Instant Pot Mongolian Beef — Your favorite Chinese take-out is made healthier at home in less than 30 minutes with tender flank steak and a restaurant quality sweet and savory sauce. Plus directions to cook rice at the same time using pot in pot method!
Do you guys like to order Chinese take-out?
I have to tell you that I don’t think I have ever ordered Asian take-out since I have been married. It is not that I don’t love Potstickers, Eggrolls, or Orange Chicken–I do love them.
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BUT I can easily make my favorite Chinese recipes at home without 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?
One of my husband’s favorite Asian recipes is for Mongolian Beef—full of flavor, a bit of spice, and a touch of sweetness. And with my pressure cooker, I can make him one of his favorite dishes in less than 30 minutes.
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Mongolian Beef for the Instant Pot is quite a simple dish to make. But the most important thing to remember when making Mongolian Beef is to choose the right beef and then to cut the beef against the grain.
What is best kind of meat to use for Mongolian Beef?
Flank Steak is the best choice for most stir-fried beef recipes because flank steak is lean and yet extremely flavorful. It’s 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 hangar steak are great substitutes. Sirloin steak will work in a pinch too–just be sure to cut very thin.
How to slice Meat Against the Grain
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.
How to Make Mongolian Beef in the Pressure Cooker
Step One: Prepare you flank steak by slicing against the grain into very thin strips (about 1/4-1/2 inch thick).
Step Two: Sear your meat in the Instant Pot.
To sear your meat, 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.
Step Three: Make the 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 used pineapple juice for extra sweetness and flavor. Just like my Instant Pot Chicken Breasts, pineapple juice is the secret to this sauce.
Step Four: Cook the Mongolian Beef.
Put 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.
Step Five: Thicken your 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 pressure cooker and stir and boil for 2-3 minutes.
Step Six: Serve.
Mongolian Beef is great served over steamed rice or with cauliflower rice.
Can you make rice at the same time the Mongolian Beef is Cooking?
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 valve to sealed. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Let 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 6 minutes to 8 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.
Tips on Easy Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
- If you do not want to use honey, brown sugar can be substituted. You can also increase honey or brown sugar if you sweeter dishes. I would not increase to more than 1/2 cup.
- Use Tamari for a Gluten-Free Mongolian Beef.
- 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 amount of red pepper flakes based upon how much spice you like.
Okay now that you know ALL the tips, onto the recipe!
Check out all my Healthy Instant Pot Recipes HERE!
Pressure Cooker Mongolian Beef Recipe
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Your favorite Chinese take-out is made healthier at home in less than 30 minutes with tender flank steak and a restaurant quality sweet and savory sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil optional.
- 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).
-
If you want to sear your meat, 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.
-
Put 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 6 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.
Recipe 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 8 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 amount of red pepper flakes based upon how much spice you like.
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 valve to sealed. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Let 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.
To Make Easy Mongolian Beef , You May Need
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