This is the best air fryer corned beef with mustard recipe! We will show you how to cook flat corned beef brisket for St. Patricks Day or any night for dinner. We're telling you, this is so good you will want to make it year round.

If you have a Foodi you can choose to cook air fryer corned beef or Ninja Foodi corned beef and cabbage pressure cooker style. Both are beyond good and don't take long. We will show you all the tips in getting it the solid texture that will melt in your mouth.

We share easy air fryer recipes every single week here. Some are large pieces of protein like this and others are side dishes. This comes in handy because on this holiday you'll likely want some veggies on the side, specifically some air fryer cabbage.

Raw beef short ribs in a metal tray, with a small bowl of oil and spices nearby—solid for preparing alongside Air Fryer Corned Beef for a flavorful meal.

How Long to Cook Corned Beef in Air Fryer

1 hour 45 minutes is what you need to count on. You never want to rush this cut of beef. With a lot of connective tissue you need to give it time to “steam” in aluminum foil to get as fall-apart tender as possible.

Frozen Corned Beef in Air Fryer

For this timing your meat needs to be fresh or defrosted for it to work well. If you forgot to do this and are freaking out right about now, we have help. You can use the temp in our Air Fryer Frozen Roast in that case. It will take longer but possible….

You can also use our Instant Pot frozen corned beef recipe (with the Foodi using the lid that is not attached) to save the day, and dinner which is good and nobody will know the difference.

Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Corned Beef

You can use any brand you might have. We personally love ninja foodi recipes but AirWave and Cosori all work the same except for the size of the basket itself. As long as yours is a 5 quart or larger this will work quite well. A 4 pound flat cut was used for your reference, that style is better if you have the choice.

Beyond the ingredients and machine you're going to want a large piece of foil that is either non stick or you spray a bit of Pam on the inside. You don't want the meat or sauce to stick and pull off when it's done. You can add the pickling packet to the top or add our homemade mustard sauce too, we suggest both.

A spoon spreads yellow mustard sauce onto a raw corned beef brisket on aluminum foil, solid for making Air Fryer Corned Beef.

Is flat or point cut better?

We used a 4 pound piece of corned beef brisket size for the 5 of us to enjoy. We will tell you that by far flat cut is best. It is more of a square shape and the same thickness all the way across with a bit more fat so it stays super moist. You will make with the pickling spice pouch that comes in the bag too.

Can you add cabbage?

Not in the same pot. Instead of steaming leaves plain like our Grandmother did back in the day, to boil cabbagethere are so many other better ways to add a lot more flavor. We have made it in this same pot but typically will make Instant Pot fried cabbage to serve on the side for the best result for dinner.

How to Make the Mustard Sauce

Mustard is optional but highly suggested to mix up our mustard for corned beef ahead of time and add near the end to “bake” on and add a bunch of flavor. Dijon with a bit of brown sugar works too if you want a sweet and savory mix (but mine is better)

If you are going to cook “regular” brisket in air fryer that comes out great too using our dry rub. You don't need any seasonings other than the spice packet inside the bag for this one which is nice.

Cooked Air Fryer Corned Beef resting on crumpled aluminum foil inside an air fryer basket.

How do you know when corned beef is done?

You want it to fall apart and that means you want the internal temp. to be a bit higher than “done”. With this cut the longer it is cooked the more tender it will become (to a point) so keep going until it hits 170-180F. and then it will slice like butter! That is how you know it is done.

Cooking Tips

We wouldn't buy a piece larger than 4 lbs. If you wanted to make a smaller piece you would need to adjust the heat. 2 lbs. is unusual to find but it would likely need a bit more than half the cook time listed below. Remember that it shrinks A LOT when it cooks though, and leftovers are super killer!

Sliced, glazed Air Fryer Corned Beef brisket in a white baking dish with some juices.

We usually will make 1.5x the mustard recipe below so we have more to serve with on the side. Seriously this is one of the best ways of cooking corned beef.

Air Fryer Corned Beef Recipe

By Air fryer corned beef is here! How to cook tender beef in air fryer with a mustard sauce, solid for St. Patricks Day or year round. Prep: 15 minutes minsCook: 1 hour hr 45 minutes minsServings: 8 Save Recipe Saved! Pin Recipe Comment Print Recipe

Equipment

Ingredients

4 lb corned beefflat cut is best, with pickling spices in pouch
1/4 cup corned beef mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Preheat air fryer 360 F for 5 minutes. In a small bowl, mix contents of pickling package with mustard and apple cider vinegar. Place corn beef on a large piece of aluminum foil, big enough to wrap corn beef.
Spread 2/3 of mustard mixture over meat, top and sides. Fold foil around corn beef and place in air fryer basket. Cook at 360 degrees for 1 hour.
Carefully pull back foil, spread remaining mustard mixture on top of corn beef, recover, and cook for another 40 minutes.
Pull back foil, cook at 400 F for 5 minutes to crisp the top of the meat, if desired. Lift out of foil and on to a cutting board. Slice against the grain and serve with cabbage.

Notes

Internal Temperature of Fall-Apart Corned Beef

You need it to reach 145F for food safety reasons but with this cut you need it to cook longer to break down the connective tissues. To reach a fall-apart texture it needs to be 160-180F so we tend to aim for 170F, lift out, cover with foil, allow to rest for 10 minutes covered (it will rise another 5 degrees during that time) and then slice against the grain on a cutting board.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Entree, Main CourseCuisine: American, irish Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!

Another easy recipe that doesn't matter whether it is thawed or frozen is our slow cooker corned beef brisket recipe.

Keeping leftovers

Only slice what you will eat when it is fresh first off, and leave the rest whole. Allow to completely cool to room temperature always. Store in a freezer bag with air pushed out and zipped closed tightly. Keep in fridge and use within the next 3 days ideally. If you don't think you'll eat it by then you could freeze it.

Our corned beef soup is probably our favorite things to make with the leftovers. This way you're adding and heating it with a number of other ingredients which will help moisten your pieces again.