Instant Pot Korean Beef Bowls are going to make your life easier and insanely delicious. Sweet, salty, and just a tad spicy beef over a pile of rice topped with the most delightful pickled veggies to ever grace your fork – this is a keeper for sure!
Confession – I've never once ordered a bowl of Korean Beef at a restaurant.
Call me crazy, but life is short, and my weekly bowl of curry from my favorite Thai restaurant is essential to my happiness.
Which means instead of branching out, I simply find out what people love to go out for, then I figure out how to make it at home, and usually add my own little sumpin' sumpin' to it while I'm at it.
Which is how this recipe came to be!
My friend says, “Have you ever ordered the Korean Beef?”
To which I say, “Why would I do that? What if I died tomorrow and didn't eat curry tonight?”
I'm sorry that I can't honestly exclaim, “This Korean Beef is better than any restaurant!” because I have no idea if it compares.
But go ahead and trust me when I say, “Dang, this is one yummy bowl of food – the end.”
WHY YOU WILL LOVE INSTANT POT KOREAN BEEF BOWL
- THE BEEF: So juicy, so tender, and exploding with sweet, tangy, spicy flavor in every bite. You'll be eating it straight from the pot!
- PICKLED VEGGIES: Cold, crunchy, vinegar laced vegetables add the perfect pizazz to every bite. The meat and vegetable combo is surprisingly addictive.
- QUICKIE: Yes, you have some vegetables to chop for the aforementioned pickled veggie heaven, but once you check that off, the meat mixture is a snap to make.
- COLORFUL! I believe no meal is complete until it involves at least 5 colors, preferably 10 – and no kids, Skittles do not count. I mean, come on, these colors just do something to your food brain, right?
HOW TO MAKE KOREAN IN THE PRESSURE COOKER
- Slice the vegetables thin
- Bring vinegar mixture to a simmer
- Pour over the vegetables and cover
- Mince the green onions and make a pile of the dark green parts and the light green/white parts
- Mix together cooking liquids
- Crumble meat into the pot and pour liquid over top; pressure cook
- When cooked, chop up meat with a meat chopper
- Stir in reserved green onions
- Scoop meat onto a pile of rice; devour!
SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR DETAILED COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST KOREAN BEEF BOWL
- USE A MANDOLIN: If you own one, a mandolin makes slicing the vegetables fast, consistent, and perfectly thin. The thinner the vegetables, the more flavorful (and pretty) they will be.
- MIX AND MATCH VEGGIES: Feel free to use what vegetables you have. If it can be eaten raw, slice it thin and throw it in the vinegar mixture.
- TIME = MORE FLAVOR: The vegetables will be mild on the first day. By the fifth day in the fridge, they are really strong (which I love, but some might not).
- SWAP FOR GROUND TURKEY: Lean ground turkey makes a great substitute for the beef.
- MAKE IT LOW CARB: For a low carb version, serve it in lettuce cups instead – this is really pretty too!
HOW TO STORE, REHEAT, AND FREEZE KOREAN BEEF
- Store: Cool leftovers and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to five days. Vegetables can also be refrigerated for up to 5 days – they will become stronger in vinegar taste every day.
- Reheat: Leftovers can be reheated on the stovetop or in a microwave.
- Freeze: Meat can be frozen flat in a ziptop bag for up to 3 months. The vegetables will not freeze well.
MAKE AHEAD TIPS FOR KOREAN BEEF BOWL
- Prepare vegetables in the vinegar mixture up to 3 days in advance. Any earlier than that, the flavor becomes a little overpowering for the beef bowl.
- Meat and cooking liquid can be prepared in the morning and allowed to marinate throughout the day. When it's time to eat, take it straight from the fridge and place it in the pressure cooker base to cook. This makes dinner time really quick!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH KOREAN BEEF
- Instant Pot White Rice
- Instant Pot Brown Rice
- Instant Pot Green Rice
- Lettuce cups
- Steamed vegetables – carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower are really good
- Instant Pot Pasta
VARIATIONS OF KOREAN BEEF BOWL
- Korean Beef on Rice – as pictured here
- Korean Beef on Pasta – Bow tie pasta is my favorite
- Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps – perfect for a party and pretty presentation
If you find yourself in dire need of a cheap, quick, and healthy meal, look no further! I promise this Korean Beef Bowl will have you feeling nourished and happy every single time.
