Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Instant Pot Mongolian Beef

Apr 11, 2019 | Beef, Main Course

As many of you know one of my daughter’s gave me an Instant Pot for Christmas last year.  It took a few weeks of staring at the box before I actually opened it; all those buttons were a bit intimidating!  But once I made my first recipe, Instant Pot Beef Stew, it was instant love!  Now I don’t know what I’d do without it!  So I’ve been exploring possibilities and one of my new favorites in this Instant Pot Mongolian Beef.

Mongolian Beef is a family favorite and we always order it when we dine at Chinese Restaurants, we love the tender morsels of beef in its delicious sauce.  I’ve tried to make it at home, after all it’s just a basic sitr fry, but I could never get the meat to be so tender.  I’d tried all sorts of cuts except filet mignon, I mean seriously who’d use filet in a stir fry?  Whatever I did I could never get it as tender as the restaurants do; that is until now!  It never occurred to me that the secret was in the cooking method.  I mean all the recipes said fry the meat in a wok or a pan, I’m guessing you’d get very tender meat if you stir fired filet mignon, but at over $15 a pound that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon!

Well it seems to me the secret to tender beef is to pressure cook it!  Enter the new love of my life, the Instant Pot!  When I adapted my Mongolian Beef stir fry recipe to the Instant Pot the whole dish changed!  It transformed from a pretty good stir fry to a tender delicious restaurant worthy dish!  This Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is seriously delicious!

But it’s not only yummy, Instant Pot Mongolian Beef is easier than stir fry!  What?  Easier than stir fry?  How is that possible?  First of all my original recipe has me marinating the meat for at least an hour; no need to marinate Instant Pot Mongolian Beef so that cuts kitchen time down a bit.  And stir fry requires you to, um, well, stir what you’re frying; with the Instant Pot Mongolian Beef stirring  is kept to just a few minutes to brown the meat.  And best of all from start to finish you could get Instant Pot Mongolian Beef on the table in about 30 minutes!

I serve it over steamed white rice which I make in my  Zojirushi Rice Cooker.  You can even make bowls and bentos with this recipe!

So here’s the recipe for Instant Pot Mongolian Beef!

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Flank  or Sirloin Steak cut into small thin slices

1 Tbs. Sesame Oil or vegetable oil will work if you’re allergic to sesame seeds or don’t have sesame oil on hand

2 Tbs. Minced Garlic

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Water

2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar

1 Tbs. Molasses (or you can skip the coconut sugar and Molasses and use 2/3 cup dark brown sugar instead)

1 Tsp fresh minced ginger

3 Tbs. Cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup water

3-4 stalks green onions cut to small pieces

1 Tsp Sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

Turn Instant Pot to Sauté and place oil inside inner pot

Heat oil about 1 minute

Place small amounts of beef in pot and brown both sides – about 2 minutes

Remove browned meat from pot and brown remaining meat in small batches until all meat is browned

Add garlic to pot and cook about 1 minute

Add soy sauce, water, worcestershire sauce, sugar, molasses, and ginger into the pot and mix well

Turn pot to manual and adjust time to 12 Minutes

Return meat and any juices that seeped out to the pot

Place lid on making sure the valve is set to Sealing

When timer goes off move valve to venting to quick release the pressure

Remove lid and stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce is thickened

Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds before serving.


Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
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Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
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Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Turn Instant Pot to Sauté and place oil inside inner pot
  2. Heat oil about 1 minute
  3. Place small amounts of beef in pot and brown both sides - about 2 minutes
  4. Remove browned meat from pot and brown remaining meat in small batches until all meat is browned
  5. Add garlic to pot and cook about 1 minute
  6. Add soy sauce, water, worcestershire sauce, sugar, molasses, and ginger into the pot and mix well
  7. Turn pot to manual and adjust time to 12 Minutes
  8. Return meat and any juices that seeped out to the pot
  9. Place lid on making sure the valve is set to Sealing
  10. When timer goes off move valve to venting to quick release the pressure
  11. Remove lid and stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce is thickened
  12. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds before serving.
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Teriyaki Chicken

Sep 18, 2018 | Main Course, Poutlry, Recipes

This Teriyaki Chicken recipe will quickly become a new favorite! In this one pan recipe, bite size chicken breasts pieces are sautéed in a skillet then coated with an easy and delicious teriyaki sauce. This tastes just like your favorite Chinese take-out but you can have this ready faster than the time it would take to go pick up take-out!

