Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is an easy version of a restaurant favorite that can be on your table in less than 30 minutes! This recipe features tender beef that is coated in a sweet and spicy brown sauce. This Chinese-American dish is a favorite recipe that is so simple and much healthier to make at home–especially when you use your Instant Pot!
Mongolian Beef is classically served with steamed broccoli and rice, that both absorb all the delicious sauce. You can prepare white rice, using Pot in Pot Cooking Method while preparing Instant Pot Mongolian Beef or you can serve with Instant Pot Brown Rice.
I love Chinese take-out food.
But in full disclosure, I rarely order it out. I can easily make my favorite Chinese recipes at home without the added sodium, MSG, or being fried. So I can eat an extra serving and not wake up in the morning regretting that decision–you know what I mean?
Potstickers, Eggrolls, or Orange Chicken are some of our favorite take-out fake-out meals. But my husband’s all-time favorite is Mongolian Beef.
Made with a sweet and spicy sauce and tender flank steak, it is easy to see why this is a favorite.
While Mongolian Beef can come together quickly on the stove, there is a reason I love to prepare this dish in the Instant Pot.
- The sauce develops more flavor.
- You can prepare rice at the same time for an all-in-one meal.
- Less Expensive Meat CAN be used.
Bottom-line–it is a set it, forget it, and dinner is DONE kind of meal and that is how I like to roll–especially when Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is such a family favorite meal.
Key Ingredients
- Beef: Flank Steak is the best choice for most stir-fried beef recipes because flank steak is lean and yet extremely flavorful. Its intense beef flavor holds up well to strong sauces in Asian Beef dishes and when cut correctly, is extremely tender. If you can’t find flank steak at your store, skirt steak or hanger steak are great substitutes. And because the Instant Pot works its magic, you can even use a less expensive cut of meat like Sirloin steak.
- Mongolian Sauce: Most Mongolian Sauces are made with lots of soy sauce and sugar. I opted to make my Mongolian Beef lighter by using low sodium soy sauce, a bit of honey, and pineapple juice for extra sweetness and flavor. Just like my Instant Pot Chicken Breasts, pineapple juice is the secret to this sauce.
How to Make Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Step One: Prepare Flank Steak
Part of the secret to restaurant-quality tender beef that you get at your favorite Chinese take-out restaurant is all in how they slice the meat. It is very important to slice beef against the grain at home to achieve that tender quality, but what exactly does it mean to cut meat across the grain?
To cut against the grain means to cut in the opposite direction of the fibers in the meat. The fibers of the meat look like lines running through the meat and are easy to recognize on tough cuts of beef like flank steak. You don’t want to cut parallel to those fibers, instead, you want to cut so that your knife blade forms a T.
In flank steak, the fibers of the meat run from top to bottom, so you are going to slice your cut of meat on the shorter side.
TIP: I find it easier to cut the beef in thin strips if my meat has been frozen for 5-10 minutes prior to slicing.
Step Two: Sear Flank Steak
- Turn your Instant Pot to saute.
- Once it reads “HOT,” add in 1/2 -1 tablespoon oil and let heat for 1 minute.
- Add in beef and saute until JUST browned about 2 minutes.
- Turn Instant Pot “OFF.”
You can skip searing your meat for an even faster meal, but I will caution you, the searing of the meat adds a crispy texture that compliments this dish.
Step Three: Make the Mongolian Sauce
- Mix together soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic ginger, honey, and red pepper flakes together.
- Pour over seared beef.
Step Four: Pressure Cook
- Put the lid on Instant Pot and turn vent knob to the sealed position.
- Hit manual and then adjust the cook time by using the plus or minus buttons to 3 minutes.
- After cook time has elapsed, let rest 5-10 minutes and then do a quick release.
Step Five: Thicken Mongolian Sauce
- Turn Instant Pot back to saute.
- Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water until fully combined.
- Add cornstarch slurry to the pressure cooker and stir and boil for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce is thickened.
- Serve with rice or cauliflower rice and top with toasted sesame seeds and green onions if desired.
Cooking Rice using the Pot-in-Pot Method
The flank steak cooks up on high pressure in only 3 minutes after sauteed and that is the same amount of time that Jasmine rice cooks in the instant pot on high pressure. For this reason, I like to make rice using the pot-in-pot method when cooking Mongolian Beef.
To cook rice while cooking the beef, follow these steps:
- Saute the beef as directed. Add in all the ingredients for the Mongolian Sauce.
- Insert a rack in the Instant Pot (right over the Mongolian Beef Mixture).
