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 version!
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
- Pepper Steak Stir Fry
- Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
- Asian Cucumber Salad
- Cream Cheese Wontons
- 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.
Brooke says
I made a beef ragu for pappardelle using flank steak last night that turned out really tasty. All I had to do was cut the steak into 4 chunks (about 1 lb total), season it, and put it in the slow cooker. Then, after cooking in garlic, carrots, crushed tomatoes, some beef bouillon, and seasonings for 5 hours on high, I easily shredded the meat with two forks. Point is, could I use that method in your recipe, instead of slicing the beef up prior to cooking? This sounds SO good, and I have about 1 2/2 of flank steak waiting to be used.
Sara says
You can do that but it won’t have the same texture as a traditional Mongolian beef!
montnan says
I’m SO glad I made a large batch, using 2&1/2 # of flank steak and tripling the sauce. We 4 adults LOVED it. We had 4 moderate servings, plus 8 more for a take-home for each of my sisters, another dinner for hubby and me, plus 2 more dinners to go into the freezer for the upcoming busy holiday season – YES! I did use half regular sesame oil and half sesame chili oil, as we like a little “bite”. Since we don’t like things very sweet, I only used 1/2 C brown sugar and 1/3 C molasses. I did need to stir in another cup of hot water the last hour or so, which made for plenty of sauce to spoon over our rice.
That sounds like more alterations than it really was, but the nice thing is that one can make some tweaks to suit individual tastes. We all voted this a definite keeper, and I suspect it will replace a lot of take-out Chinese for us. MANY thanks for a FINE recipe!
Miss B says
Delicious with a few minor adjustments. I used 3/4 pound top sirloin, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/4 cup green onion, 1 teaspoon sesame oil and kept the amounts of everything else the same since we like it saucy. I added 1 teaspoon Sriracha for heat. Served over rice and steamed broccoli. I think this would be good with chicken breasts which I will try next time.
Kenneth Kozimor says
Will this recipe work in a pressure cooker ?
Sara says
I haven’t tried it but I think it would be ok!
Julie deans says
Can u use plain flour in stead of corn starch , cant find corn flour on the shops
Sara says
Here are some possible substitutes: https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/how-to-substitute-cornstarch-article
Ashlie says
This was an an absolute hit with the family. I have 3 children and a husband who are all picky eaters and they devoured this meal in minutes. My husband even asked me to add this to the “heavy rotation list!” I’ll be making this again in the near future. I doubled the recipe to make enough for 5 people and it turned out perfect. Thank you!
Melissa says
I want to add broccoli. At what time of cooking would I add to crockpot? I don’t want the broccoli to be crisp. Thanks.
Sara says
I’d add it during the last 2 hours.
Allison says
I’m the one that wrote in with the question about it being too thick! You were so right! By the time it was finished cooking, it wasn’t as thick and was the perfect consistency! IT WAS DELISH!!! My husband and two boys (ages 4 and 6) all said they wanted it in the rotation! We served it on top of riced cauliflower with steam in bag broccoli and it wasn’t only very healthy, but it was VERY easy, fast, and DELISH! Thank you SO much!
Charity says
Accidentally put 2 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil will it be ok?
Sara says
It should be ok, will just have a stronger sesame flavor!
Megan A says
CAn you use powdered ginger instead of fresh ginger?
Sara says
Yes use half the amount!
Charli says
My daughter fixed this for dinner at her home one evening. I tried to eat it all! So delicious! I got the recipe and I’ve fixed it for tonight’s dinner. Hope mine tastes as great as hers!
Allison says
Help! I’m currently cooking this (on high) now and have about an hour and a half to go! I followed everything exact but the sauce is looking VERY thick! Is it supposed to be? If it isn’t supposed to be a really thick sauce, any suggestions on how to thin it out without compromising the flavor?
Sara says
It shouldn’t be super thick, that being said, the meat releases liquid as it cooks so if you’re looking at it halfway through the cooking process it may not be an acccurate representation. If you feel the sauce is too thick you can add some beef broth to thin it out.
Dani says
Delicious, but when I look at your pic compared to mine, yours looks different. Mine looks dull in color not glistening like yours. I didn’t substitute anything. Thoughts?
A says
My family LOVED this! They all cleaned their plates – from ages 3 to 35 . My husband thought this was almost as good as a restaurant ( and much less expensive). We will double the recipe next time. I still had great results with chuck roast, which is less expensive than flank steak.
Gail Fesnak says
We used a chuck roast and sliced it thin across the grain. It turned out perfect. We followed the recipe and will definitely make this again. Served over rice and roasted broccoli . I did double the sauce.
Tam says
Hello! May be a silly question, but is toasted sesame oil the same as regular sesame oil – or are those two different types of oil?
Sara says
Toasted sesame oil has a more pronounced flavor than regular sesame oil, it’s found in small bottles in the Asian aisle of the grocery store.
Kathy says
Which method gives a better result low or high for the slowcooker?
Sara says
I typically cook it on low but it doesn’t really matter!
Annie says
What size crockpot do you recommend? I have a 5qt & 7qt.
Sara says
Either one should work, you just want to make sure the meat doesn’t fill more than 2/3 of the crockpot so that it will cook evenly!
Gail Fesnak says
Did not try this yet, but definitely will. Question can I double the sauce, we like a lot of sauce to put it on top of rice. Do you think tis will work. Looking forward to making this.
Sara says
Yes you can double the sauce!
Christina says
So I looked and looked for toasted sesame oil. All I seen was pure sesame oil. As I was reading the back the ingredients its said toasted sesame oil, lol. That’s what I needed. By the way it smells amazing in my house.