Homemade restaurant food – Life is Good.
MORE INSTANT POT ASIAN RECIPES
- Instant Pot Kung Pao Meatballs
- Instant Pot Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Instant Pot Quinoa Fried Rice
- Instant Pot Easy Moo Shu Pork
TOOLS/INGREDIENTS USED TO MAKE INSTANT POT KOREAN BEEF BOWLS
PrintInstant Pot Korean Beef Bowl
Cheap and cheerful, Instant Pot Korean Beef Bowl with a medley of pickled vegetables. Ready in less than 20 minutes!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients
For the Pickled Vegetables
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 1 seedless english cucumber
- 5 radishes
- 1 jalapeno
- 2 inch knob of ginger, peeled
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
For the Beef
- 6 green onions
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 – 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 pound lean ground beef
For serving – cooked brown or white rice, sesame seeds, Sriracha or chili garlic sauce for extra heat
Instructions
For the Pickled Vegetables
- With a mandolin or a sharp knife, thinly slice the vegetables. For the ginger, I like to thinly slice it into rounds, then slice into thin matchsticks. Be sure and remove seeds from the jalapeno if you don't want it spicy. Place vegetables in a medium size bowl.
- Pour the rice vinegar, water, honey, garlic, and salt into a sauce pan. Over medium high heat, bring it just to a simmer then pour over the vegetables. Add a little extra water if needed to cover the vegetables. Cover the bowl tightly and set aside.
For the Beef
- Finely mince the bundle of green onions. Make a pile of dark green onions and add the light green/white parts to a small bowl.
- Add soy sauce, lime juice, honey, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, chili garlic sauce and fish sauce to the bowl of light green onions, stir well.
- Crumble the beef into the pressure cooker pot. Pour soy sauce mixture over top.
- Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Cook at high pressure for 2 minutes.
- When cooking is complete, use a natural release for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
- With a spoon or meat chopper, crumble the meat to your preferred size.
- Stir in reserved green onions (save some for garnish if desired).
- To serve, put a scoop of rice in a bowl, top with meat mixture, then add a pile of pickled vegetables. Garnish with the reserved green onions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds to make it pretty.
Notes
- Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand for the pickled vegetables. Slice them very thin so they can really soak up the flavor of the pickling liquid. They will last easily 5 days in the fridge, but will become stronger in flavor each day.
- If you prefer ground turkey, that also works well in this recipe.
- For a low carb version, serve the meat mixture in a lettuce wrap.
Keywords: Korean Beef, Instant Pot Easy Dinner, Healthy Asian Food
Made this tonight just as written. It is a keeper for sure!!! Great flavor with just the right amount of spice.
★★★★★
Pamela, I’m so glad you liked it! Did you try it with the pickled veggies?
So excited to try this tonight!! Just a question (potentially silly) – when you say rice vinegar, do you mean SEASONED or UNDEASONED? I always see it labeled like that at the store (though I honestly don’t know the difference…!)
Thanks!!!
Erin, I hope you love it :). I always use unseasoned just because the seasoned has quite a bit of sugar in it.
I made this for the family last night and it was amazing!! Used turkey instead of beef and it had lots of flavor.
★★★★★
We LOVED the Korean beef bowls. And I even added a whole large Serrano pepper to the vegetables. Didn’t have radishes, so I used zucchini instead. Definitely will make this again, and next time I will try it with stew meat – maybe marinate it beforehand. Any suggestion on how long to cook it with stew meat cubed in small pieces instead of hamburger? I also added cilantro to the meat mixture. A keeper, Marci. And for just the two of us, there were leftovers for the next day.
★★★★★
Sunny, yay! I’m so glad you liked it as much as I do! I love the addition of the Serrano, I bet that gave it a great kick. I did a quick search and it looks like stew meat is about a 25-30 minutes cook time. Let me know if you try it that way!
Do you think that thinly sliced top sirloin would work as well as ground beef, or does it need the fat from the ground beef?
Kate, I think that would work great actually. I think I’ll try it next time.