This slow cooker Mongolian beef is flank steak cooked with garlic, ginger, brown sugar and soy sauce. This crock pot recipe tastes just like a meal you would get at a Chinese restaurant!
Make your own take out with this easy Mongolian beef recipe. This dinner is SO simple to put together and always gets rave reviews from family and friends.
Making meals like this slow cooker Mongolian beef, in the crock pot is one of my favorite things to do. Not only does it allow you to have a nice meal when you’re finished with your day but, it feels like you’re getting to skip all the cooking. It kind of feel like cheating because it makes dinner time that much simpler!
HOW DO YOU MAKE SLOW COOKER MONGOLIAN BEEF?
This Mongolian beef has the rich flavors of ginger, garlic, and brown sugar. It’s cooked slowly in the crock pot so every flavor has a chance to really sink in. When it’s almost ready to be served, the green onions get added to the pot and stirred in. The family is sure to love this one.
I highly suggest slightly freezing the flank steak before slicing it. It makes it much easier to slice if you do so. I prefer using the low sodium soy sauce because it keeps the dish a little healthier and you won’t have to worry about the finished dish being overly salty.
This crock pot Mongolian beef pairs well with steamed rice. I always serve it with a green vegetable on the side such as broccoli or asparagus. Of course, there are many other sides that would work as well, but I love the fresh counterpart of a lightly steamed veggie.
ARE THERE SUBSTITUTES FOR FLANK STEAK?
Yes, there are a few other options that will work for this crock pot Mongolian beef. Flank steak is my favorite option but you can also use skirt steak or even hanger steak if you can get your hands on it. You could also use thinly sliced sirloin steak if desired.
WHY IS IT CALLED MONGOLIAN BEEF?
Mongolian beef was created in Taiwan where dishes like this slow cooker Mongolian beef were popular. That area was where the first Mongolian restaurants started opening up. They made the Mongolian style of food popular which is why the name is carried with dishes like this one.
Looking for Mongolian beef but don’t have the time to wait for it to cook in a crock pot? Try my stove top Mongolian beef!
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it doesn’t take a ton of work to have a delicious meal. I love this crock pot Mongolian beef because it’s easy, but comes out totally delicious and satisfying. Even my kids love this one!
MORE ASIAN RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
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- Firecracker Chicken
Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak thinly sliced against the grain
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup green onions cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Instructions
- Place the flank steak in a bowl with the cornstarch and toss to coat evenly.
- Add the flank steak to the slow cooker.
- Place the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar and water in the slow cooker. Stir to coat the meat in the sauce.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or LOW for 4-5 hours.
- Stir in the green onions, then serve.
I’m going to make this for a group of 20 at work and bringing to work the crockpot. Do you recommend cooking it the night before and chilling in the fridge overnight and then reheating the crockpot on high at the office the next morning for a couple hours or would it be better to start the cook on high at the office so it’s done by lunchtime. Not sure if i’m cooking it too much if i cook the previous night and then heat it the next day at work. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
I think it would taste best if you made it same day since it sounds like that’s possible!
I made this for the first time last night and it’s AMAZING! I plan to make this over and over again.
Question- how long does this last in the fridge? Is it freezer friendly? If so how would you recommend defrosting? Thanks.
It will stay fresh in the fridge for 3 days and in the freezer for 2 months. You can thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat on the stove over low heat.
This recipe lists the calories as 308kcal which would be 308,000 calories. Since 1 calorie = 1000 kcal and this recipe produces 5 servings, that would be 64,166 calories per 4.8 ounce serving! (4.8 derived from 24 ounces of beef divided by number of servings equally 4.8 ounces per serving.) Pretty sure I am doing something wrong here but what?! Seriously, I have NO clue-HELP!!
Kcal is just another term for calories, they’re interchangeable. The system I use to calculate nutrition designates them as kcal, but it just means regular calories.
Thank you. I also see I had the conversion backwards- that 1Kcal = 1000 calories & not the other way around! Makes more sense-not sure how I got it reversed.
I used flank steak and skirt steak, sliced it a bit thicker because the beef shrinks a lot during cooking. The sauce was so flavorful but I doubled the garlic and ginger. I love garlic! Will definitely make it again. Served it over rice, and steamed some broccoli. Mmmmmm.
My son is allergic to sesame. What kind of oil would be a good substitute?
I’ve seen comments suggesting chicken thighs…has anyone used breasts? I don’t want it to be dry.
My local supermarket didnt have fresh ginger, can I substitute ground ginger instead, and if so how much ground ginger should I use?
You would use 1/3 of the amount for ground ginger!
Excellent recipe. I doubled all sauce ingredients and used ground ginger (using the conversion) instead of fresh ginger. I cooked it on low for 6 hours and the meat was very tender.
A great recipe – once you fiddle about to convert imperial measures to metric. Only 3 countries in the world still use imperial, the US, Liberia and Myanmar. The other 190 countries use metric. It’s quite nice with a few sesame seeds sprinkled over when serving – with Thai sticky rice. Delicious.
Hi, just put this recipe on my sc, worried it’s not going to have much sauce after 5 hours, what should I add to increase sauce
You could do 1 1/2 times the sauce ingredients if you prefer, with the exception of the soy sauce. Leave the soy sauce at the original amount so that it’s not too salty.
Delicious! I made it exactly as written, other than I omitted the green onions because the store was out of them. I was a little concerned about adding the ginger I don’t like the way ginger taste) I added it anyway and hoped for the best. The end result, you can’t taste the ginger, all the flavors combined.
Just made this last night. When I first opened the slow cooker, it appeared like the beef was swimming in a watery liquid, but when I started stirring it up, it all came together in a delicious sauce. Have no fear!
Would it be good if added frozen stir fry veggies or would it take away from the beef?
That would be fine to add during the last 30 minutes!