Healthy Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
Try this Healthy Instant Pot Mongolian Beef recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Healthy Instant Pot Mongolian Beef recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 5 slices of long red chili
- 1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1.1 lb / 500 g beef skirt steak or flank steak cut into thin strips
- 3 cloves of garlic grated
- 1/3 cup tamari sauce (regular soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar if you want)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional but i love it)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional but adds a little umami flavo
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour or arrowroot flour (starch)
- 1 medium carrot cut into matchsticks
- 2-3 green onions cut into 1-2†long pieces (green and
- serve with cooked white rice or cauliflower rice
- Carbohydrate 2.31558750120626 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 3.40562500001141 g
- Fiber 0.0202968751116337 g
- Protein 0.021595312531101 g
- Saturated Fat 2.94252250000309 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (132g)
- Sodium 0.203437500243242 mg
- Sugar 2.29529062609463 g
- Trans Fat 0.202392500003637 g
- Calories 38 calories
Step-by-step
- Press the Sauté key on the Instant Pot (it should say Normal, 30 mins). Add coconut oil, ginger and chili and stir through. Add the beef strips and garlic. Cook for a minute, stirring a couple of times.
- Add the rest of the ingredients but not the tapioca, carrots or green onion. Cancel the Sauté function by pressing Keep Warm/Cancel button. Place and lock the lid, make sure the steam releasing handle is pointing to Sealing. Press Manual (High Pressure) and adjust to 12 minutes. After 3 beeps the pressure cooker will start going.
- Once the timer goes off, allow the pressure to release for 2-3 minutes naturally and then use the quick release method before opening the lid.
- Add the carrots and press Sauté key again. Cook together with the beef for 2 more minutes.
- In the meantime, combine ¼ cup hot water with the tapioca or arrowroot starch in a small bowl. I used my fingers to dissolve the starch. Add the green onions to the beef and then add 4 tablespoons of the tapioca slurry liquid. Stir through and turn the pressure cooker off. The sauce will thicken as soon as you stir in the starch. Transfer to a bowl and serve with cooked white rice or cauliflower rice.
Managing Pressure and Heat Retention
Allowing exactly 3 minutes of natural pressure release before initiating the quick release prevents the boiling liquid from aggressively purging moisture from the beef fibers. Skirt steak and flank steak contain tight muscle bundles that tighten violently under sustained high heat. Releasing the pressure too early strips the meat of internal hydration, leaving a dry, stringy texture on the plate. Releasing it too late turns the protein completely mushy as residual heat overcooks the center.
Starch Hydration Mechanics
Dissolving tapioca flour in 1/4 cup of hot water prior to introduction ensures the starch granules hydrate evenly without forming persistent lumps. Tapioca starch gelatinizes at a lower temperature than cornstarch, thickening liquids almost instantaneously upon contact with residual heat. Pouring dry starch directly into the simmering beef juices creates impermeable exterior shells around the powder, trapping powdery pockets inside the sauce instead of building a uniform glaze.
Alternative Thermal Environments
Executing this method without a programmable electric pressure cooker requires a heavy Dutch oven operating at a simmer for approximately 45 minutes to achieve equivalent collagen breakdown. Heavy cast iron distributes flame heat evenly across the base, preventing the coconut sugar and honey from scorching during the initial sear. Monitor the liquid level closely during stovetop conversion, replenishing with small splashes of water if evaporation outpaces reduction.
