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.
Video
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This recipe is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. We make this over and over and it’s a hit every time. I sometimes change it up and add carrots, onions and mushrooms and it turns into a wonderful stew. We toast up some french baguettes and use it to dip into the broth/stew. LOVE!
Been a fan of your recipes for a a good year or so now! Wondering if this recipe would work with ground beef instead of chuck roast? Any idea? I just love the original Korean beef recipe you made, but I would love to make a mass quantity!
Thanks!!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This is so so yummy! I’ve always wanted to get a good Korean beef recipe. This is the best!!!
I’ve made this twice now, once as written and once with chicken breast instead of beef. The first time I made this my husband said he thought it was too greasy. It is great with chicken! Over rice with broccoli, amazing.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was EXCELLENT! I didn’t realize I didn’t have any onion powder at home so I just didn’t use it. Would absolutely recommend! Thank you for providing such an awesome recipe for all to use!
disappointed in this recipe. was very watery, very soupy. I won’t make it again
Sounds like you didn’t use the cornstarch.
Hi!
I love this recipe, thank you so much!
I use Gochujang with the beef instead of sriracha, very tasty!
Greetings from Sammie, the Netherlands
What a great idea!
Usually I see these kind of dishes quickly fried off in woks . So this is interesting, but it looks super yummy!
Made this at least twice…..RAVE REVIEWS!
P.S. The video is interrupted 3 times with ads.
Hi Chungah, Love most of the recipes that I have made. Keep them coming. Is there a Korean name for the slow cooker Korean Beef? Thanks Judy
Yes, it is similar to a Korean entree dish called galbi.
I don’t like the texture of food done in a slow cooker. I adapted this recipe to use my wok instead. I used flank steak instead of chuck and cut it into strips instead of cubes. I also quickly stir fried sliced onion, broccoli fleurets and sweet red peppers. I reduced the amount of beef broth so there was less sauce to reduce. I doubled the amount of sriracha because we like it spicy. Served it over steamed rice. Fantastic and super fast. This is a winner! Thanks for your fantastic blog, Chungah. My partner and I like to try new recipes on the weekend. Nine times out of 10 it is one of yours and we are always excited to try your new recipes!
I keep thinking I can’t love you (and your amazing recipes) any more and then an email with this recipe hits my in-box and voila! I love you more. So excited to try it out, thank you!
Just made this last nite. Huge hit with husband, 3 kids and 2 guests!!! Will keep this easy
recipe in our rotation!!!! thanks for another great recipe!
Made this last night but no onion powder so threw in a shallot and a chilli pepper ( we like quite warm)
I made the sauce the night before combined with beef. Threw it into the dreaded crockpot the next morning (which I only usually use to make yogurt)
Omg this was great, we all loved it soooo now I’m looking at your other slow cooker recipes to try.
Very good, lots of flavour might throw another chilli in next time but this recipe was dee-lish
Thank you
Hello,
I just cooked this recipe today and I followed the directions precisely and I was quite disappointed. It became too spicy for my own taste and it was really hard for me to enjoy. Overall, I give you credit for coming up with the recipe. 🙂
Just made this tonight for my family of 7 and I kid you not the pot was gone in seconds haha! They loved it! Thanks for the amazing recipe !
I am excited to try this meal tonight. It is cooking right now. Is it meant to be pulled after it’s cooked or served cubed. Thanks!
Served cubed.
I just discovered this recipe through Google last week. Wanted to try something new, and the photo of the dish looked SO delicious that I felt I just HAD to try it! I was NOT disappointed, and neither was my husband! It was fabulous!! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe with us. My husband liked it so much, he wants a “repeat performance” of it, and soon! Again, thank you!
Looks amazing!
Question: Can this also be done with store bought bulgogi marinade? As I have several bottles kicking around, I’d like to use them up if possible.
Would you be able to suggest a method, should I use the store-bought sauce?
Many thanks!
Yes, you can use store-bought marinade.
Thank you for this delicious recipe! I’ve loved Korean bbq for years, but struggled to find recipes I felt comfortable attempting. I made this Sunday night and could it not stop eating it…. I can’t wait to try it again!
I did make some slight modifications – I marinated the meat overnight and extended the cooking by 1.5 hours on low to make the melt even more tender. The resulting short ribs were produced a good amount of liquid from which I had to spoon out extra fat from the top, revealing the incredible sweet/savory sauce that the ribs cooked in YUM, YUM, YUM!
I look forward to following more of your recipes!