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.
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! Simply mix the first ten ingredients together for the sauce.
Place the cubed meat in the inner pot, and pour the sauce over the meat. Close and lock the lid.
Turn the pressure release valve to SEALING. Press the MEAT button and adjust the time to 40 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 25 minutes, and then turn the pressure release valve to VENTING.
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 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). I’ve also used this beef to make Korean tacos.
More Instant Pot recipes!
- Instant Pot Indian Butter Chicken
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
- Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
- Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Bowls
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Korean Beef recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
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Instant Pot 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 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 Information
Michelle says
Hi Kate, If I’ve only got Gojuchang paste, is there a way to thin it into sauce? Maybe by adding water and soy sauce to it? I always have the paste on hand, but haven’t seen the sauce very much in local supermarkets? Thanks for the tip!
Kate says
Hi! There is! You can add rice vinegar, a bit of sesame oil, garlic, and sugar (to taste) to make a good substitute for the sauce. Hope that helps!
Russell says
Trying this recipe tonight. Does it really take 40 minutes to cook? Seems like a very long time for an InstaPot. I’d think it would be half that time in a pressure cooker.
Kate says
The cooking time in an an electric pressure cooker is determined by the weight of the meat, and it does take that long to cook.
KC says
Okay, not happening with soy sauce. Could I substitute 1/2 cup coconut aminos instead???
Also, I could just buy stew meat and use that, right?
Thanks for your help, I’ve been wanting to try a Korean dish in the IP for a while.! Love my IP but I am NOT a cook so it’s all a challenge for me…
Kate says
I think so! You may find that you need to adjust the brown sugar according to taste because the coconut aminos are going to be a bit sweeter than soy sauce. However, I think that as long as you keep the ratios for the liquid, you should be fine. Yes, you could use stew meat. Hope that helps!
Alyssa says
I see in the picture both scallions and sesame seeds but those items are not listed in the recipe. If I used those ingredients how much would I use and when would I add them?
Kate says
Hi! They are both used as garnishes, so you can add them to taste.
Gretel says
Hi there. I made this last night. The flavour is great, but the beef came out super dry. It was flaky, but hard to chew. Do you think the recipe would be better if the beef was browned first to keep the juices in? I used two pounds of beef – is the problem that I should have cooked for less time? I’d love to try this again with an adjustment that might have it come out nicer.
Kate says
Hi! I’ve tried browning the beef, and it didn’t change the flavor/texture of the finished dish. I’m sure that it was because of the cooking time as the cooking time is based on the weight of the beef. So if you use two pounds of beef, you would need to decrease the cooking time accordingly. I hope that helps for next time!
Gretel says
Thanks. I had read somewhere that when you cook more volume, you don’t necessarily increase cooking time, so I assume it worked in reverse as well. How many minutes would you suggest for 2 lbs of beef in this recipe? trying to learn how to calibrate myself for future.
Seth Lassman says
Awesome! I could tell it was going to be great before I pushed any buttons!
I upped the sesame oil and rice vinegar to quarter cups. And of course used gochujang paste. 🌶😁
Added a few dashes of fish sauce and subbed in a miso ginger broth instead of beef. Removed the meat at the end and cooked down the sauce for a while.
Served over a simple cauliflower fried rice (cauli, egg, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds) with some sauteed garlicky bok choy and garnished with cashews. Outstanding!
Kate says
I’m so glad that you liked it! =)
Elaine says
This looks really good and I’d like to try it. If I only have the paste, do you have a recommendation on how to convert it to sauce?
Elaine says
And thank you. :)
Kate says
You’re very welcome! =)
Kate says
Thank you! The sauce is basically the paste + rice vinegar + an oil (usually sesame) + a sweetener. You can use less of the paste (depending on how much heat you’re looking for), and you should be fine. I would start off with, maybe, 1-2 teaspoons of paste and then add in more as needed. Hope that helps! =)
Anastasia says
I just got an Instant Pot last week and have been testing new recipes with it. This was SO DELICIOUS!!
Kate says
Thank you so much!
Iza says
My family and I enjoyed this recipe. Very simple and the meat came out perfect. I substituted the rice vinegar with apple cider vinegar and added corn starch to thicken up the sauce at the end. Will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing this!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad that it turned out well for you!