Description
This Instant Pot Mongolian Beef recipe delivers a flavorful and tender beef dish that rivals takeout, ready in just 30 minutes. Featuring thinly sliced flank steak simmered in a savory-sweet sauce with garlic, ginger, and broccoli, it’s a perfect healthy dinner served over your choice of rice or quinoa.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked quinoa white rice, jasmine rice, cauliflower rice, or brown rice for serving
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil or sesame oil
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce, Tamari, or coconut aminos
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, grated
- 1/2 cup water or beef broth
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch or cornstarch
- 2 cups broccoli florets, chopped small
- 4 stalks green onions
- Sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, or sriracha sauce, optional for topping
Instructions
- Cook the grain: Prepare your choice of brown rice, quinoa, white rice, or cauliflower rice according to package instructions and set aside.
- Slice the beef: Thinly slice the flank steak against the grain to ensure tenderness and set aside.
- Sear the steak: Turn the Instant Pot to sauté, add olive or sesame oil, and heat until shimmering. In 2-3 batches, sear the beef slices for 1-2 minutes on each side without overcrowding to create caramelized browned bits.
- Mix the sauce: While searing, whisk together soy sauce or coconut aminos, minced garlic, grated ginger, and water or beef broth.
- Pressure cook the beef: Cancel the sauté mode, pour the sauce mixture over the browned steak, lock the lid, seal the pressure valve, and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Allow 5-7 minutes for the pot to reach pressure before timing begins.
- Prepare thickener: While the beef cooks, whisk together the cornstarch or tapioca starch with 2 tablespoons of cold water to create a slurry.
- Release pressure: When cooking is complete, carefully quick-release the pressure valve using a dish towel for safety and to reduce noise.
- Finish the sauce and broccoli: Remove the lid, stir in the slurry, honey, and chopped broccoli. Turn on sauté mode again and cook while stirring until the sauce thickens and the broccoli is bright green and tender-crisp, about 4-6 minutes. For a thicker sauce, add another tablespoon of starch slurry and sauté for an additional minute.
- Serve: Serve the hot Mongolian beef over the cooked rice or quinoa, topped with sliced green onions, sesame seeds, and optional red pepper flakes or sriracha for heat.
Notes
- Sear the beef first to build deep flavor through caramelization.
- Slice the steak thinly against the grain to keep the meat tender.
- Use fresh garlic and ginger to enhance the vibrancy of the sauce.
- Don’t skip the cornstarch slurry; it ensures a perfect sauce consistency.
- Steam broccoli just until bright green to maintain a crisp-tender texture.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 400 kcal
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
