Mongolian Beef Slow Cooker (Printable)

Tender beef in rich savory-sweet sauce with garlic, ginger, and soy. Effortless cooking method for delicious Asian-inspired meal.

# What You’ll Need:

→ Beef

01 - 2 pounds flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain

→ Sauce

02 - 3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
03 - 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
04 - 1/2 cup water
05 - 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
06 - 1 tablespoon sesame oil
07 - 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
08 - 5 cloves garlic, minced
09 - 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 - 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

→ Thickener

11 - 1/4 cup cornstarch

→ Vegetables & Garnish

12 - 5 green onions, sliced (white and green parts separated)
13 - 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
14 - Steamed white or brown rice, for serving

# How-To Steps:

01 - In a large bowl, toss the sliced flank steak with cornstarch until all pieces are evenly coated. Shake off any excess.
02 - Add the beef to the slow cooker.
03 - In a separate bowl, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
04 - Pour the sauce over the beef in the slow cooker and toss gently to combine.
05 - Scatter the white parts of the green onions over the top.
06 - Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly.
07 - Stir in the sliced green onion tops and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
08 - Serve hot over steamed rice, garnished with toasted sesame seeds and extra green onions if desired.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The beef gets impossibly tender without any effort from you
  • The sauce develops a restaurant quality depth that normally takes hours of reducing
  • You can prep everything in 15 minutes and walk away until dinner
02 -
  • Cutting against the grain means slicing perpendicular to the muscle fibers, which shortens them and makes the beef tender rather than chewy
  • The cornstarch coating will look like a lot at first, but most of it dissolves into the sauce as it cooks
  • Every slow cooker runs differently, so start checking at the 3.5 hour mark if yours runs hot
03 -
  • Partially freeze the flank steak for 30 minutes before slicing, it will cut like butter
  • Use tamari instead of soy sauce to make this completely gluten free
  • A splash of rice vinegar at the end cuts through the richness if you find the sauce too heavy

Go Back