Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is a fast one-pot weeknight recipe made with sliced flank steak in a delicious ginger-garlic sauce. It’s an easy pressure cooker version of PF Changs popular beef dish.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This is one of our go-to weeknight dinner recipes because it’s ready in 30 minutes, is mostly hands-off, and is jam-packed with rich Asian flavors. Serve it with white rice for a complete meal without any stress.
Update: We make this Mongolian beef recipe all the time, so I’ve updated the recipe and post with new tips and photos to help you perfect it.
How to Make Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Way back in 2012, a reader asked me to convert Just a Taste’s Mongolian Beef recipe to a non-spicy pressure cooker version. It’s been a reader-favorite ever since!
Even though it’s a pressure cooker recipe, I start by browning the flank steak in the pressure cooking pot. You can skip this step if you’re in a pinch, but I highly recommend it for the best flavor.
Tip: The key to getting a great sear on your steak is to avoid crowding the pot. Cook in batches until everything is nicely browned, then be sure to deglaze the pot with broth and scrape up the browned bits.
Once your beef is ready to go, you’ll build the sauce with:
- Garlic.
- Soy sauce. This adds umami and saltiness.
- Brown sugar. In a pinch, you can use regular white sugar or honey.
- Ginger. Fresh is best for the boldest flavor, but you can use dried to tone it down.
Trick for Slicing Flank Steak
Honestly, the easiest way to get thinly sliced flank steak is to ask your butcher.
(Jenn here: I honestly didn’t I could ask the butcher to do this until I went grocery shopping with Barbara. It might add a few minutes to the shopping trip, but they always get it perfectly thin and it saves so much more time at dinner time.)
If you’re cutting your steak yourself, my favorite way to cut it is to put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, then take it out and slice it with a sharp knife. The quick chill time makes it hold its shape better when cutting, so it’s easier to get consistent and thin slices.
Thickening Mongolian Beef
The stove top method for Mongolian beef stir-fry calls for coating the sliced beef in cornstarch before cooking. This helps absorb some of the liquid from the soy sauce and other ingredients.
But because thickeners can cause burning on the bottom of an Instant Pot, the best way to thicken up the sauce in this dish is after it’s finished cooking.
Add a simple slurry of cornstarch and water to the pot. Then use the Saute feature to bring the sauce to a simmer. It will thicken up nicely and the sauce will coat the beef nicely.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Beef
This is a stir-fry style dish that goes great with cooked grains. Try serving your Mongolian beef with fluffy Instant Pot white or brown rice. For something more adventurous try Pressure Cooker Forbidden Black Rice.
For a little extra crunch and color on top of the dish, spiral your plate with white sesame seeds. And if you like some heat, try a dash of hot pepper flakes.
Freezing Beef Stir-Fry
You can easily freeze this dish for later. Just let it cool fully, then place it in an airtight freezer-safe container.
If you plan to defrost the dish in your Instant Pot, I recommend freezing it in a heat-safe container so it can go directly into your pressure cooker.
Use this guide to using the pot-in-pot method to defrost and reheat food in your Instant Pot.
More Instant Pot Beef Recipes
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli has sliced beef, crisp-tender broccoli in a savory garlic sauce.
- Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff has a creamy sauce that’s delicious over springy butter noodles.
- Old-Fashioned Instant Pot Beef Stew is a rich and comforting wintertime dish that’s great with mashed potatoes.
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Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Mongolian Beef
A pressure cooker version of PF Changs popular mongolian beef recipe. This Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is made with thinly sliced flank steak, then cooked in a lightly sweet, garlic ginger sauce until tender. Plus, it's ready in about 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds flank steak, cut into 1/4" strips
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3 green onions, sliced into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- Season beef with salt and pepper. Put oil in the cooking pot and select browning. When oil begins to sizzle, brown meat in batches until all meat is browned - do not crowd. Transfer meat to a plate when browned.
- Add the garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, brown sugar, and ginger. Stir to combine.
- Add browned beef and any accumulated juices. Select High Pressure. Set timer for 12 minutes.
- When beep sounds turn pressure cooker off and use a quick pressure release. When valve drops carefully remove the lid.
- Combine the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water, whisking until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to the sauce in the pot stirring constantly. Select Simmer and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Stir in green onions.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 415Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 1261mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 0gSugar: 20gProtein: 44g
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.
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I hate cooking but this was delicious and very easy! I used a cheap cut of meat and it’s still soooo good. The green onions add a ton! I’ll be making this a lot
Thanks for the rave review Sarah! Glad it was a big hit.
Just got done making this it does taste very good but it is a little too sweet for our taste I countered the sweetness by using a splash of apple cider vinegar at the end which gave it a nice acid to counteract the sweetness but next time I think I’ll just use half the sugar.
Hi Erin – glad you enjoyed it! Definitely adjust the sweetness next time to suit your tastes.
I found some stew meat in the freezer. Could I use that instead ?
Hi Carolyn – yes, you can use stew meat, but it may need a little longer cook time.
This meal was OUTSTANDING! I wish I had taken a picture before we ate. Really good flavor. I added mushrooms and pea pods-color and texture. Definitely a make again. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the rave review Beverly! Sounds like a delicious way to serve it.
Venison option: I made this recipe tonight using a venison tenderloin, sliced thin and it came out terrific. Also, at the very end when the mix was thick (after adding the corn starch), I added a 1/4 cup of honey for good measure.
Instead of serving over rice, I cooked rice noodles, mixed the noodles with the beef and sauce, and served with a side of steamed veggies. So delicious. Thank you Barbara and Jenn!
Thanks so much for sharing Mike! It’s great to know this beef recipe works well with venison too. Sounds like delicious changes.
Thanks for the recipe, but…flank steak? Do you have any idea how much any cut of beef costs now? I can no longer buy any cut, just hamburger meat. Sorry to be a downer Debbie, but for those of us on a tight budget, this is beyond our reach.
Vicki, Check out a flat iron steak -watch for sales.It will be less expensive than flank steak.
I agree as I use any cheap cut of beef or any mystery in my freezer.
Just because it is beyond your reach doesn’t mean it is a less delicious recipe. As someone else mentioned, it can be made with stew meat, even eye round. Heck, you could probably use ground beef and it still would be delicious. You could prob easily make it with chicken breast/cutlets, or pork tenderloin.
My favorite recipe! I use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil for an extra dash of flavor.
Thanks Deanna! I’ll have to try it with coconut oil.
This was so easy to make and it was DELISH! The only thing I did differently was use coconut sugar instead of brine sugar because my dr wants me cutting back on the sugar. So I can’t compare this to the original as I’ve never had a dish like this before but it was soooo good! I served it on top of cauliflower rice to get the veggies in and even hubby loved it and went back for seconds. Thank you!
Thanks Ginger! Sounds like a delicious way to change it up. Glad it was a big hit.
I’ve made this recipe so many times, I have to leave a thank you comment! Great method, fantastic results. We rarely have flank steak at home, so I’ve made this with every steak cut imaginable! Round steaks, sirloin, ribeye, striploins, sometimes a mixture, and it always works great! Just slice as thinly as possible, which is usually the bulk of my effort. 😉
Thank you so much Chris! I agree it works well with so many cuts of beef as long as it’s thinly sliced.
I am prepping good for my family and I to eat while I am recovering from surgery and I would love to add your recipe to our options! Can this be frozen after cooking for future meals?
Thanks in advance!
Cris
Hi Cris – yes, I often freeze this for a quick meal later too. I like to reheat it pot in pot https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-pot-in-pot-method-in-your-pressure-cooker-instant-pot/ If you’re going to do that, freeze it in the container you’ll reheat it in if you want to reheat from frozen. Here’s more tips on freezer meals. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-freezer-meals/
Good luck with the surgery!
This is soooo good! I make it all the time. Thank you!!
That’s so great to hear – thanks Mandy!
I want to thank Barbara for her infinite patience in answering questions. I always read the comments before I try a recipe and usually posters stop replying after a few months as they move focus to other projects. Barbara has been responding to questions on this post for years. Good on you, Barbara! I’m definitely going to try this recipe in my foodi. Thank you!
That’s so nice of you to notice Angela – thanks! I have made answering comments a priority.
Made mongolian beef using the chicken in my ip mini.
First time user .
Came out great.
That’s awesome – sounds like you’re off to a great start. Have fun!
Yesssss followed recipe exactly and wonderful sauce over rice. Delicious!!!! This is in our rotation.
Thanks Lola – so nice to hear you love it.
This recipe was absolutely wonderful. I used venison steak served it over rice. This was a real hit.
Thanks Betty – good to know it works well with venison.
This was terrible, I tried to eat it but it is just way to sweet, I did not even use as much sugar as was called for and still feel I could have cut the sugar down to a 1/4 cup,
Everyone’s tastes are different. It gets rave reviews from most.
Very good. I have made this twice for company and both times I’ve been asked for the recipe. It’s easy to put together. Sometimes I brown the beef in a separate pan because I can brown more pieces quicker even with the time it takes to wash and dry the frying pan than I can to just limit myself to the PC but either way (just browning in the PC or another pan), I then assemble everything to the step of starting the PC for 12 minutes. Then when guests arrive, I start the PC and follow the recipe through the quick release, adding the cornstarch and water(I substitute some of the water with dry sherry) and then I let it sit on “keep warm” until ready to eat. The beef turns out super tender and tasty. Served over rice.
Thanks for sharing Debbie – such a great idea to do some of the work ahead of time when you’re having guests. Glad it’s a hit with you and your guests!
Too unctuous – needs some kind of acid, like lime juice. London Broil sliced thin works fine, but the flavors need balancing.
Hi Susan – soy sauce is an acid, but I always suggest people change up recipes to suit their tastes.
How would this recipe turn out if made in a slow cooker rather than an Instant Pot?
Hi Pam – I haven’t tried it, but here’s a slow cooker version you can use for the timing. https://therecipecritic.com/slow-cooker-mongolian-beef/
I have a stove top pressure cooker. What changes should I make when cooking this recipe?
Thanks!
I used this recipe to salvage tough leftover steak. Total win, for the whole family! My 14 month old especially enjoyed it and kept wanting more, so no leftovers this time!
