Instant Pot Korean Beef! The BEST Korean beef, tender, full of flavor, and super easy made in a pressure cooker. The perfect make-ahead meal for a busy week, great in grain bowls, sandwiches, or salads!
If you love Korean flavors, be sure to try my Spicy Saucy Gochujang Noodles, and for the perfect Korean side dish, this Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad is a crunchy delight.
Hi, let's talk.
All week I have been sharing Korean inspired recipes, in anticipation of this grand finale recipe.
Instant Pot Korean Beef – my new love.
We have lovingly tested this recipe over and over again since January. It is officially perfect,
Fork tender, melt in your mouth beef with the most mouthwatering delicious sauce you've ever tasted.
True story.
I was first introduced to Korean cuisine when I started dating Jordan 18+ years ago. From the first bite, I was hooked and have since brought the flavors into my kitchen with love and joy.
There are two really important cookbooks that have helped me craft my Korean inspired recipes; “The Kimchi Chronicles” by Marja Vongerichten and “Dok Suni by” Jenny Kwak, Dok Suni was one of our favorite restaurants in the city for years, it has since closed, but I cook from Jenny's cookbook frequently.
Let's get cooking!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE INSTANT POT KOREAN BEEF
- Boneless Chuck Beef Roast – You will need to cut the beef into 1-inch cubes
- Onion
- Dried Mushrooms – this is optional but I love the additional umami!
- Soy Sauce – You can easily use coconut aminos or tamari gluten-free soy sauce
- Soju – A Korean liquor, you can substitute sake, white wine, or rice wine vinegar
- Garlic, Ginger – fresh is best
- Coconut Palm Sugar – you can replace with brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup
- Korean Red Pepper Powder – also called Korean Chili Flakes or Gochugaru flakes – Korean red chili peppers that are dried in the sun and chopped to a size between a flake and a powder. This spice is super fragrant with notes of citrus and is certainly spicy. If you can't find this ingredient you can use a pinch of crushed red pepper but it will not taste the same, I recommend buying Gochugaru, it is an essential spice in my kitchen!
- Kiwi – Just trust me, this is a key secret to the deliciousness of the sauce
- Sesame Oil
TOOLS YOU WILL USE
- Instant Pot
- Blender
- Good Knife
- Cutting Board
MAKE THE UNBELIEVABLY FLAVORABLE SAUCE THAT IS THE BASE OF THIS RECIPE
The secret sauce is the sauce! Korean cuisine is known for the perfect balance of sweet spicy and earthy. This sauce is no exception.
The sauce is easily made in the blender and is the perfect combo of garlic, ginger, soy and a hint of sweetness from kiwi!!
ALLOW THE INSTANT POT TO DO ALL OF THE HARD WORK
Add your beef, sliced onions, and dried mushrooms to the Instant Pot. Pour all of that luscious sauce on top, stir well to combine, and now let your Instant Pot do its thing.
The dried mushrooms are entirely optional but I love the added earthiness they lend to the dish.
The beef will be fork tender, melt in your mouth perfection after 40 minutes on manual. Keep in mind it will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure and I recommend allowing a “natural pressure release” which will take about 15-20 minutes.
All in this is hands-off cooking for a little over an hour. The results are so worth the wait!
MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE
Instant Pot Polenta
Instant Pot Artichokes
Instant Pot Thai Chicken Soup
Instant Pot Sticky Apricot Ginger Chicken Thighs
Instant Pot BBQ Turkey Meatballs
HOW TO SERVE KOREAN BEEF
Our favorite way to enjoy Korean beef is with a plethora of traditional(ish) Korean side dishes, or banchan. Spicy cucumber salad, Korean seasoned kale and spinach, kimchee (necessary!), and rice.
Other ways to enjoy this mouthwatering beef:
- Korean beef bowls – rice + greens + kimchi
- Korean beef sandwiches – This was a welcome revelation! In a small bowl whisk together 1 tbsp mayonnaise and 1 tsp gochujang, spread on one side of a brioche roll. Shred the warm beef and pile it on the roll, top with kimchi and Korean greens.
- Korean beef quesadillas – shred the beef, add to a tortilla with shredded cheese and greens. Heat the tortilla in a skillet until warm and toasty.
DIETARY MODIFICATIONS FOR THIS RECIPE
- Gluten-Free – Use gluten-free soy sauce (tamari)
- Paleo – Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, serve with cauliflower rice.
- Keto – The only problematic ingredient here is the 1/4 cup of coconut palm sugar, I can't recommend eliminating it completely you could try using an additional kiwi instead. If you try it let me know how it turns out!
I hope you love this Instant Pot Korean Beef! If you make it sure to tag me @abrapappa on Instagram so I can share your photo!
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Korean Beef recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
Instant Pot Korean Beef
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs boneless beef chuck roast – cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1/4 cup dried mushrooms (optional)
Marinade/Sauce
- 1/2 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos or tamari
- 3 tbsp soju or sake, or white wine, or rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 7 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
- 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
- 2 tsp Korean chili pepper flakes, Gochugaru
- 1 kiwi, peeled
Instructions
- Place beef, sliced onion, and dried mushrooms into Instant Pot
- In a blender combine all sauce ingredients, blend until smooth
- Pour sauce over beef, onion, and dried mushrooms
- Close the lid, and make sure the pressure release valve is turned to the "sealing" position.
- Press the manual button and adjust time to 40 minutes
- Once the Instant Pot reaches pressure it will begin counting down (it should reach pressure in about 10-15 minutes)
- When it has finished cooking the Instant Pot will beep to alert you and switch to warm. Allow the beef to remain in the pot and release pressure naturally for about 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes carefully release any remaining pressure by turning the pressure release valve to venting
- Serve with rice and veggies!
Notes
- Nutrition Analysis is an estimate
- Dried Mushrooms – this is optional but I love the additional umami!
- Soy Sauce – You can easily use coconut aminos or tamari gluten-free soy sauce
- Soju – A Korean liquor, you can substitute sake, white wine, or rice wine vinegar
- Coconut Palm Sugar – you can replace with brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup
- Korean Red Pepper Powder – also called Korean Chili Flakes or Gochugaru flakes – Korean red chili peppers that are dried in the sun and chopped to a size between a flake and a powder. This spice is super fragrant with notes of citrus and is certainly spicy. If you can't find this ingredient you can use a pinch of crushed red pepper but it will not taste the same, I recommend buying Gochugaru, it is an essential spice in my kitchen!
- Gluten-Free – Use gluten-free soy sauce (tamari)
- Paleo – Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, serve with cauliflower rice.
- Keto – The only problematic ingredient here is the 1/4 cup of coconut palm sugar, I can't recommend eliminating it completely you could try using an additional kiwi instead. If you try it let me know how it turns out!
Nutrition
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