How long to cook flank steak in instant pot

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Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is a fast one-pot weeknight recipe made with sliced flank steak in a delicious ginger-garlic sauce. It’s an easy pressure cooker version of PF Changs popular beef dish. 

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This is one of our go-to weeknight dinner recipes because it’s ready in 30 minutes, is mostly hands-off, and is jam-packed with rich Asian flavors. Serve it with white rice for a complete meal without any stress. 

Update: We make this Mongolian beef recipe all the time, so I’ve updated the recipe and post with new tips and photos to help you perfect it. 

How to Make Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Way back in 2012, a reader asked me to convert Just a Taste’s Mongolian Beef recipe to a non-spicy pressure cooker version. It’s been a reader-favorite ever since!

Even though it’s a pressure cooker recipe, I start by browning the flank steak in the pressure cooking pot. You can skip this step if you’re in a pinch, but I highly recommend it for the best flavor.

Tip: The key to getting a great sear on your steak is to avoid crowding the pot. Cook in batches until everything is nicely browned, then be sure to deglaze the pot with broth and scrape up the browned bits. 

Once your beef is ready to go, you’ll build the sauce with:

• Garlic. 
• Soy sauce. This adds umami and saltiness. 
• Brown sugar. In a pinch, you can use regular white sugar or honey. 
• Ginger. Fresh is best for the boldest flavor, but you can use dried to tone it down. 

Trick for Slicing Flank Steak

Honestly, the easiest way to get thinly sliced flank steak is to ask your butcher.

(Jenn here: I honestly didn’t I could ask the butcher to do this until I went grocery shopping with Barbara. It might add a few minutes to the shopping trip, but they always get it perfectly thin and it saves so much more time at dinner time.)

If you’re cutting your steak yourself, my favorite way to cut it is to put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, then take it out and slice it with a sharp knife. The quick chill time makes it hold its shape better when cutting, so it’s easier to get consistent and thin slices.

Thickening Mongolian Beef

The stove top method for Mongolian beef stir-fry calls for coating the sliced beef in cornstarch before cooking. This helps absorb some of the liquid from the soy sauce and other ingredients. 

But because thickeners can cause burning on the bottom of an Instant Pot, the best way to thicken up the sauce in this dish is after it’s finished cooking.

Add a simple slurry of cornstarch and water to the pot. Then use the Saute feature to bring the sauce to a simmer. It will thicken up nicely and the sauce will coat the beef nicely. 

What to Serve with Instant Pot Beef

This is a stir-fry style dish that goes great with cooked grains. Try serving your Mongolian beef with fluffy Instant Pot white or brown rice. For something more adventurous try Pressure Cooker Forbidden Black Rice.

For a little extra crunch and color on top of the dish, spiral your plate with white sesame seeds. And if you like some heat, try a dash of hot pepper flakes. 

Freezing Beef Stir-Fry

You can easily freeze this dish for later. Just let it cool fully, then place it in an airtight freezer-safe container.

If you plan to defrost the dish in your Instant Pot, I recommend freezing it in a heat-safe container so it can go directly into your pressure cooker.

Use this guide to using the pot-in-pot method to defrost and reheat food in your Instant Pot. 

More Instant Pot Beef Recipes

• Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli has sliced beef, crisp-tender broccoli in a savory garlic sauce. 
• Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff has a creamy sauce that’s delicious over springy butter noodles. 
• Old-Fashioned Instant Pot Beef Stew is a rich and comforting wintertime dish that’s great with mashed potatoes.

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds flank steak, cut into 1/4" strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 green onions, sliced into 1-inch pieces

Instructions

1. Season beef with salt and pepper. Put oil in the cooking pot and select browning. When oil begins to sizzle, brown meat in batches until all meat is browned - do not crowd. Transfer meat to a plate when browned.
2. Add the garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, brown sugar, and ginger. Stir to combine.
3. Add browned beef and any accumulated juices. Select High Pressure. Set timer for 12 minutes.
4. When beep sounds turn pressure cooker off and use a quick pressure release. When valve drops carefully remove the lid.
5. Combine the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water, whisking until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to the sauce in the pot stirring constantly. Select Simmer and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Stir in green onions.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 415Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 1261mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 0gSugar: 20gProtein: 44g

Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.

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