Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is made with a sweet and savory sauce and tender flank steak, to create a simple meal with unforgettable flavors!
Put down the take-out menu and instead enjoy a healthier version of Mongolian Beef using the Instant Pot. Just like Instant Pot Orange Chicken and Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli, this recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef delivers a copycat version of a favorite take-out dish in record time using simple ingredients!
Reasons to Use an Instant Pot to Make Mongolian Beef
- The meat becomes ULTRA tender. Even when you use a less expensive cut of beef.
- The sweet and savory brown Mongolian sauce becomes more concentrated in flavor.
- You can prepare the rice at the same time using the pot-in-pot cooking method for an all-in-one meal.
- Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is one of the easiest meals to make, making it a perfect easy weeknight dinner recipe.
Ingredients for Mongolian Beef
Besides saving money, preparing this Instant Pot Mongolian Beef rather than ordering it out allows you to be in control of the quality of ingredients. Instead of being extremely high in sodium and added sugars, this recipe is made lighter by using low-sodium soy sauce, a bit of brown sugar, and pineapple juice for extra sweetness and flavor. And the results are perfection.
- 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 beef, like sirloin steak.
- Soy Sauce: Use low-sodium soy sauce to massively cut back on the amount of sodium in this recipe.
- Pineapple Juice: Just like my Instant Pot Chicken Breasts, pineapple juice is the secret to this recipe. It not only helps to tenderize the beef but also adds natural sweetness to the Mongolian sauce.
- Rice Wine Vinegar: For best results when preparing Asian dishes, use rice wine or rice vinegar, as the flavor is bright, yet subtle.
- Garlic and Ginger: It is best to use both fresh garlic and fresh gingerroot, rather than garlic powder or ginger powder for the most concentrated flavor.
- Red Pepper Flakes: Add more or less to your liking.
- Cornstarch: To thicken the sauce, a cornstarch slurry is added to the sauce after pressure cooking. It is optional to thicken the sauce, but it helps it stick to the rice.
How to Make Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
While this is an incredibly simple recipe, if you are unfamiliar with cooking in an Instant Pot or the functions of your Instant Pot, be sure to start with How to Use an Instant Pot for the best results on this and future recipes. You will find the full recipe in detail in the recipe card below.
Thinly Slice the Beef
It is important to thinly slice the beef into thin strips against the grain. This is key so that you can achieve tender, restaurant-quality results. To make easy work of this, freeze the beef for 5-10 minutes prior to slicing.
Sauté the Beef
Sautéing the beef using the sauté function on the Instant Pot will add a nice crispy texture to the beef that compliments the overall dish. That said, you can skip searing your meat, but you will need to increase the cooking time from 3 to 4 minutes on high pressure.
Deglaze the Inner Pot with Sauce
Any time you sauté anything in the Instant Pot, you must add liquid and scrap up any browned bits off the bottom of the inner pot to prevent a burn notice from occurring. In the case of this recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef, use the homemade Mongolian sauce.
Pressure Cook With or Without Rice
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef only requires 3 minutes of cooking time under pressure, which is the same amount of time needed for Instant Pot White Rice, making this a perfect recipe to cook rice along with beef for an all-in-one meal. If you desire to do this, simply place a stainless steel dish on top of the rack and mix together 1 cup of rinsed long-grain white rice with 1 cup of water or stock. YOU MUST USE LONG-GRAIN WHITE RICE FOR THIS TO WORK!
Thicken Sauce
After pressure cooking with a natural pressure release, you will want to thicken the sauce so it coats the beef. To do this, turn the Instant Pot back to sauté, add a cornstarch slurry and cook until thickened. . It will only take a minute or two to thicken.
Serve with Rice
I like topping the Mongolian Beef and rice with sliced green onions and sesame seeds as well for added flavor and texture.
More Copy-Cat Take-Out Favorite Recipes
- Instant Pot Orange Chicken
- Moo Goo Gai Pan
- Easy Fried Rice
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
- Shrimp Lo Mein
- Stir-Fried Chicken and Bok Choy
If you tried this recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound flank steak, sirloin steak, or hanger steak cut into thin strips
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- â…“ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- â…” cup pineapple juice
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Prepare you flank steak by slicing against the grain into ¼-inch strips.
- Turn your Instant Pot to saute. Once it reads "HOT," add in the oil and let heat for 1 minute. Add in beef and saute until just lightly browned. This should only take about 2 minutes. Turn the Instant Pot OFF.
- In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, pineapple juice, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic together. Using a Microplane, grate the fresh ginger root over the sauce and mix well.
- Pour the sauce over the seared beef and using a spatula or wooden spoon, scrape up any browned bits on bottom of the inner pot.
- Place the lid on the instant pot and be sure sealed. Using the manual or pressure cook function set the cooking time to 3 minutes on HIGH pressure.
- After cook time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release of pressure.
- To thicken the sauce, turn the Instant Pot back to saute and heat until bubbling. Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water until fully combined. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and allow to cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. This should only take 2-4 minutes.
- Turn off the instant pot and serve the beef and sauce over rice. Top with scallions or sesame seeds if desired.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- Saute the beef as directed and deglaze the inner pot with the Mongolian sauce as directed.
- Insert a rack in the Instant Pot, right over the beef mixture.
- In an oven-safe stainless steel dish, mix together 1 cup of rinsed long-grain white rice with 1 cup of water or stock and place the dish on the rack.
- Close the instant pot and turn the valve to seal. 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.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2017 but updated in 2021 with a new video and tips.
Sharon
It was good. I didn't have enough pineapple juice so added apple juice to make it to 2/3 cup. Only used about 2 T. Brown sugar. It was good served over brown rice with green onions and sesame seeds.
Kristen Chidsey
Thank you for sharing your modifications and review, Sharon! It is helpful for others and I love hearing you enjoyed!
Katy Carpenter
This was wonderful. The skirt steak was extremely tender and my family loved it. Thanks for the recipe. It is a keeper!
Kristen Chidsey
You bet! Thank you for sharing!
Pascale
This was such a big hit! I'll definitely be adding it into the regular rotation, although with three teens in the house, I think I need to double the recipe. Will that affect the cooking times at all?
Thanks again for such a great recipe!
Kristen Chidsey
I love hearing you enjoyed the Mongolian Beef so much! You can simply double the recipe and keep the cooking time the same. If you find that the meat is a bit overcooked, reduce the cooking time to 2 minutes when doubling.
Julie Sweet
I would like to try this recipe but also need to double it. Your answer to the question above said to reduce the cooking time by 2 minutes if doubling - the cooking time is only 3 minutes total(?) Please explain - thank you!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Julie! When doubling a recipe, you often don't need to change the cooking time. It will take longer to come to pressure, accounting for the time added time needed for cooking. HOWEVER, for this recipe, the meat tends to be overcooked if you cook it for 3 minutes when doubling. I hope that helps to explain it 🙂 Enjoy!
Lorraine
My God. This is SOOOOO good! And ridiculously easy! Thank you!
Kristen Chidsey
You are so welcome!
Jamie
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. 😉
Kristen Chidsey
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 🙂
Mallory
What pot do you recommend I purchase to go inside the instant pot for the pot-in-pot method?
Kristen Chidsey
This one is my favorite Mallory. It has a large pot and small and so it works great for many things. But if you just want one large pot, this one is great as well.
Tay
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!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad this recipe exceeded your expectations Tay! I hope you enjoy again and again 🙂
leatha
My 5 year old went back for thirds!
Kristen Chidsey
That is always a sign of success! So glad your family enjoyed!