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Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket is so easy to make in just an hour and a half! It’s deliciously tender and falls apart in your hands. Using the pressure cooker makes the beef so juicy and tender!
Check out more of my favorite corned beef recipes like the Reuben Sandwich and 3-Ingredient Oven Baked Corned Beef Brisket.
Table of Contents
We just love brisket and corned beef brisket at our house. Most of the time, our brisket doesn’t even make it to dinner time. Right after I slice it, my husband and I just stand at the kitchen counter and eat it.
Corned beef packs a lot of flavor through the brine and the aromatic combination of spices take this recipe to the next level. If that’s not enough, I like to finish it off under broiler to get some caramelization on top.
When I first got my Instant Pot, my goal was to try all of our favorite recipes and meats in an Instant Pot to see the difference in textures and flavors. The pressure cooker is great for saving time on the recipes that usually take a long time. It’s also great for achieving tenderness in meats.
Corned beef brisket was one of the first recipes that I made in my Instant Pot. And let me tell you, the results were unbelievable. I knew that meat was going to achieve the tenderness that it should, but wow! The texture of this corned beef is just perfection and so much better than I expected.
What is Corned Beef Brisket?
Corned beef is simply beef that was cured in salty brine for many days. Curing the beef was originally a method people used to preserve it. The term “corned beef” is synonymous to “pickled beef” because the brine used for corned beef is similar to pickle brine.
Traditionally, corned beef is made with a brisket cut. Since it’s a tough cut of meat, it’s meant to be cooked for an extended period of time to make it tender. Sometimes, beef round or rump is used instead of brisket.
You can make your own corned beef by curing a brisket in salty brine in the refrigerator for about 10 days. After it’s been cured, cook it with additional spices, beef stock, and even beer.
Corned beef is most known to be served in dishes like Reuben Sandwiches, corned beef and cabbage, and with Corned Beef Hash.
Ingredient Notes
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!
Beef Broth – if possible, it’s always best to use Homemade Beef Stock. If getting your favorite store-bought stock or broth, make sure to get low-sodium or unsalted one.
Onion – use yellow or white onion.
Spices – whole mustard seeds, whole Peppercorns, whole cloves, whole allspice berries, crushed red pepper flakes, coriander seeds, bay leaves.
Mustard – use Gourmet or spicy mustard to run the cooked corned beef before broiling. It creates a great caramelized element!
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket
Prepare the ingredients. Quarter the onion and spread it in your Instant Pot. Add the garlic and seasonings (1).
Add remaining ingredients. Place brisket on top of onions, fat cap up (2).Add beef stock (3).
Cook the meat. 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 (5). It will take a few minutes to heat up and build the pressure before it starts cooking.
Release the pressure. Once time is up, let it naturally release the pressure for 20 minutes. After that, you can carefully turn the valve and do a fast release to let remaining pressure out (6).
Rub it with mustard. Take the brisket out and place it on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, fat cap up (7). 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). Rub top and sides of the brisket with spicy mustard (8).
Broil it. Place the brisket in the oven under the broiler and let it caramelize until browned for a couple of minutes (9). Make sure to keep an eye on it so the top doesn’t burn!
Slice it. Take the corned beef brisket out of the oven andmake 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.
Recipe FAQs
What spice mix is best to cook corned beef brisket?
Most corned beef briskets come packaged with a bag of seasoning spices already in it. That is absolutely fine to use if you wish, but I prefer to mix my own. Seasoning packets usually don’t have a few ingredients that I like to add for more flavor and aroma.
Ingredients that I use in my corned beef seasoning are:
Mustard seed
Whole Peppercorns
Whole cloves
Allspice berries
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Coriander seeds
Bay leaves
Add this mix to the broth with corned beef for the best flavor! The aroma will be amazing from the minute it starts to cook.
Can I make corned beef in the slow cooker?
Yes! To make this corned beef brisket in a slow cooker, spread out the cut onion and garlic cloves in the bottom of a Crockpot (or any other slow cooker).
Place flat cut brisket on top of the onions, fat cap up, and add the seasoning mix.Pour in beef stock and make sure that it just covers the brisket. The size of the brisket does effect the coverage with broth. So if using a wide slow cooker, place brisket right on the bottom with onions around it.Close the lid and let it slow cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
Note: Brisket is a tough cut of meat so for best results, cook it on LOW setting for longer period of time. Larger brisket may need 10 hours of cook time in a slow cooker.
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.
Tips for the Best Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket
- 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.
- 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.
Serving Suggestions
You are probably most familiar with serving corned beef corned beef with cabbage and potatoes. It’s easy to make that dish in the Instant Pot as well, simply cook the veggies in the same broth as the brisket (after cooking the corned beef). Take the brisket out when it’s done, add the veggies, and cook either on the “sauté” option of the Instant Pot, or close it and pressure cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of the veggies.Remember, if you choose to cook veggies in a closed Instant Pot, it will take time for the pressure to build back up.
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.
Try this corned beef in a sandwich with fried onions and horseradish sauce. This sandwich recipe will give you the steps to make fried onions and horseradish sauce!
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 reheatthe 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.
More of the Beef Brisket Recipes
- 3-Ingredient Oven Baked Corned Beef Brisket
- Oven Baked Corned Beef and Potatoes
- French Onion Beef Brisket In The Oven
- Bacon and Mustard Beef Brisket In The Oven
- How To Cook Beef Brisket In The Oven
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Instant Pot Corned Beef Brisket Recipe
Soft, juicy, and tender corned beef brisket made in an Instant Pot.
4.44 from 39 votes
PrintSave Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
Natural release: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 403kcal
Author: Lyuba Brooke
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
US Customary – Metric
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 andmake 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 therefrigerator. Properly stored, it should stay good for about3-4 days.
- To reheat:the slices of corned beef brisket, I recommend doing so in theovento preserve the juiciness. Wrap some slices infoiland reheat in the oven at350°Fjust until heated through.
- The number one tip that I have to making corned beef isDO 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 absolutelydo not like a lot of salty flavor, you can choose to do an extra step andquickly 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.
- You can opt for cooking corned beefwith 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’sis a good addition in this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 403kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 2502mg | Potassium: 675mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 54mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in February 2019.
ABOUT LYUBA
I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...
