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.
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reasons to make slow cooker Korean beef
- Set and forget. This is one of those convenient dump-and-go slow cooker recipes where the crockpot is doing all the heavy lifting for you. Simply throw all your ingredients into the slow cooker and let it work its magic.
- Flavorful, fall-apart tender beef. Thanks to the slow cooker, the chuck roast is transformed into the juiciest, most tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef.
- Serve in so many different ways. Korean beef can be served in a myriad of ways – over rice or as sandwiches, tacos or quesadillas.
- Freezer-meal. This is a great recipe to freeze leftovers or meal prep so it is readily available for quick and easy dinners throughout the week.
what is korean beef
Korean beef is typically made with a marinade that consists of soy sauce, sugar, garlic, sesame oil and ginger, commonly served with white rice.
tips and tricks for success
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- The right cut of meat is key here. Chuck roast is ideal for a slow cooker recipe like this due to its high connective tissue and fat – this will yield tender, juicy meat, allowing the flavors to fully develop during its long cook time.
- Add vegetables. Mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers or snow peas can be added during the last 30 min – 1 hour of cook time for a more heartier meal.
- Serve with your favorite grains. White rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa or farro are all great options to sop up every last drop. A side of kimchi and cucumbers is also a very nice-to-have.
- Add garnishes. Garnishes are always optional but a fresh sprinkle of green onions or sesame seeds will certainly take your dish to the next level, adding more flavor, texture and contrast.
more favorited korean recipes
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt slow cooker
Slow Cooker Korean Beef: Frequently Asked Questions
This stovetop Korean beef bulgogi is another reader favorite!
Yes! We have a recipe for that here.
You can serve this with white rice or our favorite no-fuss sheet pan fried rice.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes, Korean beef freezes very well! Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). Label, date and freeze up to 2 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
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.
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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.
Totally delicious, Chungah!!!
I live alone, so I have been eating this all week and am still not tired of it.
My new favorite recipe!
I don’t know if I love you or hate you! (KIDDING!) I had mostly given up cooking after my kids left home.
Your great recipes have changed that!
You have inspired me to enjoy cooking again, even if it’s just for me!
(I don’t hate you!!! You’re awesome!)
I have smelled this cooking all day and cannot wait to eat it. Thanks so much for this recipe!!!
Are the nutritional stats correct? 481 calories and 66 grams of protein? Seems high, or maybe I want to eat 2 servings and am wishful thinking.
Yes, the numbers are correct.
I had pinned your recipe several months ago and at the time you were using the Campbell’s Korean BBQ sauce. Now that I have come back to reference the recipe, I see that you are making the sauce yourself. I was just wondering why you no longer use the Campbell’s sauce? I have a package in my pantry but if it doesn’t taste good then I would rather throw it away. It’s a lot cheaper than wasting the beef and peppers in a dish that isn’t going to be any good.
Rachel, I do love the Campbell’s Korean BBQ sauce but I have had a lot of requests to make this dish from scratch, which is why I have updated the recipe. But you can’t go wrong either way!
This was a great and easy recipe. Thanks!
I don’t think my previous message went through, so…again. I had previously printed this recipe for future use. Well, I made it on the weekend and…OMG it was absolutely amazing. We had family over for dinner and they LOVED it. It is now one of our “favs”. I love your site and have used many of your recipes. Thank you for being such a good cook and for sharing with all of us.
Are you cutting up the meat before adding it to the crockpot?
Yes, that’s exactly right. The ingredients calls for 3 pound boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes.
Hi, I am about 2 hours into cooking this and it already smells great! This is the first time I have seen your website, and I like it.
I couldn’t find onion powder at the shop, so substituted half a shallot, cut fine. And I forgot the white pepper, so used black. Otherwise, I just converted the US measurements and followed the recipe closely, albeit with half measurements as I’m not feeding eight.
I’ll have half tonight, garnished on the plate so I can refrigerate the other half and re-heat, which may make it even better.
Serving it with egg noodles and sugar snap peas.
By the way, in the UK you can get Sriracha at Marks & Spencer. It is shelved in the chilled section by the Oriental ready-meals.
Delicious!
Okay, I have made this dish twice since my first post, and am rather tempted to make it again this week. After translating the measurements, I’d say this could take a little more chilli heat, without becoming particularly spicy for all but the most delicate palate.
Next time, I will use the Sriracha and also a little bit of dried Chipotle pepper, just to see how it turns out. Not an authentic Korean ingredient, but adding a little smokiness to the existing depth of flavour might lead to something good.
Chungah, consider your website well and truly bookmarked!
I accidentally put in the cornstarch and water mixture before letting it cook for 7-8 hours on low. Will that mess up the pot of beef roast?
It should be just fine. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a little bit of water to thin it out.
What if you made a double batch? Would this drastically change the cook time?
You may have to add at least an additional hour but without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. Please use your best judgment.
Can I use already cut-up stew meat for this?
You can certainly try substituting stew meat but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome.
Do you recommend toasted sesame oil or just regular sesame oil?
Either will work just fine.
I’ll be trying this tomorrow. Not sure how it will affect the meal, but I’m mixing all the ingredients (sans cornstarch, sesame seeds and green onions) in a bowl tonight, and then into the fridge. Tomorrow morning I’ll take it out and put it all into the slow cooker. Wondering how much the flavor will be affected, and/or if you’ve ever done the same? Cheers!
Made this today and it was awesome! The beef was tender & the sauce is delicious! Will definitely make this again. I also added a bag of frozen broccoli during the last 10 minutes or so, to sneak in vegetables for my toddler- he loved it!
Wow! This was so flavourful. I love these one pot dinners. I used beef bouillion and it was fine. The family requested I serve it over egg noodles and that made it a very hearty meal. It thickened up beautifully.
It’s funny reading the comments and the recipe changes to pork and they start searing the meat. I will be cooking this Saturday because I work/travel 10 hour days and I don’t want to overcook the meat. I eat a lot of chicken so this will be a nice change.
Chungah,
Where has your site been in the 5 years since I began my love of cooking? I’ve been to those cooking websites where they have 500,000+ recipes and it takes forever to ‘wade’ thru and find something that you know will work just by looking at it.
I joined your site today, and EVERY ONE of your recipes has the look of success. I’m going to try your Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta and Korean BBQ this weekend!
Thanks again, and keep doing what you’re doing!
Ron
Hello, does the ginger flavor come out slot in this recipe? I just want to know if it’s a string taste thank you 😉
A lot * strong * sorry for typos a
I forgot the beef broth 🙁 can I use beef bouillon? I need to cook tonight, because I had beef in fridge since yesterday
You can certainly try substituting beef bouillon but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome.
I did without and used water it came out good! I just starting to cook. So I was worried but the portions were small to me, next time I’ll double it up. Lol. Thank you so much!
No, the ginger taste is not very strong.