Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce
Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce is a perfect low-carb meal, and it’s so easy to make in the Instant Pot! And this is a must-make recipe if you’re going to be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
PIN Instant Pot Corned Beef so you can make it later!
This recipe for Instant Pot Corned Beef is a perfect dinner idea for anyone who loves corned beef or who might be making it for the big corned-beef-eating holiday coming up. Corned beef is something I make it every year for St. Patrick’s Day, and always enjoy it.
And I love corned beef so much with the creamy horseradish sauce that’s featured in this recipe that I’d make it any time of year for a tasty dinner!
I’ve also cooked Slow Cooker Corned Beef many times, and that method is great if you’re a slow cooker fan. But using the Instant Pot produced the most tender corned beef I’ve ever made and this easy method will make St. Patrick’s Day dinner even easier!
If you haven’t tried Instant Pot corned beef, I bet you’re going to love it! And to encourage you to try it, I’m reminding you about this recipe well before St. Patrick’s Day, and I hope this post will encourage you to pick up some corned beef for the big holiday coming up!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- flat cut corned beef
- Bay Leaves (affiliate link)
- whole peppercorns
- Dried Thyme (affiliate link)
- onion
- canned chicken broth (affiliate link), I used my homemade chicken stock
- water, if needed to cover the corned beef
- sour cream
- cup mayo
- Cream-Style Horseradish (affiliate link)
What is Corned Beef?
Corned Beef is a beef roast, usually the brisket, that has been salt-cured to tenderize and preserve the meat. And did you know that Corned Beef is not actually a traditional Irish food, but something Irish people started eating when they came to America? Here’s more about corned beef and why it’s popular for St. Patrick’s Day.
How Long Should You Cook Corned Beef in the Instant Pot?
Cooking corned beef in the pressure cooker is so foolproof and easy that you barely need a recipe, but when I first tried it I checked a lot of sources online for tips, and I did find variations in the suggested cooking time. Over and over people recommended 90 minutes at high pressure, and that will produce ultra-tender corned beef. But if you want corned beef that holds together well for sandwiches, I’d cut the cooking time down to 80 minutes.
What Size Instant Pot Did I Use?
I used a 6 Quart Instant Pot (affiliate link) for this recipe, but you can make this in any electric pressure cooker or stovetop pressure cooker as well. Check out my growing collection of Instant Pot Recipes! You can also find lots more Instant Pot Recipes on my other site, Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker.
Want ideas for leftover corned beef?
Check out my collection of Low-Carb and Keto Corned Beef Recipes for more ideas for cooking corned beef or using leftover corned beef.
How to Make Instant Pot Corned Beef (with Creamy Horseradish Sauce):
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- If you can get flat cut corned beef it will be easier to slice. Most of the time one side will have quite a thick layer of fat. I cut off most of that, and the fat that was left scraped off easily once the meat was cooked.
- You can use the spice packet that comes with the meat if you prefer, but I used just Bay Leaves, peppercorns, Dried Thyme, and an onion to flavor the meat and two cans of low-sodium chicken broth for the liquid.
- Set the pressure cooker or Instant Pot to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, 90 minutes. (If you want meat that’s a bit less fall-apart tender so you can slice it for sandwiches, you can reduce the time to 80 minutes.)
- When time is up, use the natural release method for 20 minutes and then release any additional pressure.
- While the corned beef cooks, mix together sour cream and mayo and stir in cream style horseradish to taste to make a spicy sauce.
- Slice corned beef against the grain to serve.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
For a low-carb or Keto meal Instant Pot Corned Beef would be delicious with Roasted Cabbage with Lemon, Spicy Baked Cabbage, Low-Carb Colcannon with Bacon or Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese. And if you’re a turnip fan this would be amazing with Roasted Turnips or Turnip Gratin with Bacon.
More Tasty Corned Beef Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Corned Beef Recipes ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
- Slow Cooker Corned Beef
- Instant Pot Corned Beef Recipes ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe for Instant Pot Corned Beef has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce
Use the pressure cooker or Instant Pot to cook your corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day!
