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Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef cooks up in under 30 minutes. This sweet, flavorful Asian-style beef is so much better than takeout and so easy to make.

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef over rice.

Mongolian Beef is my absolute favorite Asian-style meal. I love the sweetness in it. I also love to make it at home so I can control the amount of spice in it. I add a good bit of crushed red pepper flakes to balance the sweetness and sometimes I like to add a little Sriracha sauce when I dish it up.

This Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is fabulously sweet and salty with lots of ginger and garlic flavor. The sauce is a wonderful mixture of soy sauce, dark brown sugar, rice vinegar,  sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. So much flavor!

Mongolian Beef in Instant Pot

Tips For Making Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

  • Mongolian Beef is no better than the quality of the beef you use. I use flank steak for my Mongolian Beef. It is a little pricey, bit I really believe it is the best cut of beef for this dish.
  • To make the flank steak easier to slice, freeze it for 30 minutes and use a very sharp knife.
  • The key to great Mongolian Beef is coating the beef in cornstarch and frying it in oil. Do NOT substitute flour. The cornstarch gets the beef really crispy.
  • You will need to saute the beef in multiple batches in the Instant Pot which is kind of a pain.
  • It’s convenient to saute in the Instant Pot but it is also very small. If you prefer, do it on the cook top in a large skillet. You will have one more thing to clean, but you will save a little time sauteing. Your choice.
  • Add more or less crushed red pepper flakes to adjust the seasoning. Serve with Sriracha sauce if you want it spicier.

Once the meat is sauted, add the sauce to the Instant Pot along with all of the browned beef and Pressure Cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the green onions and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over rice for one of the best homemade Asian meals you have ever had.

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

More Instant Pot Recipes

No Instant Pot? No problem! Use this recipe for Mongolian Beef. It is every bit as good!

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef cooks up in under 30 minutes. This sweet, flavorful Asian-style beef is so much better than takeout and so easy to make.

PREP: 20 minutes
COOK: 10 minutes
SERVINGS: 6

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds flank steak
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, you can use light brown sugar instead
  • 1/2 cup low sodium beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Cut flank steak against the grain into thin slices. Cut longer slices in half so that they are bite-sized.
  • Place flank steak slices in a medium bowl and add cornstarch. Stir until evenly coated. Let sit 10 minutes.
  • Make the sauce. In a medium bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, beef broth, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes.
  • Turn Instant Pot to "Saute" mode. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and when hot, sear flank steak in batches until browned on both sides. Add more oil if needed between batches. Be sure not to crowd the flank steak. Hit "Cancel" on the Instant Pot.
    Note: If you'd rather, you can sear the flank steak in a large skillet.
  • Return all flank steak to the Instant Pot. Pour sauce over it. Place lid on and set to Manual (High Pressure) for 10 minutes. Be sure the valve is in sealing position.
  • When time is up, do a quick pressure release.
  • Stir in green onions. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with rice.

Notes

For easier slicing, place flank steak in the freezer for 30 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition

Calories: 488kcal
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Asian
Keyword: mongolian beef

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Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

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10 thoughts on “Instant Pot Mongolian Beef”

  1. This is delicious! I have never made it before and I’m new to instapot cooking. Turned out perfect.

  2. Man… this was a total fail for me. And I know it wasn’t my fault. I followed the recipe to the “T”- and this gave me grief. The amount of cornstarch in this recipe is exorbitant! 😳 I’ve looked at other Mongolian beef recipes since making this, and they use a fraction of the amount of cornstarch listed in this one. When I tried to brown the beef in the oil, it stuck like glue to the bottom of my pot. And then when it came to adding the sauce, I had to add soooo much extra liquid to make up for the amount of cornstarch, that it became a little bit of beef in a butt load of gravy, basically. I also couldn’t pressure cook it because it kept burning on the bottom every time I tried. I had to just simmer it for a few hours to get the beef tender. Tasted ok, but definitely wasn’t what it was supposed to be. I honestly don’t know how this has turned out ok for anyone else. I’m puzzled.

  3. Made it for the first time tonight. Absolutely love the sauce, nice and spicy as it should be. My only issue is the cut of meat I used (unsure what it was as we threw the wrapper away before freezing it.) Will definitely be making again with the proper meat! No burn notice issue for me, but I did double the recipe. Will definitely be putting in my recipe book for later use!

  4. Delicious! Such an easy to follow recipe. The skirt steak was nice and tender. The sauce is amazing. I didn’t have red pepper flakes so used cayenne pepper instead. This is definitely going into our permanent meal rotation.

  5. I started with froze stew meat and just added all the ingredients except olive oil and cornstarch and sesame seeds. I will turn the pot on sauté after my 15 minute NR . Then add cornstarch and sesame just before serving over rice !!! yummmm

  6. I sautéed the beef on the stovetop in an effort to avoid the dreaded “burn” notice, but still got it twice! I deglazed the pot and ended up adding 2 more cups of beef broth. It finally came to pressure and is cooking. Hope it turns out ok. Anyone else have that problem? I followed the recipe to a T other than sautéing the beef on the stovetop. I just got my Instant Pot for Christmas so I’m a newbie. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

    1. The burn notice is my concern. I think I may start out using more broth from the beginning. Wish me luck.

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