- Place a 7 cup oven-safe dish on top of the rack and put in 1 1/2 cups Jasmine rice and 1 1/2 cup water (or stock).
- Close the instant pot and turn the valve to sealed. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Let the pressure release for 10 minutes and then open the Instant Pot.
- Remove the rice and rack from the inner pot and proceed with thickening the Mongolian Beef with the cornstarch slurry as the recipe directs.
Can you Make Mongolian Beef with Frozen Beef?
Yes, you can absolutely make Mongolian Beef with frozen beef. However, you need to remember three things.
- The beef needs to be sliced BEFORE freezing. A large cut of flank steak will not fit in the Instant Pot and the sweet sauce could burn before cook time would elapse.
- You can not sear frozen beef, so eliminate that step along with the oil from the recipe. Instead, you just add the ingredients for the sauce along with the frozen beef.
- Increase cook time from 3 minutes to 6 minutes.
I often purchase large amounts of flank steak when on sale, and cut into thin strips before freezing and then grab for a quick dinner recipe.
More Chinese-American Copy-Cat Recipes
- Instant Pot Orange Chicken
- Instant Pot Vegetarian Potstickers
- Easy Fried Rice
- Stir-Fried Chicken and Bok Choy
Put down the take-out menu and whip up this healthier, delicious, easy Instant Pot Mongolian Beef instead–your taste buds and your wallet will thank you!
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound flank steak cut into thin strips
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2/3 cup pineapple juice
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup honey or brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Prepare you flank steak by slicing against the grain into very thin strips (about 1/4-1/2 inch thick).
- Turn your Instant Pot to saute. Once it reads "HOT," add in 1/2 -1 tablespoon oil and let heat for 1 minute. Add in beef and saute until JUST browned. About 2 minutes.
- Mix together the soy sauce, pineapple juice, honey and seasonings and add to Instant Pot.
- Place the lid on Instant Pot and turn vent knob to the sealed position.
- Hit manual (you will have to first turn the Instant Pot OFF from Saute function) and then adjust the cook time by using the plus or minus buttons to 3 minutes.
- After cook time has elapsed, let rest 5-10 minutes and then do a quick release.
- Turn Instant Pot back to saute. Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water until fully combined. Add cornstarch slurry to pressure cooker and stir and boil for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn off instant pot and serve Mongolian Beef with rice, cauliflower rice and top with scallions or sesame seeds if desired.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- It is NOT necessary to sear your meat first. Instead, put flank steak with soy sauce, honey, pineapple juice, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in Instant Pot and cook on high for 6 minutes. Follow instructions for adding cornstarch slurry as written.
- If you do not want to use honey, brown sugar can be substituted.
- Pineapple juice is a great way to add sweetness to the dish naturally to cut back on the amount of added sugar.
- If your flank steak is frozen in strips, increase cook time to 10 minutes.
- Adjust the number of red pepper flakes based upon how much spice you like.
- Saute the beef as directed. Add in all the ingredients for the Mongolian Sauce.
- Insert a rack in the Instant Pot (right over the Mongolian Beef Mixture).
- Place a 7 cup oven-safe dish on top of the rack and put in 1 1/2 cups Jasmine rice and 1 1/2 cup water (or stock).
- Close the instant pot and turn the valve to sealed. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Let the pressure release for 10 minutes and then open the Instant Pot.
- Remove the rice and rack from the inner pot and proceed with thickening the Mongolian Beef with the cornstarch slurry as the recipe directs.
MY GIRLS ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS WITH THE RICE (DONE POT IN POT METHO) AND STEAMED BROCCOLI (steamed in the instapot just before I started on the meat). This is high praise considering I have a 6yo red head who evaluates my cooking like a Roman emperor at the coliseum. 😉
LOL! Your description of your daughter CRACKED me up! But I get it and when the pickiest critics approve–it is a huge accomplishment. I am honored it was one of my recipes 🙂
This recipe was darn good. I was nervous about the meat being overcooked but everything was perfect. Thank you for sharing. Will be making again!
I am so glad this recipe exceeded your expectations Tay! I hope you enjoy again and again 🙂
My 5 year old went back for thirds!
That is always a sign of success! So glad your family enjoyed!
My family loved this – we prefer the non-saute version. I used a 20 oz. can of chunk pineapple for the juice – it is about the right amount and we liked the pineapple chunks on the side. This recipe is great!
I am so glad you enjoyed MJ! And It is great that you prefer the non saute method–makes this so much faster 🙂