This streamlined recipe for Instant Pot Bulgogi is perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. It tastes great in bibimbap served on a bed of rice. Add sauteed vegetables, pickled carrots, Kimchi, and a fried egg for extra flavor. You can also use the Instant Pot Korean beef to make Korean tacos.
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Bulgogi is my go-to recipe for a quick, satisfying dinner with sweet and savory flavors. This Korean beef Instant Pot recipe blends the rich flavors of traditional beef bulgogi with the ease of pressure cooking.
Cook the beef in the Instant Pot with a sauce that adds bold flavor and a hint of sweetness.
You can use the flavorful Korean beef in a bibimbap rice bowl or Korean tacos. My family loves this recipe, and I think you will too! You may also like my Instant Pot Korean chicken recipe that’s equally popular.
➡ If you like this recipe, you’ll love some of my other Asian favorites like Beef Rendang, Instant Pot Char Siu, Instant Pot Asian Pulled Pork or Instant Pot Thai Grilled Chicken.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients You’ll Need for Instant Pot Beef Bulgogi
💡Recipe and Ingredient Tips
When I first started making Instant Pot bulgogi, I experimented with different cuts of meat and ingredients. Over time, I found a few tips and tricks.
🥩 Meat: Use tougher cuts like stew meat, rump roast, shoulder, or chuck roast for the Instant Pot. Trim the fat and cut into strips or cubes.
- For convenience, buy pre-cut stew meat and slice it thinner.
- Pro tip: Freeze the meat for 20-30 minutes to make slicing easier.
- You can also use a larger roast and shred it after cooking. For a 3 lb roast, cook for 60 minutes; smaller pieces require less time.
🍐 Asian Pears: Traditional bulgogi marinade uses Asian pears. If available, use them instead of apples. Fuji or Honeycrisp apples work well as substitutes.
🍶 Mirin: A sweet Japanese rice wine that adds tangy flavor. If you don’t have it, look for ‘Aji Mirin’ at the store, a similar product.
💧 Liquid: No extra liquid is needed since the marinade releases enough during cooking. Marinate the beef overnight for the best flavor.
🥘 Thickening the Sauce: After cooking, thicken the sauce with a cornstarch-water mixture. For drier beef, follow these steps:
- Transfer the beef to a frying pan with a slotted spoon.
- Sauté over medium heat, adding two tablespoons of sauce until it evaporates.
- Add more sauce, two tablespoons at a time, until the beef caramelizes. Use up to 8 tablespoons total.
- Thicken the remaining sauce and serve it on the side.
🌶 Gochujang: A sweet and spicy Korean chili paste that adds fantastic flavor. Find it at most grocery stores or online.
- It comes as a sauce or a paste. Use the paste for this recipe, or the sauce if you prefer milder heat.
- For extra spice, add more gochujang or red pepper flakes.
🍚 Bibimbap: To make bibimbap, layer Instant Pot Jasmine or brown rice in a bowl and top with the bulgogi and your choice of:
- Sautéed veggies (e.g., spinach, cucumbers, radish, cabbage, eggplant) with soy sauce and garlic. Sometimes, I use baby bok choy instead, though it’s not traditional.
- Kimchi
- Pickled daikon and carrots or pickled cucumbers
- Fried or soft-boiled egg
- Sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds
- Drizzle the reserved sauce over the top for extra flavor.
🌮 Tacos: Make Korean beef tacos by adding beef and any of the bibimbap toppings to a tortilla. You can also wrap the ingredients in lettuce for a lighter option.
❓FAQs
Double all ingredients but keep the cooking time. Make sure the beef is cut into small pieces as the recipe says.
Gochujang is a Korean chili paste that is spicy and sweet. If you can’t find gochujang at your grocery store, it should be available at a local Asian market or online. If you need a substitute, you can make your own substitute following this recipe.
In a pinch, make a mix of red pepper flakes, soy sauce and brown sugar and substitute it for the gochujang.
Yes, the beef and marinade are added to the inner pot and that is what allows the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
Marinating the beef for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, is best. But if you don’t have the time, you can still make the recipe and it’ll taste good!
I prefer to use more fatty cuts of beef because the Instant Pot does a great job of cooking those cuts. However, if you choose to use a lean cut, you’ll need to reduce the cook time.
Another option is to make ground beef. Saute the beef first and pressure cook for 5 minutes on high pressure.
To make shredded beef, cut the beef chuck into large chunks (about 3-inch pieces) and pressure cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Remove the beef and shred while the sauce is being reduced in Saute mode.
I have a gochujang chicken recipe that is delicious, which you may want to try out.
If your Instant Pot is prone to getting the burn message, add ¼ cup of beef broth or water to the beef and marinade before pressure cooking. Also make sure to deglaze the Instant Pot so that no brown bits are stuck to the bottom of the pot before you pressure cook.
How to Make Beef Bulgogi
⏲️ Instant Pot Method
- Marinate beef and saute onions
- Pressure cook and release pressure
- Thicken sauce
- In a mini blender or food processor, combine ginger, garlic, apple, gochujang, brown sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, and mirin into a very smooth sauce.
- Marinate the beef in the sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to (preferably) overnight.
- Turn on Saute mode. Saute onions in vegetable oil till golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 10:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a full natural release of pressure. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened.
- Stir the beef and sauce.
- To thicken, stir in a mixture of corn starch and water, and heat through on Saute mode until thickened. Serve with rice and veggies.
➡ Another delicious beef recipe is my Instant Pot beef curry made with coconut milk, or Instant Pot lamb curry (that can be made with beef) which are must-try recipes!
♨️ Stovetop Method
- Make the marinade.
- Marinate the beef (use a lean cut, such as sirloin, sliced thinly).
