Instant Pot

Instant Pot Kimchi Beef Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)

by:
June 25, 2021
4
21 Ratings
Instant Pot Kimchi Beef Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)
Photo by Ghazalle Badiozamani
  • Prep time 30 minutes
  • Cook time 15 minutes
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

From Instant Pot Fast & Easy: "I have to thank my friend David for a lot of things in my life—but especially for teaching me how to eat a variety of Korean foods, and how to eat a lot of it from a shared plate while pretending he ate most of it. He introduced me to this spicy, fragrant kimchi stew on a cold, wet, rainy day in New York. I crave this when it rains. It’s also a great use for kimchi that may have been aging gracefully in your fridge for a while." —Urvashi Pitre

Test Kitchen Notes

KIMCHI BEEF STEW (KIMCHI JJIGAE) is excerpted from INSTANT POT FAST & EASY © 2019 by Urvashi Pitre. Photography © 2019 by Ghazalle Badiozamani. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 pound beef (preferably a fatty cut), cut into 2-inch cubes
  • 2 cups prepared kimchi
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onions
  • 1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms or other dried mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon gochugaru (Korean ground red pepper), or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean red chile paste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • Salt
  • 1/2 cup sliced scallions, for serving
  • 8 ounces semi-firm tofu
Directions
  1. In the Instant Pot, combine the beef, kimchi, water, onions, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, gochugaru, gochujang, and sugar.
  2. Secure the lid on the pot. Close the pressure-release valve. Select MANUAL and set the pot at HIGH pressure for 15 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, allow the pot to sit undisturbed until the pressure has released.
  3. Taste and season with salt. Stir in the scallions and the tofu, if desired, and serve.
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  • Sarah Bee
    Sarah Bee
  • Julia Morgan Briggs
    Julia Morgan Briggs
  • Susanna
    Susanna
  • Urvashi Pitre
    Urvashi Pitre
Urvashi Pitre
Dr. Urvashi Pitre is the President of a global marketing consulting firm, as well as the author of several best-selling cookbooks.

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10 Reviews

Sarah B.
Sarah B. August 26, 2022
This is the first recipe I've tried in my mom's old Instant pot. My husband is Korean so we already had a way of making kimchi chiggae but it took around 40-60min and someone stirring. We swapped out the beef for a can of spam, and left out the hot pepper flakes and ginger since our 2 year old would be eating it (she can handle spicy but maybe not THAT spicy); we used whatever soy sauce we had on hand (not dark soy sauce). It turned out great! And now we have a way to use our old kimchi without the hour long haul <3
 
Julia M.
Julia M. January 19, 2021
Quick question: the mushrooms go in dried or do you soak first?
 
maincook
maincook January 11, 2021
This is not an authentic kimchi jjigae. We don’t use beef or half of these ingredients to make kimchi jjigae. Sugar? No way! Soy sauce? Nope. And this author write keto cookbooks? Disappointed that food52 would post an iconic Korean recipe from a non-Korean author.
 
Ares2669
Ares2669 January 8, 2021
I’ve been intrigued by kimchi-jjigae ever since I started making my own kimchi...this recipe made it seem less foreboding than the recipes/videos I’ve seen online. It came out of the pot deliciously, I now have to make more kimchi, and there are full and happy bellies in the house
 
Marteenielala
Marteenielala July 13, 2020
This was a big hit! Great spice kick - it was nice to have the tofu as well. While I'm not vegetarian, I do like to watch my red meat intake so it allowed me to serve myself a bit more tofu and my husband a bit more beef. I too was surprised no browning of the beef - didn't miss it and I used standard stewing beef.
 
Susanna
Susanna December 28, 2019
So the meat here is not browned? And would you suggest chuck, or some other cut?
 
Urvashi P.
Urvashi P. December 28, 2019
That’s correct not browned. Chuck works very well.
 
Susanna
Susanna December 29, 2019
Thank you!
 
Lyrajayne
Lyrajayne January 24, 2019
Quick question - the photo appears to have tofu, which I'm not seeing in the ingredient list. Should that be included?
 
Urvashi P.
Urvashi P. January 24, 2019
hi there! the last line in the methods calls for stirring in Tofu. An 8-oz block will do the trick. I will see about adding it into the ingredients, where it also belongs :)