This Keto Mongolian Beef is the perfect family friendly, set it and forget it meal for the instant pot or slow cooker. It goes great with cauliflower rice, broccoli or even shirataki noodles.
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If you haven't jumped on the instant pot bandwagon yet ... DO IT! It is seriously a major game-changer when it comes to quick and easy meals. You can do so much with it, and it gets meals ready and on the table faster then any other method I've heard of.
Be sure to check out my Instant pot keto banana bread cheesecake and my low carb creamy chicken taco soup if you are looking for more keto friendly instant pot recipes!
Luckily, if you still aren't convinced - I have also included instructions for cooking this Keto Mongolian Beef in the slow cooker as well (and did I mention that the Instant pot has a slow cooker function as well? 😉 )
A note note about the sweetener ...
This recipe calls for a brown sugar substitute. There are a couple of great options. Lakanto golden and Sukrin gold are both great options and work well in this recipe. If you don't have either of those, you could also just use regular erythritol.
If you use regular erythritol, you will lose a little bit of the flavor. You can make this up by adding about 1 teaspoon of molasses if you don't mind the sugar and carbs (1 teaspoon doesn't add much though).
I've also tried making this with just liquid stevia, but I found it hard to get the taste right.
This recipe can also be easily adapted for paleo dieters.
To do so, simply substitute the soy sauce for coconut aminos - it's as easy as that! I often get questions about using erythritol on a paleo diet. While it is a personal choice I found THIS article really helpful.
I don't personally eat a paleo diet, but if you are uncomfortable with the erythritol, then you could just add some extra stevia or honey if you aren't strictly keto.
Lastly, This recipe can be a little salt heavy. I don't mind because I usually serve this with plain cauliflower rice or broccoli and the flavor balances out nicely. However, if you are sensitive to the sodium or want to eat it plain, you may want to use low sodium soy sauce.
Be sure to check out these other great recipes from This Mom's Menu:
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📖 Recipe
Keto Mongolian Beef | Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 lb flank steak thinly sliced against the grain
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil (any oil suitable for high heat will work fine)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon of dried ground ginger
- ⅔ cup soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes optional
- ½ cup brown sugar substitute (such as sukrin gold)
- 10-20 drops liquid stevia or to taste
- 1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- 2 green onions thinly sliced optional
- 2 teaspoon Sesame Seeds optional
Instructions
For cooking in the instant pot
- Heat the oil in the instant pot on the saute setting on high. (press saute, then adjust then the plus button until the red indicator light moves to 'more)
- Add ½ of the thinly sliced beef and sear a couple of minutes. Remove from the instant pot and repeat with the remaining beef.
- Return all the beef to the instant pot and add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, brown sugar substitute, and about 10 drops of liquid stevia.
- Place the lid on the instant pot, set the steam valve to 'sealing' and set the instant pot to cook for 12 minutes on high pressure using the manual setting. (press 'manual' > 'pressure' to select high pressure > '+ or -' to change the time to 12 minutes)
- Allow the pressure to naturally release, then open the pot and remove the beef, leaving the liquid in the pot. Taste the liquid and add more liquid stevia if desired.
- Stir in the xanthan gum ¼ teaspoon at a time, whisking after each addition to thicken the liquid. Stop when it reaches the desired consistency. You can skip this step but you will have a more liquid sauce. If you opt to thicken it, you will likely not need the entire teaspoon of xanthan gum. I only usually only need ½ of a tsp.
- Return the beef to the pot and stir with the sauce. Serve topped with green onions and sesame seeds.
For the slow cooker:
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the beef cooking for just a few minutes to sear the outside.
- Transfer the beef and any cooking liquid to the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the Garlic, ginger, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, brown sugar substitute, and about 10 drops of liquid stevia.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours or high heat for 2-3 hours.
- When cooking time is complete, remove the beef from the slow cooker leaving the liquid behind.
