This pressure cooker corned beef and cabbage recipe is made easy with the help of the electric pressure cooker (i.e. Instant Pot). Tender and flavorful corned beef with perfectly cooked (but not overcooked) cabbage. It’s the perfect festive meal for St. Patrick’s Day or any other special occasion.
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How do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
I admit I was shocked at how much some people get into it when one day my son came home from school and asked me about the little green elf that came on St. Patrick’s Day to leave treats in his shoes.
I had to admit to him that I had never heard of the guy. 🙂
As for us, our main tradition is having this corned beef and cabbage for dinner on St. Patty’s.
And that’s about it.
But oh my kids look forward to corned beef and cabbage. They love love love it. And yes even the cabbage.
One year my husband and both boys asked for corned beef and cabbage for their birthday meals so lucky for us we had it several times that year. And no one complained.
Have you ever tried corned beef and cabbage?
It’s not something I grew up with but I decided to make it one year just for fun on St. Patrick’s Day to be a little festive.
No one in my family has let me forget that this is our new tradition.
It’s funny, every year they start reminding me far in advance about it. This year I served corned beef and cabbage a little early (so I could photograph it for this post) and my kids are still begging to have it again.
So yes, we will be having it again on St. Patrick’s Day.
Some family traditions just stick.
What to serve with corned beef & cabbage
I usually serve it with some type of roasted vegetables and usually these yummy rolls. For the potatoes we usually have some variation on these roasted vegetables (leaving out the sausage) or these roasted garlic rosemary potatoes. You could even throw a few carrots in with the red potatoes if you wanted.
This particular time I made some really yummy garlic sweet potatoes that were too die for to serve with the corned beef and cabbage. I love the pop of color they add and yes I will be making, perfecting, and sharing those in the future too.
A few more things
I love my electric pressure cooker
I know I’ve told you this before, but I love cooking meals in the electric pressure cooker (i.e. Instant Pot, aff. link). Corned beef is one of those meals that really benefits in the pressure cooker because it cooks nice and tender in a relatively short amount of time. This is the electric pressure cooker (aff. link) I’ve had for years. It’s still going strong and I use it several times a week (in fact I’d say almost daily).
The exact cooking time will depend on the size of brisket
I’ve purposely left the cooking time for this recipe a little vague because it really depends on how big the corned beef brisket is. In my 6 quart Cuisinart pressure cooker a 3.6 pound beef brisket took about 55 minutes plus the time for the natural release. I would say it was just barely tender enough (it was tender but not flaking apart) so if you like your corned beef a bit more on the tender side, try cooking a corned beef of similar size about 60 minutes. For a 4 pound corned beef brisket I would cook it for 65-70 minutes. For a 3 pound beef brisket 50-55 minutes should be sufficient. I would love to hear in the comments if you tried this recipe, how big your brisket was and what cooking time you used.
Don’t overcook the cabbage
Okay the last thing to mention is that cabbage is a vegetable that really doesn’t taste very well when it’s overcooked. I know I’ve glorified the “keep warm” function in the past, but sadly it’s not a function that you should use with cabbage. If you do want to make this recipe ahead, go ahead and cook the corned beef ahead of time and let it keep warm until about 30 minutes before you are planning to eat. Then put the cabbage in and cook it for a minute on low pressure, then let it release naturally and serve it. That way the cabbage stays nice and tender but not overcooked.
Okay my friends. I’d love to hear how your family celebrates St. Patrick’s Day.
Does the little green elf that leaves presents in people’s shoes come to your house?
Send him my way if he does! Maybe he’d like to stay for corned beef. 🙂
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Tender and flavorful corned beef with perfectly cooked (but not overcooked) cabbage.
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 pound corned beef brisket see note
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium onion
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 medium head cabbage
Instructions
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Remove corned beef from package and reserve seasoning packet (if there is one). Rinse corned beef under water and trim any excess fat.
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Add a small trivet to the base of the pressure cooker. Place 2 cups water to the bottom of the cooker along with the seasoning packet. Place corned beef (fatty side up) on the trivet.
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Remove onion peel and chop roughly in eighths. Wash celery stalk and roughly chop as well. Add vegetables to the top of pressure cooker and lock lid in place.
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Cook corned beef on high pressure for 50-65 minutes. The exact amount of time will depend on the size of corned beef (see note). When cooking time is up, release pressure naturally.
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Test meat tenderness with a fork. The corned beef should be tender enough for a fork to slide in an out easily. If it is not done, replace lid and bring back up to pressure for the 5 to 10 minutes (depending on how tender you want it).
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While meat is cooking wash cabbage and cut in quarters. Remove the core and then cut each quarter in half.
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When meat is completely cooked and pressure is released, remove lid and carefully add cabbage to pressure cooker on top of the meat, making sure you still have plenty of room for the lid to lock properly in place. Replace lid and cook on LOW pressure for 1 minute. Then release pressure naturally.
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When pressure has released, remove cabbage and corned beef to a serving platter and serve warm.
Recipe Notes
1. This recipe should work for any cut of corned beef brisket. The exact cooking time will depend on the weight of the meat. In my 6 quart Cuisinart pressure cooker a 3.6 pound beef brisket took about 55 minutes plus the time for the natural release. If you are cooking a 4 pound beef brisket I would start with 65 minutes. For a 3 pounds beef brisket start with 50 minutes.
2. If making this recipe ahead of time, let the corned beef cook and keep warm. About 20-30 minutes before ready to eat, add the cabbage to the pressure cooker and cook it for a minute. Avoid letting the cabbage keep warm for a long period of time as cabbage does not taste well if overcooked.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