Ingredients
- 4 pound flat cut corned beef
- 4 large bay leaves (see notes)
- 8 whole peppercorns (see notes)
- 1 tsp. dried thyme (see notes)
- 1 onion, cut into quarters
- 2 14 oz. cans low-sodium chicken broth
- water, if needed to cover the corned beef
Creamy Horseradish Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 2 T cream-style horseradish, or more to taste
Instructions
- Remove the corned beef from the package and rinse well with cold water, until all the accumulated gel is removed.
- Most corned beef will have a thick layer of fat on one side; trim off most of that fat and then put the beef in the pressure cooker, fat side facing up. You can cut it in half if needed.
- Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, dried thyme, and onion pieces to the pressure cooker. (Or use the spice packet in place of the bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme if you prefer.)
- Pour over the chicken broth, with a little additional water if needed to almost cover the corned beef with liquid.
- Set the electric pressure cooker to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, 90 minutes, or you can use 80 minutes if you prefer firmer corned beef that will slice apart easily for sandwiches (For stove-top pressure cooker, bring to high pressure, then reduce heat as low as possible and still maintain high pressure and cook 90 minutes.)
- After 90 minutes, use the natural release method to reduce the pressure for 20 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Remove corned beef to a cutting board and let it rest for a few minutes before cutting. (If you’re going to cook vegetables in the pressure cooker to go with the meat, cover with foil to keep warm.)
- Slice meat and serve hot, with Creamy Horseradish Sauce.
Horseradish Sauce Instructions:
- Mix together the sour cream and mayo, then stir in cream-style horseradish to taste. (Some horseradish is much spicier than others, so I’d start by stirring in a small amount of horseradish and tasting the sauce, then adding more until it’s as spicy as you like it.)
Notes
You can use the packet of seasonings that come with the corned beef in place of the bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme if you prefer.
I used a 6 Quart Instant Pot (affiliate link) for this recipe, but you can make this in any electric pressure cooker or a stovetop pressure cooker as well.
Recipe slightly adapted from Pressure Cooker Perfection by America’s Test Kitchen and recipes from two of my favorite blogging friends.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 717Total Fat: 56gSaturated Fat: 18gUnsaturated Fat: 30gCholesterol: 246mgSodium: 2406mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 46g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Corned beef is definitely a low-carb ingredient, so this Instant Pot Corned Beef is great for low-carb or Keto diets. The original South Beach Diet doesn’t recommend corned beef because of the amount of fat, but if it happens to be St. Patrick’s Day I would certainly have some.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Instant Pot Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for corned beef cooked in the Instant Pot was first posted in 2015. It was updated with better photos in 2020 and the recipe was updated again with more information in 2024.
33 Comments on “Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce”
I think I will try this. BUT, my fav is always the potatos, cabbage and carrots that go with it. Any ideas??
I wouldn’t cook those in the Instant Pot myself, but if you use the link to see my recipe for Slow Cooker Corned Beef you could use those instructions to cook the cabbage and carrots. It doesn’t talk about potatoes but you can probably figure that out.
How can you used or ask people to use Cream Style Horseradish. Here’s the ingreidents in one of them:
GRATED HORSERADISH ROOTS, WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, WHITE DISTILLED VINEGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, EGGS, SUGAR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, LEMON JUICE, XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM METABISULFITE AND SODIUM BENZOATE (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, SPICES, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (RETAINS FRESHNESS), PAPRIKA!
They all have either soybean/canola oil, HFCS, sugar, cornstarch, etc. Yikes! Just use Pure Horseradish, just horseradish, vinegar & salt. Who care if it’s not so creamy, cat least it is healthy. Shame!
Oh my, all that anguish and shaming me about an ingredient where you’re using two tablespoons in a sauce that makes nearly a cup? And second, the ingredients in my bottle of cream-style horseradish don’t have high fructose corn syrup and some of the other things you listed.
But, MOST IMPORTANT: My food philosophy is and always has been that everyone gets to make their own food choices. So if this product causes you so much anxiety, simply use the kind of horseradish you prefer. Problem solved.
I plan to make this for St. Patty’s Day this coming week but I have a timing question. I love using the instant pot but timing has fouled me up in the past when using it for company. Your recipe says total time 1 HOUR 45 MINUTES. Does that include the time it takes for the IP to ramp up to the actual start time? I need the time from when I put the meat in the IP until it comes out ready to slice.