That’s great – glad it was a big hit. Thanks!
This recipe is amazing. Just finished, literally!!! Was dancing the whole time because it was so good. Served it with rice and my mock Panda Express vegetables. Whew! Perfect. Thank you for sharing!! More than satisfied!!
Now that’s a rave review. Thanks Katrina!
Hi, a couple more questions!
Can this be made “as is” in the Mini? It looks like I could halve the ingredients but would rather make the whole recipe, if possible.
Will this freeze well?
Thank you
Hi Kaye – yes, I think you could make the whole recipe in the Mini without any changes. I freeze it all the time. The sauce usually needs to be thinned down a little bit but it’s a great way to get a second meal out of it.
In the recipe, you say “ Put oil in the cooking pot and select browning.” My IP Mini sauté settings are for “less”, “normal” and “more”. Any idea which one to use? The “normal” setting works well to brown my chicken thighs. Think I should start with that? I usually use “less” to simmer my broths or gravies. Also, I noticed that you did not include any natural release time. I thought you should use NPR with meats.
When meat is in a sauce like this one, it’s okay to go ahead and not use a natural pressure release.
In the recipe, you say “ Put oil in the cooking pot and select browning.” My IP Mini sauté settings are for “less”, “normal” and “more”. Any idea which one to use? The “normal” setting works well to brown my chicken thighs. Think I should start with that? I usually use “less” to simmer my broths or gravies.
Hi Kaye – you’ll use Saute less for simmering, Saute normal for sauteing onions and such, and Saute more for browning. But of course if you prefer to brown on the saute setting, that works too.
So how does one adjust thus for a normal pressure cooker (since it’s dangerous to try to “quick release” and there’s no mechanism to do so for that reason)?
Hi Phil – by normal pressure cooker do you mean a stovetop pressure cooker? You can quick release a stovetop pressure cooker safely. Or do you mean a weighted pressure cooker? Here’s more information that may help https://www.hippressurecooking.com/now-release-pressure/ Skip down to Pressure Cooker Opening Methods.
I have a stove top pressure cooker. I speed it to safe release by putting it in the sink and spraying
the sides with cold water until it is safe to open it.
This is no longer a recommended method even for stovetop pressure cookers.
Interesting that it is no longer recommended. Why? It is what the instruction manual said to do. (Mine’s probably 15 years old) The only way to release the pressure is to turn the handle and open the lid. That sounds dangerous to me!
Laura talks about the reasoning in this post https://www.hippressurecooking.com/now-release-pressure/ If there is no other way to quick release the pressure, you’ll want to reduce the cook time and let the pressure release naturally.
I made the dish last night and it was WONDERFUL! Maybe you can help me understand something. As you know, the IP Duo Evo Plus has a sauté setting of low, high, or 1 through 6. When browning the beef I let the 1 TBSP of oil heat, started on the high setting, and put in one layer of beef. It browned extremely quickly and stuck to the bottom of the pot. I scraped it up and repeated the process, switching to a setting of 4. The oil was gone by then and each batch was the same – the beef quickly browning, and me scraping hard to get it off the bottom of the pan. It was not burned and the dish was beyond terrific, But I have a feeling I have something to learn! I’m new to IPs but have been cooking in mine 2-4 times a week for almost two months.
Hi Beth – so glad you loved the dish. Typically when the beef is browned enough, it will release fairly easily from the bottom of the pot. If it isn’t releasing, try waiting just a little longer and it should release without having the scrape it up. The saute function on the Evo Plus does seem hotter to me, so using a 4 or 5 seems reasonable for browning.
Thank you so much. I’d noticed that in other dishes but while the release sort of happened with the first batch, after that I don’t think it would have – maybe because it was too hot and the oil was gone by then. I wonder what setting “high” is equivalent to. If it’s 6, maybe not going above 4 or 5 like you say is the solution. But by the time I hit cancel and changed it to 4 it was too late. No matter – the food was restaurant worthy!
Making this a couple hours ahead of dinner, would it negatively affect it to have on Keep Warm? While I keep soups, spaghetti, combos (like potatoes/meat/string beans) and other dishes on Keep Warm for a fairly long time, since this is basically all mean, I wondered if it might get tough. I hope not! Trying it tonight for the first time.
Hi Beth – I haven’t tried it but I think it should work well.
I’ve had a pressure cooker for a few years, but didn’t do much in the way of cooking main dishes in it, so this recipe was a first for me, along with cooking with flank steak. It came out wonderful! I don’t like weird bits or fatty chunks in my meat, so I was quite hesitant with using flank steak. I trimmed it well, sliced it thin, and just crossed my fingers. The pressure cooking process made the beef completely tender and it was great! My only changes were to cut way back on the sugar (used 1/4 cup) and doubled the water, just so there was more sauce. I served it with steamed rice and broccoli. My husband went NUTS for it! He basically ran back into the kitchen to use some extra broccoli to scrape all the extra sauce off the inside of the pot. He then requested it again, so I’m making it a second time this week.
This was the first recipe I’ve tried from this site and it was such a hit that last week I made the Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup and Old Fashioned Beef Stew, and both were really good. This site has become my current go-to for delicious dinners! Thank you to all who make this site so awesome!
So glad it was a big hit. Thanks for sharing Amber!
Can you go ahead and add broccoli and carrots and cook all?
Hi Abigail – no, broccoli and carrots would be mush if you cook them for the entire time. Either pressure steam them before for zero minutes or let them cook in the sauce after thickening.
Can you make this ahead to freeze and cook later?
Yes, this works great to make ahead and freeze later! If you want to make it first and just thaw it in the pressure cooker, you can do that. Or if you want to put all of the ingredients together and then actually pressure cook it later, you can do that too, it’ll just take a little longer to come to pressure.
My friend Marci actually has some awesome tips for how to freeze meals to prep and cook later: https://tidbits-marci.com/top-15-tips-for-how-to-make-freezer-meals-for-the-instant-pot/
Let us know how it works for you!
Even though your recipe says insta pot, can I make this in my Power pressure cooker XL?
Absolutely! 🙂 About 99% of the recipes on the site can be made in any brand of pressure cooker. (The exceptions are yogurt and an older version of rice pudding that cooks at low pressure—but we have a high pressure rice pudding that’s awesome.)
Have fun cooking!
Made this tonight for our 1st Instant Pot meal! So good!!
Thanks! Great choice for a first meal Theresa. Have fun!
I’m making this right now! My grocery store only had New York strip steak. I don’t know much about steak so I’m hoping it’s a good alternative.
Hi Amanda – strip steak should work fine in this recipe. Just be sure and slice it thinly. Enjoy!
Can you use Swerve brown sugar substitute for people with diabetes?
Hi Barbara – I haven’t tried it, but assume it would work. You may want to stir it in after pressure cooking before thickening the sauce.
The amount of sugar in this recipe is through the roof. Thank you to all that posted their comments. I adjusted the recipe to a couple sprinkles of sugar, and did a ratio of for every 1/4 cup soy sauce – 1 cup of bone broth.
Can you cut the recipe in half? If so, do you still use same amount of liquid? Too much meat for two of us
Hi Lori – since the meat will release liquid as it cooks and you’ll have at least 1/2 cup liquid, you can cut all the ingredients in half and use the same cook time, as long as you have a 6 quart or smaller pressure cooker.
I tried this last night and the flavor was wonderful, but it was soooo salty we couldn’t finish it. Next time I will use a small amount of soy and substitute rest for beef broth.
Hi Bill – definitely change it up to suit your tastes. The only time it’s been too salty for me was when I used the last of the soy sauce in the bottle. The bottom bit can be very salty.
How long should the beef brown? I notice that in the video it looks like only one side was browned, leaving the meat still fairly pink when it was removed before cooking the garlic.
Hi Renee – browning one side works well because you get the flavors from the browning in less time. The meat will cook through when pressure cooking, so no need to cook it until it isn’t pink.
We *loved* this! I used about half the amount of brown sugar listed and it was plenty sweet – may try to reduce a bit more next time. Also, the sauce ended up a little thicker than my family likes, so I added a cup of water and it was perfect for soaking the brown rice. Thanks!
Is there a way to make a little spicier and less sweet?
Hi Kim – you can add red pepper flakes or chili garlic sauce to spice it up and reduce the sugar to your liking. https://www.amazon.com/Huy-Fong-Chili-Garlic-Sauce/dp/B0016L34GO?th=1
I did just that: added red pepper flakes and I reduced the sugar to half. PERFECT!
Thanks for sharing Barbara – glad it was a hit.
Just made this for the first time and it will definitely be added into our rotation just need to cut back on the sugar was a little too sweet for our liking
Thanks Jill – glad it was a hit. Definitely adjust the sweetness to your liking.
Can you use a different meat besides flank steak? Our small town grocery store doesnt always have this. Thanks
Hi Jody – sure, most cuts of beef will work. People often substitute chuck, I’ve even used top sirloin.
If you double the recipe does the cooking time need to be increased?
Hi Lynne – no the cook time stays the same when you double this recipe. If the meat was twice as thick, then you would need to increase the cook time.
Just made this tonight. It was tender and delicious. I did double the amount of meat so I used more garlic, ginger and seasonings. Also increased the amounts for the sauce. Before cooking, I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and ginger to the meat and let it marinate a little in the seasonings. It was easy and very good.
Thanks Susan – sounds like delicious changes.
Another awesome recipe for my instant pot! Yum!
Love this terrific, easy dinner recipe!
My family loved this! And they can’t wait for me to try it again!
Such amazing flavor here. So good!
One of my favorite dishes!
Mongolian beef is such a family favorite! Making it in the Instant Pot is such a fast way to do it!
Another great recipe for my Instant Pot! Thanks!
This is so good and so tender , We love it
This is so tender it melts in your mouth!
YUM! I love this meal so much!
This looks great and I will try it next time. Thanks for sharing.
Maybe it is the fact that it was an instant pot recipe, but it just seemed really blah. There wasn’t enough flavor. We could barely taste the garlic and ginger. I had to add the same amount of ginger at the end (when it was simmering), and I wanted to add more garlic but didn’t have any extra other than what the recipe called for. We added a 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes, which helped. The flavors just seemed really muddled and not bright at all. Maybe punch the aromatics up a lot, or add some extra at the end for some kick.
