My easy recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is make with a flavorful homemade sauce that will fool your family into thinking they are eating Chinese takeout. This gluten free dinner recipe comes together in about 45 minutes from start to finish.
Do you ever find yourself in a dinner time rut? My husband often complains that I make the same recipes—or at least variations of the same foods and flavors. I like to switch up our dinners at least once a month with my easy recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef.
I love Chinese food, and so does my family; however, my husband isn’t always convinced on my home takeout. So, the first time he saw “Mongolian beef” on the chalkboard in the kitchen he raised an eyebrow. I know he had doubts in this meal; however, he never said it out loud. As it came closer to dinner being ready, our home started to fill with the smell of a sweet and savory beef sauce—I could see my husband perk up. At that moment, I knew this recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef was going to be a winner.
I’ve tested this recipe over a dozen times and have had great success each and every time. And, best of all, each time I make it my family raves about how good it is.
Table of contents
Ingredients
- Beef – You might notice from the photo that I have sliced beef on a meat tray. I like to use the sliced beef for stir-fry from the grocery store. It’s a cheaper cut of beef that becomes fork-tender thanks to the pressure cooker.
- Oil – For this recipe you will need both grapeseed oil and sesame oil.
- Vegetables – You will need matchstick carrots, onion, and green onions for this recipe.
- Aromatics – This is also known as garlic and ginger!
- Soy Sauce – I always use a low sodium soy sauce. To make this recipe gluten free you can use Tamari which is naturally gluten free.
- Brown Sugar – For this recipe I make my own version of a Hoison sauce (which is also known as Chinese bbq sauce).
- Red Pepper Flakes – Traditional Mongolian Beef is not spicy at all. However, I like to add a little kick to thee dish. If you are feeding this to little ones or people who don’t generally like spice you can omit it all together.
- Water – Not pictured but needed for both thinning out the sauce and for making the cornstarch slurry.
- Cornstarch – You will notice in the recipe card I call for cornstarch twice. I like to break it down twice so you don’t miss a step or miss calculating the exact amount you need.
- Sesame Seeds – If you have these on hand, great! If not–no worries. They are simply for garnish.
Directions
Velvet Beef
Place the sliced beef into a large gallon size baggie. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cornstarch over the beef. Seal the bag and shake well until the beef is coated. Set to the side.
Homemade Sauce
Next, make the sauce. Add the minced garlic, minced ginger, water, brown sugar, sesame oil, low-sodium soy sauce, and red pepper flakes to a large bowl. Whisk until smooth and then pour on top of the beef.
Sauté
Press the “sauté” button on the Instant Pot. Pour the grape seed oil in the pot. Then add the beef and sauté for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add the onions and matchstick carrots to the Instant Pot.
Then pour the sauce on top. Mixing well until fully incorporated.
Pressure Cook
Close the lid and “seal the pressure valve”. Select the “MEAT” setting for 8 minutes. Once the Instant Pot is done let it sit for 10 minutes for a “natural release”.
While the beef rests make a cornstarch slurry with the 3 tablespoons cornstarch and the ¼ cup of water. Set to the side.
Carefully, let the remaining pressure out of the pot, remove the lid, and cancel the cooking time. Then select “sauté”. Stir the beef and add half the cornstarch slurry. Mix until thick. Add additional slurry if needed to thicken the sauce.
Before serving garnish beef with sliced green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy.
FAQs
My recipe for Mongolian Beef yields enough for 5-6 servings. This includes about 4 adult portions and 2 kid portions.
Like any cuisine–every dish can be altered and depending on the person eating it will depend if they feel it’s authentic to their culture and up bringing. I like to think this is a spot on replicated recipe that you find in most American, Chinese restaurants.
Mongolian beef is a sliced beef recipe, typically flank steak, and usually made with onions. The beef is commonly paired with scallions and sesame seeds. All based on preference it can be accompanied with mixed vegetables. Mongolian Beef is typically not spicy. The beef dish is often served over steamed rice or even crispy fried cellophane noodles.
I paired this meal with white rice, steamed broccoli (great way to get the kids to eat it—just pour some of the extra Mongolian Beef sauce on top of it), vegetable egg rolls, and my sesame cucumber salad. I hope your family loves this meal as much as mine did!
My children LOVE this recipe. But they also have a well-rounded food palate thanks to me being a food blogger. Because my kids eat this meal I reduce the amount of red pepper flakes in the recipe.
Most Chinese restaurants will tenderize meat with a method called “velveting”. They will toss the cheaper cuts of meat with either cornstarch (like my Mongolian Beef recipe calls for) or even baking soda.
