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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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
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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If you cannot find Sriracha then look for Sombal Oelek. It’s the same thing…garlic chili paste.
Love this recipe!!! Think I am going to prepare it in the early morning so the grown nephew picky eater doesn’t see me doing it LOL Quick question, the meat looks lusciously brown, should we brown the roast (takes 5 minutes) before cubing? BTW, I’m down in Orange County, waving Hi neighbor 🙂
Hi neighbor! There is actually no need to sear the meat prior to adding to the slow cooker – it will become “lusciously brown” on its own.
Thank you for this recipe Chungah, Looks great!
So hungry right now, I can’t wait to try this.
Yay!! Looks yummy. I’m a great great fan of korean food. Thanks for the great recipe, I can’t wait to try this.
This recipe was delicious! My daughters (3 and 5) loved it and my husband, after licking his plate, insisted this meal make our weekly rotation. I served it over rice, but next time will try quinoa. Polenta maybe? Thank you for a delicious and super easy meal! Mom approved!
I love anything slow cooker style. Especially meat that you can use for stir frys, tacos etc. I am definitely gonna try this!
Would your shrimp fried rice, minus the shrimp be a good accompaniment to this beef or would plain rice be better? Also, how do you serve this with tacos? Thanks.
I recommend serving with plain rice to have a nice neutral base. You can also make tacos with the leftovers along with some onions, cilantro and/or salsa (although the topping choices are really up to you).
The cut of meat unfortunately was $17. Too much money.
What else can I use?
You can certainly try using a different cut of meat but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. This can also result in a mediocre outcome. Also, please note that although the cut of meat is $17, this recipe serves 8, which is equivalent to $2.13 per person.
Hi,
I would love to make this korean beef in my crockpot! But because I´m from germany, I have to ask you: Does “reduced sodium soy sauce” means, that you have reduced the liquid on the stove to thicken it, or is it a “reduced sodium” soy sauce?
Thank you for your help!
Daniela
It refers to the latter – “reduced sodium”.
Thank you!
What would you say the serving size is? 1 cup? Thank you!!
Yes, 1 serving should be more than sufficient.
I like how you have your steps in a quick print ready section. Also like how you use your own personal pictures with every meal you make. Also like how you separate prep time from cook time differentiating from the two. Lastly I like how you included other options and the nutritional benefits from this awesome meal! Can’t wait to see what you prepare next!
I bought all the ingredients and plan to make today. Question – is there a lot of fat in the sauce? Just wondering if I will need to drain that off before eating? I bought pea pods for the side dish. Can’t wait. Thanks
No, there is not too much fat in this recipe, but please drain if needed to fit your desired preferences.
Since I don’t own a grill right now, is it possible to use the oven broiler or fry in a skillet?
Yes, you can cook the Korean short ribs in a skillet.
Thank you!
Hi:
My hubby loves Korean food, actually Kalbi..do you have a recipe I can use that can be cooked in the oven broiler or fried?
Also, do you have any cook books? I would certainly get them all..
Thank you for your great recipes!
Lisa, here is a recipe for Korean short ribs that can be grilled: https://damndelicious.net/2013/09/10/korean-short-ribs/.
This looks amazing! I love me some crockpot recipes and can’t wait to try this one! PINNED!
Just finished putting this in the crockpot – and can hardly wait to try it. Perfect for our first icy day in North Texas. Think I will put it over Jasmine rice, yum.
I found this way too sweet for my taste. I ended up adding a half recipe of the sauce with no sugar and increased the rice wine vinegar. Next time I make it I will only do a 1/4th of the brown sugar. The Sriracha is perfect in this, just the right amount of heat.
Linda, thank you for trying my recipe! As for the sweetness, traditional Korean beef tends to be on the sweeter side so please reduce the amount of sugar as needed.
This, like most of your Korean dishes, looks great. I don’t own a crock pot or slow cooker…could you recommend how to do it in my trust old cast iron Le Cruset?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot advise on how to adapt this recipe without a slow cooker. However, here is an article worth checking out on a possible conversion guide from Williams-Sonoma: http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/slow-cooker-vs-dutch-oven-a-conversion-guide/.
I’m doing this in my le Creuset right now. I put it in at 325 for 1hr 45 min, and then I’ll have a look. I also used stew meat because I couldn’t find a chuck roast anywhere, which was disappointing, but my grocer recommended stewing beef as a substitute. Other than that I’m following everything exactly.
This recipe is so great for those cheaper, tougher cuts of meat, like Chuck Roast! I bought a family pack of the stuff and despaired of finding a recipe that would bring some tenderness and flavor out of what we call Tough Roast around here. This recipe was soooo yummy, making a complex sauce that was not too sweet, and the meat was fall-apart tender. Amazing! Thank you so much for your wonderful blog and recipes! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
This recipe looks amazingly delicious! Now I know you don’t mention this in the recipe, but is there any advantage to browning the meat before adding it to the slow cooker? I’m also curious to know if you recommend a certain brand of soy sauce. I find some of them have different flavors.
By searing the meat first, the meat develops a lot more complex flavors. As for the soy sauce, I prefer to use Kikkoman but I have also used Trader Joe’s Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce and loved it as well.