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Having this for leftovers right now and wanted to sing it’s praises! I’ve made it twice now and have two batches in the freezer prepped for when the baby comes. This is delicious and so versatile. We’ve had it as a bowl, burritos, and now I’m eating over spinach, shredded carrots, and julienned cucumbers. SO GOOD.
Caitlin H Eckert
Hello, lover.
This meat is delicious, juicy, full of flavor, and stupidly easy to make and freeze. Because the only thing better than Korean BBQ Beef is Korean BBQ Beef that you can prep in advance, with easy ingredients, and make in two seconds flat.
This meat is based off of several recipes for bulgogi – it’s not bulgogi, nor is it truly authentically Korean, but it is inspired heavily by those beautiful, umami-sweet flavors. The uses of this Korean beef are varied, but my personal favorites are the mash-ups that include things like food-truck style “burritos” or “tacos” or rice bowls – that sort of thing.
How To Make Freezer Meal Korean Beef
Okay, as with many good freezer meal recipes, this one starts with a quickly blended sauce. Pour that sauce over your meat and freeze it up!
When you’re ready for the magic, pull it out of the freezer and pop it in the Instant Pot! Shred and go.
This is a visual representation of my favorite fusion-style burrito of all time: Korean BBQ Beef, spicy mayo, kimchi or slaw, rice, peanuts, herbs… GAHHH. It’s so good!
Freezer Meal Korean BBQ Beef
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Freezer Meal Korean BBQ Beef – Oh.Em.Gee. garlic ginger beef, kimchi, cilantro, spicy mayo, peanuts… so good!
Ingredients
BLEND INTO SAUCE:
- 1 15-ounce can pears, drained (or 2 fresh pears, cored)
- a 2-inch knob of ginger
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
FREEZE WITH:
- 2 lbs beef chuck or top sirloin, cut into 6–8 pieces
Instructions
INSTANT POT: For beef chuck: From frozen, 65 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes nature release. For top sirloin: From frozen, 45 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes nature release.
SLOW COOKER: From thawed, 3-5 hours on high.
FINAL STEP: Serve in rice bowls or fusion-style burritos or tacos (MY FAVE) with kimchi, rice, slaw, spicy mayo, etc.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 55 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cook
- Cuisine: Korean-Inspired
Keywords: freezer meal korean bbq beef, korean bbq beef, freezer meal beef recipe
View original recipe here.
You might also like our freezer meals post.
I just purchased the ingredients to make 6 of your freezer meals. I made Korean BBQ fusion tacos last night (skillet style) OMG they were fabulous. Like serve to guest fabulous…and you are absolutely correct the spicy mayo is a must. Thank you for such a comprehensive blog, and making my life easier : )
Glad you enjoyed it, Jamie!
Could I heat this on low for 6-8 hours in the slow cooker instead of on high?
Theses look good.However I’m new to the instapot. If you put his in frozen do you need additional liquid or does the sauce thaw and allow the pot to come to pressure? THanks
The sauce will thaw as it comes to pressure!
This was so good and so easy in the instant pot! The only problem I had is that I kept getting the “burn” alert on my instant pot when I put it in frozen so I added water and then the sauce was too diluted and the flavors weren’t as strong. Next time I am going to try putting it on the sautee function until the sauce is more thawed and then pressure cook it.
5 stars for making a very simple, easy recipe that yielded perfectly cooked beef.
Flavor: wasn’t flavorful enough for us, but it wasn’t flavorless or a problem – we just added a drizzle of Korean BBQ sauce. I think this recipe is perfect for flavor sensitive folks. Everyone else can just add more garnish! The meat was excellent.
Garnish: green onions, sesame seeds, Korean BBQ sauce, Sriracha.
Method: instant pot as instructed above, Top Sirloin, served over rice.
Sauce Substitute: ran out of sesame oil, used olive oil instead. Worked just fine.
Sauce note: Used a food processor to blend the sauce ingredients together. Doubled garlic and ginger.
Hi! Do you know how long you would cook this in an instant pot if it wasn’t frozen?
You can reference this post for instructions! https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-korean-beef-tacos
Could I heat this on low for 6-8 hours in the slow cooker instead of on high?
Hi! Do you know how long you would cook this in an instant pot if it wasn’t frozen?