Tips & Tricks
Here are all my tips and tricks I have learned helpful when making Mongolian Beef in the Instant Pot.
- Mise En Place – This French term means “setting up” in English. It means you need to have all your items prepped and ready before you are ready to cook. This is a quick cooking meal which means if you prep prior you will have no issues executing.
- Carrots – I always buy matchstick carrots from the store to reduce prep time. However, you can use a grater and grate the carrots or use a Julienne slicer to slice the carrots into the matchstick shape.
- Ginger – I always freeze my leftover fresh ginger. That way I always have ginger on hand. You’ll need to plan ahead and thaw your frozen ginger ahead of time so you can chop the ginger. I have tested the recipe both with grated and chopped fresh ginger. Chopped fresh ginger provides the best taste and breaks down over the cooking process.
- Spicy – If you like a spicy beef dish you can add more. Just remember—it’s always better to add less then make it too spicy and inedible.
- Beef – If you can’t find the “beef stir fry” cut in the grocery store you can use Flank Steak that you will need to manually cut across the grain. You might be able to ask your butcher if they can cut it for you.
- Serving Suggestions – I love to serve this beef dish over a bed of white rice, store-bought vegetable spring rolls, and my Asian Cucumber salad.
- Instant Pot – If you are newer to Instant Pot cooking you might not realize that the Instant Pot will take about the same amount of time to come to pressure as it does to cook. This means it will take roughly 8 minutes to come to pressure then the countdown of 8 minutes to cook will start.
Recipes
If you love Chinese food, I think you’ll love these other recipes I’ve created!
If you make this Instant Pot Mongolian Beef recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!
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Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Grapeseed oil
- 3 lbs. Stir Fry Beef
- 2 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 8 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons Fresh ginger minced
- ¾ cup Water
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
- ½ cup Low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
- 1 White onion quartered
- ½ cup Matchstick carrots
- 3 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ¼ cup Water
- 2 Green onions thinly sliced, for garnish
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Place the sliced beef into a large gallon size baggie. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cornstarch over the beef. Seal the bag and shake well until the beef is coated. Set to the side.
- Next, make the sauce. Add the minced garlic, minced ginger, water, brown sugar, sesame oil, low-sodium soy sauce, and red pepper flakes to a large bowl. Whisk until smooth and then pour on top of the beef.
- Press the “sauté” button on the Instant Pot. Pour the grape seed oil in the pot. Then add the beef and sauté for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Add the onions and matchstick carrots to the Instant Pot. Then pour the sauce on top. Mixing well until full incorporated.
- Close the lid and “seal the pressure valve”. Select the “MEAT” setting for 8 minutes. Once the Instant Pot is done let it sit for 10 minutes for a “natural release”.
- While the beef rests make a cornstarch slurry with the 3 tablespoons cornstarch and the ¼ cup of water. Set to the side.
- Carefully, let the remaining pressure out of the pot, remove the lid, and cancel the cooking time. Then select “sauté”. Stir the beef and add half the cornstarch slurry. Mix until thick. Add additional slurry if needed to thicken the sauce.
- Before serving garnish beef with sliced green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy.
Notes
- Mise En Place – This French term means “setting up” in English. It means you need to have all your items prepped and ready before you are ready to cook. This is a quick cooking meal which means if you prep prior you will have no issues executing.
- Carrots – I always buy matchstick carrots from the store to reduce prep time. However, you can use a grater and grate the carrots or use a Julienne slicer to slice the carrots into the matchstick shape.
- Ginger – I always freeze my leftover fresh ginger. That way I always have ginger on hand. You’ll need to plan ahead and thaw your frozen ginger ahead of time so you can chop the ginger. I have tested the recipe both with grated and chopped fresh ginger. Chopped fresh ginger provides the best taste and breaks down over the cooking process.
- Spicy – If you like a spicy beef dish you can add more. Just remember—it’s always better to add less then make it too spicy and inedible.
- Beef – If you can’t find the “beef stir fry” cut in the grocery store you can use Flank Steak that you will need to manually cut across the grain. You might be able to ask your butcher if they can cut it for you.
- Serving Suggestions – I love to serve this beef dish over a bed of white rice, store-bought vegetable spring rolls, and my Asian Cucumber salad.
- Instant Pot – If you are newer to Instant Pot cooking you might not realize that the Instant Pot will take about the same amount of time to come to pressure as it does to cook. This means it will take roughly 8 minutes to come to pressure then the countdown of 8 minutes to cook will start.
Nutrition
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