Slow Cooker Korean Beef
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Amazingly tender, melt-in-your-mouth Korean beef easily made right in the crockpot – 10 min prep! So easy, so good.
Featured Comment
Korean beef? In a crockpot? Really?
Yes, really! It is packed with the most tender chunks of beef chuck roast that cooks oh-so-perfectly right in your slow cooker, swimming in that gravy-like sauce. And don’t worry. The crockpot is doing all the heavy lifting for you.
All you have to do is gather a handful of pantry staples and throw them right into the slow cooker – beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ginger, Sriracha, onion powder and white pepper. This is that lovely gravy-situation I mentioned.
You’ll want all of this on a bed of rice to sop up every last drop. A side of kimchi + cucumbers is also a very nice-to-have.
Did you miraculously end up with leftovers? Serve with eggs for breakfast or stuff it in tacos, quesadillas, or even a burrito.
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt slow cooker
Slow Cooker Korean Beef: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can follow this recipe here.
This stovetop Korean beef bulgogi is another reader favorite!
You can serve this with white rice or our favorite no-fuss sheet pan fried rice!
Slow Cooker Korean Beef
Ingredients
- 1 cup beef broth
- ½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 3 pound boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ginger, Sriracha, onion powder and white pepper.
- Place chuck roast into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in beef broth mixture until well combined.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Stir in mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Why don’t you have us brown the meat before adding to slow cooker?
Isn’t that the key to getting the most flavour?
All y recipes call for browning of meat whether it be chicken or beef.
There’s just no need for it here! 🙂 But as always, please do what you are most comfortable with. Isn’t that the beauty of home cooking?
Oh, is this bulgogi? I have been craving bulgogi since I left Korea, but am not a cook. But, I do know how to use a slow cooker. So this looks pretty simple, I am excited to try it. Also, do you have a recipe for slow cooker bim bimbap? Bc I would love to try that also. Thanks.
K,
1. This is actually not bulgogi – the flavors are very similar here but bulgogi uses thin sliced boneless sirloin, tenderloin or skirt steak.
2. Unfortunately, I do not have a recipe for slow cooker bibimbap at this time.
Hello! Can I use skirt steak instead? How long do you think I should put it in the slow cooker for?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Thanks for this great dish. I made a low carb variant by removing the sugar, and subbing xanthan gum for corn starch. It was amazing!!!!! We will be revisiting this recipe again.
what is Sriracha??? is it wine, a spice, never heard of it, so please let me know what it is and where can I find it???
Thanks so much……
Linda
onlyme6815@yahoo.com
Sriracha is a type of hot sauce, sold in most grocery stores in the Asian foods section.
Could I use pork instead of beef if I was making it for tacos?
Yes, absolutely.
Instead of sriracha, can i use gochujang?
Yes!
I love most of your recipes, but this didn’t have a whole lot of flavor to me and I followed the recipe to a T. The beef was tender but the sauce was bland.
I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well. However, I understand that we all have different taste preferences, and I really appreciate your honest feedback.
First time reviewer for any recipe and I try a lot. My husband and son loved this, will make it again, big hit – thanks so much!
Like others have commented, this is a delicious recipe and very easy to make! It turned out much better than Asian food I’ve had from take out restaurants in my area.
Question – how are people serving this? I put a ladle of the beef over Basmati rice. Just curious how others are serving this!
Hi,
Can we freeze it?
Thank
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Thanks. I made a half quanity tonight. It was yummy. I replaced the sesame oil with toasted sesame oil, and the Korean sauce with a carribean pepper sauce (because that’s what I had) and black sesame seeds. I served it with basmati rice with a large teaspoon of coconut oil in the cooking water. We loved it, thank you x
What can I use Gojuchang in? I bought it, thinking this recipe called for it, but it does not.
Here are 18 Gochujang Recipes to Give Your Food Some Sweet, Sweet Heat from Bon Appétit Magazine.
I tried this recipe yesterday! It was amazing! So tender and flavorful! This recipe is definitely a keeper I will do it again. Thanks!
I made this yesterday. Nothing beats coming home and walking into an amazing aroma and dinner being done!! After one bite my boyfriend proclaimed it was a keeper!! I served it over jasmine rice.
We enjoyed this recipe, my fiancee devoured it. I want to know if you can use another type of meat for this recipe and cook the same?
I am so glad you and your fiance had a chance to try this! But I’m actually not sure if another kind of meat can be used without further recipe testing. Please use your best judgment.
I used a small pork roast and it was great.
We *love* this recipe. So much so that I am making a triple batch for a big family gathering this week. We add a good two pounds of steamed broccoli right before serving and stir to get it coated in sauce. I’m curious if anyone has tried adding the cubed meat and sauce ingredients to a bag and freezing it? I’m thinking that way I can buy the meat now, cube it, have it marinate in the sauce while thawing, then just dump it in the crockpot to cook. Or maybe just freeze the meat plain and then thaw and add sauce ingredients?
i would like to know if can mix up and freeze
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I would suggest using “dark” sesame seed oil, as that is traditional for Korean food & it has a very different flavour profile. I had a friend who just bought a light/clear sesame oil & it did not have any taste to it at all which would change the entire taste of the dish.
Does this freeze well? Thank you.
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Hi,
I’m excited to try out the recipe but was wondering if it’d be too salty if I used regular soy sauce and not reduced sodium?
Alyssa, it may be best to reduce the amount of soy sauce.
Could I add freshly cut onions to this instead of onion powder?
Yes, absolutely.