This slow cooker Korean beef is flank steak simmered with soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a crock pot. The meat is fall apart tender and perfect served over steamed rice!
My family loves sweet and savory Korean style beef, and this slow cooker version couldn’t be any easier to make! If you’re looking for Korean beef in a hurry, try my Korean beef bowls or Korean BBQ tacos.
Korean beef is popular for good reason – that sweet and savory combo just can’t be beat! This slow cooker Korean beef takes just minutes to prepare. Place it in the slow cooker in the morning and come home later to dinner waiting for you.
Table of Contents
Slow Cooker Korean Beef Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need flank steak, cornstarch, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, beef broth, low sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame seeds and green onions.
How Do You Make Slow Cooker Korean Beef?
Place the steak and cornstarch in a bowl. Toss the two ingredients together, then transfer the meat to a slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Pour the sauce over the meat, then stir everything together. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, or high for 2-3 hours. Add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and green onions, then serve and enjoy.
Tips for Slow Cooker Korean Beef
- I like to save on prep time by slicing my meat and mixing up my sauce the night before. That way in the morning, it takes literally 2 minutes to toss everything together and be out the door.
- I really think that fresh garlic and ginger give the best flavors in this dish, but if you don’t have them on hand, you can use bottled minced garlic and ginger or even ground garlic and ginger. If you use ground garlic and ginger, try using 1/2 teaspoon of garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of ginger for best results.
- I use flank steak for this recipe because it’s relatively inexpensive and always comes out super tender. If you don’t want to use flank steak, you could try a tougher cut of meat like beef stew meat cubes, but you’ll have to cook it for a few more hours.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Quick Tip
The easiest way to get thin strips of meat is to partially freeze your steak before you slice it.
Recipe FAQs
Korean beef is typically referred to as bulgogi. This is a specific dish that consists of marinated meat that is grilled. For this particular recipe, the dish contains Korean flavors, but is not a true bulgogi as it is cooked in a crock pot.
I typically serve my slow cooker Korean beef over rice, but sometimes I mix things up a bit and serve it with quinoa or noodles. If you’re watching your carbs, you can even try using zucchini noodles.
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Flavor Variations
This dish is fabulous as-is, but you can change up the ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Meat: You can make this dish with other types of protein. Some great options include thinly sliced pork tenderloin, chunks of boneless chicken thigh or even cooked and crumbled ground beef!
- Vegetables: Feel free to add some vegetables during the last 30 minutes of the cooking time. Some great options include broccoli, snow peas, thinly sliced carrots, cabbage or green beans.
- Flavorings: Add some kick to the sauce by stirring in some Korean gochujang sauce. You can also use a little sriracha or crushed red pepper flakes.
This dish is great for meal prep. Simply divide equal amounts of beef and rice into meal prep containers and store in the fridge until you’re ready to eat. I make this slow cooker Korean beef constantly, it’s so easy and flavorful and tastes just like the restaurant version.
More beef Recipes You’ll Love
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Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry
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Mongolian Beef
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Slow Cooker Korean Beef Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Slow Cooker Korean Beef
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions
Instructions
- Place the flank steak and cornstarch in a bowl, stir to coat the meat evenly.
- Place the meat in a slow cooker.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, beef broth, soy sauce and brown sugar.
- Pour the sauce over the meat and stir to combine.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions, then serve.
Notes
- The easiest way to get thin strips of meat is to partially freeze your steak before you slice it.
- I use flank steak for this recipe because it’s relatively inexpensive and always comes out super tender. If you don’t want to use flank steak, you could try a tougher cut of meat like beef stew meat cubes, but you’ll have to cook it for a few more hours.
I absolutely loved this recipe– I marinated the steak for 24 hours ahead of time in all the ingredients except the beef broth. I will most definitely be doubling this the next time I make it b/c we ate SO MUCH of it 🙂
I made it for dinner tonight and we love, love, loved it. Beef so tender. It’s a winner for us. We ate it over riced cauliflower. I look forward to to trying it with chicken, maybe some red pepper flakes.
How much time would you add if you had a total of 2lbs of beef
You shouldn’t need to add any extra time!
Omg can we say yum?!?! I just love Asian food. Must give your recipe a try
as i am learning to make different type of dishes i will surely add these to my recipe for trial , they look delicious
This looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it out next week. Thanks for sharing.
What a lovely treat for Valentine’s Day dinner! And the recipe is so easy to follow – thanks for including the helpful pics! Will have to give this a try x
That slow cooker Korean beef sounds really flavorful and delicious! Maybe I’ll try this recipe by next week.
I love Korean food so I will def. be trying to make this.Thanks for sharing.
This looks a nice and easy recipe to prepare.
What an interesting concept to partially freeze the meat before throwing it into the slow cooker.
This is one of my favs on the blog. The end product looks great and I’ll love to replicate it. Considering that it is slow cool, the aroma must be filling.
My mouth is watering!!! This looks delish!!!
I actually have never had Korean food before so I would be very interested to try this recipe. I am always looking for new dishes to make in my slow cooker.
When it comes to recipes, this is the best site for me to check. Today, I just learned of a Korean dish, thanks to you post.
Looks delish! This is exactly the dish my husband would order 😀
I love the recipe it’s a dish that I always order at the Chinese restaurant. I no longer eat beef so I am sad I can’t make this. But you’re right add some white rice with and you’re in heaven.
Yum this looks so tasty! Now I’m craving it for dinner!
Hmmmmm I’m drooling! This Korean beef look soooo delicious. My family would love this.
This looks so delicious that even my kids might eat it.