Instant Pot Corned Beef
Cooking corned beef brisket in an Instant Pot will give you very tender and juicy meat. I combine many aromatic spices together to infuse the beef during the cooking process. My corned beef brisket is all about the flavor!
I use my Instant Pot A LOT to cook tougher meats that require longer cooking time. Instant Pot is a perfect tool for those meats because it cuts out hours of cooking and the results are very tender.
I make corned beef brisket several times a year, sometimes I make it in the oven and sometimes in the Instant Pot. I’ve compiled a great aromatic combination of spices to take my recipe to the next level. In all my recipes, I love to focus on the flavor!
I often incorporate different techniques in addition to the ingredients to make it taste as good as possible. In this recipe, I take a few more minutes to broil the brisket with some spicy mustard to caramelize the top.
Featured Comment
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I have put off making Corned Beef for the past 10 years because mine always shreds and isn’t tasty. Also, neither my husband or daughter said they would eat if if I made it. Well in less than 24 hours, 2.5 lbs. of corned beef cooked this way is not leftover. Totally eaten! Thank you!” ~Susan
Tips For Ingredients
- Corned Beef Brisket – You’ll need to get uncooked corned beef brisket. I like to get closer to 4 lb. one so we have plenty of leftovers!
- Spices – this is the combination of spices for corned beef I found to taste best: whole mustard seeds, whole Peppercorns, whole cloves, whole allspice berries, crushed red pepper flakes, coriander seeds, and bay leaves.
- Mustard – use Gourmet or spicy mustard to run the cooked corned beef before broiling. It creates a great caramelized element! (NOT yellow mustard.)
- See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket
- Combine quartered onion, smashed garlic, and the seasoning together in the Instant Pot.
- Add the brisket on top but make sure to do it fat cap up and pour in the broth.
- When working with the Instant Pot, it’s important to use it properly. Close the lid of the Instant Pot and make sure to latch it. Make sure to turn the valve to “seal.”
- Set Instant Pot to pressure cook on “stew/meat” setting for 75 minutes. It will take a few minutes to heat up and build the pressure before it starts cooking.
- Release the pressure naturally for 20 minutes at first and then quick release. Make sure to carefully turn the valve and do a quick release to let remaining pressure out.
- To caramelize the top of the corned beef, rub it with mustard, place it on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, fat cap up. Set your oven on the low broil setting and set the rack in the middle of the oven (8-10 inches away from the heating element).
- Broil until browned for a couple of minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on it so the top doesn’t burn!
- Always slice the meat against the grain! Luckily, with the corned beef brisket, it’s very easy to see the grain. You can look on the bottom since there is a fat cap on top.
Do I Have to Increase the Cook Time for a Larger Brisket?
- Not really – it depends if the brisket is the same thickness. Cooking time depends not on the weight of the meat as much as the thickness.
- When you’re looking at different briskets at the store, you’ll notice that the thickness will be the same but some pieces are just longer than others.
- The cook time in the pressure cooker should be the same for them. I used 75 minutes for my 3.5 and 4.8 lb. pieces because they were about the same thickness.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve this corned beef with any other side dish you like. You can easily serve it with colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes and Cabbage), roasted potatoes, fried cabbage, and other veggies you prefer.
- Slice brisket against the grain into thin slices and use it in sandwiches. Reuben Sandwich is a great way to use corned beef.
- Make sliders like corned beef sliders or Reuben sliders.
Storing Instructions
- Store leftover cooked corned beef brisket in an airtight food storage container in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should stay good for about 3-4 days.
- To reheat the slices of corned beef brisket, I recommend doing so in the oven to preserve the juiciness. Wrap some slices in foil and reheat in the oven at 350°F just until heated through.
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Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket Recipe
Ingredients
- 3.5-4 lb corned beef brisket (if using my seasonign mix, discard the spice packet)
- 1 large onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth (regular beef stock can be used)
Spice mix:
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
To broil:
- 2 tbsp spicy or gourmet mustard more if needed
Instructions
- Quarter onion and spread it in an Instant Pot. Add garlic cloves and seasoning mix.
- Place brisket on top of onions, fat cap up.
- Add beef stock.
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot and make sure it’s latched. Make sure to turn the valve to “seal.”
- Set Instant Pot to pressure cook on "stew/meat" setting for 75 minutes. It will take a few minutes to heat up and build the pressure before it starts cooking.
- Once time is up, let it naturally release for 20 minutes. After that, you can carefully turn the valve and do a fast release to let remaining pressure out.
- Take brisket out and place it on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, fat cap up.
- Set oven to low broil setting and set the rack in the middle of the oven (make sure it's 8-10 inches away from the heating element).
- Rub top and sides of the brisket with spicy mustard.
- Place in the oven, under the broiler and let it caramelize until browned for a couple of minutes. (Make sure to keep an eye on it so the top doesn’t burn.)
- Take corned beef brisket out and make sure to slice the meat against the grain! Luckily, with the corned beef brisket, it’s very easy to see the grain, you can look on the bottom since there is a fat cap on top.
Video
Notes
- Storing: Store leftover cooked corned beef brisket in an airtight food storage container in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should stay good for about 3-4 days.
