of salted Irish butter and mixed with a generous amount of fresh chopped parsley. They are, I think, the star of this meal- I could eat them with every meal of every day.
Best of all, this recipe makes a lot. Which is great for a crowd, and even better when you have leftovers you can use for corned beef hash!
What is corned beef, anyway?
To be honest, I’ve always been kind of put off by the name “corned beef,” even though it’s one of my favorite things to eat ever. It’s a beef brisket that has been cured with salt, and actually doesn’t involve corn at all. In the UK, it’s traditionally cured with large grain rock salt, also called “corns” (in old English, the word “corn” described any small hard particle or grain).
Because the beef has already been cured with salt, this is one of the few from-scratch recipes to which you don’t have to add ANY extra salt. Corned beef also usually comes with a seasoning packet, so it’s especially easy to prep.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Corned Beef + the seasoning packet – most corned beef comes with a seasoning packet, but you can make your own corned beef seasoning if you want.
- Cabbage – basic green cabbage here, nothing fancy and not red cabbage.
- Carrots
- Potatoes – I used red, but any kind will do.
- Garlic and Onion – this helps flavor everything but both can be omitted if you want.
- Fresh Parsley
- Butter
How to make Corned Beef and Cabbage in an Instant Pot
First, you’ll add the corned beef to your pressure cooker with some garlic, the seasoning packet, and water. It will cook at high pressure for 70 minutes, until it’s perfectly tender.
When you remove the beef from the instant pot, place it in a bowl and add LOTS of the cooking liquid to it. Corned beef has a tendency to dry out, so it’s important to store it in the cooking liquid, both while you wait to serve it and for the leftovers. You’ll also want to spoon some of the liquid on top when serving.
Then, add the veggies to the pressure cooker in the remaining liquid (about 2 cups) and cook at high pressure for only 3 minutes.
Once the veggies are done, you’re almost ready to eat. But there is one more extremely important step.
Usually, all of the veggies are served as they are. And they are delicious- the seasoning from the cooking liquid penetrates every bite.
But I’m an overachiever, and I love butter. So I mixed the potatoes with a generous amount of salted Irish butter and fresh chopped parsley (which are key ingredients to traditional Irish boiled potatoes). I don’t think I’m ever making boiled potatoes any other way again- WOW they are good.
How to store leftovers
Save that cooking liquid! You can use it to make hash with the leftovers, and it’s also important to keep the leftovers in so it doesn’t dry out. Store the potatoes separately. Everything will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.
How to make corned beef and cabbage in your slow cooker
To make this in your slow cooker, add corned beef, spice packet, garlic, onions, potatoes, and carrots to the slow cooker. Cook on high for four hours or low for 8 hours. Add the cabbage on top and continue cooking for 45 minutes-1 hour, or until cabbage is tender. Proceed as instructed in the recipe for the potatoes, making sure to reserve some cooking liquid for serving.
How to make it on the stovetop
To make this on your stovetop, simmer corned beef in a large covered pot with the spice packet, garlic, onions, and water for 2 hours. Add the potatoes, cabbage, and carrots to the pot on top of the brisket and simmer for 30 more minutes, or until vegetables are very tender. Proceed as instructed in the recipe for the potatoes, making sure to reserve some cooking liquid for serving.
What size Instant Pot to use for corned beef and cabbage
I made this recipe in my 6 quart Instant Pot. It should work the same in an 8 quart, but you may need to cut the ingredients in half for a 3 quart mini.
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Instant Pot Corned Beef with Cabbage, Carrots, and Buttered Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. corned beef brisket with spice packet (more if you want leftovers for sandwiches or hash)
- 1 yellow onion peeled, halved, and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 4 cups water
- 1 lb. carrots peeled and cut into 2-3 inches in length
- 1.5 lbs. small red potatoes halved or quartered, depending on size, or any other kind of potato you want. Peel if using russets.
- 1 large head cabbage cored and cut into 8-10 wedges
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Place onions, garlic, corned beef, and water in your. Sprinkle spice packet seasoning on top. Set pressure to manual on high for 70 minutes. Quick release the pressure when it's done and wait for float valve to drop before opening.
- Meanwhile, prep the vegetables.
- Remove corned beef to a bowl along with most of the looking liquid. Leave about 2 cups in the pressure cooker.
- Add the potatoes on one side of the pressure cooker in the rest of the liquid, the carrots on the other. Place the cabbage wedges on top. Set pressure to manual on high for 3 minutes. Quick release the pressure and wait for float valve to drop before opening.
- Remove the carrots and cabbage.
- Remove the potatoes to a bowl and add the melted butter (4 tablespoons) and parsley (¼ cup), stirring until it coats every potato piece.
- Cut the corned beef against the grain into slices and serve with the vegetables, buttered potatoes, some cooking liquid drizzled on top, and a garnish of fresh parsley.
Notes
- If your corned beef didn’t come with a spice packet, no worries! You can make your own seasoning mix.
- Stovetop Instructions: To make this on your stovetop, simmer corned beef in a large covered pot with the spice packet, garlic, onions, and water for 2 hours. Add the potatoes, cabbage, and carrots to the pot on top of the brisket and simmer for 30 more minutes, or until vegetables are very tender. Proceed as instructed above, making sure to reserve some cooking liquid for serving.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: To make this in your slow cooker, add corned beef, spice packet, garlic, onions, potatoes, and carrots to the slow cooker. Cook on high for four hours or low for 8 hours. Add the cabbage on top and continue cooking for 45 minutes-1 hour, or until cabbage is tender. Proceed as instructed above, making sure to reserve some cooking liquid for serving.
