Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

If you crave beef in a sweet sauce with a touch of savory, chances are you’re familiar with the Chinese and Asian-Fusion dish known as Mongolian Beef. It’s also now incredibly simple to make in your Instant pot with little fuss. However, sometimes the beef you’re eating from a restaurant is questionable as to what part of the cow it is. I use sliced flank steak, which gives the beef a more premium experience – similar to slices of tender, juicy brisket. But flap or skirt steak or even chuck roast will also work nicely here. Be sure to serve it with hibachi fried rice!

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Sautéing

Adding sesame oil to pot
Add some sesame oil to the Instant Pot and heat it up.
Addling sliced onion to pot
Add some onion sliced into strips…
Adding scallion to pot
…sliced scallion…
Addling crushed or minced garlic to pot
…and crushed or minced garlic.
Sautéing veggies in pot
Sauté for just a few minutes, until the onion is a bit translucent.
Adding sliced flank steak to pot
Add some sliced flank steak to the pot that’s sliced into strips (NOTE: see the recipe below for other beef suggestions)
Sautéing steak until lightly browned
Sauté just until the steak is lightly browned on the edges. It should definitely not be fully cooked (that’ll happen when we pressure cook it).
Adding beed broth to pot
Pour some beef broth into the pot…
Adding soy sauce to pot
…along with soy sauce, tamari (gluten-free), or coconut aminos (soy and gluten-free)…
Adding brown sugar to pot
…and dark (or light) brown sugar.

Pressure Cooking

Stirring pot
Stir until well combined, secure the lid and cook at high pressure with a natural release followed by a quick release (see recipe card below).
Thin sauce after pressure cooking
When done, the sauce is going to look thin and not super colorful…YET!

Transforming The Sauce

Stirring cornstarch slurry into the pot.
That all changes with a cornstarch slurry (which is equal parts cornstarch and water combined to form a slurry). Bring the pot to a bubble and stir in the slurry.
Thickened sauce
And like a magic potion, the sauce will thicken immediately into the perfect consistency!
Adding hoisin sauce to pot
Now to give it that signature flavor and color! Add some hoisin sauce
Adding plum sauce to pot
plum sauce
Adding molasses to pot
…and molasses.
Adding remaining scallion to pot
Lastly add the reserved scallions, for a bit of a crunch factor.

Serving

Finished Mongolian Beef on serving spoon over pot
Give everything a final stir, and you’re going to have a gorgeous Mongolian Beef!
Plated Mongolian Beef
Plate it up with some of your favorite sides, be it hibachi fried rice, white rice, brown rice, lo mein, and of course, an eggroll.

The Taste Test

Whatever side you choose, the star of the show is the sweet meat you just made. Go on now. Give that tender, beautiful beef a try.
Your face is likely going to look like this after one bite.
Make sure you offer some to a meat-loving loved one because they’re gonna rave.
And then tell them there’s more where that came from in the yellow Simple Comforts book! Enjoy.

Watch The Video!

Instant Pot Best Mongolian Beef
Yield: 6

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

If you crave beef in a sweet sauce with a touch of savory, chances are you're familiar with the Chinese and Asian-Fusion dish known as Mongolian Beef. It's also now incredibly simple to make in your Instant pot with little fuss. However, sometimes the beef you're eating from a restaurant is questionable as to what part of the cow it is. I use sliced flank steak, which gives the beef a more premium experience - similar to slices of tender, juicy brisket. But flap or skirt steak or even chuck roast will also work nicely here. Be sure to serve it with hibachi fried rice!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 32 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Add the sesame oil to the Instant Pot and hit Sauté and Adjust so it's on the More or High setting. After 3 minutes of heating, add the onion and half the scallions and sauté for 3 minutes, until the onions slightly soften and become a bit translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more.
  2. Add the steak/beef and sauté for 3 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges, but by no means fully cooked.
  3. Add the broth, soy sauce, and brown sugar and stir well. Secure the lid, move the valve to the sealing position. Hit Cancel followed by Pressure Cook or Manual for 12 minutes on High Pressure. When done, allow a 5-minute natural release followed by a quick release.
  4. While the meat is natural releasing, make a slurry by adding both the cornstarch with the water to a small bowl and mixing together until smooth.
  5. Hit Cancel and then hit Sauté and Adjust so it's on the More or High setting. Once bubbling, stir in the slurry and the sauce will thicken almost immediately. After 30 seconds of bubbling, hit Cancel to turn the pot off.
  6. As the bubbles die down, add the hoisin sauce, plum sauce, molasses and remaining scallions. Stir until well-combined. Allow to rest for 5 mintues for the flavors to come together and then serve alongside your favorite sides such as fried rice, white rice, brown rice, lo mein, and/or an eggroll!

Jeffrey's Tips

You can also use skirt or flap steak or chuck roast. Just use 3 pounds of it and slice against the grain into 1/4-inch thick strips as you would the skirt steak.

If you're following a gluten-free lifestyle, use tamari or coconut aminos in place of soy sauce and use a gluten-free hoisin sauce.

Plum sauce is usually amongst the hoisin and soy sauce in your market, but if you cannot find it (or don't want to get it online), you can sub another 1/4 cup of hoisin sauce in its place.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Debbie

    Hi Jeffrey Question all we have is Walmart. Plum sauce. All I can find is Sweet Chili sauce or Sweet and sour sauce are either of them the same? Thanks

  2. ANDREA DOWNES

    What can I say…..absolutely delicious and so easy to make which for a newbie is a bonus!! It actually looked exactly the same as the picture 🙂 Can’t wait to try more of Jeffrey’s recipes, so easy to follow

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