Instant Pot Korean Beef is tender, flavorful Korean beef made in a pressure cooker. Recipe includes explanation of gochujang and gochujang substitution.
This Instant Pot Korean Beef recipe is a variation on my slow cooker Korean beef recipe, which is one of my favorite crock pot recipes.
Rather than cooking all day, the Instant Pot cuts the total time from 6-8 hours to just over an hour. Most of that time is hands-off, which makes this a pretty simple recipe.
What is gochujang?
Gochujang is a key ingredient in this Korean beef. It’s a sweet and spicy red chili paste that’s commonly used in Korean cooking. Not to be confused with Thai sweet chili sauce or a spicy chili sauce like Sriracha, gochujang sauce adds unique flavor to this dish.
There are several different brands of gochujang sauce available, and I’ve seen it everywhere from my local supermarket to Walmart, Target, and Amazon. We prefer it to Sriracha, and even my kids love the flavor of the sweet and spicy sauce.
**Note – be sure to get gochujang sauce, not paste. The paste is more concentrated and will give you a much spicier result.**
What can you substitute for gochujang?
I highly recommend buying a bottle of gochujang sauce. If you can’t gochujang sauce (or just don’t want to purchase it), you can substitute a mixture that consists of a little Sriracha, a dash of additional soy sauce, and a little additional brown sugar to taste instead.
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Instant Pot Korean Beef
Pressure cooker tender Korean beef.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
- 2-4 tablespoons Gochujang sauce* depending on desired heat
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3-4 pound boneless beef chuck roast cut into 1-inch cubes
Instructions
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In a medium bowl, whisk together first 10 ingredients (up to roast).
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Place cubed roast into Instant Pot.
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Pour sauce over cubed meat.
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Close the lid, and make sure the pressure release valve is turned to "SEALING".
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Press the MEAT program button, and adjust time to 40 minutes. The pot should reach pressure within 10-15 minutes.
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Once the pot reaches pressure, it will begin counting down.
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Once it has finished cooking, it will beep and switch to keep warm.
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Allow beef to remain in pot for 25 minutes NPR (natural pressure release).
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Carefully release any pressure left at that time by turning the pressure release valve to "VENTING".
Recipe Notes
*See notes above recipe for an explanation and substitute. Also, be sure to get gochujang sauce, not paste.
**Nutrition facts are estimates.
Nutrition facts per serving (1serving)
Leftovers? Try the Korean beef in this Korean Beef Taco Cup recipe.
Charisee says
Oops I used Gouchang paste. Still tasted delicious. First meal I cooked in my Pressure Cooker. Will make again. yum.
Kate says
Good! I’m glad that you liked it! =) Thanks for commenting!
Rich says
Excellent recipe…. will be a heavy rotation at our house! Thanks
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad that you liked it! =) Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment.
Nat says
This is so delicious and even the sauce was great over rice when we had already eaten all of the meat. And the meat was fantastic and tender. The only thing I did differently was to add a little bit of honey to the sauce at the end when I thickened the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. This is going to be my go-to IP Korean beef recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it.
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad that you liked it! I bet the honey was good in the sauce! Thank you for coming back to comment! =)
Patti says
Just delicious will make it again. Found Gochujang at the ,99 cent store 😀
Kate says
What a score! I’ll have to check there next time. =) Thanks for the tip!
Patti says
Just delicious
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you liked it! Thanks for commenting! =)
Dawn says
What a great recipe!!! Made this tonight and the husband had seconds!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad that you two liked it! Thanks for taking thn time to comment! =)
betsie says
Easy and delicious! Served over sticky rice. The last few minutes of the “cool down”, I steamed snow peas, Julianne carrots to add to the dish. Topped with Tuxedo sesame seeds and diced scallions. Yummy! This will e part of our dinners for years to come.
Kate says
Well that sounds delicious! Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked it! Thanks for commenting!
Cindy says
I’m just curious would you recommend marinating the meat in the sauce or it does just fine being cooked all together in the instapot ?