Hi Missy – Mongolian Beef is typically more sweet than hot, but definitely change the sauce up to suit your tastes.
this is legit one of the BEST meals I’ve ever made. My family loves it. Including my children who basically live on nuggets.
thanks!
Thanks awesome – thanks Jack!
Just made this and it was perfect!! Next time I would slice the meat thinner though, but otherwise so yummy and EASY!!
Thanks great – thanks Kim!
I’ve made this recipe at least 4 times now and it is delicious! I’ve doubled it in the Instant Pot as well. Family favorite!! Thanks!
Would it freeze well?
Hi Denise – if you want to freeze some, freeze it without the broccoli and it will freeze great.
OMG this was delicious! The meat was so very tender. I added some onion and red bell pepper for flavor and it was spot on! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Sounds like delicious additions – thanks Tory!
Can you sub stevia for the brown sugar? Or just cut out the sweetener altogether?
Hi Jack – this recipe is suppose to be sweet. If you’d like a less sweet recipe, I’d recommend the Beef and Broccoli https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/ and substituting Stevia.
This looks delicious. I got an old school pressure cooker yesterday and am trying to figure out how to convert this to cook in it since heat controls are actually the stove top controllers. Any suggestions?
Hi Tracy – it’s easy to convert electric pressure cooker recipes to stove top pressure cookers. An electric pressure cooker doesn’t start counting down the time until the pressure cooker is at pressure. So bring your stove top pressure cooker to pressure using a medium high heat and then reduce the heat enough to maintain pressure and start your timer. Maintaining proper pressure takes a little while to learn, so I’d practice with just water in the pot. How much heat you’ll need will vary depending on your stove. Have fun!
Great recipe. Very easy to follow and tasted delicious. Family loved it. Followed the recipe exactly.
Great – thanks Liza!
My Instant Pot doesn’t have a Simmer setting. What setting would I use instead?
Hi Joy – Instant Pot Saute adjusted to Less is the simmer setting https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/ Enjoy!
I am using a instant pot, is this what you are using?
Hi Olivia – yes, I often use an Instant Pot. Here’s more info https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/faq/
Trying this recipe currently and we had issues with what setting we were supposed to use for the 12 minute cook time. We thought since it last said saute to use that, but overheated our crock pot pressure cooker (we had the lid on as it stated to release steam). Also the slow cook option only allows you to go down to 30 minutes. We decided the meat/stew option was the closest but that one only goes down to 15 minutes. What option did everyone else use for that part? We are very new to this and if the entire options to choose from are not stated at each step we have no clue what to set it on. Thank you.
Hi Chris – this post has more information about using your Crockpot Express https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-crock-pot-express-pressure-cooker/ The Beans or Soup settings adjust down to 5 minutes.
This recipe was so delicious, it is a little sweet but I put Sriracha on my serving and it balanced out the flavors beautifully. I can’t wait to make this again, I plan on doubling the recipe.
Thanks Darrell – my husband likes a little heat too.
That is exactly what my husband did! Great minds……..
This recipe was delicious! We made it mostly as directed. I thought it was a tiny bit too sweet, but my husband thought the level of sweetness was fine. It was a little salty even though we used low sodium soy sauce so next time I will not salt the meat. I also added another little splash of water at the end as the sauce seemed a little thick. I have read a few comments from people who found their meat was too tough. I agree with thinner slices, but just as important is how you cut the meat. It needs to be cut against/across the grain! This makes it more tender than if you cut it with the grain.
Recipe looks amazing. I LOVE my IP and am beginning WW tomorrow so the search for IP/WW recipes has begun. Coconut Amino’s would help those trying to cut the sodium while keeping the flavor. Looking forward to trying this recipe and finding others you’ve created.
Delicious!! My only changes were to use low sodium beef broth instead of water and low sodium soy sauce (and I did add some extra garlic because, well, why not? lol I also used some of the beef broth in place of water to make my thickener with the corn starch. Love this meal and it’s one of our faves!! Love your site and your recipes. 🙂
So nice! Thanks for sharing Jenna 🙂
The sauce is delicious! However my flank steak was over cooked and tough. I sliced, browned and cooked at pressure as directed. Not sure where the wheels fell off.
Hi Kristin – glad you enjoyed the sauce. Next time I’d recommend slicing the beef more thinly, or cooking it for a longer time.
Just made it…great consistency for the beef…I also added a yellow pepper and a deveind jalapeno pepper…ALSO I cut the soy sauce a bit…and WISH I did the same for the brown sugar….half of the amount would have been better for me.It is a tad too sweet…But still tasty….thanks for the recipe or this newbie IP user?
I substituted the flank steak for inside round to cut costs and it was delicious! To help tenderize the meat I marinaded the beef for 12 hours with half of the liquid mixture including garlic, ginger.
Sounds delicious – thanks for sharing Bree!
What time would you use if you are making this with the white rice at the sane time ?? Would natural release be used ? I just want to make sure it’s enough time to cook both and of course not over cook one. Thank you !
Hi Mary – I haven’t tried making this one with white rice, but if you want to give it a try, I would just cover the pan with the rice with foil (foil slows down the cooking) and use the original cook time. Let me know how it goes if you try it. Thanks!
This recipe was a huge success in our home. We made it as is and I hadn’t no issues. Thank you for sharing!
Great! Thanks so much for sharing Rachel 🙂
Sadly, had to restart after “burn” showed on front panel. It doesn’t have enough liquid in recipe. Added 1/3 cup water and more oil.
Hi Susan – sorry you had troubles with the recipe. The recipe does have enough liquid, perhaps you didn’t have a good seal and lost too much liquid as it came to pressure and cooked. Hope you enjoyed it despite the trouble.
If you did not deglaze your IP after browning the meat, those bits stuck to the bottom will sometimes burn as your dish cooks under pressure. That might be where your issue came into play.
My only complaint about this meal would be that it is very salty! I think next time I will cut back on the soy sauce and maybe omit salting the beef. Otherwise great recipe! I used sesame oil for a little something extra.
Thanks Rosy – glad you enjoyed it. Definitely change it up to suit your tastes.
Excellent! Added more garlic as well as carrots and red bell pepper strips. Husband loved it.
Sounds like delicious additions. Thanks Patti!
I recently got a stovetop pressure cooker and found this recipe.
Since it is not the electric kind, can you please explain what I need to do to make this recipe work?
Thanks!
Hi Rebecca – since you’re new to stovetop pressure cooking, I’d recommend practicing bringing your pressure cooker to pressure with just water in the pressure cooking pot. Use the instructions that came with your pressure cooker, but typically you’ll bring the pot to pressure over a medium-high heat. Then you’ll reduce the temperature to the lowest temperature required to maintain high pressure. When you turn off the stove, the pressure will release naturally, or check the manual to see how you quick release the pressure on your stove top pressure cooker. Then after you’ve mastered maintaining pressure, use the same procedure to make any of the recipes on my site. Have fun!
Hi. I’d like to try the recipe. If I’d want to make 2x the amount of beef (of course doubling up on all other ingredients), would the instant pot time of 12 mins still remain the same? If not, what would the new time be?
Thank you!! Sounds like an awesome recipe.
Thanks Lisa! The time is the same when you double it. The thickness of the meat matters more than the volume in the pressure cooker. Enjoy!
This was a HUGE hit last night. My husband and son are very picky when it comes to trying new things. I didn’t ask them, I just made it. my teenage son said this is one of his new favorite meals. I also made the beef and broccoli but they said they like the sauce of this one better.
Thank you for some new recipes in my arsenal. It is so nice to mix things up!
My beef was not tender. Should I increase the cooking time? Otherwise, the sauce was delicious!
Hi Donna – glad you enjoyed the sauce. Yes, either slice your beef thinner or increase the cook time next time.
Thank you, Barbara! My hubby and son really loved the meal so I will definitely be making it again .. and again …!
Can the rice be cooked PIP with the beef? Is so, do you adjust the time, and how much rice to use
Hi Ginger – you could give it a try. Try covering the pan of rice with foil to slow down the cook time and match the beef cook time. Here’s the rice recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/ Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Could this be done in a crock pot?
Hi Carol – yes, here’s a similar version made in the slow cooker. https://therecipecritic.com/2015/08/slow-cooker-mongolian-beef/
I have always had a problem following directions and recipes. I did the Mongolian Beef, adding carrots with the meat, added chili oil to soy sauce and water and brown sugar. My husband is very picky and loved the product. Next time, will put meat in for 4 min, open, add carrots, and another 6-7 minutes.
Hi Layne – I always recommend making a recipe your own. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Hi
I love this recipe but just wondering – if I needed to increase the quantity of meat and everything else would the pressure cook timing be the same please? Thanks
Thanks! So nice to hear you love it. You shouldn’t need to change the cook time when increasing the quantity.
Great thank you so much!
Was delicious but only cooking comment was that i used the quick release option on my instant post and had to duck for cover as it spat boiling hot Mongolian Beef Gravy out the vent for several minutes! Will use the natural release next time (there will be a next time, it was very tasty!).
Glad you enjoyed it. Adding some oil if your beef is lean can help as well. You may need to reduce the cook time if using a natural release.
I am a little confused. I thought the idea of the natural release was so the contents would cook a little more. If that is the case then it seems that the contents would not be as well cooked if using the quick release. Could you clarify for me?Jane
Hi Jane – a natural release does cook the contents a little more, but the recipe is created using a quick pressure release and the cook time is plenty long enough to cook the beef thoroughly. Using a natural release instead will cook the meat a little longer, but won’t cause a problem in this recipe because the meat is in a liquid and is not easily over cooked like vegetables or chicken breasts.
Get a kitchen towel and soak it in water, wring it out, then place the lid to cover the release valve. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to move the release valve that is now under the wet towel. Works safely to quick release!
Just made this. Was good but didnt taste like the Mongolian beef we get at the restaurants. Was too sweet, would cut back on the brown sugar.
I agree on the to sweet. I want to to be more savory. Eating the bites with green onion help cut the sweetness some I found.