I’ve made other teriyaki chicken recipes but this hands down beats the prep and cook time on any other teriyaki chicken I’ve tried. And yet it tastes just as good! Plus it’s such a flavorful sauce so it doesn’t even require marinating.

It’s a (mostly) healthy recipe that comes in at 258 calories per serving so it a smarter choice than the deep fried food you usually get from your favorite Chinese take-out.

Click here for my Baked Barbecue Chicken recipe!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1-inch cubes
  • 1Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4cup water
  • 2Tbsp honey
  • 1 1/2Tbsp packed light brown sugar
  • 1Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1/4tsp sesame oil (optional)
  • 2tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger
  • 2tsp peeled and minced fresh garlic (2 cloves)
  • 2tsp cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Add in chicken and let brown on bottom about 3 – 4 minutes then flip and continue to cook until center registers about 160 degrees, about 3 minutes longer.
  3. While chicken is cooking, in a small mixing bowl (or liquid measuring cup) whisk together soy sauce, water, honey, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and cornstarch.
  4. Stir the sauce in with the cooked chicken and continue to cook and toss until sauce has thickened, about 30 – 60 seconds longer.
  5. Serve warm garnished with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
  6. Recipe source: inspired by my Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

 

Teriyaki Chicken
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Teriyaki Chicken
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Easy Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry – Better Than Take-Out!

Jul 10, 2018 | Beef, Main Course, Recipes

beef broccoliBeef Broccoli is probably the most ordered type of Chinese food.  I mean who hasn’t had beef broccoli?

You know that dish with thinly sliced pieces of beef and crunchy broccoli in savory soy sauce, yes that’s beef broccoli.  It’s such a popular dish that I’m pretty sure all Chinese restaurants in the US and possibly around the world have it on their menus.

Beef Broccoli, or as others say Beef with Broccoli, is arguably the most popular stirfry around.  It’s the first thing that pops in our mind when we pick up the phone to order Chinese take-out, stand in line at Panda Express, or sit down at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  But it’s so easy to make at home, that if you’re a real fan you could make it every day if you wanted to.

The secret to this dish is to use flank steak that is sliced very thin against the grain.  Easy right?

Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb flank steak trimmed of fat and sliced thin against the grain

1 head broccoli cut into small florets

1 onion thinly sliced

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tsp fresh ginger minced

3 tsp minced garlic

2 tbs sesame oil

1/2 cup beef stock

2 tbs cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water

Directions:

Mix soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a bowl.

Add the beef and toss to cover in sauce mixture.

Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Heat sesame oil in wok or large skillet.

Add onions and fry about 1 minute.

Add marinated beef and cook about 2-3 minutes stir in constantly.

Stir in beef stock.

Add broccoli and cook until tender.

Slowly stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce thickens.

Remove from heat and serve with steamed white rice or noodles.

 

Easy Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry - Better Than Take-Out!
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Easy Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry - Better Than Take-Out!
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Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Mix soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a bowl.  
  2. Add the beef and toss to cover in sauce mixture.
  3. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Heat sesame oil in wok or large skillet.
  5. Add onions and fry about 1 minute.
  6. Add marinated beef and cook about 2-3 minutes stir in constantly.
  7. Stir in beef stock.
  8. Add broccoli and cook until tender.
  9. Slowly stir in cornstarch mixture until the sauce thickens.
  10. Remove from heat and serve with steamed white rice or noodles.
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