Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
What is Mongolian Beef?
Mongolian Beef is a favorite of American Chinese restaurants. It features beef in a rich sauce. It is usually served over rice and sometimes has vegetables but is usually garnished with green onions.
What kind of beef is in Mongolian Beef?
It usually uses flank steak, but I have found the instant pot version does well with thinly sliced rump roast or london broil which are less expensive and easier to find.
What do you serve with Mongolian Beef?
Mongolian Beef is usually served over rice, but I prefer to serve it over rice noodles. You could also serve it over cauliflower rice.
Why do you put orange zest in Mongolian Beef?
Years ago I had Mongolian Beef at a restaurant and it had a slight orange flavor. I really liked the way the orange flavor enhanced the dish and decided to add it to my recipe? If you are not a fan of orange flavor or do not have an orange, you can omit it in the recipe.
Can I make this without and Instant Pot?
This recipe was tested in a 6 quart Instant Pot. You could make it in another pressure cooker.
Why do you use an Instant Pot?
The Instant Pot uses pressure to quickly cook and tenderize the beef. Without the pressure it would take much longer to have tender Mongolian Beef.
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
It usually uses flank steak, but I have found the instant pot version does well with thinly sliced rump roast or london broil which are less expensive and easier to find.
What do you serve with Mongolian Beef?Mongolian Beef is usually served over rice, but I prefer to serve it over rice noodles. You could also serve it over cauliflower rice.
Why do you put orange zest in Mongolian Beef?Years ago I had Mongolian Beef at a restaurant and it had a slight orange flavor. I really liked the way the orange flavor enhanced the dish and decided to add it to my recipe? If you are not a fan of orange flavor or do not have an orange, you can omit it in the recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Beef sliced into thin strips. (I use rump roast or London Broil.)
- 1 1/2 Cups Water
- 1/2 Cup Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Orange zest from 1 orange
- 1/2 teaspoon Grated Fresh Ginger
- 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press
- 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablepoons Corn Starch
- 3 Tablespoons Water
- 4 Green Onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté.
Place part of the thinly sliced beef in the Instant Pot and brown on both sides.
You can remove that beef and continue to brown in batches, or brown part of the beef in a large skillet over high heat. (See notes and video.)
Pour the water into the skillet (if using) and scrape up any browned bits. Add the browned beef and water to the beef in the Instant Pot and scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the instant pot. (See note.)
Add the soy sauce, orange zest, ginger, garlic, and brown sugar and stir to combine.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set to "Manual" for 16 minutes.
After cooking 16 minutes is complete, release the pressure.
Once pressure is released and lid unlocks, carefully open the lid.
Mix the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the instant pot and stir well. The sauce should thicken,
Serve over rice or rice noodles and top with green onions.
Notes
You can cook the meat in batches in the Instant Pot on Sauté. Once both sides of the meat are browned, remove from the Instant Pot and add the next batch of unbrowned meat. Continue until all the meat is browned on both sides.
I prefer to use the instant pot and a skillet. It is much faster. I like to brown some of the meat in the instant pot and the remainder of the meat in a large skillet on high heat. It usually takes 2 batches in the skillet.
Once all the meat is browned, I add it to the instant pot and deglaze the skillet with water. I add the water from the skillet to the Instant Pot and deglaze the bottom of the instant pot too.
I like the flavor of the orange zest in this dish. If you do not prefer orange or do not have one you can omit the orange zest.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 492Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 99mgSodium: 655mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 1gSugar: 6gProtein: 32g
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and may not be completely accurate.
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Marie Fiebach is a married mother of four active kids. She helps busy families plan and execute weeknight dinner so they can recapture a little calm in the crazy. You can see her every week on KAKE TV’s Good Morning Kakeland or listen to the Feed Your Family Tonight Podcast.