You only add 1/2c of water – will the 8qt instant pot still pressurize with that, or do I need to add more water? The instructions say 1c liquid is needed.
Hi Amy – with the 1/2 cup of soy sauce and 1/2 cup water, you shouldn’t need to add any additional liquid. Enjoy!
I have 8 qt. And worked excellent with 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of soy sauce.
Thanks for sharing!
HELLO I HAVE SOME LEFT OVER FROZEN FILET MIGNON WOULD I BE ABLE TO USE THIS MEAT?
Hi Chris – I haven’t tried it, but I assume it would work great. Since it’s already so tender, you’ll want to reduce the time. Thinly sliced I’d try just a minute or two. Let me know how it goes.
Hi, I made this tonight. Flavor was fantastic. However, the flank steak fell apart like a pot roast. The slices were 1/4″ thick, cross grain, and I followed the timing above. Anyone have this issue?
Made this last night and it was a HUGE hit. I incorporated suggestions from the comments and added carrots during cooking and broccoli after. This just went in my permanent recipe box.
It was good. But I think the steak was just a tad chewy. Wish I’d done maybe a minute less time for 11 minutes instead of 12. I was following directions to the T. But I always have trouble getting meat in the instant pot to have that melt in your mouth texture. I do suggest slightly less sugar if you are trying to make it healthier. My kids were fans.
Hi Mark – if it was chewy, it may need a little longer cook time, or sliced a little thinner. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I think I may not have cut it thin enough… might have been the problem. Just was finding it awkward to cut super thin. Thanks for the reply. Interesting to think tough meat might not be over cooked, but under cooked.
It helps if the meat is frozen when cutting thin slices and make sure it’s against the grain. That’s how I get consistent slices with chicken and beef. Be careful while doing this. Hope this helps.
*Many restaurants (and grocery store meats) are done this way to get a consistent slice, i.e. brisket, rib-eye, though, they have the advantage of using a slicer.
Just made this now using venison round steak… the meat melted in my mouth.. the sauce, although a bit salty even though I used less sodium soy, was good so next time I’ll use less soy and salt free beef broth and perhaps a splash dry sherry.
Hi Barbara – glad you enjoyed it. Good to know venison round steak works in this recipe as well. Thanks!
This looks amazing. I’m a IP newbie and wondering how I incorporate the carrots and broccoli as shown in the photo. Can they go in with the beef or will that overcook them? Can’t wait to try. I made your pork roast like week and it was fantastic.
Thanks!
Hi Jane – you could get away with cooking carrots at the same time, but not the broccoli. You could stir in the broccoli after thickening the sauce and just letting the heat of the sauce cook the broccoli. Enjoy!
Thank you!
This sounds really good! I plan on making it tonight. Just one question please. How much sauce does this make? Is there a lot of extra sauce or is it just enough for the meat? I would like to add some veggies to this and am not sure if i need to double the amount of sauce.
Hi Kayla – it makes plenty of sauce, you shouldn’t need to double it.
Hi! When you choose browning, do you keep the lid open?
Hi Lyndi – yes, always brown or saute with the lid off.
I made this exactly as the recipe calls for. It was good, but not great. We felt it was too sweet, so next time I’ll cut the sugar in half or so, plus saute some regular onions before the garlic, in addition to the green onions added at the end. I’ll also add a little heat in the form of either red pepper flakes, black pepper or some medium hot peppers. I don’t like a lot of heat, but this recipe is crying out for a bit of it. It worked perfectly in my Instant Pot, but because I have the 8 qt, I may try doubling the recipe and have it leftover a second night. Thanks for posting it!
Hi Kim – glad you enjoyed it and want to make twice as much next time. definitely change it up to suit your tastes.
This will now be the 5th or 6th time i am making this, today it is for the Potluck in the office.
I do doctor this by sauteing and onion after the meat and leaving it in to cook, I slice it thin enough that it just kind of melts into the sauce. No large onion pieces but a greater flavor to the sauce.
Thanks Kevin – onion sounds like a great addition. Love that you took it to potluck 🙂
I was wondering if you could use skirt steak to make this dish instead of flank steak. I have some in my freezer I need to use.
Hi Traci – yes, skirt steak should work well. Enjoy!
Barbara this sounds delicious but what can I substitute for 1/2 soy sauce? I can tolerate a teaspoon or two for flavoring but do not like the strong taste of soy (same problem I have with the Broccoli Beef Stir Fry recipe for the IP. Could I substitute Worchestershire Sauce in this recipe? Thanks so much! Jody
Hi Jody – I think Worcestershire sauce may be too strong. Many substitute Coconut Aminos for soy sauce. I also found this recipe that sounds promising https://wellnessmama.com/37262/soy-sauce-alternative/. Let me know if you give it a try 🙂
I made this tonight and it was the first time I had used my Fagor Luxe pressure cooker. It was dried out and there was no sauce. Any idea what I might have done wrong. I followed the recipe. The flavor was good but it was very chewy.
Hi Deb – sorry you had trouble with the recipe. Sounds like your valve wasn’t in the closed position or you didn’t have a good seal. Did you see steam coming out of the valve or around the lid?
I made this but could not get my beef to brown even in small batches. Just sort of steamed it. Used sauté. My question is what would happen if you did not brown it first. You don’t brown ribs and they are great. Would love to hear your advice. Flavor was great but salty even with low sodium soy. I won’t salt meat next time.
Hi Carolyn – you can skip the browning. It adds flavor to the sauce but if you prefer not to brown that’s okay. It’s important to preheat the pot before browning. If you have the Instant Pot it will actually say hot when it’s hot and ready to brown. The Instant Pot adjusts to Saute more for even higher heat for browning. Glad you enjoyed it. Definitely change it up to suit your tastes.
Can you make it in a crock pot ?
Hi Linda – sure, I haven’t tried it, but I’ve seen Mongolian Beef slow cooker recipes.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was awesomely delicious. We’ve never had Mongolian beef before so the whole experience was new, as well as cooking with a pressure cooker. I got TWO for Christmas, an Instantpot and a stovetop model. I did “doctor”the recipe a little, which I usually don’t do the first time I make something, but I decided to live dangerously tonight. I used london broil steak (flank steak is super expensive in my area), I also added LOTS of garlic, because face it….why not? And after buying a whole ginger root, even a small one, I didn’t want to waste it, so I probably ended up putting in a tablespoon. I also loose packed the Brown sugar rather than firm pack, so maybe a little less than a typical 2/3 cup. My husband doesn’t care for “sweet” main dishes, so I countered the sugar with a healthy swirl around of chipotle infused olive oil for a little kick. It wasn’t strong at all, just tempered the sugar a little. Total “hope this works” on my part and ended up a good call. This was a total win!! Super tender meat too. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Definitely going to make this one again, with or without the changes!!
Thanks Darlene – sounds like delicious changes to me. Have fun!
Do I need to increase the time for 4 lbs of flank steak? If so, how much? Thank you!!
No, as long as the thickness of the meat is the same, there’s not need to increase the cook time in the pressure cooker when increasing the volume. Enjoy!
This recipe was so simple and delicious! I didn’t use flank steak because the grocery store was out. I can’t remember the exact cut of meat I used – it was thin cut and inexpensive. It turned out great! Thanks for another great PC recipe!
Can this be made in a traditional pressure cooker (stove top)? Any adjustments?
Hi Jess – sure, no adjustments need. Just start a timer when your stove top pressure cooker reaches high pressure, reduce your heat to the minimum required to maintain pressure and cook for the time indicated. Then do a quick pressure release to release the pressure. Enjoy!
Oh my was this ever delish! I am new to the whole pressure cooking thing and this was our favorite so far! I pretty much followed the recipe as-is, but did cut back on the sugar to a scant 2/3 cup after semi-firmly packing it. I also cut the soy sauce to 1/3 c (not a huge soy sauce lover) and replaced the missing liquid with water. The only time-suck was browning the meat. Your recipe smartly says not to over-crowd it…over-crowding causes meat to steam versus brown, so this is a give-or-take thing. If you are in a hurry, it would probably suffice to crowd it in there, but you will sacrifice the depth of flavor. Next time, and there WILL be a next time, I will brown the steak in my Instant Pot® before slicing it…seems like that would really save time.
Speaking of slicing steak…you guys probably already know this, but I had no idea that slicing meat/poultry/pork with the grain/incorrectly makes it tough. I also thought I could see the grain of the flank steak…after all, it seemed so obvious. WRONG! Thankfully, I asked the butcher and got a quick lesson on how to cut it and why it’s important to do it across the grain (to make it tender). He had me cut my steak on the diagonal. I’d have never done that, but was rewarded with super tender meat! I will forever ask the butcher about the grain whenever a recipe calls for cutting across it! Who knew? Not me!
Thanks, Barbara, for a great recipe and also for the information/links on how to adjust my IP for simmering and browning!
Great tip – thanks for sharing Mary! So glad you loved the meal. Have fun 🙂
Just so so. The meat wasn’t tender enough and I cut it in small pieces. I added a little sriracha because I thought it was boring.
Definitely change it up to your liking. What type of beef did you use? Perhaps try a different cut or slicing it thinner next time.
What size pressure cooker do you use? I just bought a small one, a 2 quart, and am searching for 4 qt recipes to cut in half. Thanks!
Do you have a recipe for pepper steak in instapot
Hi Mary – I don’t have one, but if you have a non Instant Pot recipe that you like, I’d be happy to help you convert it.
I have an instant pot duo 7 in 1 and I don’t see a selection for browning. How?
Hi Kate – use Saute and adjusted it to more for browning. Enjoy! https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/
I made this once and it was a hit! Everyone wanted seconds. It there wasn’t any left:(
If I am doubling or tripling do I need to adjust liquids or time?
That’s a nice problem to have – thanks Jackie! No, you shouldn’t need to adjust the liquid nor the time.
My meat fell apart into little pieces. Did I do something wrong?
Hi Jamie – sounds like the meat was sliced to thinly. Next time, you could reduce the cook time or slice the meat a little thicker. I hope you still enjoyed it.
