Slow Cooker Korean Beef (Printable)

Tender beef slow-cooked in Korean-inspired sauce with soy, sesame, garlic, and gochujang. Perfect over rice.

# What You'll Need:

→ Beef

01 - 2 lbs beef chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces

→ Sauce

02 - 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
03 - 1/3 cup brown sugar
04 - 1/4 cup sesame oil
05 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
06 - 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
07 - 1/4 cup rice vinegar
08 - 2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean chili paste)
09 - 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (plus more for garnish)
10 - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

→ Vegetables & Garnish

11 - 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
12 - 4 green onions, sliced
13 - 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional, for thickening)
14 - 2 tablespoons water (optional, for thickening)

# How-To Steps:

01 - Place beef pieces and sliced onion in the slow cooker.
02 - In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, gochujang, sesame seeds, and black pepper until well combined.
03 - Pour the sauce over the beef and onions, tossing gently to coat evenly.
04 - Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, until the beef is very tender and shreds easily.
05 - If a thicker sauce is desired, mix cornstarch with water to make a slurry. Stir into the slow cooker during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
06 - Shred the beef using two forks directly in the slow cooker and mix with the sauce.
07 - Garnish with sliced green onions and extra sesame seeds. Serve with steamed rice or in lettuce wraps.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The beef becomes impossibly tender without you standing over a stove all day
  • The sauce balances sweet and savory in that magical way Korean cuisine does so well
  • Your slow cooker does literally all the heavy lifting while you go about your life
02 -
  • Cutting the beef into uniform pieces helps everything cook evenly rather than having some pieces dry out while others catch up
  • The sauce will taste quite salty before cooking but the flavors mellow and concentrate beautifully during those long hours
  • Lettuce wraps are traditional but steamed rice soaks up that sauce like nothing else
03 -
  • Pat the beef dry with paper towels before cutting to help it brown better if you sear it first
  • Toast your sesame seeds in a dry pan for two minutes before adding them to the sauce

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