Korean braised short ribs, or galbi jjim, made with a thinner flanken-style ribs in an Instant Pot for a faster version of the classic dish. This recipe delivers deep flavor in a fraction of the time! Tender beef, hearty vegetables, and a glossy soy garlic sauce come together for an easy, comforting meal perfect for any night of the week.
What is Galbi Jjim?
Galbi jjim is a classic Korean braised short rib dish, traditionally simmered low and slow in a savory soy-based sauce, garlic and vegetables like radish and carrots. It’s often made with large English-cut short ribs that takes time and patience to become tender. The result is tender melt-in-your mouth beef in a rich, slightly sweet and savory sauce. It can be a labor of love and so it’s often served for birthdays or celebrations. You can find a traditional recipe on the blog here
A Faster, Weeknight-Friendly Variation
This version uses thinly sliced flanken-style ribs, commonly found at Korean grocery stores or even places like Costco. They’re also often used for grilled LA galbi. Recently, I had a craving for LA galbi but I wanted something simpler. That’s where these pressure cooker/ instant pot galbi comes! Because flanken style short ribs are thinner, they also absorb the braising sauce more quickly, and come together faster. I still love a traditional galbi jjim but this is great for a quicker meal.
It requires less work than grilling the LA galbi, and less time than braising a traditional galbi jjim.
Meal Prep Friendly
I made a large batch, and kept it in the fridge for days to serve and pack in lunchboxes.
Let me know if you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Instant Pot Galbi Jjim (Korean Braised Short Ribs with Flanken Short Rib) - by Baek Jong
Ingredients
- 1 onion cut into 1-inch pieces
- ½ lb Korean radish about 5 inches of radish (250 g) cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 carrot cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 shiitake mushrooms cut into thirds
- 3 scallions cut into thirds
- 3 spicy peppers optional
- 2 dried red peppers optional
- 400 ml water (1⅓ cup)
- 2 kg flanken short ribs (4.5 lbs) thin cross-cut beef short ribs (typically to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick) sliced across the bone
Sauce
- 180 ml soy sauce (¾ cup)
- 180 ml water (¾ cup)
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp rice syrup or honey
- 90 ml mirin (6 Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic
- ½ Tbsp minced ginger
- 3 scallions chopped
- Black pepper to taste
Finish
- 3 Tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Rinse the ribs and trim excess fat if needed. Soak in cold water for at least 30 minutes (up to 4 hours), changing the water a few times to remove excess blood. No need to do overnight since the ribs are thin. Drain well.
- Make the sauce. In a bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
- Parboil (optional but recommended) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the ribs and simmer for 8 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to remove impurities.
- Add ribs to the Instant Pot along with the onion, radish, carrot, mushrooms, scallions, and optional peppers.
- Pour the sauce over the ribs and vegetables, then add 400 ml (1⅓ cup) water.Seal the lid and cook on High Pressure:* Thin-cut ribs: 15 minutes* Thicker ribs: 18–20 minutes (20 minutes for very tender, fall-off-the-bone texture)
- Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Reduce sauce (optional) Turn on sauté mode and simmer uncovered if you’d like to thicken the sauce.
- Drizzle sesame oil around the pot and gently mix. Serve with a bowl of rice!
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