This Instant Pot Korean Beef can be used for tacos or turned into delicious bowls – just add rice, kimchi and sriracha mayo!
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Ingredients in Instant Pot Korean Beef
For the beef
- sirloin steak, cut into thin slices
- cornstarch
- baking soda
- sesame oil
- low-sodium soy sauce – Using low sodium sauce reduces the saltiness of the dish. You can use traditional if you prefer to.
- hoisin sauce
- beef broth
- minced garlic – Fresh cloves of garlic typically have the best flavour. However, you can use the variety in a jar, or even garlic paste.
- minced ginger root – Again, I use fresh for the best flavour. Ginger root lasts a long time if you keep it in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator.
- sriracha sauce
Sriracha mayo
You can either make this from scratch, or use store bought. If you want to make it yourself, you’ll need mayonnaise (I use light mayo) and sriracha sauce.
For the rice
- white rice
- water
- butter
- salt
Toppings (optional)
- red cabbage
- kimchi – Not only is this Asian condiment delicious, but it also has some great nutritional benefits.
- fresh cilantro
- scallions (green onion)
- sesame seeds
What does Korean beef taste like?
This delicious dish tastes very similar to a traditional Korean dish known as bulgogi.
It’s a little bit sweet and slightly spicy, but it’s not overly spicy at all. Because of this, it is enjoyable for everyone, even people who don’t typically care for or tolerate spicy food well.
Both fall into the category of Korean BBQ because they are dishes that are typically made with grilled sirloin steak. The difference is that with Bulgogi, the beef marinates for at least 12 hours before grilling.
The Instant Pot Korean beef recipe shown below is much easier and quicker to make!
How to make Korean Beef in the Instant Pot
- Prepare the steak. Cut your steak across the grain into thin slices, then toss it with cornstarch and baking soda.
- Set the Instant Pot to saute mode. Add sesame oil to the pot, then add steak and saute for 2-3 minutes, or until the steak is lightly seared.
- Pressure cook. Add the remaining ingredients for the beef (shown on the recipe card at the bottom of this page), then place the lid on the Instant Pot. Be sure the valve is set to seal, then press the pressure cook button and set it to cook for 2 minutes at high power.
Keep in mind that the Instant Pot will take somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes to come to pressure before the 2 minutes of cook time begins.
While the beef is cooking, use a rice cooker or your stove top to prepare the rice. Also, prepare any toppings and mix together the sriracha mayo (if you’re making it yourself).
- Garnish and serve! When the cook time ends, release the pressure. When the pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily,.add rice to bowls, followed by Korean beef, sriracha mayo and toppings, then serve and enjoy!
Ingredient substitutions
- Beef – Any boneless cut of beef should work well. There are even some people who make Korean beef with ground beef.
- Gluten free Korean beef – It isn’t too difficult to make this a gluten free recipe. Rather than using cornstarch, you can use arrowroot or tapioca starch. If you can’t find gluten free soy sauce or hoisin sauce, you can use tamari or coconut aminos instead.
- Rice – Use any type of rice you’d like; just make sure you follow the package directions when cooking separately on the stove or in a rice cooker
Turning the beef into tacos
The spicy sweet flavour of the meat tastes fantastic in tacos! It can be served in corn or flour tortillas with traditional taco toppings, or keep the Asian theme and top them with shredded cabbage, kimchi, and sriracha sauce.
Making the rice
Although this recipe is easy to make, it isn’t a “dump and go” recipe (where all of the components of the dish cook at the same time). As a result, the rice will need to be cooked separately from the Korean beef.
One benefit of this is that it allows you to cook any type of rice you like, even brown or wild rice.
I use a rice cooker but if you prefer, cook it in a separate Instant Pot or on the stove top.
More topping ideas
If you want to jazz up your bowl a bit more, here are some other Korean beef topping ideas:
- cucumbers, thinly sliced
- shredded or matchstick carrots
- sliced radishes
- Fresh herbs
Storing and reheating
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep well for up to 5 days.
You can reheat them in a pan on the stove top, in a wok, microwave, or using the saute function of the Instant Pot. Be sure to sprinkle some water overtop before reheating to avoid the beef and rice from drying out and stir partway through reheating.
Freezing Korean beef
Meal prep is easy with this meal; just cook per the directions. Next, allow everything to cool to room temperature.
After cooling, transfer the food to freezer safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
Defrost in the fridge overnight and then microwave as directed above, or reheat in the microwave from frozen for about 7-8 minutes, stirring a couple of times partway through and sprinkling water overtop to avoid the dish from drying out.
More Instant Pot Asian recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this dish into your weekly lunches.
- I get all my grass-fed ground beef from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Order some sriracha mayo online
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months
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Learn how to use your Instant Pot to meal prep by subscribing to our newsletter!
Instant Pot Korean Beef
Ingredients
Korean beef
- 16 oz sirloin steak, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup beef broth
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp gingerroot, minced
- 1 tbsp sriracha
Sriracha mayo - you can use store bought instead
- 1/4 cup light mayo
- 1 tbsp sriracha
Rice
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 pinch salt
Toppings
- 1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
- 1/2 cup kimchi
- Fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish
- Scallions, for garnish
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute mode. Thinly slice steak across the grain then toss with cornstarch and baking soda.
- Add sesame oil to Instant Pot, then add steak and saute for 2-3 minutes until steak is lightly browned. Add remaining ingredients under the Korean beef heading, then place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal. Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 2 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook for 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook rice in a rice cooker, prepare toppings and mix together sriracha mayo (if needed) while beef is cooking.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Add rice to bowls, followed by Korean beef, sriracha mayo and toppings, then serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
