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
Cherann says
This was absolutely fantastic! My family loved it and so did I! The only thing I did different was when it was all done I took about a cup of juice out and added corn starch mixed it back into the meat and turned on sauté for a few minute tonlet thicken! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will definitely make it again. Oh and I fried wonton and put it on top with the green onion!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I do the same thing with my slow cooker version of this Korean beef. =) Fried wonton and green onion sound like a delicious way to top this! Thanks for your comment!
Dena Evans says
We are not fans of sesame oil— it is so strong for little kids. Could we leave that out or replace?
Thanks
Kate says
You could leave it out or replace it with a more neutral oil. I would suggest tasting the gochujang before you make the recipe because if you find sesame oil too strong, then you may not like the flavor of the beef. Hope that helps!
Pura says
Tried this today … very tasty.. but sauce is too little so am going to adjust. Thanks for sharing!!
Kate says
Glad you liked it! Always adjust to your liking. =) Thanks for coming back to comment!
Sheri says
This was absolutely delicious!! It was a hit with my husband and I’ll defini add this to our meal rotation. Thanks so much for sharing!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that it was a hit! =) And thank you for taking the time to come back to comment.
Tara says
Oh wow, this was just amazing! What a great recipe and it couldn’t be easier! Definitely one I’ll have my kids preparing. And my kids all loved this too btw. Thank you!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad that your family liked it. =) It’s so great when kids can help with (or takeover) some of the cooking! Thank you for coming back to comment!
Theresa Subburathinam says
Hi Kate, I’m planning on making this for a party I’m hosting and need to triple the size. Would I use the same time or should increase it? Thanks!
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried to make a triple batch, but I think you would need to increase the cooking time with the extra meat. Good luck! =)
Jill says
Hi! This looks delicious for a weekend meal prep recipe!! Question: do you know how I would adjust the cooking time if I used frozen or partially thawed stew meat? Still a bit of an instant pot newbie. :) thanks in advance!
Kate says
Hi! Thank you! I’m not exactly sure how much time you would need to add. For partially frozen meat, I would probably add about 10 minutes. For fully-frozen meat, I would probably add 20-30. I hope that helps! =)
Leah says
So Do I put it on high heat or medium
Kate says
On my Instant Pot, I use the MEAT setting on high pressure, normal. Hope that helps!
Susie Conley says
That was my question! Thanks for answering!
Kate says
Great! Any time! =)
Amy Raymond-Horton says
Hi! Do you use Gochujang sauce, or the paste? All the sauces seem to have another flavor, like miso, or hot and sweet…
Kate says
Hi! I use Bibigo Hot & Sweet Gochujang Sauce. Please let me know if you have any other questions! =)
Lisa says
Mine came out really soupy. Is that normal? Thanks!
Kate says
The sauce is thin, but it shouldn’t be super soupy. Part of that will depend on the meat. I’ve noticed that some meat puts off more juice than other. If you’d like the sauce to be a little thicker, you can add a cornstarch slurry at the end to help with that. Thanks for coming back to comment!
Cindy Kott says
This recipe worked really well for me. Great taste and it was a big hit with my family. I served it in tortillas with coleslaw that had been dressed with an Asian style dressing,
One question I do have is the meat seemed a little too soft, borderline mush for some of it. I used very lean beef stew meat and about 2 lbs. Could this have been the reason?
Kate says
Yay! I’m so glad! That sounds delicious! I’ve used Korean beef to make taco cups, and the beef does go really well with coleslaw. =) I think it was the cooking time. I’d cut the cooking time down for two pounds of beef, and I think that will really help.
Jaimie Reyes says
Made this last night on Gua Bao buns. It was a hit!! Thanks!
Kate says
I’m so glad! That sounds delicious! Thank you for coming back to comment. =)
JuLie says
Thank you for this recipe! I was just gifted an Instant Pot and this was the first dish i made in it. So delicious! The beef was so tender. Flavor is fantastic!
Kate says
Yay! What a great gift! I’m glad that you liked the beef. =) Thank you for coming back to comment.
JoAnn says
I will definitely be making this in the next two days. However, I don’t have an Instant Pot. I have two different 6 qt pressure cookers that I use quite often. I’m not sure what difference it would make if I used one of those instead. I really wish Instant Pot users would let us regular pressure cooker users know if their recipes are compatible. ..and if not, what adjustments would have to be made. Thanking you in advance for a timely response.
Kate says
My understanding is that Instant Pot recipes should work in any other same-size electric pressure cooker. There are so many electric pressure cooker models available that, unfortunately, I don’t have a way to test variances across models. I hope that helps and that you enjoy the beef! =)
John Chier says
Looks excellent. Would marinating the beef in the liquid first, then cooking both together make it even more flavorful? And do you ever get BURN errors with this recipe? It seems like a relatively small amount of liquid. Excited to try it tomorrow with a tri-tip roast I bought.
Kate says
It might! I’ve found that the Instant Pot does a pretty good job of helping the sauce infuse the meat with flavor. I haven’t gotten a burn error. Maybe the juice the meat puts off helps with that? I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! =)
Jamie says
Great recipe! Whole fam loved it, including/especially, my picky daughter who hates spicy food. I did not have, nor did I try you sub the gochugan sauce. I instead used chili garlic sauce. My daughter begged to take the leftovers in her lunch. I felt like a rockstar that they all moved it and wanted to thank you ;). Will def be making it again!!
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad that your family liked it! I know that feeling, and it’s seriously the best!! Garlic chili sauce is a great alternative. Thank you for coming back to comment! =)
Meg says
Just made this for my family and it was delicious!! Very easy to make as well. This has become a new family favorite!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad that you liked it and that it was easy to make! Thanks for coming back to comment! =)
L says
Great
Kate says
Thank you! So glad you liked it! =)
Denise says
Absolutely delicious!! This recipe inspired me to purchase an Instant Pot & this was my first recipe to try. Very, very easy to follow & turned out perfect. Thanks so much :)
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m really glad that you liked the beef and that you found the recipe easy to follow! I hope you continue to enjoy your Instant Pot! =)
Mark says
Seems to me you have to add the time the IP takes to come to pressure (12 minutes) plus the 25 minutes to NPR to the 55 minutes prep and cook. No?
I will be making this dish this weekend. Looks too good to pass up.
Kate says
Thanks! I didn’t include either of those times in the cooking or prep times because I’ve never seen them included that way in an IP recipe. All of the recipes that I’ve seen only include the active cook time in the “cook time” and only prep work time included in “prep time”. Maybe we need a third category for pressure release time for IP recipes!
My understanding is that the time that it takes for the IP to come to pressure can vary based on a number of factors, so that may be one reason why time to pressure isn’t usually included.