- To reheat: the slices of corned beef brisket, I recommend doing so in the oven to preserve the juiciness. Wrap some slices in foil and reheat in the oven at 350°F just until heated through.
- The number one tip that I have to making corned beef is DO NOT ADD SALT! Corned beef is cured in a very salty brine so it is already quite salty. This salt transfers into the broth while cooking so the dish will be salty enough. I even rinse the brisket when taking it out of the package to wash off some excess salt.
- IF you absolutely do not like a lot of salty flavor, you can choose to do an extra step and quickly bring brisket to a boil in a pot of water. This will take extra salt out. To do that, place brisket in a pot of water and bring it to boil. As soon as it starts to boil, take the brisket out.
- Beer: You can opt for cooking corned beef with or without the addition of beer. If you want to add beer, replace 1 cup of broth with 1 cup of beer. Some people like to add Guinness but personally, I find that it adds bitterness to the brisket. If you are not a fan of bitter beer, choose an ale. Killian’s is a good addition in this recipe.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in February 2019.
More of the Beef Brisket Recipes
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Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This was Amazing! Best corned beef ever!
I am so glad you liked it, Patsy!
3.5-4 lb corned beef brisket (if using my seasonign mix)- your brain is moving faster than your fingers! Just wanted to point out the typo! Making this now, will update with results!
I usually prepare about 8lbs of corned beef for our annual dinner. I want to use my instant Pot this time. What do you think of Instant Potting the corned beef (in two batches) a day ahead and finishing them off in the oven with the glaze the next day?
Absolutely! You can do that. The only thing I would suggest is the next day, reheat the corned beefs first in the oven and then do the glaze. Wrap each one in foil, not too tight, and reheat at 325. Then do the glaze on top as instructed in the recipe 🙂
Made this for our family Sunday after-church lunch. Had 3.8lbs brisket I cooked for 80mins & it was perfect! The family was thrilled by the texture & taste! I pressure cooked some cabbage in the left over soup stock for 2 mins which turned out perfect as well.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! Definitely a keeper. 👍🏽
Thanks, JGee! I am so glad you liked it 🙂
That was great! My wife and kids both loved it! I cooked the vegetables in the brisket water like you suggested and it worked to perfection. Thank you!
I am so glad you liked it!!! Thanks, for letting me know! 🙂
Hi! want to try this but the ingredients for your spice mix (delicious as it sounds) are not readily available to me. And my brisket did not come with a spice packet! What would you suggest, maybe pickling spice from McCormicks or any other ideas? This recipe sounds wonderful, I can’t wait to try!
Thanks for offering up a beer free option and for breaking down what spices to use (most say to use a “spice packet”). Will try this on this week!
FYI, made it today. Used a 3-lb, cut in half to fit and adjusted time to 60 min w 10 natural release and it turned out great! I used your spice mix too! Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for coming back and telling me, Craig!
I’m going to try your recipe for the corned beef this week. My corned beef is about 5.3lbs. Should I cook it for 90 minutes in the insta-pot instead of 70 minutes?
Hi Kevin! Yes, if it will fit into your Instant Pot whole, you can cook it for about 15-20 minutes longer. If you don’t think it will fit, you can cut the brisket in half and try to fit the side by side. That way, you should be able to cut some cooking time off. (If you cut it in half, I’d cook it for 65-70 minutes.)
Thanks for this Post.
Now that I have an Instant Pot, I’m So excited to try this on St. Patrick’s Day.
For 50 years I Have struggled and worried about our traditional corned beef being tender and the
Vegetables mushy!
This year I will follow your instructions, and I am confident that dinner will be perfect!
All I’ll add to the menu will be some
Irish Soda Bread.
Wonderful!
For the vegetables, cook this corned beef per recipe, and then take it out of the instant pot and add the veggies right into the liquid the beef was cooked in. Close the instant pot lid and seal the valve. Cook veggies in instant pot on high pressure for about 5 minutes. (Cut potatoes into quarters first.) Do a quick release after the veggies have been cooked.
I will work on the Soda Bread 🙂
Can this recipe be cooked on the stove top in large pot for severla hours? I read your recipe for baked Corned beef but there are no spices.
Hi Patti!
Yes, in the recipe for the baked one, I was trying to change the flavor pallet of the whole brisket and cooked it with mustard and sugar.
In this recipe, I was keeping the flavor pallet that’s more of a “corned beef and cabbage” kind of dish.
You can cook it on stovetop but I’m not sure how the texture will turn out.. The reason why it’s best to cook it in a slow cooker, or pressure cooker, or over is because the heat surrounds the brisket evenly and cooks it all around uniformly. Is stovetop your only choice or do you have a slow cooker?
If you have a dutch oven, you can do this brisket in the dutch oven in the oven but I’d have to get back to you on times. (Email me or message me on my blog’s FB page just in case I don’t get notified of your response.)
Which cut of brisket is best, flat or point?
Hi Jeanette, I use a flat pretty much exclusively. It has more meat with just a little layer of fat on top 🙂
Everything you ascribe to is delicious.
Thank you, Ira!
Does this recipe transfer well to a slow-cooker?
Hi Dave!
Absolutely! You can set it up in a slow cooker the same way and I would recommend cooking in on low for 6-8 hours. You can brown the top under the broiler after it’s been cooked.