Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
Slow Cooker Korean Beef
Sweet, savory sauce clinging to tender strips of beef makes this a dinner worth anticipating. Ginger and sesame give the sauce a warm, familiar aroma, with green onion scattered over the top. It's an inviting choice for a night when you want something deeply savory on your plate.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 180 min
- Total
- 190 min
- Original yield
- Serves 6
- Ingredients
- 11 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Main course
- Cuisine
- Asian
- Cooking method
- Slow cooker
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: over 60 minutes
A few quick notes
1. Coat every strip
Stir the flank steak with the cornstarch until the pieces are evenly coated before transferring them.
2. Whisk the sauce
Whisk the sauce ingredients together in their own bowl so the brown sugar blends with the liquids.
3. Stir before covering
Pour the sauce over the beef and stir to combine before putting the slow cooker lid on.
Get to know the ingredients
Flank steak
Thinly slice the flank steak; partially freezing it first can make those thin strips easier to cut.
Soy sauce
Use the listed low sodium soy sauce as the salty base of the sauce mixture.
Ginger
The ginger goes into the sauce minced, so it can spread through the beef with the other seasonings.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 6. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 6 steps completeMake room for Slow Cooker Korean Beef
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
Seeds and green onions
Finish the cooked beef with sesame seeds and sliced green onions just before it is served.
A little more help as you go
Choose a heat setting
Use either the LOW or HIGH schedule in the directions and keep the cooker covered during cooking.
Cornstarch first
Coat the meat before it meets the sauce so the cornstarch is distributed across the beef.
A few questions you might have
Can I use stew meat instead?
You can try stew meat cubes, but they need a longer cook than the flank steak.
Does the beef need a separate sear?
The directions put the cornstarch-coated beef straight into the slow cooker before adding the sauce.
Is the sesame oil part of the sauce?
Yes, whisk it with the vinegar, broth, soy sauce, sugar and aromatics before pouring over the meat.
When do I add the sesame seeds?
Sprinkle them over the cooked beef with the green onions, after the covered cooking stage.
Should the garlic be whole or minced?
Use minced garlic so it mixes directly into the sauce before that sauce coats the beef.
Any more cooking tips?
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.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: dinneratthezoo.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.
