Slow Cooker Korean Beef is an easy crock pot dinner recipe that makes tender, sweet and spicy slow cooker beef. Great roast recipe with tons of flavor!
I have a lot of kitchen gadgets, but there aren’t too many that I would really miss if I didn’t have them. My slow cooker is one of the few that I would really miss. I use it year-round, and I may even use it more often when it’s hot out to keep from heating up the house.
Aside from the ease, one of the reasons I love using my slow cooker so much is that I can make so many different recipes with it – like this Slow Cooker Korean Beef recipe.
This delicious Korean beef is amazing! It’s the slow cooker version of my popular Instant Pot Korean beef. It has so much flavor and is so tender!
I use 2 tablespoons Gochujang sauce to give it just a little spice. Feel free to use more, though, as Gochujang sauce is a great mix of sweet and spicy.
Or, you can try my Korean ground beef with similar flavors for a quick weeknight dinner.
How to make slow cooker Korean beef
Here you’ll find step-by-step directions showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe with ingredients is given below.
Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup beef broth and next 9 ingredients (up to roast).
Step 2: Place cubed roast into a slow cooker. A 4 or 5 quart slow cooker works well.
Step 3: Pour sauce over cubed meat.
Step 4: Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.
Step 5: In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup broth.
Step 6: Stir cornstarch mixture into the slow cooker.
Step 7: Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
Recipe Tips!
- Cut of beef: It’s important to use a chuck roast like you would use to make pot roast. The fat in the roast helps to keep the meat tender while slow cooking. I don’t recommend using a lean cut of meat, like flank steak, as it won’t give you juicy beef.
- Gochujang sauce: be sure to get gochujang sauce, not paste. The paste is more concentrated and will give you a much spicier result.
- Gochujang substitute: I highly recommend buying a bottle of gochujang sauce. If you can’t gochujang sauce (or just don’t want to purchase it), you can substitute a mixture that consists of a combination of soy sauce, a little Sriracha, and a little additional brown sugar to taste instead.
Serving suggestions
- I top the beef with sliced green onions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds just before serving, and I serve this slow cooker Korean beef with either white rice or brown rice and steamed veggies, like steamed broccoli or snow peas, to soak up all the yummy sauce.
- You could also use the beef to make Korean beef tacos. Just serve the beef in flour tortillas and top with cabbage slaw.
- Or use the beef to make Korean beef bowls, and serve it over rice with julienned carrot and thinly sliced cucumber.
Storage
This beef reheats well, and it makes great leftovers. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The beef will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored.
More slow cooker beef recipes!
If you’ve tried this slow cooker Korean beef recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
You can subscribe to receive my latest recipe newsletters or follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for even more delicious food.
Slow Cooker Korean Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup reduced-sodium beef broth divided
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar packed
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1-2 tablespoons Gochujang sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3-4 pound boneless beef chuck roast cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch depending on desired sauce thickness
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup beef broth and next 9 ingredients (up to roast).
- Place cubed roast into a slow cooker. A 4 or 5 quart slow cooker works well.
- Pour sauce over cubed meat.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup broth.
- Stir cornstarch mixture into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
Video
Notes
- I find Gochujang sauce near the Sriracha in my local supermarket. If you can’t find it, you can substitute a mixture that consists of a little Sriracha, a dash of additional soy sauce, and a little additional brown sugar to taste instead.
- Nutrition facts are estimates.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Share it with me on Instagram @i_heart_eating and follow on Youtube @katedean and Pinterest @katedean for more!
Originally published 8/11/17.
Reader Interactions
Love this recipe?
Share your thoughts below and let’s chat! Make sure to connect with me on your favorite social platform below and show me what you made!
Comments & Reviews
Jacek says
Worked GREAT with chicken thighs and w tablespoons of Gochujang. Asia visited my house, thank you!
Kate says
Thank you for sharing that the recipe worked well with chicken thighs!
Suzanne says
This recipe looks delicious, but I have a question:
If I want to make this recipe and have it be very flavorful, w just a tiny bit of spiciness (for my high school age daughter, who likes a LITTLE bit of a bite in her food), how much of the Gochujang sauce should I use?
Kate says
Thank you! I would recommend using 1 tablespoon of the gochujang sauce. Then, if you find that you would like the sauce to have a little more of that flavor and heat, you can stir a bit more in at the end after you’ve thickened the sauce in step 7. I hope that helps!
Mary says
Delicious!!!! Used stew meat because it’s what I had in the freezer. So tender and delicious! This is going on my rotation. Served on mashed potatoes.
Thank you for the recipe!
Mary W
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked it!
Michelle says
I was planning on making this as is, but by accident I pulled out a package of pork blade steaks. I decided to make the recipe with those. The flavor was soo good! shredded pork Korean BBQ! highly recommend. The only thing I did differently was add some shaoxing cooking wine.
Kate says
Thank you for sharing that!
MKB says
I have both gochujang paste and sauce. Which should I use? Thanks.