Unfortunately I did not have the same positive results with this recipe as the other reviewers. I used London Broil instead of flank steak since I already had some in the freezer. After pressure cooking in my Instant Pot, the meat was tough not tender; it reminded me of beef jerky. Other than substituting London Broil for the flank steak, there were no other changes to the recipe, cooking time, or pressure release instructions. When I added the 2 Tb cornstarch mixed with 3 Tb water to the juices, it resulted in a very thick paste. Although I used low sodium soy sauce, the sodium content of this dish is probably high.
Hi Yee – Sorry you had problems with the recipe. How thickly did you slice you beef? Usually if someone has problems, it’s because their beef was sliced too thickly. Or, possibly your pressure cooker didn’t come to pressure properly, thus too much liquid was released and your sauce was too thick and your beef wasn’t tender. I’m sure the thickness of the sauce contributed to the saltiness too.
I sliced the London Broil across the grain in 1/4″ slices. Maybe London Broil is not a good substitute for flank steak but according to to some websites on Google, London Broil can be used. There did not appear to be any problems with my Instant Pot coming to pressure. Your picture of the dish looks delicious but my dish did not look like yours!
London Broil is fine to use in this recipe. I would try slicing the beef more thinly next time. 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and it was really tasty. It will definitely be going into the regular rotation! Thanks for the share!
Has anyone tried any other cuts of meat on this besides flank steak? Its going for about $9.99 a lb right now and the butcher doesn’t have any until tomorrow. This is on my menu for today.
Hi Martina – yes, others have used lots of other cuts, chuck roast and sirloin are the two most common.
2/3 cup of sugar – thats a lot!
Hi Katerina – it is a sweet dish. If you prefer it less sweet, you may prefer the beef and broccoli recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/
This is my first time. I have the power pressure cooker xl. Do I just brown the meat on the meat setting? What setting do I sauté on? Also,
When you say select high pressure… I don’t show that mine does that? What would you suggest I do? Like I said this is my fist time… so I’m kinda clueless.
Hi Patti – here’s a post on the Power Pressure Cooker XL https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-power-pressure-cooker-xl/ and will help.
Hi Barbara – This Mongolian Beef looks lovely, but I like the heat of traditional Mongolian Beef. What should I add to get the heat aside from red pepper pods?
Thanks!!
Hi Teddy – I like to spice things up with chili garlic sauce. https://www.amazon.com/Huy-Fong-Chili-Garlic-Sauce/dp/B0016L34GO
Can you do this and rice together at the same time? Or do I need to do them separately? Thanks!
Hi Kelly – I’d cook the rice first and then cook the Mongolian Beef.
Loved it – my first recipe in the Instant Pot and it was delicious.
Way to salty! Do not salt meat when browning!
If I wanted to steam the broccoli in the juices could I just take out meat after cooking and put the broccoli in with a steamer tray? How long and what setting would you do?
Hi Caitlin – there’s several ways to do it. I’ve posted them at the end of the Beef and Broccoli recipe. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/ Enjoy!
Wow! This was absolutely awesome. Thanks for sharing. We want to make this again as it was super delicious and so easy!
Thanks Kris! Glad it was a hit 🙂
I am new to your blog and just got an Instant Pot for Christmas. I have made Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes and a Chicken and pasta dish, can’t wait to try this Mongolian Beef and your Potato Salad recipe and many others you have on here. When making the Mongolian Beef, do you take the meat out of the pot before putting the Cornstarch and water slurry in to make the gravy?
Hi Peggy – you could take the meat out, but I usually just push it to the side in the pot and make the gravy. It’s quicker and easier. Enjoy!
I gave my daughter a pressure cooker for Christmas…we have never used one before. I found this Mongolian Beef recipe and we tried it tonight…It was perfect, one of the best meals we’ve ever made. The instructions were so easy to understand. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!
Thanks Shannon! I’m so glad it was a hit. I’m sure it’s just the start of many more great meals.
It says simmer so do I not need to put the lid back on?
Hi Brittany – no, you’ll simmer with the lid off. Enjoy!
Forgot. I still did cut soy in half because I’m not a huge soy lover
This was delicious!!!! Made last night. Kids devoured and husband said I did something great to this meat. Will make again and often!!
Thanks Heidi! The pressure cooker really does make the meat so tender.
Hello
I found this way too salty. I cut the sugar in half because I don’t like really sweet main dishes, although my family goes for them, I wanted to be able to eat. Is cutting the sugar why it was too salty. Also, I used Bragg’s amino instead of soy sauce. It was edible with enough rice and not too much of the sauce.
Hi Farhaana – yes, I think the changes are the reason it was too salty.
I am making this right now. My only question is what button to push for high pressure for the 12 minute timer. I just did manual and then set the timer. Hopefully that will work! I’m very excited to try this as my first instant pot recipe!
And you can really make rice in the IP in 3 minutes???? That’s amazing!!!
Hi Brigette – how exciting! The default for the manual button is high pressure then just adjust the time to 12 minutes. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/ The timer button is for delayed cooking. I love rice cooked in the pressure cooker. It’s a 3 minute cook time, but there is time coming to pressure and time at the end for the rice to steam, but it’s all hands off time. Have fun!
Great recipe as good as P F Chang’s. used low sodium soy sauce. Big hit with my wife.
Thanks Ron! It’s always nice when you can make the wife happy. 🙂
Can you I make this and then freeze it to be served another time? I am trying to “pre-game” for a dinner with lots of company
Absolutely. You may need to thin the sauce a little when you reheat it, but it will reheat very well.
What can I substitute for brown sugar, trying to avoid using sugar. Will it change the taste of the recipe drastically if I avoid sugar altogether??
Hi Susan – the Mongolian Beef is a sweet dish. It would definitely change the taste if substitute for the brown sugar but you can give it a try. What do you like to use for sweetness?
I’d try subbing in coconut sugar. It metabolizes better than cane sugar does, and I often sub it in for brown sugar with good results.
This was my first attempt with my instant pot. It was delicious. I bought presliced meat intended for stir fry and it was fine. I used ginger paste instead of fresh ginger since I don’t have a grater and still fine. Next time I’ll save the green onions until after I add in the corn starch so it’s bright and fresh looking. I made coconut rice and broccoli separately which just added to the dish. Thanks for a great recipe
Thanks Diann – so glad you enjoyed the recipe. It’s great that you changed it up to use what you had on hand. Thanks for sharing. Have fun with your new Instant Pot!
I’m eyeing this recipe and also have some stir fry beef on hand. However, it is cut much thinner than the 1/4 inch the recipe calls for, would I adjust the cooking time?
Hi Susan – yes, you could cut the time in half if the beef is sliced very thin.
That was my inclination, but since I’m still in the “apprentice” stage of pressure cooking, I am very happy that you are here to confirm! Thank you!
Hi! I bought a 1-pound flank steak to use for this recipe. Will there be a problem cooking this in instant pot if I cut all the ingredients in half? Thank you!
Hi Wei – you shouldn’t have any problem cutting this recipe in half and cooking it in the Instant Pot. Enjoy!
Hi! I’m very new to pressure cooking and am using an instant pot. It does not have “browning” or “simmer” on the menu/display. Would you happen to know what the equivalent for the instant pot would be as compared to a traditional pressure cooker? I’m excited to begin using it and trying your recipes but want to make sure I’m doing it right. Thank you!
Hi Lisa – congratulations on your new Instant Pot. From my post on which Instant Pot Button to use: Sauté function – use the Sauté button to sauté in the pressure cooking pot with the lid off. You can also press Sauté and the Adjust button once (more) for browning. Press Sauté and the Adjust button twice (less) to simmer. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/
Have fun!
For a spicy version, what would you add?
Hi Sara – my husband likes to add red pepper flakes to his.
I am new to pressure cooking, so how could I cook the rice at the same time?
Hi Leslie – the cook time for rice is 3 minutes, so not well suited to cooking at the same time. I would make the rice first and then make the Mongolian Beef. Enjoy!
Hi, we made this recipe as our first try with the pressure cooker, even the picky teen ate it. It was amazing.
My question, I know I could sub for chicken, but what time would I use?
Thanks, Michelle
Thanks Michelle – a great pick for a first recipe. I’d use bite size pieces of chicken, skip the browning and use a 3 minute cook time.
I am a new pressure cooker user. Everything I have made so far has been good, but hitting on your site provided the BEST recipe to date. Last night we had the Mongolian Beef. It will be a favorite! Now I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. My question is when making the beef dish, if I need to double the servings how do I adjust the cooking time? Your advice on this would be most helpful.
Thank you!??
Thanks Pam! Always nice to hear. When doubling this recipe, you do not need to adjust the cooking time. When cooking meat in the pressure cooker, it’s the size of the meat more than the volume of the meat that determines cook time.
Thank for that very helpful information!?
I’ve made this twice now in the past month, and will be making again this week. It is SO easy and delicious! I’m going to see if my butcher can slice for me to save some time.
Thanks Kristin! Glad to hear you’re loving it. It’s definitely a time saver to have the butcher cut it.
Hi! This recipe looks great! I want to make it for me and my husband, so ideally it would be great if I could cut the portions in half. I am still new to the instant pot. If I half the portions, do I still pressure cook it for 12 minutes??
Thanks!
Hi Ashley – yes, you’ll still need to cook it for 12 minutes if you halve the recipe. You could also freeze half for an easy meal another day.
This was very good. I didn’t have the green onions to put in the sauce and I think they would have made it even better but still so very good. It was the first meal in quite a while that all of my family loved. Thank you so much.
I did forget to mention that my meat was also frozen so I tried to brown it on the outside as much as I could and I cut it up after cooking to serve it. It still was a great success.
I would love to try the Mongolian Beef, however I am on a strict budget, and the last time I bought flank steak, the piece was as big as a roast and about $20. Is there a cheaper alternative, or a cheaper way to buy it
Hi Linda – many have substituted thinly slice chuck roast and it works well in this recipe.
How long does this take to prepare from start to finish?
Hi Andrea – about 30 minutes not including prepping your ingredients. I like to have the butcher slice the meat so it’s ready to use.
Made this last night. The sauce was delicious. My husband would have drank it from a cup if I let him! The meat was tender enough to cut with a fork.
I did brown the steak before slicing it and that was much easier than trying to brown each piece.
