Photography: Ian Wallace. Styling: Louise Pickford.
Take a trip back to your childhood with this faster take on the family favourite, where we show you how to cook corned beef in a pressure cooker.
The traditional stovetop method for cooking corned beef takes at least two hours, and using a slow cooker can stretch it out to six hours or more. With this recipe, you can cook tender, deliciously flavoured corned beef in around an hour.
Ingredients
Method
Combine beef, onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, carrot, celery, sugar, vinegar and enough of the water to barely cover beef in 6-litre (24-cup) pressure cooker; secure lid. Bring cooker to high pressure. Reduce heat to stabilise pressure; cook 45 minutes.
Release pressure using the quick release method (see tip below); remove lid. Stand beef in cooking liquid 15 minutes. Remove beef from cooker. Serve sliced, warm or cold.
What is corned beef?
Corned beef is a salt-cured beef dish, typically made from silverside. The term “corned” comes from the old English word for large grains of salt, which were historically used to cure the meat. Corned beef silverside is sold in supermarkets and butchers.
Corned beef (or corned silverside) holds a special place in classic Australian home cooking, often bringing back memories of family dinners and hearty, old-fashioned meals.
Tips to cook corned beef in a pressure cooker
Stabilising pressure
If you have an electric pressure cooker you won’t need to reduce the heat to stabilise pressure, your cooker will automatically stabilise itself. Always check with the manufacturer’s instructions before using.
Pressure cooker quick release
For the quick release method referred to in this corned beef recipe, use tongs (steam can burn your fingers) to turn the pressure valve on top of the cooker to open the valve and release the steam. This will release the pressure quickly, before you remove the lid.
What to serve with pressure cooker corned beef
Serve warm corned beef with creamy mashed potato, mustard, cornichons, caperberries and parsley or with steamed potatoes, carrots and cabbage.
Serve thin slices of cold corned beef on sandwiches with pickles.
Can you freeze corned beef?
This pressure cooker corned beef is not suitable to freeze. If the corned beef is to be served cold, cool the beef in the cooking liquid before refrigerating.
Does cooking beef in a pressure cooker make it tender?
A pressure cooker makes it easy to tenderise beef. This is because it’s sealed in with the liquid, which steams as the pressure cooker reaches very high temperatures and helps soften the meat fibres. As well as creating tender beef, it’s also full of flavour thanks to the cooking process.
If you’re new to using a pressure cooker, make sure you read the instructions for your model. You can also check out our pressure cooking guide for more practical tips and insights.
What is the best way to cook corned beef?
There’s no particular method that’s better than others. But the qualities of a particular method might suit you more, or might be called for in a particular recipe or situation.
For example, if you don’t have much time, choosing to cook corned beef in a pressure cooker is the fastest way to perfect, tender beef.
If you’re feeling traditional, the stovetop method might be a better choice.
Slow cookers, on the other hand, take a long time to cook the beef which allows it to absorb flavour and become tender and juicy. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you could also use an oven. This will give similar results with a low heat and covered dish.
This recipe was published on April 18, 2021 and updated on 1 April 2025 with more details.