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t found it necessary to marinate the meat beforehand. Hope that helps!
Brittany says
Do you add any extra liquid to this? My manual says that the 8qt instant pot has an 18oz liquid requirement to reach pressure. But I didn’t see any extra liquid in the recipe. What should I do!
Kate says
Hi! The reason you don’t see extra liquid is because I use a 6 quart IP, which only requires 1 cup of liquid to come to pressure. If you hover over the servings just above the ingredients, you can increase the serving size to 12, and that should give you enough liquid for your IP to come to pressure. Hope that helps!
Matt says
How can the total time be only 55 minutes if it takes 15 for the instant pot to pressurize, cooks for 40, and then has to depressurize for 25? It seems like even with quick prep work this is at minimum 90 minutes.
Kate says
Pressure cooker recipes don’t typically include either the time to pressure or the pressure release time in the recipe time totals. The totals given are for the 15 minutes of prep and then the 40 minutes of cook time.
Stacy says
Great flavor, meat fell apart (how I like it)! One question – I was thinking there would be a sort of “gravy” with it from the liquid you add, but mine turned out to be “broth”, so not thick at all. Is that the way it’s supposed to be, or did mine not work properly?
For those of you outside the States – I found Gochujang sauce (and paste) in an Asian supermarket, since it’s not something Dutch grocery stores stock at all.
Kate says
Thank you! Yes, the sauce is thin. However, you can easily thicken it by (carefully) removing 1 cup of the hot cooking liquid. Stir 2 tablespoons cornstarch into the cooking liquid, and then add that back to the rest of the liquid in the pot. Using the saute function, cook it, stirring regularly, until it thickens. Hope that helps! =)
Debbie says
Hi. This sounds delicious. I haven’t heard of gochujang sauce before! Is there a substitute for it, or where do you purchase it?
Kate says
Hi! Thank you! It’s usually available near the Asian condiments like Sriracha and soy sauce. I’ve found it at Walmart, Target, Kroger, and other major grocery stores. You can also find it on Amazon. This is the one that I buy – link.
There is! There are directions for making a substitute just above the recipe card.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. =)
Lesley says
I am not seeing a link. I was so excited to try this recipe. In my haste, Idid not read the very bottom where it says ‘use sauce, not paste’. Too late. :( My husband says it tastes like it’s lacking something. I’d like to try again. Please advise brand of Gochujang sauce you’re using. Thank uou
Kate says
For some reason, you can’t see the link unless you hover over it. I have someone working on that so the links will show up with another color.
I use Bibigo Gochujang Hot & Sweet Sauce. You can see it on Amazon here. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Andrew m Park says
Do you use the rack in the instapot to keep the beef off the bottom or just throw it in with this?
Kate says
I don’t use the rack. I just put the beef in the bottom of the pot. Hope that helps! =)
Kelly says
Hi! If I’m using one kind of meat, is it the same cook time?
Kate says
Hi! I’m not sure what you mean by one kind of meat. Can you please give me more information?
Kelly R Kepler says
Do you still add the extra water for pressure cooking?
Kate says
Hi! Can you give me more information about what the extra water is?
Sarah H says
I shredded the meat to make it stretch farther and it was delicious! Definitely making it again. Hubby suggested adding broccoli to make it a Korean Beef and Broccoli dish, so I may try that next (but probably cook the broccoli separately so I can blanche it and add right before serving). And if our adult stamp of approval isn’t enough, my 11 month old couldn’t get enough of it! Thank you for this recipe!
Kate says
Good! I’m so glad that it was a hit with your family! Yes! I usually serve this with steamed broccoli and rice. =) Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment!
Christy says
The review didn’t register my stars. 5 stars for sure!
Christy says
I have made this several times and it is fantastic! Everyone asks for the recipe and one person even went out and bought an Instapot so their smiley could make this at home. Thank you for the deliciousness!
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad! It makes my day to hear that people are enjoying my recipes, so thank you for coming back to comment! =D