I also killed two birds with one stone by serving it over cauliflower rice. Saved on calories and carbs and extra veggie prep.
Thanks. We will make again for sure.
Thanks Melanie! Sounds like a great way to serve it.
Made this tonight, it was a home run with my family! I think next time I will cut the meat a little thicker, as I stirred the corn starch in, the meat kind of fell apart. Was still delish!!! 🙂
That’s great – thanks Liz! Sounds like it did need to be a little bit thicker.
This was so tasty! I made it with gluten-free soy sauce.
Thanks Denine!
This was super delish!!! I can’t wait to make it again! I used venison instead of beef and it was perfection. Also, I cut the sugar down to only 1/3 cup with great results. Thank you and keep those great recipes coming!
Thanks Stacy – so nice to hear you loved it 🙂
Absolutely melt in your mouth delicious and so easy to make! I pressure cooked the meat for 40 minutes. Love it!
Delicious! I think I’ll pressure cook it just a tad longer next time as the meat was a bit tough but everyone loved the flavors. Served it with stir fried zucchini and carrots and jasmine rice. The sauce that is made is so good over rice.
Hi Jenny – glad you and your family enjoyed it. You can also try cutting the meat a little thinner next time too. 🙂
Made this tonight, after my daughter raved about making it last night and how much her three “men” enjoyed it. It was wonderful. I will definitely make it again!
Hi! If I double the amount of meat (making for company), do I double everything ingredient wise and how much more time should I add onto the original 12 minutes?
We’ve made this before and it was great! Just wanted to make sure I have it right when I increase the amount.
Thanks so much!
Kathy
Hi Kathy – the cook time will stay the same. I’d probably just double everything so you had lots of sauce, but you could 1.5 times the sauce if you’d rather. Also, to save time, you can brown the flank steak before you thinly slice it.
Thank you! I’ve gone to the butcher a few times to do your French Dip recipe…so when they see me coming, they know I want cut beef 😉
That’s nice to have a butcher you like. 🙂
Is there not any more liquid to add to the original recipe before starting?
Thank you!
Our daughter tried it, and she said it was delicious. But, it was her first recipe to try in her new cooker, so she asked me this question.
I plan to make it, too, because all of her guys loved it!
Thanks Sandy – glad she liked it. That’s all the liquid you need.
Barbara, I made it tonight. If I had read the recipe, I would have realized that. I made it tonight, and both my husband and I loved it!
Thanks for sharing!
Glad you and your husband loved it as well! 🙂
This recipe was so simple, however, the tenderness of the flank steak was almost unbelieveable. Definitely a do-over!!!!!
Thanks Jackie! I agree, you don’t save a ton of time making it in the pressure cooker, but the beef is so much more tender.
Hi. Can I use frozen beef for this?
Yes, you can use frozen beef if it’s already slice in thin strips. Skip the browning because frozen beef doesn’t brown. Enjoy!
I got a round of applause and 4 clean plates with this recipe. I served it with brown rice cooked with edamame, and a salad with Asian dressing. The perfect recipe for my new Instant Pot!
Thanks Jessica! Sounds like a great meal. So glad to be part of you being a star with your family. Have fun with you new Instant Pot.
Hi Barb,
How do you cook your broccoli and carrots so is crispy?
Hi Eva – I cooked the broccoli and carrots in the picture in the microwave. People have been having luck cooking their broccoli on low pressure for 0 minutes.
Thanks, Barb! I used the pressure cooker for broccoli. Steamed for 0 minute and it came out great. The meal was delicious! Kids and hubby loved it ! Thanks so much.
How long is zero minutes? 🙂
Hi David – if you have the Instant Pot it will let you set it for zero minutes. If you don’t, basically as soon as the pot comes to pressure, you turn it off and release the pressure.
We loved this! Followed the recipe completely, and I would not change a thing!
Thanks os much Peg!!
IS this for an electric one or a old fashioned pressure cooker? I have an old fashioned one and I don’t know what time I leave it in for.
Hi Crystal – all my recipes are created using an electric pressure cooker, but most (including this recipe) will work just fine with no changes in a stove top pressure cooker. Just start your timing when your pressure cooker reaches pressure. On longer cooking items, such as a roast or pulled pork, you may want to reduce the cook time slightly. Enjoy!
I really liked this recipe! Next time I think I’ll add some mushrooms and water chestnuts, because they sound like they would be good in the dish. Great job!
My 10 year old told me that it was so good that I could probably get a job at the Chinese Buffet! Thanks for the great recipe!
That’s so cute. Sounds like you did a great job with it. Thanks for sharing!
LOL that’s the best comment!
Did you steam the broccoli and carrots with the meat ir separately?
Hi Marie – I cooked the broccoli and carrots separately, but you could cook them together if you wanted. There’s a couple of methods in the notes of the Beef and Broccoli recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/
Best way to spice it up …we like spicy !
Hi Donna – add a little red pepper flakes to the liquid before pressure cooking and then add more to taste when you’re eating it. Enjoy!
Thanks, Barbara!! I’m always on the lookout for a new pressure cooker recipe and this was wonderful! You’re right – super flavor and loved the picture with broccoli and carrots on the side – made it just like the pic and it was a big hit. Will definitely make again!
Thanks Holly! I love that you served it just like the picture. Glad it was a hit 🙂
Any idea on how many calories? I’m trying to enter this into fitness pal. Thank you.☺
Hi Cathy – here’s a site I like to use for nutritional info https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
I made this tonight for a family of four.
I highly recommend the use of low-sodium soy sauce, and less of it. Next time I’ll use 1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce, and 3/4 cup of water. The use of fresh ginger makes this dish stick out. It is very good; however, it is extremely rich. I served with brown rice.
Glad you enjoyed it Michele – definitely adjust it to suit your tastes. I agree about the fresh ginger.
I made this as my very first pressure cooker recipe! Here are my tips for others:
Usually, at the market you can take the package of meat you want to buy and ask them to cut it how you want it. I simply took a chunk of flank steak from their meat section that was prewrapped, asked for them to cut it into 1/4 inch strips, and tada! No extra charge or anything and usually they are happy to do it.
If you have a PRESSURE COOKER PRO XL, to brown the meat, simply press the “chicken/meat” button (3rd one down on the right) one time so the timer displays 15. After you follow her steps as she’s listed them, put your lid on and push that same button for “chicken/meat” and you’ll see the 15 come up again. Mine came out perfectly! I almost forgot the corn starch. Don’t do that! It’s important!
Huge hit for my kids and I and I feel like I just went out to a fancy restaurant and ate amazing food! I splurged on the flank steak but at $10.99/lb I only bought right under 2 lbs.
Thanks Aimee for the tips on using the PRO XL. I’m so glad you loved it!
This was my first ever pressure cooker recipe. My family loved it and it was so easy! I loved the flavor but wasn’t in love with the texture of the flank steak–fall apart tender but the pieces were a bit tough, sort of like beef jerky. Do you have idea what adjustments I could make? I want to give this recipe another try–even my three-year old yelled “Delicious!!!”
Hi Sarah – glad it was a hit with your family. Usually if the meat is tough, it’s not cut thin enough, but if the meat was dry it’s over cooked perhaps from too long of browning? You can also try using a different cut of meat. Many people use a chuck roast in this recipe – it’s usually less expensive too. It’s great to have you butcher slice it thinly for you. Enjoy!
2/3 cup of sugar? That’s over 10 TBSP of sugar. Seems like an awful lot for one dish. Many Asian dishes (especially Thai) may call for 2 TBSP of sugar to balance out some acidity. Is this sauce really sweet? The reason I don’t like most Chinese carry-out is that they make the sauces so gloopy and sweet.
Thanks!
Hi Davey – it is pretty, but I think well balanced. But if you prefer a less sweet sauce, you may prefer this one https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/
Thanks, Miss Barb. Always love to find new pressure cooker recipes. I got one for x-mas in 2014 and I’ve been using it 2-3 times a week since then. Soups, stews, curries, lentils (love Indian lentils), beans, etc. It really is such a great machine I don’t know why they aren’t more popular.
It definitely needs the brown sugar; all of it.
Hi .. just wondering what substitute you could use for the sugar? Have a Type 1 Diabetic son. Don’t want to use honey either. Thank you
Hi Lisa – I haven’t tried it with any other sweetener but if you have a favorite sweetener that you often use, I’d go ahead and give that a try. Perhaps just stirring it in at the end to your taste.
Try Agave nectar instead of sugar. It won’t cause your blood glucose to spike like sugar will. I’d probably add the Agave after cooking. Also, the chicken sesame recipe works well with agave nectar rather than honey. Since agave nectar is much sweeter than honey cut quantity by about half. bon apetit!
Thanks Mike – agave is a great suggestion.
Was a nonbeliever but have now seen the light. I thought this meal was excellent. Too bad flank steak is so expensive though but it came out so tender at 15
Psi for 12 minutes. Picky husband agreed how great this recipe is.
That’s great. Always nice when you can find a recipe both of you really enjoy!
I don’t have flank steak and find it expensive for our budget … but don’t know a lot about how different cuts compare when cooked in various ways. If I cut up a roast I have into thin strips, would that work for this recipe and be tender?
Hi Beth – I use a chuck roast in my beef and broccoli https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/. I’m sure it would work well for this too. I’ll often have the butcher cut it for me so it’s nice and thin. Enjoy!
Awesome, thank you!
I made this last night and thought it was really good. Maybe a tad sweet but I am sure that is because I’m more of a spicy instead of sweet food person. I do plan on making it again and will throw in some crushed red pepper to add a little heat next time. I do have a question though as this was my first ever pressure cooker recipe. Do you think I could have cooked broccoli or other vegetables with the meat and sauce in the pressure cooker? I like veggies with just about everything and it would be nice to make this a one-pot meal if it’s possible. As it was, I steamed broccoli on the side instead. Just curious. thanks!
Hi Deb – so fun that it was your first recipe. You can absolutely add some veggies. My beef and broccoli recipe is similar to this recipe, but a little spicier. It gives 3 ways you can add the broccoli https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/ Enjoy!
