Name: Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 27 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: About 1.5 lb flank steak, sliced against the grain into 1/4" thin strips; 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced; 1/2 heaping cup carrots, shredded (optional); 1/3 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce; 2 Tbsp sesame oil (divided); 3-5 garlic cloves, minced (your call on amount); 3/4 cup vegetable broth (beef broth is great too); 1 Tbsp grated ginger (save for after Instant pot quick release); 1/8-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional-I like this dish spicy, but my kids are a different story, so I don't add it if cooking for them); 2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder; 3 Tbsp water; 1 Tbsp sesame seeds; 4 green onions, chopped

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Pressure Cooker Love

The pressure cooker is one of the greatest gifts to us home cooks. We like to cook delicious meals for our family, but we want to save time in the kitchen. It took me a while to start using my Instant Pot as an adult only because of a pressure cooker incident I remember from childhood; let's just say there was hot potato all over our kitchen walls. Today, I rely a lot on my Instant Pot for easy meals, like this Mongolian Beef recipe. You'll think twice about ordering take-out if you can make this delicious Asian inspired recipe right at home. Try it with our Jasmine Rice recipe.

Instant Pot Beef

Dinner is much simpler with the Instant Pot! One of my favorite Asian take-out dishes is Mongolian Beef. The beef flank steak in this recipe turns out so tender. It's not chewy or tough, it almost melts in your mouth. Your family will be so happy with this savory, flavorful dinner.

If you need to reheat the Mongolian beef the next day, the microwave will work fine, but if you have a little extra time and are reheating it at home, just toss it into a skillet and reheat it on low, stirring occasionally till it's all heated through.

Less Sugar More Flavor

I love the sweet and savory umami type flavors just as much as anyone. I don't want to just serve food laden with sugar. Many other Mongolian beef recipes call for a bit more brown sugar. I've adjusted the brown sugar here as low as I could without losing that great little hint of sweetness. I'd rather add more ginger and garlic to give a deeper richer flavor.

MOngolian Beef Side view in bowl with chopsticks and green onion on top and beside bowl

Gingery Beef

I've always added ginger to this Mongolian Beef recipe, but while shooting video and photos for this recipe I made a mistake. I forgot to add my ginger to the Instant Pot. After attempting to shoot my very 1st food recipe video I realized during "quick release" that I hadn't added the ginger to the pot during the cooking process. I scratched the video anyway as I didn't have the proper equipment and set up. My mistake turned into a recipe tweak that's a keeper!

Look of Steps to Make Mongolian Beef with Flank Steak

Making Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

My recommendation for this recipe is, Do not add the ginger to the Instant Pot before sealing the pot. Add the ginger after the "pressure cook", while your sauce is simmering, your ginger flavor will stand out more. The pressure cook won't cook the majority of that great ginger flavor out of your dish and your Mongolian Beef and sauce will stand-out! Mistakes like this prove not all mistakes are worth dwelling over, we do learn from them all and some are quite beneficial.

The Best Beef For Mongolian Beef

Flank Steak turns out extremely tender in the pressure cooker, no chewiness and just the right texture for the best Mongolian beef in my opinion. Any other cut of meat could turn out too chewy or falling apart too much. The great thing is also that flank steak is a little less expensive than other cuts of meat so it's a great inexpensive cut to use for this easy weeknight meal.