- In a large skillet, working in batches, saute the beef until cooked.
- Serve beef over rice with vegetables and sides.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Instant Pot Korean Beef
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon ginger coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoon garlic coarsely chopped
- ½ cup Fuji apple or Asian pear peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoon gochujang paste
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ¼ cup soy sauce substitute coconut aminos for gluten free
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 2 lbs Beef chuck cut into thin strips, 1-½ inches long (1 kg). For stovetop version, use a lean cut of beef such as sirloin or ribeye steak. [See Note 1]
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ¼ cup onion chopped or thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (omit for stovetop version)
- 2 tablespoon water (omit for stovetop version)
Your choice of sides:
- Spinach, zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage or eggplant sauteed with soy sauce and garlic
- Pickled julienned carrots
- Bean sprouts
- Pickled daikon and carrots julienned
- Cucumber thinly sliced
- Kimchi
- Korean seaweed
- Eggs sunny side up or soft boiled
- Green onions thinly sliced
- sesame seeds toasted
Instructions
- In a mini blender or food processor, blend the ginger, garlic, apple, gochujang, brown sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce and Mirin into a smooth paste. Marinate the beef in the sauce for 2 hours or preferably overnight.
Instant Pot Instructions (with Beef Chuck or Stew Meat)
- Select Saute mode and when Instant Pot has heated, add oil to inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Add onions and stir till golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add marinated beef to the onions and stir well.
- Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook for 10 minutes on High Pressure.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally (NPR). [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods].
- Open the Instant Pot.
- Whisk together cornstarch and water to form a smooth mixture.
- In Saute mode, bring the beef and sauce to a boil. [See Note 2]
- Add the cornstarch mixture, and stir constantly, until sauce has thickened.
Stovetop Instructions (with Lean Beef)
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add oil.
- Once the oil is shimmering, saute the beef in batches. Don't overcrowd the pan, or the meat will boil, rather than saute. Cook until the steak is cooked through, for about 5 to 6 minutes. Add more oil, as needed, for subsequent batches.
To Serve:
- Place 1 cup (or more) cooked Jasmine rice in a bowl.
- Carefully arrange beef and sides (side-by-side) in the bowl.
- Sprinkle with thinly sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. chopped onions, minced garlic, diced chicken, etc.
- Note 1: The Instant Pot is more suited for fattier cuts of beef, such as beef chuck. To make the recipe on the stovetop, use a leaner cut such as sirloin or ribeye steak. You can also use flank steak, which is a more economical choice.
- Note 2: For a drier Instant Pot beef dish with sauce on the side, remove the cooked beef and saute in a skillet, adding a few tablespoons of the sauce until the beef is caramelized but not dried out. Thicken the remaining sauce with the cornstarch and drizzle it on top of the dish or serve on the side.
- Reduce the quantity of Gochujang for a milder dish.
- Optional: drizzle spicy mayo over the top.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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✅ Why Trust Neena at Paint the Kitchen Red?
I’m Neena, and I have a lifetime of experience working with pressure cookers. I know how to maximize the potential of a pressure cooker to consistently produce delicious and easy meals. With my Instant Pot expertise, I can provide valuable insights, troubleshooting advice, and innovative recipe ideas so you can trust me on all things Instant Pot!
➡ New to the Instant Pot? Get my Instant Pot instructions for beginners.
Kim says
Made this for a family gathering and everyone loved it, even the finicky kids. I’ve made it 3 more times since then and it always goes fast!!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you Kim! I love it when people tell me that their kids like my recipes because I do know how picky kids can be!
Beth says
So very very good. My 17 year old declared it a favorite!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Love it when the family is pleased! Thanks for your comment, Beth.
Allison says
Made this tonight with my new instant pot and oh my god is this delicious! I can’t wait to make this for my family. It came out perfectly!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Allison, this is a newer recipe that people like you are just discovering, and I’m so glad because I love it and want others to enjoy it! Thank you for your nice comment!
Deb says
What can you sub for the gochujang and the mirin? Mirin I might be able to find but I’d have no clue on the first one.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Deb, are you in the US? You might be able to find gochujang in the Asian section of your grocery store – it’s become quite popular. Gochujang has a spicy sweet flavor, so I would substitute red pepper flakes, soy sauce and sugar. Pepperscale.com might help you. The mirin has a sour sweet flavor. I would add a dash of white wine. Cooking Light has some ideas for substitutes. Both items are also available online on amazon and other online groceries. Hope you enjoy the recipe and thanks for your question.
Mike says
When adding the beef to the IP, are you also adding the leftover marinade?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Mike, yes all the marinade is added with the beef. That takes care of the liquid to come to pressure. Thanks for your question!
Julie says
I tried your recipe tonight and it was very, very good ! My picky eater even took a second helping !! However, I made a few changes : granny smith apple since that was all I had and chili garlic sauce instead of gochujang. And I marinated only for 30 minutes because I had already started and had not read the entire recipe 🙂 Can’t wait to try it again with the gochujang paste !!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Julie – that’s great, I’m glad you liked it! Yes, it will be a different taste with the gochujang – slightly sweeter, possibly spicier.
Kit says
No leftovers on this one. Left out the onions and used an Asian pear. The sauce blended perfectly in my Magic Bullet. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks Kit, for taking the time to comment and rate the recipe – it’s always nice for others to have that information before they try a recipe out! It really is such a simple and easy recipe if you get past the fact you need to blend the ingredients: blend, marinate and pressure cook!
Dawn Hoffman says
This was so good, so fast and so easy. My family loved it. Thanks Neena
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you for commenting, Dawn – I’m glad you got to try it out! It is easy right? Just blend the ingredients and pressure cook!