You can certainly add vegetables while cooking meat, but you have to be careful what types you use so that they cook properly. Some vegetables such as cabbage or brussels sprouts or red peppers will turn to absolute mush in 10 minutes on high pressure. Carrots and potatoes usually hold up ok, but don’t cut them too small. I like my broccoli firm-tender (steamed about 3-4 minutes) so I would never try to pressure cook broccoli for as long as the meat needs to cook. I’ve found that fresh kale is great in a pressure cooker for soups and stews. It breaks down nicely but doesn’t totally dissolve.
Hi! Can I just dump everything in the pressure cooker and not brown the meat, etc. first? Thanks!
Hi Sasha – you’ll lose a little bit of the flavor by not browning, but if you prefer to just dump everything in, that will work too.
My pressure cooker doesn’t have a browning or sauté setting. What do I use? I have the Power Pressure Cooker XL
Hi Monique – you should be able to saute on the pressure cooking settings without the lid on as well.
Push the “meat/fish” button once so the timer shows 15 minutes. It will allow you to sear and sauté! Took me forever to figure that out!
The sauce was good! However my meat was chewy, why??? What did I do wrong??? I could not find “flank” steak so I used beef steak for stir fry.
Hi Vivian – likely the reason is the meat wasn’t cut thin enough and needed a longer cook time. Glad you enjoyed the sauce. Next time if the meat is tough or chewy, I’d trying cooking it a little bit longer.
I made this with flank steak and it came out delicious but my supermarket is out of flank steak so I want to make it with chicken thighs. How should I cook it? Do I still brown the chicken first?
Thanks Maria – glad you enjoyed it. If I was using chicken thighs, I would probably brown one side of the chicken and then use a 10 minute cook time. Let me know how it goes.
If I double the recipe will it still be 12 mins on my Instant Pot?
Hi Linda – yes, your cook time should still be the same if you double the recipe, or you could even reduce the cook time a minute or two because it will take longer to come to pressure. Enjoy!
This was really yummy and so easy for a weeknight meal. Thank you for a great recipe. I found a one pound flank steak and cut the sauce recipe down to half and it made a perfect dinner for a family of four. I served it with basmati rice and steamed carrots and broccolette. Delish!
Thanks Courtney – so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing that half the recipe works well. I haven’t cooked broccolette at home. So fun.
Hello there! We use gas range stove and my pressure cooker doesn’t have this “High” function, I think it’s one of the old ones. How do I know that it’s on “High?” Do I have to set the stove to high flames or just medium will work? Thank you so much! I want to do this it looks so amazing.
Hi Anne – welcome to the world of pressure cooking. It’s important, especially with a stove top model, that you spend some time getting to know how your pressure cooker works before you start cooking. Hip Pressure Cooking has some great information http://www.hippressurecooking.com/is-your-pressure-cooker-ready-to-cook-checklist/ Have fun!
Thank you so much for the fast response! I did this but modified the amount of water accordingly because my pressure cooker uses more water than normal. Thank you for the link, it was really helpful!
Also, you can add cabbage, young corn, and green/red bell pepper to this Mongolian beef recipe for added flavor! <3
Should I be using light soy sauce or dark?
Hi Robert – I generally just use Kikkoman which is considered a dark.
I made this last weekend and my entire family loved it. I may have to double it next time. I am always trying to find a quick and filling recipe for 3 teenagers that eat me out of house and home.
Thanks Patricia! I had 3 teenage boys, so I can certainly relate.
Do you leave the beef in when adding the cornstarch mixture?
Thank you!
Yes – you’re just thickening the sauce.
Is there a cheaper cut of meat that could work?
Hi Bailey – sure, you can use a thinly slice chuck roast, whatever steak is on sale, or even chicken. Just be sure to cut the meat thinly and across the grain.
If I use chicken instead of beef how long should I cook it for
If you cut it in to bite size pieces, you’ll only need to cook it 3 minutes.
Hi. Looking to make this tonight but have few questions
I have instantpot.
Is oil allowed in electric pressure cookers?
Can I use sauté function to brown meat?
Can potatoes starch replace corn starch, if so What amount?
Hi Natalya – yes, you can use oil in electric pressure cookers. Yes, use the saute function to brown the meat. If you have the Duo you can adjust it to more to brown. I haven’t used potato starch but you should be able to use the same amount. Enjoy!
Thanks for the quick response. Just made this for dinner with a few adjustments and it was delicious. Prob one of the best meals I ever made. Hubby was so impressed. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Thanks great! Thanks so much for the follow-up 🙂
Hi, I want to try this recipe but I don’t have a pressure cooker, would this recipe work in a slow cooker? What would the cooking times be like? Thanks
Hi Ngaire – sure, here’s a slower cooker version http://therecipecritic.com/2015/08/slow-cooker-mongolian-beef/
I made this tonight in my Instant Pot. It was amazing. I used round steak since my grocery store didn’t have flank steak, and that worked great. It was so tender. Just loved it! My 22 year old son, who won’t eat much of anything, really liked it as well. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
Thanks Linda! I’m so glad it was a hit with you and your picky son 🙂 Thanks for sharing that it worked well with round steak.
I don’t have a stove top pressure cooker, just an electric one. There is no browning setting or simmer setting. So is it best to just use an actual pan on the stove for browning, sauce etc. and then just transfer to the pot for the cooking part?
Hi Diana – which electric pressure cooker do you have? Most of them will brown and simmer on the pressure cooking settings without the lid on, so there’s no need to dirty a second pan.
Wow, this recipe looks great and I can’t wait to try it in my Instant Pot. I ony have a pound of flank steak thawed; do I need to reduce the cooking time since I only have half the meat? Thank you so much!
Thanks Mel – your cook time will be the same as long as the beef is sliced 1/4 inch thick.
What do I use to spice it up
Hi Connie – you can spicy it up with a little red pepper flakes.
If I only want to use 1lb. of meat, would I half the recipe but cook for the same amount of time, just half the meat and keep everything else the same, or ….?
Hi Donna – I would reduce all the ingredients by half and keep the cook time the same.
I had the same question, Donna! I have a pound of flank thawed and found this recipe. Did you do it for the same amount of time and how did it come out?
Can you use chicken instead of beef? If so, how long do you cook it in the pressure cooker?
Yes, you can use chicken. I’d use bite-sized pieces and a 3 minute cook time.
What am I doing wrong? I followed the recipe but it is sooo overly salty( I do like salt in my food but this was way too salty)
Should I use low sodium soy sauce next time? Has anyone else had this problem?
Hi Bobbie – The only time I thought it was too salty was when I was using the last of the soy in the bottle. But some have found it salty, especially when they modify the recipe a bit. You could definitely try it with less soy, low sodium soy, and substitute some water or broth. You may need to reduce the sugar to balance it.
Thanks!…..Ill try your suggestions. Love your recipes!:)
I used San-J brand reduced sodium soy sauce and it turned out perfectly. It would have been overwhelmingly salty with regular soy sauce. My entire family loved this! The taste was spot on, and the meat so tender!
To understand why it is so salty, you have to convert the sodium in soy sauce to the sodium in table salt. One TBSP of soy sauce has about 900 mg of sodium. A half-cup is 8 TBSP so that’s 7200 mg of sodium in this recipe from the soy sauce (the beef broth would add a little more).
You would have to use a little over 3 tsp of table salt to reach that level of sodium. So ask yourself – if you were cooking a dish with two pounds of meat, would you use 3 tsp of table salt in it? Or 4 1/2 tsp of kosher salt? I doubt it. I would scale back the soy sauce substantially or use lower sodium soy, and maybe increase the amount of broth.
Looks like a great recipe! I could not do without my pressure cooker!
I just recently bought a basic pressure cooker to make my boyfriend’s favorite dish from when he was younger. This is one of my favorite dishes now so I am interested in making it. However I have a couple questions:
1) When you say put oil in cooking pot – you’re talking about the pressure cooker right? Ours doesn’t have a browning setting. So what do I do?
2). Saute – so just stir around for 1 min in the pressure cooker?
3). Add browned beef and any accumulated juices (isn’t it already in the pressure cooker or am I doing all these steps before in another pot)?
4) What if I don’t have a simmer setting?
I am using an old fashioned jiggle top pressure cooker. Pretty basic.
Thanks for helping out a beginniner!
Hi Karen – 1 – Yes, put the oil in the pressure cooker on a stove top model. And use it like you would any pan to brown meat, a medium-high heat to brown. 2 – yes. 3 – you have to brown in batches, and then you remove the meat to a plate when it’s browned. 4 – just reduce your heat to a low temperature on your stove to simmer the sauce. The hardest part of using a stove top pressure cooker will be to reduce the heat as much as possible, while still maintaining pressure. You may want to practice with just a pot of water until you get comfortable using your pressure cooker.
Thanks so much!
I have used my pressure cooker 17 times. Nothing has turned out. Roast at first, is tender then when I go to serve it is gritty and dried out. Even when it sits in the juice. I have a cook book but I’m not having any luck. I’ll be passing this on to family members to give it a whirl. Not like I expected anything to turn out as it does in the infomercials, but I hoped the food would be tasty, good, easy. Not so much. Made mac & chz yesterday. What a tasteless mess. I like to think of myself as a good cook, can’t figure out why everyone loves it. What an I doing wrong, I follow recipes etc
Hi Sue – sorry you’re having a hard time with your pressure cooker. Pasta can be tricky to get the timing just right so the texture is nice, but you can always adjust the taste by adding spices or fresh herbs at the end to your liking – I always spice it up with a little cayenne pepper. When making a roast you want to chose a roast like a beef chuck roast or a pork shoulder that has a lot of marbling and it will get tender and not dry when you cook it. In addition to this recipe, here’s some easy recipes that you could try. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/easy-recipes-for-the-pressure-cooker/ Hang in there, I think once you find recipes that you enjoy that work for you, you’ll start to see why people love it.
I made this recipe tonight for dinner. It was great, and my picky husband loved it. I did make a couple of changes, too.
1) I added a whole onion, which I cut into large strips (cooked it with the beef)
2) I added 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3) I almost doubled the ginger
Thank you for all the time you spend posting great pressure cooker recipes, Barbara!
