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!

Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce close-up photo

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.)

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.

Make Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce process shots collage

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.)

  1. 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.
  2. 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. 
  3. 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.)
  4. When time is up, use the natural release method for 20 minutes and then release any additional pressure.
  5. While the corned beef cooks, mix together sour cream and mayo and stir in cream style horseradish to taste to make a spicy sauce.
  6. Slice corned beef against the grain to serve.
  7. Serve hot and enjoy!

Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce farther away photo

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:

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 close-up photo
Yield: 8 servings

Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Additional Time 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

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

  1. Remove the corned beef from the package and rinse well with cold water, until all the accumulated gel is removed.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.)
  4. Pour over the chicken broth, with a little additional water if needed to almost cover the corned beef with liquid.
  5. 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.)
  6. After 90 minutes, use the natural release method to reduce the pressure for 20 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
  7. 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.)
  8. Slice meat and serve hot, with Creamy Horseradish Sauce.

Horseradish Sauce Instructions:

  1. 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

8

Serving Size

1

Amount 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.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Square image of Instant Pot Corned Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce shown on cutting board.

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 Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagramon 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.

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