Instant Pot Korean Beef packs Asian flavors into a simple dish. Make this recipe for dinner tonight in under an hour!
This Instant Pot Korean Beef recipe only requires a few steps, and it’s easy to make. I love using the Instant Pot for this recipe, because it doesn’t take a lot of time and the meat comes out so tender, like this Instant Pot Meat Sauce Recipe, Instant Pot Sweet Potato Kale Beef Soup, and Easy Instant Pot Chicken Stew.
Many of the ingredients you should already have on hand. As a result, it’s the perfect meal for when you can’t get to the grocery store. You’ll have dinner ready in no time!
If you like Instant Pot beef recipes, try these recipes: Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup, Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe, and Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup.
Broth or beef stock – beef works best, but chicken or vegetable will work too
Coconut aminos – this is what makes the recipe gluten-free. If you don’t have gluten allergies or sensitivities, you can use low sodium soy sauce instead. Tamari is another soy sauce alternative made by fermenting soybeans and is typically gluten-free.
Honey – You can substitute brown sugar in equal amounts.
Crushed red pepper flakes – use Sriracha or Gochujang instead to make this extra spicy.
Beef stew meat: You can also use trimmed chuck roast or top sirloin cut instead.
- First, season the beef stew meat with salt and pepper. Sauté in the Instant Pot with some sesame oil until browned on all sides.
- Add all the ingredients, except for the garnishes, then lock the lid and set the pressure release valve to seal. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
- Do a natural pressure release, then remove the lid and stir everything well. Serve with green onion and sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
What if I don’t have an Instant Pot?
You can easily make Instant Pot Korean beef on the stovetop. The recipe mainly includes meat and sauce ingredients.
In this instance, you’ll want to replace the stew meat cubes with thinner slices of beef. Cut these yourself from a rib-eye, sirloin, or flank steak. You can also purchase pre-sliced beef for stir fry.
To make this Korean beef on a stovetop:
- Heat a neutral cooking oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Mix the sauce ingredients, with a few adjustments. Replace the broth with 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar. Also, add 2 tablespoons each of water and cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
- Season the beef strips with salt and pepper, then brown in the pan on both sides.
- Pour the sauce over the beef and let simmer for an additional minute, stirring to coat the meat.
- Serve with your side of choice. Make sure to spoon extra sauce over the meat!
Tip: How to cut your own beef stew meat
- Choose a beef chuck roast and use a long, sharp knife to trim off any hard fat.
- Cut the roast into 1-inch slices, like you would a loaf of bread.
- Next, cut each slice into 1-inch strips.
- Then cut each strip into 1-inch cubes.
Keep your sides simple to compliment the flavors in the sauce.
Serve over rice: use your favorite long grain rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice. I like how flavorful this recipe is. When I put it over rice, I spoon the sauce onto the rice so it can soak up all the flavor!
Serve it with tacos: You can serve it with tacos.
Add a vegetable: try steamed or sautéed broccoli, carrots, or bell peppers, or even roasted veggies.
Extra heat: mix in some kimchi, a traditional Korean spicy side dish of fermented cabbage and radish.
Olivia's Recipe tips
If your beef was frozen beforehand, make sure it is fully thawed before using so it doesn’t cook unevenly.
Make sure the beef pieces are even so they cook evenly. If you see a chunk that’s excessively large, simply cut it down.
If you don’t have ground ginger, you can swap for fresh ginger instead.
More Instant Pot Recipes:
Instant Pot Korean Beef
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef stew meat
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- ½ cup beef broth
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos for gluten-free or soy sauce.
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- green onions sliced
- sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the sauté setting. Season the meat with salt and black pepper.
- When the pot is hot, add sesame oil and beef. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the meat is browned on all sides. Remember to stir occasionally.
- Then, add the beef broth, garlic, honey, coconut aminos, ginger and red pepper flakes to the pot.
- Put on the lid, lock it and check to see if the vent is at sealing.