Kate says
I use gochujang sauce because it’s milder than the paste.
James says
Hi, how would you cook this on the stove?
Kate says
Hi! This recipe isn’t well-suited to cooking on the stove. I have a Korean ground beef recipe that is made on the stove, and that may be more of what you’re looking for.
Michelle says
I would think cooking it low and slow stove top would work. Like in an enameled cast iron dutch oven, or other large pot w/lid. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer until tender and shreddable. Or, bring to boil, cover and put in oven at 300 until done.
Kate says
Thanks! I think it would work well in the oven with the method you described on the stove.
Mary says
Can I use flank steak instead of a roast
Kate says
Hi! Chuck roast works well in this recipe because the fat helps to keep it tender during the long cooking time. Flank steak is lean, and it would probably dry out with the long cooking time.
Angela M Ranger says
Appsalutely delicious! I tried it on rice and corn tortia. You get 5 starts. Your app will only let me give you 4.
Kate says
Thank you!
Sanay Pickett says
Loved this recipe! My boys devoured it! Wish I could post a pic to show you how great it turned out.
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that it was a hit!
Denise says
Hi
How would I cook this slowly in the oven?
Thank you
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t adapted this recipe to cook it in the oven, but when I cook beef in the oven, I cook its, covered in foil, at either 250F or 275F until it’s at temperature.
Kelly says
This so so flavorful! I’m really picky about crock pot meals since I think they can be bland, but this is anything but. And so easy! Wondering if I could use stew meat to save time and also cut a few calories?
Kate says
Thank you! Yes, you can use stew meat. I’ve used it in this recipe, and it works really well.
Kelly says
Thanks! Definitely adding this to our rotation!
Kelly B says
Would it be possible to make this ahead, freeze it, then dump it in the crockpot to cook all day?
Kate says
Yes, you can do that. I would recommend thawing the mixture before cooking it, but it can be frozen.
Robin says
Anyone ever make this in the Instant Pot?
Kate says
Yes! Here is the link for my Instant Pot Korean Beef recipe.
Endri says
I don’t see the link here…can you repost?
Kate says
Absolutely! Instant Pot Korean Beef The link isn’t showing up a different color for some reason, so I bolded it, but if you hover over the “Instant Pot Korean Beef”, it’s a link.
Kiesha says
I believe your nutrition info is off on this one. A cup of brown sugar on its own has almost 200g of carbs, split for servings… you’d have to have at least 50g carbs per serving in this dish. Which is going to increase your calories by 160 per serving.
Kate says
Hi! The nutrition values are estimates. Respectfully, 160 calories per serving for just the brown sugar sounds incredibly high. There is 1/3 of a cup, or 5 1/3 tablespoons, of brown sugar in the recipe. The nutrition calculator that I use puts 1/3 cup of brown sugar at 279 calories. Divided between the 10 servings in the recipe, that would be approximately 28 calories per serving from the brown sugar.
Bunny says
If you’re concerned about the calories/carbs in brown sugar, you can substitute Splenda and molasses instead. For 1/3 c. brown sugar, use 1/3 c. Splenda and 2 tsp. molasses (I use Grandma’s brand). Of course, you can use only Splenda, but the small amount of molasses will give it the depth of flavor of brown sugar with far fewer calories and carbs. As a diabetic, I use this substitution often for brown sugar (general sub: 1 c. Splenda + 2 TBS of molasses).
Baylee says
Can you make this in 3-4 hours on high?
Kate says
Hi – It usually works best to cook the meat on low to avoid having it dry out while cooking.
Gloria says
Wow. Yummy!!
Kate says
Thank you!
Debbie Fincher says
This recipe looks amazing and I’d love to give it a try. I’m on a sodium restricted diet and would really like to find out the sodium content in this recipe before I give it a try. It looks like something my husband and I would really love.
Is there any way you can provide the sodium content? It would be very helpful.
Thank you so much!
Kate says
Hi! You can find the nutrition information for the recipe directly below the direction section. Hope that helps!
Hwaigrl says
Just by the ingredients alone, I KNOW this is gonna be a family fav in my household! Any suggestions for veggies to go with?
Kate says
I hope so! I usually serve it with steamed broccoli, but snow peas and carrots are also really good with this dish.
Judy B says
I have an instant pot, but just haven’t gotten comfortable with it so I’m glad you have this crock pot version of Korean beef. We all loved it, even our doubting Thomas loved the beef.
Kate says
Thank you! If you’d like any tips for the Instant Pot, I have a site with Instant Pot recipes, and you can find tips for getting started there.
Sammie says
Great dinner and even better the next day for lunch.
Kate says
Thank you so much!
Rick says
Delicious, my wife loved it and our 15 month old son loved it as well.
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad your family liked it!
Michele says
I just found your site this week and have already made 2 winners! This Korean beef will be made often in our house. Perfect as written. YUM!
Kate says
Thank you so much!