Name: Korean Inspired Instant Pot Ragu
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients: 1/2 cup beef broth/stock; 1/3 cup soy sauce; 3 tbsp brown sugar; 2 tsp mirin; 2 tbsp Gochujang (고추장, aka hot pepper paste); 1 tbsp Doenjang (된장, aka Soybean paste); 5 cloves garlic; 2 cups onion; 2.5 lbs beef chuck roast; 1 pinch salt; 1 tbsp cornstarch (mixed with 1 tbsp water to make a cornstarch slurry)

Jump to Recipe

Everyone will demand you make it again and again after the first time you make this ragu! Step aside regular ragu for this tender and flavour packed Korean Inspired Instant Pot Ragu.

Korean Inspired Instant Pot Beef Ragu

Who doesn’t love a big warm plate of beef ragu? Well you’re in for a delicious meal with this Korean inspired beef ragu in the Instant Pot! It is saucy, tangy, tender, and the best part is all you have to do is dump everything in! That’s right, I skipped the browning. Similar and less spicy than my Korean Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs, this beef ragu is a dump and go recipe, so you can get dinner started quickly.

Note: for this Instant Pot beef ragu, I skipped adding in an asian pear. While asian pear does wonders for tenderizing meat in Korean recipes, I understand that not everyone can find asian pear year round like I can and unlike the other ingredients, you can’t just order it off Amazon! So I developed the ragu recipe without the pear. But don’t worry, the beef is still tender thanks to the Instant Pot! The Instant Pot is amazing at making a cheaper and tougher cut of meat into a melt-in-your-mouth dish. But for reals though, this recipe is the bomb dot com, I pretty sure I made H a little sad when I showed him what I was testing and he was a plane ride away from this ragu.

What You’ll Need To Make this Korean Inspired Instant Pot Ragu

beef broth/stock
soy sauce
brown sugar
mirin
Gochujang (고추장), aka hot pepper paste
Doenjang (된장), aka Soybean paste
garlic
onion
beef chuck roast
salt
cornstarch

How To Make this Korean Inspired Instant Pot Ragu

In your Instant Pot, put in your beef broth/stock, soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, Gochujang, and Doenjang. Give them a stir so they’re mixed together. Then add in garlic and onions.
Next, cut your beef chuck into 3 to 4 pieces and place them inside the Instant Pot. Give them a flip or two so they’re coated with the mixture before adding a pinch of salt on top and sealing the lid.
Set your Instant Pot on Manual for 50 minutes. It’ll take 9-10 minutes to come up to pressure so don’t worry if it takes a while.
When done, let the pot release pressure naturally (NPR) for 30 minutes. This should release most if not all of the pressure. If the pin is still up after 30 minutes, quick release the rest.
Remove your beef and pour in a cornstarch slurry (1:1 cornstarch:water), and set the pot on sauté mode for 5-10 minutes for the sauce to thicken to your liking.
While the sauce is thickening, shred your beef. Add it back into the pot once your sauce is ready, making sure to coat all of the meat.

Tips and Notes on Making This Instant Pot Ragu

This recipe has only been testing in a 6 QT Instant Pot. If you have a larger or small Instant Pot, you may have to adjust the amount of ingredients/liquids and cook time.
If you want to kick up the spice on this, add more Gochujang.
Make this ragu into a freezer friendly make ahead meal: in a large ziploc or freezer friendly bag, put everything in minus the cornstarch, and freeze! Then let it defrost overnight when you’re ready to cook.

Ways to Serve This Beef Ragu

This Korean inspired Instant Pot Beef Ragu is so versatile, here are some delicious ways to eat it:

Over egg noodles / pappardelle noodles.
Over zoodles such as zucchini or spaghetti squash
Over polenta or mash potatoes or rice
On top of a baked potato
On top of a plate of nachos
In a lettuce wrap or cup