Corned Beef, it’s all about the sauce.

Just out of college I was invited to attend a St. Patrick’s Day dinner at a family friend's house. Somehow up until that point in my life I had never eaten corned beef until that day! It quickly became a favorite. A few years later my now husband and I moved in together and hosted our first St. Patrick’s dinner at our first apartment. When I say we moved in together I mean this dinner was hosted on folding chairs amongst unpacked boxes. It only got better from there and we have hosted at least one dinner, often more than one, every year since. Some of the recipes have changed but the corned beef recipe, passed down from the family friends where I first tasted it, has stayed the same! 

Corned Beef & Sauce

*I pressure cook my corned beef in our InstantPot. But there are many ways to cook corned beef, use whatever technique works best for you. 

Instant Pot Corned Beef

1 large yellow onion chopped into quarters 

4-8 cloves garlic cut in half

4 cups of cold water 

Corned Beef seasoning packet 

3lb corned beef 

Rinse corned beef under cold water - be sure to rinse well. 

Add rinsed corned beef, onion, garlic, seasoning packet and cold water in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Per your pressure cooker’s instructions seal the pressure cooker and pressure cook on High Pressure for 90 minutes then natural release. 

While pressure is releasing make the sauce 

The Sauce

⅓  cup ketchup 

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons mint jelly 

1 tablespoon butter 

1 tablespoon mustard  

Remove the corned beef and pour sauce over corned beef. Refrigerate overnight or at least for several hours. When you are ready to serve heat the corned beef on the BBQ or in the oven at 350 until warmed through.

*I always make a second round of sauce to serve with the corned beef. 

Our traditional menu also includes colcannon, ginger lime carrots & soda bread.