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For a new slow cooking recipe, try this Slow Cooker Korean Beef recipe simmered in a savory sauce to make the best and most delicious Korean beef served over rice and topped with sesame seeds.
For this easy slow cooker version of Korean tender beef, you won’t need beef broth or brown sugar to make flavorful beef. Plus, when you are making a crock pot recipe you can make this dinner recipe with minimal effort and still get a great recipe the whole family will love.
So, if you are looking for a juicy beef recipe, make this one up, and enjoy the delicious recipe after a hard day’s work for a great way to end the day.
Recipe Ingredients:
- Oil: you will need sesame oil (olive oil or vegetable oil will work in a pinch) and toasted sesame oil
- Meat: for the best results get beef flank steak from your local butcher and slice it against the grain
- Seasonings: you will use kosher salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, ground ginger, and red pepper flakes
- Onion: use fresh scallions (or green onions) and chop it so the whites and greens are divided
- Sauce: choose your favorite soy sauce to use
- Honey: use whichever honey you have on hand, whether it is raw honey or not it will work great
- Vinegar: for most Korean dishes you will use rice wine vinegar
- Thickener: you will need to use cornstarch to thicken the delicious sauce
- Optional topping: just a little more flavor and texture, you can top Korean beef bowls with sesame seeds for garnish
How To Make Slow Cooker Korean Beef:
- Sear the steak. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper, and saute until caramelized. Add the whites of the scallions and saute for 30 more seconds. Turn off the heat.
- Make the sauce. Whisk together the sauce ingredients, soy sauce, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, toasted sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ground ginger, and red pepper flakes.
- Load the crock pot. Add the beef to the basin of your crock pot and pour the sauce over it. Stir until the meat is thoroughly coated in the sauce.
- Slow cook. Seal the crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours.
- Thicken the sauce. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef to a large mixing bowl. Pour the juices in the crock pot into a saucepan. In a small bowl, whisk together ¼ of the sauce with the cornstarch until you get a smooth cornstarch slurry. Pour that into the rest of the sauce. Cook the sauce over medium-high heat, stirring consistently, until thickened.
- Put it all together. Pour the sauce over the beef and toss to coat.
- Serve. Serve over rice garnished with the greens of the scallions.
Expert tips for making this easy crockpot dinner recipe:
How to serve slow cooker Korean beef:
- Over rice (brown rice, white rice, and cauliflower rice will work)
- Korean beef tacos on flour tortillas
- In a lettuce wrap
Toppings for Korean beef
- Sesame seeds
- Sliced green onions
- Gochujang sauce (to make it a little spicier)
Storage Instructions:
- Fridge: Place leftover Korean beef in an airtight container and store it for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: After reaching room temperature, place in a freezer-safe bag and store it for up to 3 months.
Explore More Delicious Beef Dinner Ideas
Whether you want to cook your beef in the Instant Pot, slow cooker, or traditional oven roasting, we have got you covered. Check out our comprehensive collection of beef recipes here.
- Slow Cooker Beef Sirloin Tips and Gravy Recipe
- Creamy Ground Beef and Macaroni Tomato Soup Recipe
- Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon Recipe
- Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa (Chipotle Copycat Recipe)
Slow Cooker Korean Beef
This Slow Cooker Korean Beef recipe is simmered in a savory sauce to make the best and most delicious Korean beef served over rice and topped with sesame seeds.
Serving servings
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Tablespoons refined sesame oil, olive oil or vegetable oil will work in a pinch
- 2 pounds beef flank steak, sliced against the grain
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 scallions, chopped (whites and greens divided)
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- 3 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Sear the steak. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper, and saute until caramelized. Add the whites of the scallions and saute for 30 more seconds. Turn off the heat.
- Make the sauce. Whisk together the soy sauce, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, toasted sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ground ginger, and red pepper flakes.
- Load the crock pot. Add the beef to the basin of your crock pot and pour the sauce over it. Stir until the meat is thoroughly coated in the sauce.
- Slow cook. Seal the crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours.
- Thicken the sauce. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef to a large mixing bowl. Pour the juices in the crock pot into a saucepan. In a small bowl, whisk together ¼ of the sauce with the cornstarch until smooth. Pour that into the rest of the sauce. Cook the sauce over medium-high heat, stirring consistently, until thickened.
- Put it all together. Pour the sauce over the beef and toss to coat.
- Serve. Serve over rice garnished with the greens of the scallions.
Notes
How to serve Korean Beef:
- Over rice (brown rice, white rice, and cauliflower rice will work)
- Korean beef tacos on flour tortillas
- In a lettuce wrap
Nutrition
Calories: 478 kcal · Carbohydrates: 20 g · Protein: 52 g · Fat: 20 g · Saturated Fat: 6 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 4 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 8 g · Cholesterol: 136 mg · Sodium: 2330 mg · Potassium: 924 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 14 g · Vitamin A: 195 IU · Vitamin C: 2 mg · Calcium: 69 mg · Iron: 5 mg
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Oh my! What a delicious recipe – even my kids loved it!
I receive an error when trying to use the Pin button – it says I don’t have access to this domain – whatever that means! I really want to save it
I have sesame oil. Is it the same as toasted sesame oil?
No, toasted sesame oil is not the same as plain sesame oil. Toasted sesame oil is made from toasted seeds and is dark, aromatic, and has a low smoke point, making it ideal as a finishing oil to add nutty flavor to dishes. Plain (or untoasted) sesame oil is made from raw seeds, is light in color and flavor, and has a higher smoke point, making it suitable for general cooking.
Hmm I’m not sure why you would be getting that error. You can always bookmark the recipe or try printing it out. You can also save the PDF to your phone
I went against my best judgement and had my crockpot on high as the recipe indicated and when I returned after 3 hours, the sauce was all dried up and the meat pretty done! We salvaged the meat with broth and cornstarch. I’m wondering if I missed something in the directions!
The instructions say to sear the meat until “carmelized”, isn’t that too done? Or does it mean just until browned? My meat seems pretty done.
I doubled the sauce because once I mixed the meat in there was no “sauce” really, definitely not enough liquid for a slow cooker. After only 2 hours, I smelled something and checked on it to find that even though I doubled the sauce (liquid is only 1/2 cup), the meat was overdone and dry, (see my question about cooking the meat – is caramelizing it too long?) and the liquid very dark and dry, almost burned (there was no more liquid). I added some water and turned it on warm, hopefully that will help? Did I miss something?
Good flavor, but I think something is missing – maybe some more liquid is needed?. After three hours on high what I came back to was dried up and some of the meat seemed burnt. I don’t think 1/4 cup of soy sauce is enough liquid.
Can I make this in the instant pot instead of the slow cooker?
We have an instant pot version of this recipe here: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/instant-pot-korean-beef-and-rice-recipe/