The timing for the Instant Pot is challenging for me to predict perfectly, because the amount of time for it to come to pressure and release pressure will depend on what model Instant Pot you have, the temperature of the meat, and how full the Instant Pot is. This recipe takes 90 minutes once it has come to pressure. I added 15 minutes for the time to put things in the pot and come to pressure. If you want the time when it’s on the plate, ready to eat, you should add the 20 minutes I recommend for the pressure to naturally release, so that would be 90 minutes cooking time plus 35 minutes time for coming to pressure and releasing pressure. Hope that helps.
P.S. Betsy, after I wrote that reply to you I decided I should edit the recipe so it includes the additional time to let the pressure release so I just made that change.
great piece of sharing!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I just made this, well the vegetables are cooking as I write this, but the beef is delicious and so tender. I had to sneak a piece as I was putting it in the oven to keep warm. And that sauce, yum!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Peggi, so glad you are enjoying it!
Ok, just had to add to my below post-my husband proclaimed it “the best boiled dinner I ever had” and I agree. The flavors were outstanding, I followed your recipe exactly!
This nice feedback is making my day; thanks again!
In almost 50 years of marriage, this is the BEST corned beef I ever made!!
Oh that makes me so happy! Thanks so much for telling me!
I bought a 4.5# corned beef ROUND …not brisket…at Costco. Would I cook it in the IP the same way? Would I need to adjust time?
I haven’t tried cooking that size or cut of corned beef, so I can’t say for sure. But with 90 minutes cooking time I am guessing it will still be fine even with a larger cut. I’d love to hear how it works if you try it!
My corned beef was definitely not tough or stringy. In fact, it was so tender that it kind of came apart with the grain without slicing. Obviously you can slice your own corned beef any way you prefer. I’ll change my instructions to reflect that. I should have updated that when I re-did the photos.
After seeing your Instant Pot recipes, especially for my favorite meal, corned beef, I NEED ONE!
I have to admit (after being a fan of slow cooker corned beef for years) corned beef in the Instant Pot is pretty great!
Jennifer, ask Santa!
Followed the recipe fairly faithfully with a new Instant Pot Duo 6 Quart and a 3 lb corned beef roast. First time I tried a pressure cooker. I selected the "meat/stew" option instead of programming in a time. When the PC came back and told me it would be done in 38 minutes. Sure enough, after the gentle release of pressure over ten minutes the beef was fork tender. Everything turned out great.
So glad you enjoyed it Jack! I think the pressure cooker is a great method for corned beef.
Hi Kalyn-this was my first time cooking corned beef in the pressure cooker-it turned out AMAZING. I found you on Barbara's Pressure Cooking Today blog-so glad I did…I made a version of your horseradish sauce to go alongside the tender, juicy meat. I used plain low fat Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream and added a touch of Dijon mustard. I didn't have creamy horseradish so I cut back the amount and used prepared horseradish and mayonnaise….DEEELICIOUS! Thanks SO much for sharing your recipe. I've never had a side sauce with corned beef but that's changed now….I'll definitely be serving this wonderful sauce every time I have our "New England Boiled Dinner".
Thank you so much!
Carol, so glad you enjoyed it. I think this is my preferred way to cook corned beef now. Your sauce sounds delicious too!
Believe it or not, I've never cooked corned beef. I've always been curious about it and your recipe looks like one I should try. I love cooking in the pressure cooker and this recipe looks foolproof. Love horseradish, so I'm sure I'd love this! Great post, Kalyn!
Bill @ www.southernboydishes.com
Thanks Bill; if you like corned beef I think you'll love it. So, so good!
The pressure cooker is the only way I cook corned beef now. I love how easy it is, but mostly I love the texture of the meat when it's cooked that way. Perfect for sandwiches.
Lydia, I think this is now my go-to method for corned beef! I love the more tender result. I've never had corned beef quite this tender from the slow cooker.
Love the idea of making corned beef sandwiches. Your corned beef looks delicious.
Thanks Barbara. I'm definitely converted to the pressure cooker method!
This looks really good. The sauce especially sounds phenomenal.
I love that sauce!