- Then, select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 35 minutes. Mine took about 15 minutes to reach pressure.
- After the 35 minutes is up, let it naturally release pressure. Open the pot and give a good stir.
- Top with green onions and sesame seed before serving with steamed broccoli or brown rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- To prevent a bitter flavor, wait until the pot is hot before adding the sesame oil.
- Do not skip browning the beef as it locks in flavour.
- Always cut the beef as uniformly as possible so they cook evenly.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?
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I have a instant pot duo and it doesn’t have a manual button what do I press instead
You set it to high pressure, set the time and press start. If you have a manual, you can check it out to confirm what I just said. Thanks
Perfect everytime. I have used this recipe many times and tasty. Thanks so much.
So happy to hear this 😉
I have made this recipe almost a dozen times! It’s a hit in our family of seven!!! And I’ve made it for guests and I get so many great reviews on it!
Only “change” I make, is I choose to fry it in a frying pan, and transfer to the pressure cooker & that is only bc my instant pot is finicky.
You comment made my day! Thank you so much! So happy to know that you and your family enjoy this recipe 😉
First thing I made in the Instant Pot that made me glad I bought it. This beef is amazing!
Glad to hear that!
I had never used sesame oil or ginger before in a recipe. To be honest I was a bit intimidated!
But this turned out so good. I took some to work the next day and sitting in the fridge overnight seemed to deepen the flavor!
You’re totally right. The leftovers are even more flavourful!
This was not good. I followed the directions completely but there was a lot of liquid still in the bottom and the meat was just plain. It was tender, but I had to add some leftover hoisin sauce that I still had to make it edible.
Easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing 👏🏼
Happy you liked it!
Easy, delicious, relatively healthy, and not much less to make! I will definitely make this again. It was a hit with the whole family.
My comment is supposed to say not much “mess” to make.
Happy you liked it!
An you adapt this for a slow cooker or simply on the stove, I don’t have an instant pot.
In reference to my other comment, that was obviously meant to read *Can you ☺️
I will test this recipe in a slow cooker and add the info on the recipe note.
This recipe is so simple, flavorful, and perfect for weeknight cooking! I love finding new alternatives for beef stew meat.
Happy you liked it! It’s one of our faves too!
Can I use a crockpot?
Angela, Conn.
Yes you can. Cook on high for 4hs.
Is there supposed to be a ton of liquid in this when it is done? For some reason that’s not what I was expecting.
No it’s not suppose to have a ton of liquid in this.
Mine also had a couple cups of liquid at the end.
Even the kids liked it- and they are picky eaters!
Amazing!
How would I adapt this to the crockpot?
Sorry I’m not sure since I’ve never made it in a crockpot. But I will try to make it and add the info on the recipe note. Thanks.
My family loves this recipe! We do get extra liquid, but I love that. I just add some flour or cornstarch at the end and put the IP back on saute for it to thicken up. This gives it a nice gravy over the rice.
Awesome! My family loves it too. So good!
The flavor was delicious, I’d recommend dredging meat in flour to get a thicker “sauce” feel. It was way too soupy. If adding broccoli, add it and cook for only 5 minutes.
I made this recipe as written. When the pressure cooking was done the sauce was very watery so I added some cornstarch to thicken the sauce on saute mod. It was absolutely delicious. Will definitely be making this again and again.
Happy you liked it. Yes, I always add cornstarch if it turns out a bit watery.
We really enjoyed this recipe, and the leftovers!! Great flavor and tenderness. Nice amount of sauce for the broccoli and rice. Thank you for a quick, delish dinner!!
Happy you liked it.
We have made this twice according to the recipe and it was delicious and easy both times. We will be adding this into the regular rotation of dinners. Thank you!
Awesome. It’s one of our favorite dinner recipes.
Can you double this recipe? Does it change the cook time?
Yes you can. No it should be fine.
Very easy and absolutely delicious!
Awesome. Happy you liked it!