Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Want your kids to gobble down dinner instead of turning up their noses? This Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is a snap to make and is melt-in-your-mouth tender with a delicious sweet and spicy sauce.
What’s your favorite dish to order when you get take out? If you haven’t tried Mongolian Beef, you may be missing out on a real treat!
Of course, it depends on the restaurant, I’ve had delicious versions and tough as leather versions. So why pay all that money and risk it when you can make your own guaranteed to be amazing version right at home. And it’s not difficult at all.
In fact, the hands on time required for making this will be less than that required to make the phone call to your local take out restaurant. Instant Pot Mongolian Beef uses tender steak and a sweet and slightly spicy sauce to create a dinner your family will request on repeat.
Ingredient Notes
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See additional detailed notes regarding the type of beef you should use
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Beef broth or beef stock will both work for this recipe
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Adjust the amount of Sriracha sauce to your personal spiciness preference
What is Mongolian Sauce made of?
Mongolian Sauce is a savory brown sauce that can be made from a variety of Asian ingredients. At the base is typically a soy or hoisin sauce and it may contain various spices or peppers, vinegar and cornstarch. It’s often sweetened with brown sugar or possibly honey and has a slightly sweet and slightly spicy flavor but is overall very mild.
In my version I also add some beef broth as more liquid is needed in order to cook it in the Instant Pot, and then the final sauce is thickened with a bit of cornstarch and is perfect for serving over some steamed white rice.
What kind of beef should you use?
Mongolian Beef is typically made with a flank steak or skirt steak, and I’ve used both with good results. But the best results? Using a sirloin! It may be slightly more expensive but it certainly worth it for the melt in your mouth flavor and texture after a few minutes in the pressure cooker. I prefer to purchase already thinly sliced steak, and then I dice it into smaller, bite sized pieces. You can also slice it yourself if you prefer.
How to get tender beef in the Instant Pot:
- make sure you have enough liquid – at least 1 cup is needed for proper cooking
- Put the meat into the liquid instead of on a steamer basket – it won’t “boil” your meat so don’t worry
- don’t add any thickeners until after you’ve pressure cooked, so wait until later to add the cornstarch
- cook it longer than you’d think – for this cut and type of meat you actually want it to be more overdone so that it will be super tender
How To Prep Ahead
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Add all ingredients except cornstarch and onions to a freezer safe container or zipper bag
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Store in fridge up to 3 days or freezer up to 3 months
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To cook from frozen add 5 extra minutes of cook time plus 1/4 cup of water in bottom of pot
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Continue with recipe as written after pressure cooking is complete
How To Store Leftovers
- Let cool completely then store in air tight containers in fridge up to 3 days
Serve this up with some steam white rice and some homemade crab rangoon for a simple and better than take-out meal that you can enjoy at home with your family!
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 2 pounds thinly sliced sirloin
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
- 3/4 cup beef broth
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 1/2 bunch green onions chopped
Instructions
- Cut beef into bite sized pieces and add to pressure cooker
- Stir together all sauce ingredients except for cornstarch and pour over beef
- Seal and set to high pressure for 14 minutes
- Allow 5-10 minutes for natural pressure release then quick release any remaining pressure
- Whisk cornstarch until smooth with an equal amount of water and stir into beef along with onions
- Allow to sit for 5 minutes for sauce to thicken and then stir before serving
Notes
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Add all ingredients except cornstarch and onions to a freezer safe container or zipper bag
-
Store in fridge up to 3 days or freezer up to 3 months
-
To cook from frozen, add 5 extra minutes of cook time plus 1/4 cup of water in bottom of pot
-
Continue with recipe as written after pressure cooking is complete
This was delicious I used round steak which I have never cooked before and it turned out pretty good! Definitely will make this again!