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This Instant Pot Paleo Mongolian Beef is made gluten-free, soy-free, paleo-friendly, low carb, and whole30-compliant! It’s a perfect healthier version of the classic take out dish that everybody will love.
Paleo Mongolian Beef (Instant Pot)
Recreating classic take-out dishes that taste *just* like the real thing is a favorite here at LCK. If you’ve tried our chicken and broccoli, pad thai, or slow cooker Asian beef, you know we mean business. This Instant Pot Paleo Mongolian Beef is a dinner must-make! Made with tender, flavorful beef in a perfect sauce and served with cauliflower rice and delicious veggies. I also love that I can feel good about the ingredients going into this sauce! No need for take-out, this classic Chinese American dish is made healthier and quick here.
What kind of meat do you use to make Mongolian beef?
Flank steak is typically used, but you can use sirloin, too!
If you like this Instant Pot recipe, try these recipes:
- Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
- Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli
- Instant Pot Taco Meat
- Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
Video:
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef (Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank steak cut into 1/4-inch thick pieces against the grain
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot or tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoons butter or avocado oil
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 3 garlic cloves minced (divided)
- 3 teaspoons ginger grated (divided)
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil divided
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 medjool dates pitted and finely chopped*
Sautéed Vegetables:
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 green bell pepper sliced
- 2 carrots cut into match sticks
- 2 cups napa cabbage thickly sliced
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Garnishes:
- 1 bunch green onion for garnish
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seed for garnish
Instructions
- Toss flank steak with arrowroot powder.
- Set Instant Pot to saute and when hot, add 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Brown flank steak, in 2-3 batches.
- In separate bowl combine coconut aminos, beef broth, 2 teaspoons garlic, 2 teaspoons ginger, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, fish sauce, dates and pour over beef.
- Set Instant Pot on manual high pressure for 12 minutes.
- While beef cooks heat a large skillet over high heat.
- Once hot, add oil and then add 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon ginger, peppers, carrots and cabbage. Sauté until vegetables are soft and fragrant 5-7 minutes.
- Once soft, add 1 teaspoon sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and salt and pepper and remove to serving platter.
- When beef is finished, turn the knob to quick release.
- Top with optional garnish and serve with vegetables.
Notes
- *Can sub out 2 tablespoons of honey or coconut sugar if you don't want to use dates. Dates make it Whole30-Compliant.
- Want your sauce even thicker? At the end, add a slurry: 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour and 1 tablespoon water. Whisk together then add to the pot after step 9. Mix and let thicken.
- When browning your meat, if it's very thin, it may stick a little, that's okay!
Love this so much! Could I use bok choy instead of Napa cabbage?
you could – it won’t be quite the same flavor with bok choy, but its certainly a good option.
I’m new to using an instant pot and was wondering if you could just combine the veggies and the beef recipe so you don’t have to cook both separately?
We’d be afraid the veggies would overcook by the time the beef is done, which is why we’ve left it separate.
I made your Thai peanut recipe and it was delish so I figured I’d try another. This one is fabulous too! You are my new favorite food blogger! I want to try them all!!!!
Can I substitute the fresh veggies with frozen stir fry veggies?
We haven’t tried but I’m guessing it would work ok! Let us know how it goes.
I made this with chicken thighs and it was amazing. I omitted the sugar/dates and the sauce was still really good. I made it a second time with beef and unfortunately the beef over cooked. I used a different cut and different amount of beef so that definitely could be why.
if doubling the recipe how long would you suggest to cook for? Looks amazing!!!
Can you double the recipe? I have a 6qt IP.
Yes.
I don’t have dates on hand. Any idea if coconut sugar would work as a substitute?
This dish was AMAZING to the point that next time, I need to double the recipe because the family (2 kids/2 adults) scraped their plates clean asking if there was more! I made a few modifications to the recipe, mainly I substituted the dates with the honey as recommended and added an extra clove of garlic to the sauce because you can NEVER have enough garlic. I added some red pepper flakes to give it a little kick and it was a nice touch for the sweet, savory and slightly spicy! A little trick I’ve learned with Instantpot is to pay attention when you sauté something. Due to the domed shape of the bottom of the Instantpot, the oil has a tendency to collect around the sides and not in the middle. Anything you are browning, flank steak in this case, will certainly stick. I added an extra teaspoon of oil and placed the steak around the edges in the oil directly to coat it and then moved it to the middle so it would stick less. Don’t worry if it does stick a little because it will cook and add to the flavoring when you add the rest of the sauce mixture after you’ve browned all of the steak. This is a tasty do-over recipe for sure!!!
Starting back on a Whole30 and this dish was proof again that Whole30 cooking is delicious. I had to substitute a few items but I think the dish flavor remained similar. My only complaint is that I didn’t double the recipe and there were no leftovers.
This was a huge success tonight for diner! The hubby and all three kids loved it. It’s a keeper for us! Thank you!
I’m always nervous to re-create a take-out dish, even more so in a healthy version, but this recipe NAILS IT! I did white rice instead of Cauliflower, but the rest of the dish was packed full of flavor! We were able to get three serving out of this (Two for our dinners and one left over for lunch- SCORE!)
I am new to Instant Pot, so I always browse your site for those recipes! But really, we love turning to your site daily for any recipes! Thanks for all you do!
YAY!