I got home at 5pm yesterday and left the house again at 5:30 to pick my son up from nursery. In that 30 minutes I managed to make this plus accompanying rice and veg, and it was amazing. Wife hates beef and she scoffed the lot saying how tender it was. I really enjoyed this recipe and being so quick and easy to make, it won’t be long before I make it again 🙂
PS I chopped an onion up and put it in with the beef just because I had a lonely onion sitting around, but it kind of disappeared when I opened up the pressure cooker.
This was the first, home cooked meal we made in our new home. It was absolutely fabulous. Thank you, Barbara!
Thanks Heidi – happy to be a part of your homecoming. Enjoy your new home!
QR?ive always though you were supposed to avoid QR with meat because it results in tough meat?
That may be true for large cuts of meat that are on a rack, but I haven’t found that to be true with thin or small cuts of meat in a liquid.
This was a fabulous recipe! Turned out perfect…just the right amount of sweet and salty. From start to finish, including slicing the raw meat, I served dinner in 45 minutes. I used onion instead of fresh garlic, substituted garlic salt and garlic powder for the fresh garlic, and used slightly less brown sugar than called for. I also cooked the meat for 14 minutes instead if 12. Perfect…huge hit with the family. I will use this for guests.
Thanks Heather – I’m glad that you made it your own, and that it was a huge hit with you and your family.
Just got my Elite Platinum 6 qt. Digital pressure cooker today from Amazon, along with “The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book”, 500 recipes! So excited about my new kitchen toy. So there I go to Pinterest, and there you are Barbara, one of my favorites. I can hardly wait to make this. Thanks for sharing 🙂 I also signed up for your pressure cooking e-mails.
I made this in my stove top pressure cooker and it turned out great…the meat was so tender! My whole family loved it….I didn’t have fresh ginger on hand, so I just used powdered, but your recipe is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Thanks Matti for letting me know your family loved it.
Made this last night & it’s better than any we’ve had at a restaurant, simply fabulous!! Added in a whole sweet onion at the point that I sauteed the garlic. Thank you for this recipe!!
Thanks Michele – I’m so glad you and your better half loved it!
I tired this as my 2nd recipe in my new stovetop pressure cooker.
I used everything exactly as the recipe states, and I did not have any issues with burning of the liquid.
But I did however have an issue with the soy sauce: it was wayyyy too strong. The next time I do this recipe, I will do maybe 1/4 cup soy sauce and either 1/4 beef stock or increase the water to 3/4 cup.
I steamed my veggies separately while the beef was on pressure and served it with sticky rice.
This was a hit in my house tonight. I have an innate inability to follow a recipe to the letter, so I bumped up the amount of ginger significantly, and added a whole sliced onion in to cook with the beef rather than adding green onion at the end. I also added in a few handfuls of frozen broccoli after the sauce was thickened, and left it to simmer an extra couple minutes with the lid on, though not under pressure, until the broccoli had warmed through. Thanks for the solid foundation to riff on!
Hi Alliey – so glad this was a hit! I love that you made it your own. It’s always great to add veggies to a dish whenever you can. I know I have a hard time eating enough otherwise.
My picky husband loved the Mongolian Beef
Thanks Lisa – my beef loving husband is crazy about it too.
I recently purchased an Instant Pot on sale and after an easy test of cooking sweet potatoes, I started looking for more ways to use my new toy. BRILLIANT! The meat is so tender! As if it had cooked for hours and hours! Used chuck roast that was on sale and also reduced soy / added bouillon per other comments. Can’t wait to cook this for friends!
Thanks Tammy – I’m so glad you loved it. Chuck roast is a great substitute.
The original recipe was way too salty for me so I modified it slightly. I used only 1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce and used 3/4 cup of water with a half beef bullion cube to give it more flavor. Also cut down on the sugar – used 1/2 cup instead of 2/3. Everything else stayed the same and it came out PERFECT. Thanks for the base recipe. It is now something I cook regularly.
Hi Jessie – so glad you enjoyed the recipe and are adding it to your regular menu. Thanks for sharing your changes. It’s important to make a recipe your own.
Hi Barbara, I live in the UK, and to get the measurements correct, what is a cup equivalent to in millilitres please?, the recipe looks amazing, and can’t wait to try it. Thanks
Thanks Keith! According to Google there are 236 milliliters in a US cup. Enjoy the recipe.
Hi. I really want to make this recipe tonight on my Instant Pot, but need to “paleo/primal” it up a bit. Do you know if substituting palm sugar and arrowroot for the brown sugar and cornstarch will work? I also plan on using tamari instead of soy sauce.
Hi Letty – I haven’t tried it, but those substitutions should work just fine. Let me know how you like it. Enjoy!
My husband made this last night and it was WONDERFUL, question though reheated for lunch once warm its seemed to have a lot of grease. Do you know of a way to cut back on that
Also someone at work loves it and wants to know if you can make it without a pressure cooker
Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed it. You could reduce the fat by trimming more fat off the flank steak before you cook it, using a leaner cut of meat, or pressure cooking the meat the day before you want to serve it – don’t thicken the sauce, then refrigerate overnight and the fat will solidify and you can remove it, heat up the broth and thicken it. Here’s the stove top recipe I adapted the recipe from, the meat won’t be as tender cooked this way, but I’m sure it’s delicious http://www.justataste.com/2012/10/pf-changs-mongolian-beef-recipe/.
Hi Barbara,
Thank you for the recipe. Do you use regular cup to measure water and soy sauce or Pressure Cooker cup?
Hi Marina – Yes, just a regular measuring cup.
This recipe looks really good, and I’m planning on trying it out this evening. However, it seems like the photo shows far more of the dark meat sauce than what I’d expect from only a little over a cup of liquid called for in the ingredients. It lists only 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and 3 tablespoons of water. Everything else contains little moisture. How is this possible?
Oh, one more question. How much rice did you prepare to serve with this recipe?
Hi Gary – hope you enjoy it! The brown sugar will melt and contribute to the sauce as well. With only 12 minutes cook time, you shouldn’t be losing very much liquid, so you will have plenty of sauce.
Since the recipe makes enough for six servings, I would make enough rice for six figuring 1/4 cup dry rice per person or 1 1/2 cups rice. Unless of course, you want extra.
Thanks for the question.
I received an Instant Pot for Christmas and am having fun trying out recipes! This one is so good; a definite keeper! Also, thanks for posting one that isn’t too spicy as my husband and I cannot handle a lot of spice.
This sounds very good…how much of a decrease in time might you suggest for a stovetop pc (gas burner, 15 psi ss pc)?
Thanks!
Thanks Atti! You really shouldn’t need to make any change except on long or very quick cooking times. If I remember right the cooking time difference is 5%, so on this recipe 36 seconds less. Use the recommended amount of liquid for your pressure cooker and be sure and reduce your temperature to the lowest necessary to maintain pressure.
For really tender meat like Asian restaurants serve, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp per pound of baking soda to the sliced meat and mix thoroughly. Let is set for about 20 minutes and then cook as usual. Do an Internet search for using baking soda as a tenderizer. You will see many, many sites and then you can learn all about it. I didn’t believe it until I tried it and it really does work.
I hadn’t heard that trick before. Thanks for sharing. Although, this pressure cooker beef is pretty tender without the baking soda.
If I wanted to add steamed broccoli and carrots to this recipe, when would I place then in my Instant Pot?
I’ve just started using the Pot and still have a lot to learn 🙂
BTW, thanks for this great recipe.
Hi Marjie – I haven’t tried it, but here’s what I would suggest: cook the meat for 9 minutes, quick released the pressure; stir in the carrots and broccoli, then pressure cooker it on high for an addition 3 minutes followed by a quick pressure release.
Just opened front door and there was my brand spanking new InstantPot! This will be my very first recipe – it’s my very favorite beef dish on the PF Chang menu!!!!
How fun! You’re going to love your new Instant Pot. When browning the meat in the Instant Pot Duo, use the Saute setting and press adjust so it adjusts to more (higher heat), then wait until the Instant Pot display says hot. Then the browning will go much faster and better. This is a great first recipe to try. Enjoy!
I thought it was fantastic. Better than our local Chinese restaurant. I cut back on the ginger though, not a big fan, but some is needed. I used chuck because that’s what I had in the freezer. I did not slice it up for browning, I kept it in big chunks. After it cooked, I removed the meat to a plate to make the sauce, because that’s a lot of meat in there! I added the sliced green onions to the final presentation, did not mix them in the sauce. The only thing I think it’s missing is either red pepper flakes or chili sauce, just a bit.
I used my Instant Pot. Thanks Barbara!
Oh – and I always use Tamari instead of Soy Sauce.
Thanks Sherry – so glad you enjoyed it. My husband is a big fan of adding red pepper flakes too. I had a reader request to keep this one not spicy. 🙂
This looks wonderful. I just ordered a pressure cooker today and am looking for recipes.
Thanks Cheryl! How exciting – what kind did you buy?
I love mongolian beef but have never made it before! Definitely inspired to make this recipe.. it looks delicious and I love how you can use a pressure cooker.
I’ve made Kelly’s recipe. twice. I needed to cut back on the sugar, though, as my husband thought it was a tad too sweet. How brilliant to make it in the PC!
That looks so good. I’m gonna go searching in the deep freeze to see if I have some steak I can use for this-I know we’d love it.
Thanks Barbara.
Barbara, did you pound the meat first?
12 minutes for thin, already browned beef sounds like too long. ? I’ll be using my InstantPot.
Can’t wait to try this.
Hi Sherry – no I didn’t pound the meat first. You could use a shorter time, but I think a little bit longer time helps to tenderize the meat. I made it in my Instant Pot too. Enjoy!
Barbara did you take the meat out before throwing the cornstarch in the pot? The recipe doesn’t say to do that, but I usually have done that in the past….
Hi Robin – nope, not this time. I just pushed the meat aside and added the cornstarch to the sauce. Then stirred the meat and sauce with tongs until the sauce thickened. Of course you could remove the meat if you preferred. Thanks for the question.
Hi…I loved this dish!!! Easy and authentic. The only suggestion I would make is to use low-sodium soy sauce since it seemed a little too salty. I also added a tablespoon of chili paste. Delicious!!! Thank you for sharing!!!