Theses look good.However I’m new to the instapot. If you put his in frozen do you need additional liquid or does the sauce thaw and allow the pot to come to pressure? THanks
hey all!! I’m excited to try this recipe but I’m just confused about the quantities – this freezer version calls for 1/4 cup of each soy sauce and brown sugar when the original non frozen recipe calls for 1/2 cups of each… same goes with the sesame oil, freezer recipe calls for 1tbls where the original recipe only calls for 1 tsp.?!?! Was this a typo or specifically changed because of freezing – I want to make this but I’m not sure which recipe to follow for the best results.
The original recipe says to reserve half the sauce recipe for another day so the freezer meal version would use half the ingredients of the “made fresh” version. Does that make sense?
Having this for leftovers right now and wanted to sing it’s praises! I’ve made it twice now and have two batches in the freezer prepped for when the baby comes. This is delicious and so versatile. We’ve had it as a bowl, burritos, and now I’m eating over spinach, shredded carrots, and julienned cucumbers. SO GOOD.
Do you have a spicy mayo recipe or is their a brand you like to purchase?
We like to make our own! Just some mayo with a little sriracha – add more to taste!
Just curious, do you leave the ginger root whole and leave out after cooking or dice it up to serve with the sauce? Thank you
Hi Erin! You can just blend the ginger root right in with the sauce. 🙂
Thank you! I plan on making a couple batches to freezer prep this weekend. My husband and I are already looking forward to taste testing it. 🙂
Husband was skeptical of this one but it was DELICIOUS. We served ours with roasted broccoli, brown rice, topped with Yum Yum Sauce & sesame seeds. This is a keeper in my opinion and we don’t eat beef that often! Great freezer meal for busy weeknights.
So happy you liked the recipe, Sarah!
So I’ve been eating the leftovers from this meal for the past few days and I swear it keeps getting tastier and tastier. I split this recipe into two freezer bags because I live alone and still got 5 servings out of it! It was so handy to just take it out of the freezer and throw in the instant pot. I’m currently in my third year of vet school and it’s getting busier than ever. I spent 4 hours making a bunch of the freezer meals and they’ve saved me from eating crappy frozen food so many times already! I have the beef ragu, chicken tinga, and lasagna waiting for me in the freezer and I’m so excited for each of them! Thank you for coming up with decently healthy freezer meals that aren’t boring and all taste the same. Your website is the first one that I want to make every single recipe from. Please make a printed cookbook… I’d buy it in a heartbeat!
Such a great feeling having all those freezer meals ready to go! Glad you enjoyed this recipe, Sydney!
If I wanted to make this without freezing it, would the cook time for instant pot need to be reduced?
Hi, Susan! Here are instructions for making this from fresh.
If I have the frozen beef solo, can I throw that in with fresh/room temp sauce and cook in instant pot?
Yep, definitely!
Prepped and froze this korean beef 6 months ago and finally got around to making it this week in the instant pot. It was delicious and we loved it! I omitted the sugar since I prefer things a little less sweet and there were already pears in it. Served over rice drizzled with some spicy sriracha mayo and garlic green beans. SO GOOD!
YUM!
Can I used ground ginger instead of fresh ginger root? If so, what would be the equivalent?
We’d suggest about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of ground ginger.
Quick question. I’m making this in the crockpot tomorrow but does it have to marinate overnight first?
The meat doesn’t need to marinate, but doing so will definitely enhance the flavor!
SO yummy and SO easy! My kids and I love this one. We eat it with rice, the bagged coleslaw mix, cilantro and green onion. I add sriracha to mine. I wouldn’t change a thing. The flavors and textures are spot on.
So so good. We have made this many times, and it always turns out great. Wonderful in a taco, on chips, or in a bowl. We can’t get enough!!
This meal is sooo delicious. I was skeptical because 1) the sauce ingredients seemed odd to me and 2) I’m not usually a fan of beef. BUT my husband and I absolutely love this meal, and it is so easy to put together. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
How can I cook this if I don’t have a slow cooker or instant pot
Hi Nero! This recipe is only made for the slow cooker or Instant Pot since it requires a slow or pressure cook to get it tender and shreddable. So we wouldn’t recommend other methods for this recipe specifically!