Instant Pot Korean Beef is tender, flavorful Korean beef made in a pressure cooker. Recipe includes an explanation of gochujang and a gochujang substitute.
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.
The Korean beef is super tender and packed with flavor. The recipe makes plenty of sauce, and I love to serve it spooned over the beef.
Rather than having to slow cook it all day, the Instant Pot cuts the total time cooking from 6-8 hours to just over an hour. Most of that time is hands-off, which makes this a pretty easy dinner recipe.
How to make Korean beef in the Instant Pot
This is a really easy dinner recipe!
Step 1: Simply stir the first ten ingredients together for the sauce.
Step 2: Place the cubed meat in the inner pot, and pour the sauce over the meat.
Step 3: Close and lock the lid.
Step 4: Turn the pressure release valve to sealing position. Press the meat button and adjust the time to 40 minutes.
Step 5: Let the pressure release naturally for 25 minutes, and then turn the pressure release valve to venting position.
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. 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.
What to serve with this dish
I usually serve this beef topped with sesame seeds and sliced green onions over rice with steamed broccoli on the side. It goes well with any number of steamed veggies (snow peas are also really good with this).
You can also serve it as Korean beef tacos in tortillas topped with shredded cabbage.
Storage
Any leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The beef will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored.
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Instant Pot Korean Beef
Equipment
- Instant Pot/electric pressure cooker
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 sauce1 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
- In a medium bowl, whisk together first 10 ingredients (up to roast).
- Place cubed roast into Instant Pot.
- Pour sauce over cubed meat.
- Close the lid, and make sure the pressure release valve is turned to “SEALING”.
- Press the MEAT program button, and adjust time to 40 minutes. The pot should reach pressure within 10-15 minutes.
- Once the pot reaches pressure, it will begin counting down.
- Once it has finished cooking, it will beep and switch to keep warm.
- Allow beef to remain in pot for 25 minutes NPR (natural pressure release).
- Carefully release any pressure left at that time by turning the pressure release valve to “VENTING”.
Video
Notes
- See notes above recipe for an explanation and substitute. Also, be sure to get gochujang sauce, not paste.
- Nutrition facts are estimates.
Nutrition
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Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Linda says
As a Korean myself I was very impressed with this dish! It was so delicious that my mother in law savored it for a few days my picky daughter and grand niece also loved it!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that it was a hit!
Reva says
I cook for my grown kids and everyone loved it…I had to make a few adjustments first I used 2.5 lbs of meat and they like things saucy so I doubled the sauce recipe and still cooked it as directed time wise. I didn’t have gogujang sauce.. I had paste.. So I googled it and found out how to make sauce from the paste.. in doing so I used the last of my rice vinegar so for the actual recipe I had to use Apple cider.. Which I am so glad everything worked out and the family loved it… thanks for sharing the recipe.
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad that you liked it!
Meena says
My instant pot does not have a meat setting. It is the instant pot duo plus one. What other setting would I use?
Mine has
Pressure cook, soup, cake, egg, saute, rice, bread, porridge, sterilize, yogurt, sous vide. Would any of these work?
Kate says
Hi! The meat setting is basically like a preset. You can use pressure cook and just be sure that it’s on high pressure, and it will work the same. =)
Brandie Lekovic says
Quick, easy, & delicious! Thank you.
Kate says
Thank you!
Barb says
This was such an easy and yummy recipe!! Will definitely make again. Great with rice and broccoli!
Kate says
Thank you!
Wyatt Fisher says
Great recipe! Can I ask what you would do to downsize it to make a meal for just one person? If I just cut all the ingredients by 75%, I don’t think there would be enough liquid left to get up to pressure. Should I use the same amount of sauce and just use one pound of beef instead?
Kate says
Thank you! I have two suggestions for you. First, if you’d like to reduce the recipe, you can try the pot-in-pot method. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but I’ve used it to make other recipes in the Instant Pot. For pot-in-pot, you just cook the meal in a dish on a trivet within the Instant Pot. This lets you add enough water in the bottom for the IP to come to pressure without having to add extra sauce or liquid. Second, if you are so inclined and have the freezer space, the leftovers from this recipe freeze well. I hope that that helps!
Wyatt Fisher says
Thanks for the reply! I’ll definitely try pot-in-pot in the future, but this time around I ended up making the whole recipe and saving most of it as leftovers. I’m actually glad I did, because I can’t wait to have more tomorrow! This recipe is amazing. You rock.