- Stir in the xanthan gum ¼ teaspoon at a time, whisking after each addition to thicken the liquid. Stop when it reaches the desired consistency. You can skip this step but you will have a more liquid sauce. If you opt to thicken it, you will likely not need the entire teaspoon of xanthan gum. I only usually only need ½ of a tsp.
- Return the beef to the slow cooker and stir with the sauce. Serve topped with green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
Be sure to read the entire post for tips, tricks, and help troubleshooting.
The nutrition information listed here is only an estimate and is simply provided as a courtesy. It nor any other information within this post should constitute medical or nutritional advice. Be sure to read all packaging and ingredient labels for potential allergens. Optional ingredients are not included unless otherwise specified.
Nutrition
Janice says
How can this recipe only have 1 gram carbs per serving when sukrin gold bro sugar alternative has 8 grams carbs for only 2 tsp? This recipe calls for half cup.
Janice D Knapp says
How can recipe have only 1 carb per serving when sukrin gold has 8 carbs per 2 tsp. It calls for half cup. Slow cooker Mongolian beef
Sabra says
The carbs listed in sukrin gold are all from Sugar alcohols, in this case erythritol. Erythritol has no calories, and isn't metabolized like a carbohydrate so it has no effect on blood sugar or ketosis, there for the carbs aren't counted.
You can check out this article for more info: http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/aug/what-are-net-carbs.html
Janice D Knapp says
Thanks so much. I'm new to look carb dieting. Really looking forward to trying this recipe.
Drew says
Tried this but was unable to find the recommended sukrin gold and used a cocanut brown sugar as an alternate. Unfortunately, the cocanut sugar has a much lower melt & burn temp and it caused my IP to change to the "burn" error. Took the entire contents out ot the IP and finished it on the stovetop - Taste was exceptional, and I'll definitely be trying this again once I find the sukrin gold to make it with that.
Steph says
You can find sukrin gold on Amazon. It is where I buy mine
amanda says
anyone ever try this with the Lankanto Monkfruit and erithyotol golden sweetener? Just curious if it would work since that"s what I have on hand.
Sabra says
Hi Amanda! I use Lakanto Golden all the time and it works great. Hope that helps!
KC says
That’s my question, too! I had to sub coconut sugar and When I put this in to MyFitnessPal it comes up with wayyyyyy different nutrition info.
Jodie says
Wonderful! we all loved it! I cant leave a recipe alone so I did add some garam masala, cumin, more garlic and perhaps a few other things. Thank you!
Jazmin says
Hi I was just wondering if this recipe can be done without an instant pot ? And in a regular pan and cook it like that ? Thank you in advance
Sabra says
Hi Jazmine! Yes, I am sure that you could alter this recipe to cook on the stovetop. I would just cook over medium heat or so until the meat is done and tender. If you try it out, let me know how it goes 🙂
Jessica says
When cooking in the instant pot, How long does natural release take on this particular recipe?
Sabra says
It will vary some, but generally about 10-15 minutes
Kristen says
To find a new recipe that the whole family likes (husband and 4 kids) is a great treat! One of my kids said can you make this again soon?! We are not keto so we followed your substitute advice which was so helpful and used 1/2 cup brown sugar and coconut aminos and no stevia. Seriously it was amazing in the pressure cooker. I used Aldi Carne asada meat. Thank you for doing the hard work! I will check out your other recipes!
Sabra says
Thanks for the great review, Kristen! I feel your pain with trying to please so many people 😩
Barb K says
We did enjoy this. I am no Mongolian beef expert. This was definitely too sweet (only 10 drops stevia) and 1/4C sukrin gold. I also seem to be sensitive to too much sodium. It was also too salty with 1/3 C Coconut Aminos and 1/3 C soy sauce. Next time I will just adjust sweetener and use low sodium but it was good and it was tender.
Laura says
Lovely with half the golden Monkfruit and did not use the Stevia drops either (Don't own any). It was very tasty. Thank you for getting me through one more night of family meals done quickly.