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.
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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.
I thought it was about time I commented on this wonderful, wonderful blog.
Chungah, your recipes are delicious. The prep time, ingredients, instructions are so clear and sooo doable.
Thank you for the pleasure your blog brings. Especially to this Family.
Would it work to use cut up stew meat? thank you. Looks delish.
You can certainly try substituting stew meat 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.
Josephine, did you try this with stew meat? I am curious as well. Thanks!
This looks awesome. I can’t eat sugar so do you know if I could substitute the brown sugar with honey or coconut sugar?
You can certainly try substituting honey or coconut sugar 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 but if substitutions must be made, please use your best judgment.
I’m making your recipe as I write this. (June, 2017) It looks so good and already smells yummy. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you.
i used 3 dates in the food processor in the sauce in place of sugar. also didn’t use siracha because of sugar and arrowroot for corn starch to make it whole 30. added peppers onions and shoe string carrots near the end.
Thank you, this looks so good! I’m new to Korean food but LOVE Asian food, so I’m sure I’ll love this as well! One question… Do you eat this over anything, or are there any sides you serve this with to complete your meal? Thanks!
It would be best over rice, brown rice or even quinoa for a healthier touch.
Thanks for publishing this with ingredients -versus the Campbell’s Sauce. I first came across your recipe a few months ago and immediately added it to my plan of the week. But – no Cambell’s Korean Sauce!! They had several others, but not this one. I think it’s been discontinued, because I can’t find it anywhere. So – very very happy to see it with ingredients that I actually have! It looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it! Thanks! 🙂
I have made this recipe and it’s delish. Never use frozen meat- even in a slow-cooker- if you can possibly help it. It’ll never be as tender and delicious as you’d want. I tend to use more ginger- and use the stuff that comes in tubes. It’s a god-send, since ginger always goes bad before I can use it all up. I am not at all a fan of the Campbell’s cooking sauces. The flavors get muddy- plus I hate having a list of ingredients on the label which to my mind are unnecessary. And the simple list offered in the recipe really is perfect and no more daunting than what most (or many) people have anyway. And as far as fresh veg as a go-along, my preference is to steam them separately. That way nothing gets over-cooked and everything is fresh and green- and pepper stay crunchy. I do toast my sesame seeds a little in a small pan before topping. To me, the flavor is better.
Thanks for this great recipe! Great for these cold February days!
Mary, when I find fresh finger I peel all of it & put it through the grater on my food processor. I found these tiny ice cube trays (about a centemeter square) that i put the freshly grated ginger in & pop it into the freezer. Once frozen I put the cubes in a feeezer ziploc bag. It keeps forever but because I pit ginger in everything from hot/iced tea & sodas as well as desserts & all kinds of meals it works great…
Sorry that was for Abbey not Mary…
I discovered that you can freeze fresh ginger. You can grate it right from the freezer and put the remaining right back in the freezer. I find it easier to grate and the flavor is just as bright and full as fresh. Only thing lacking is the juice that comes from grating fresh, but overall the same effect.
What are mini sweet peppers?
They are bite-sized peppers that are sweet to the taste.
My family LOVES Korean food. I would like to try this recipe for a weeknight dinner (though it’s probably good enough for company/weekend dinners). I would love to use my Slow Cooker more often. I am going to try Korean spices and sauces I normally stock in my pantry in place of the Campbell Sweet Korean BBQ sauce. I bet it’s delicious served on red lettuce leaves (like a taco) with some spicy kimchi on top. Thank you for a wonderful idea!
I made this for dinner and my 6 year old loved it. He is a picky eater, so that says alot. I thought it was very tasty. I also served it with white rice but added fried sweet plantains as a side. The meal was a hit. Thanks again for sharing another great recipe.
Any suggestions on how to eat the leftovers another night? Banh mi could be good.
We had a large rack of St Louis spare ribs and decided to marinate them overnight in the Korean sauce. We added an additional 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 TBS of lime juice to help break down the meat, and 1 tsp of minced ginger to reinforce the ginger flavor. I had kaffir lime leaves my freezer so I threw in 1 large leaf. I drained the marinade the next day and boiled the marinade to use as a mop. We cooked the ribs on a rack over a drip pan on a gas grill for 2 hours at 325* – 350*. Every 30 minutes we basted the ribs with the boiled sauce. They were Outstanding.
❤I am making this right now(june 23, 2014)And I started a little late here at 4 p.m but it will def. be worth it. Not sure if my body will like me eating rice at 930 ish but I am in very good shape 🙂 thank you for this recipe! I need to copy this version with fresher ingredients. ❤
I lightly seasoned meat with salt and pepper before I seared it on all sides with olive oil, 1 clove garlic and some of the left over mini bell peppers-its going to be quite awesome I am assured!:) thank you thank you!❤
I just found your wonderful blog and have already worked my printer into demanding rest breaks. 😉
Would this work with pork? I’ve got a lot of pork in the freezer but not a lot of beef.
I’m a retired widow who has all the time in the world to cook. I also have never cooked any Korean food to have a sense of it. With that in mind are there any changes/additions that you could suggest to make this a in the stratosphere recipe? Garlic? Onions? Broccoli?
BTW, I’ve just started learning to use a Slow Cooker and it does some things amazingly well.
Yes, absolutely. This would go great with pork. You can also throw in garlic, onions and other vegetables, to taste.
Esta receta que
voy acer y siento que va a estar muy savrosa
Gracias
I’ve used Campbell’s Korean BBQ sauce mix before with just the roast, and it was good, not great. Just by adding a few simple indigents it took a rather ordinary meal from good to GREAT! The peppers really imparted a great flavor into the meat and the simple garnish of scallions and sesame seeds (I toasted mine) really took this to a new level. Yum! Thanks for the suggestions.
Should the meat be frozen or thawed?
The meat should be thawed.
Making this right now but sadly I don’t think my beef is going to shred very well so I think I’m just gonna cube it! Not sure what went wrong but I’m sure it’ll still be delicious!!
I’d love to help you troubleshoot – did you follow the recipe exactly as is?
You need to cook it longer some roasts are tougher than others and just require a linger cooking time. I cook until I can stick a fork in it and it easily falls apart