Corned Beef and Cabbage with Mustard Sauce {Slow Cooker or Instant Pot}

This is my all time favorite way to cook corned beef and cabbage. Corned beef brisket and cabbage cooked in a Guinness spiked broth until the meat is so tender it falls apart and the cabbage is soft and buttery.

Right before serving, glaze the brisket with brown sugar mustard sauce & serve with creamy parsley buttered potatoes.

This recipe includes instructions for making Corned Beef and Cabbage in your Slow Cooker or in your Instant Pot. For all you visual learners, here's a short tutorial for making Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Instant Pot.

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Mustard Glaze and Buttered Potatoes

Corned beef and cabbage originated in Ireland as a traditional Easter Sunday dinner, a tradition that, I understand, has waned considerably over the past couple of decades. At least in Ireland. Here in the US, many of us consider it mandatory fare on St. Patrick's day.

I, for one, rarely let the holiday go by without cooking a large batch of Corned Beef and Cabbage, intentionally making enough for Corned Beef Hash and Reuben Sandwiches later in the week. 

This recipe is just about as simple as you can get. But it also includes a couple of not-so-traditional elements:

• Dijon mustard brown sugar glaze
• Parsley buttered potatoes that are cooked separately from the corned beef and cabbage

How to Make Corned Beef and Cabbage in a Slow Cooker

I love using a slow cooker on those days on which I know I won't have any time to mess with dinner later in the day.

1. In the morning, remove the brisket from the package, reserving the pickled spice packet. Rinse the meat under cold water and pat it dry with paper towels.
2. Peel an onion and slice it into 8 wedges onion wedges. Place the wedge in the bowl of a slow cooker and lay the corned beef brisket on top. Sprinkle the pickled seasoning plus 3 tablespoons of brown sugar over the brisket.
3. Pour two bottles of Guinness over the meat. (You can use water, chicken or beef broth instead of Guinness if you prefer.)
4. Set the slow cooker to cook the brisket on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours.
5. Nestle the cabbage and carrots into the slow cooker along with the brisket and sprinkle them with a bit of salt. Cook for another 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low.

How to Make Corned Beef and Cabbage in an Instant Pot

Cooking corned beef and cabbage in an Instant Pot is much quicker. The whole process, start to finish, only takes about 90 minutes.

1. About an hour and a half before you want to eat, remove the brisket from the package, reserving the pickled spice packet. Rinse the meat under cold water then pat dry with paper towels.
2. Peel an onion and cut it into 8 wedges. Set the wedges in the bowl of an Instant Pot and lay the corned beef brisket on top. Sprinkle the pickled seasoning over the meat along with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Pour 2 bottles of Guinness over the meat. (You can use water, chicken or beef broth instead of Guinness if you prefer.)
3. Select pressure cooker setting, adjust pressure to high, and set the time for 1 hour 25 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
4. Remove the cooked corn beef from the Instant Pot and place it on a baking sheet that's been lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Pour the liquid in the Instant Pot bowl through a strainer that's been set inside a bowl.
5. Discard the onions and pour 1 ½ cups of the liquid back into the Instant Pot. Cut a head of cabbage into 8 wedges and add it to the bowl of the instant pot along with some baby carrots. Sprinkle the veggies with salt.
6. Select pressure cooker setting; adjust pressure to high and set time for 4 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.

Brown Sugar Mustard Glaze Was Made For Corned Beef

A few years ago, a friend of mine served corned beef for dinner that had been coated with a delicious slightly sweet mustard glaze. It was sooooo good that it forever changed the way I make this dish.

How to make the BEST Mustard Glaze:

• Mix a bit of dijon mustard with salt and brown sugar
• Brush the glaze over corned beef brisket after the brisket is done cooking
• Place the glazed brisket under the broiler for a couple of minutes, just until the glaze is beginning to brown in a few places

For such simple thing, that mustard glaze is heaven on the salty, tender corned beef.

What's the Best Thing to Serve with Corned Beef and Cabbage?

Most corned beef and cabbage recipes that include potatoes (is it even Irish if it doesn't include potatoes???) call for the potatoes to boil right alongside the corned beef and cabbage. I love, love, LOVE potatoes.... but this is not my favorite way to cook them.

Boiled potatoes have the tendency to become overcooked and water logged to the point that they just fall completely apart on your fork. Plus, boiled potatoes are kinda bland.

Mushy and bland. We can do better than that.

How to Make Parsley Buttered Potatoes

I prefer to cook the potatoes separately from corned beef using a simple method of boiling them for only a few minutes, then finishing them in a skillet with butter and parsley.

This results in potatoes that are meltingly tender on the inside, buttery, salty, and slightly crisp on the outside. They are the antithesis of mushy and bland, each bite creamy, crispy, and flavorful.

1. Add the potatoes to a medium or large saucepan and add enough water to cover the potatoes by 2 or 3 inches. Stir in 3 tablespoons of salt and s the pan over high heat. When the water begins to boil, cook the potatoes for 5-8 minutes, until just barely fork tender. Remove the potatoes from the water.
2. Add some butter and oil to a large skillet and set it over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the potatoes. Sprinkle the potatoes with another teaspoon of salt and roll them around in the pan so that they are coated on all sides in butter and oil.
3. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to low. Let the potatoes cook for 20 - 25 minutes. Every once in a while, shake the pan so the potatoes roll around and do not burn. The potatoes are done when a fork pricked into one of the potatoes slides in like butter.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped parsley. Stir the potatoes around in the pan to coat in the butter and parsley, then turn them out into a serving bowl.