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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Made this for the family, it was absolutely delicious! The kids were still talking about “the delicious meat” the next day 🙂
This will definitely be in the dinner rotation. A perfect balance of flavours, not too salty, sweet or spicy.
I only wish there were leftovers. This meat would be amazing in a stir fry, tacos, or a simple shredded beef sandwich.
Thanks for sharing!!
This was really delicious – and I am VERY picky about slow cooker meats. (I find most recipes yield bland, stringy meat) The sauce is very flavorful and the beef was incredibly tender. Side note – I accidentally forgot to add the beef broth and it still worked just fine. We served it with rice (in the rice cooker – making technology work for me – BOOM) and some quickly stir-fried broccoli, snow peas, and carrots to round out the meal. Thank you – this one is going into regular rotation!
Is this a similar sauce to what you’d use for Korean BBQ on a grill? Could you marinade and grill the beef? I’ve been looking for a good, authentic recipe for years!
You can try this recipe instead! 🙂
https://damndelicious.net/2013/09/10/korean-short-ribs/
This sounds delicious! I have all the ingredients on hand except for the Sriracha. I was wondering if I can substitute Go-Chu-Jang sauce for the Sriracha?
I love your recipes.
Thanks!
Yes, absolutely. What a great idea!
Made this today and oh my goodness, it’s not right how good it is, especially with the Uber short prep time. I did prepare mine in a Dutch oven on the stove, low for 3 hours, after a quick browning on med-high and added 1/3 C. thinly sliced onion. I will use the crockpot next time. It really is damn delicious. Thanks!
Hello Chungah!
I am very excited to try and make this recipe for my family! I have already purchased my chuck roast. However, I have one problem I’m hopingyou can help me with- I have someone who cannot have any kind of alcohol. So I’ve been researching a replacement for the rice wine vinegar, and although I know it’s only a small amount and most likely cooks off, I couldn’t in good conscience, serve that w/ dishonesty, you know? So, what I have found so far is the recommendation to use apple juice- do you think this would suffice? I’m sorry to bother you with such a problem, but I appreciate any help or suggestions as I am just learning how to cook. Thank you for you time and kindness, many blessings, Bess
You can actually omit as needed because it is such a small amount. Hope that helps!
This was amazing. I used a little less hot sauce and sesame oil. I added a dash of smoke flavoring too. This was so good and easy to make
Ps– please forgive my typos…. darn Siri!
First & from Foremost I must admit that I absolutely adore your recipes! I made your of changes chicken lettuce wraps for my love today (for lunch) and we both LOVED THEM! Well done!!! I’ve just added the cornstarch to my slow cooker Korean beef and although the smell is lovely, I’m stumped on the flavor! I followed your recipe to a tee and nada… the meat seems flavorless… I’m trying my best to read & re-read the directions to figure out where I went wrong but I can’t come up with an answer? Is there anything I can add (late in the game) to make it more flavorful? The meat is delightfully tender, just lacking flavor… I’m thinking of tossing the beef in hoisin sauce? Thoughts?
I’m not entirely sure! Please do let me know how it turns out.
This was amazing!! Thank you! I’m considering trying a repeat tomorrow with chicken thighs tomorrow. Do you think it will work??
What a great idea! I haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. 🙂
Would love some Back to School lunch ideas! We are gluten free. Loving your blog!!
I made a big batch to eat over the week and it was amazing last night, but when I took it out of the fridge today it was jello. I figured it would melt once i reheated it but it didn’t.
Any clue why it did that and how I can avoid that?
I honestly have no idea – the solids will typically melt completely upon reheating.
This is cooking right now and my house smells delicious!
Hi Chungah, I only have a 4.5 qt. crock pot and am just going to make this with a 2.b chuck roast. Do you think it will fit?
Yes.
I love this recipe! It’s so delicous! Thank you! I made extra of the sauce and have it in a mason jar in my fridge – any idea about how long the sauce will be okay to still use after being in the fridge? A few weeks maybe?
Unfortunately, as I am not an expert on food safety, I cannot answer with certainty. Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with.
This was outstanding!! Thank you so much for sharing!
First recipe I have tried from this site and it was absolutely delicious! My husband loved it! I served it with steamed white rice and Asian style fresh green beans. We would love to use the meat in tacos next time. I was wondering if you have a recipe for a Korean sauce made with the Korean chili paste( Gochujang?) that we could put on our tacos like we get when we buy Korean tacos? Thank you for the delicious recipe!
I actually don’t but I just added it to my culinary bucket list! 🙂
Awesome! 🙂
I use rice vinegar and brown sugar to taste to make a drizzle sauce with go-chu-chang. I find it pops the flavor. My family loves it on many foods! Maybe that helps?
Thank you!
We have made this maybe a dozen times since first discovering your recipe. We often use English Roast as Chuck can be very expensive in our area and enjoy it maybe even more than the chuck. We usually serve it over steamed rice, garnished with toasted sesame seeds, sliced green onion, and cilantro. We have served it to adults and toddlers alike, and the Sriracha has never been spicy for anyone. The sauce does not usually thicken very much when we make it, but it doesn’t matter at all – everyone has always LOVED it. We have shared your recipe (and given you credit! 🙂 with at least three other people. Everyone who has tried it has loved it and my family loves it so much we crave it! Excellent recipe – highly recommended!
Someone made this for me a few days ago and it was seriously one of the best tasting meals I had ever eaten! I have been thinking about it ever since!
I just made this last night and it was a hit with my husband and two picky-eater kids. It went great with steamed broccoli. Also used sirloin b/c it was a better deal than rump roast this week.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
I have just started a collection of keeper recipes to work into a monthly rotation in this will definitely be made each month at our house on one of our busy sports nights.