- Storing Leftovers: Corned beef has a tendency to dry out. Store any leftovers with the cooking liquid in order to keep it moist.
- Make it dairy-free/paleo: For a dairy-free version, use ghee instead of butter (or omit entirely). For a Whole30/Paleo compliant version, make sure to use a compliant corned beef as well as ghee.
- I made this recipe in my 6 qt. Instant pot. It should work the same in an 8 qt., but you may need to cut the ingredients in half for a 3 qt. mini.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
internet stranger
do not use the amount of water it asks for. makes it very bland. just use one cup of water instead.
Elizabeth Lindemann
I’ll have to try it with less water next time!
Tom Litt
Retired businessman and male home cook here. I wish that I had believed the 70 minutes, tried 65 minutes, and it was just a little tough! My fault! The veggies were perfect at three minutes! I love how it all tasted, and the wife loved it too! For the last forty years, we have rarely eaten anything two days in a row. She said she could eat it again tomorrow! Now that is a great recipe!
For those of us with a little more time on our hands, please consider giving natural release instructions in all your instant pot recipes, as most people do not want all that savory steam suddenly hitting the atmosphere or ceiling. I once put a heavy wet washing ‘rag’ over the vent to contain it a bit, and it stunk forever!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I’m not sure about the natural release instructions here (I’m admittedly not much of an Instant Pot expert). But here’s what I think: there is a risk of the veggies overcooking if you do a natural release here. You could easily do a natural release for the meat after the 70 minutes without any risk of overcooking, and cook the veggies for a time of 0 minutes, allowing the pressure to come up and then naturally release. Like I said, I’m not sure of the outcome here, but that’s what I would try if it were me! Hope that helps.
Tom Litt
Thanks for writing back, that is very kind of you! I never thought of zero minutes and natural release! Thanks so much! I will try it on sausage, cabbage, and potatoes soon. Thanks again, you rock! !
Elizabeth Lindemann
You’re so welcome, happy to help! Hope it all works out for you!
Todd Comer
The recipe recommends three minutes on high for carrots and potatoes (on the instant pot). There is no way that that is long enough. Did I miss something? :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
Nope, you didn’t miss anything! This is why the Instant Pot is truly a miracle – it takes only minutes to cook things that normally take lots more time. Cubed potatoes, carrots, and cabbage will only need 3 minutes of cooking time. 4-5 if you want them to be cooked really soft (though I didn’t need those extra 1-2 minutes). Note: while you set the time of pressure cooking to 3 minutes, it takes a little longer for the pressure cooker to actually come up to pressure (though not too long in this example because it’s already nice and warm from cooking the corned beef). You can see more about Instant Pot cooking times here: https://instantpot.com/instantpot-cooking-time/
Rose Campbell
My husband’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day and I used this recipe to make his birthday dinner. It was, without a doubt, the best corned beef and cabbage I have ever made. My husband loved it. I had bought an Instant Pot a couple/few years ago, but for some reason, I have been too intimidated to use it. I broke it out for this recipe, and I’m so glad I did! I followed the recipe exactly as it is written and it was easy and turned out perfect. It was a great recipe and it cured my fear of the Instant Pot. Thank you!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Aw, so glad this recipe worked well for your husband’s birthday! This comment made my day! I was intimidated to use my Instant Pot at first too and waited a whole year with it in the package – you’re not the only one :-)
Lori devlin
I make a roux with butter and flour then I add the liquid from the corn beef and veggies. Delightful gravy.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh wow that sounds amazing! I’ll have to try that next time!
Diane Stanley
I want to add turnip to my boiled dinner, do I add time to the veggies in the pot? Also, I have 5 lb of meat–do I need to adjust the time? It is a pork shoulder brisket. Thanks, going to cook it tomorrow I hope!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Good questions! According to the official instant pot cooking times, a pork shoulder (butt) should be cooked for 15 minutes per pound, so I’d go for at least 75 minutes (and err on the side of more, if you’re unsure, since pork shoulder is very hard to overcook!). As for the turnips, they do take a while to cook, but if you cut them into small pieces (about 1-1.5″ cubes), I think 3 minutes should be enough. If you try it and they are still too hard, just put the lid back on and try 1-2 more minutes. Hope that helps, and hope you like it!
Diane Stanley
Thanks so much, I will let you know how it comes out. I have NOT made a boiled dinner in 20 years!! Can’t wait to try it!!
Mateo Pedersen
THANK YOU! You saved my dinner party. I was about to make all the same mistakes as you listed. What a gift you have given us. Blessings on you in return.
Elizabeth
Glad you liked it!
Summer
You have onions in your instructions but not on your ingredient list. What kind of onions and how many should be used?
Elizabeth
Oh wow- thanks so much for catching that! I’ll fix the recipe card now. I just used one yellow onion, peeled, halved, and sliced. It’s mostly there just to add some flavor- you can eat it at the end if you want but I ended up just eating the carrots. In the future, I think it’s safe to assume that if a certain type of onion isn’t specified in a recipe, it’s more than likely a yellow onion :-) Thanks again, and hope you like it!
Esther
Need to add water to the crockpot instructions
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks for bringing this up! You don’t need water for the slow cooker/crockpot. Pressure cookers do need a bit of added water to come to pressure, but with a slow cooker the vegetables will release enough liquid and it will cook slowly enough that it won’t need any added liquid. Hope that helps!