Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

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This slow cooker Mongolian beef is sirloin beef cubes flavored with ginger, garlic, and paprika then cooked in a tomato, soy, and brown sugar gravy. Today, I make this in a slow cooker but you can also make this on the stovetop.

I am a big fan of slow-cooking but I have never owned a slow cooker or crock-pot until recently. Well, I use to do all the slow cooking on the stovetop. The only difference really is that on the stovetop you have to keep an eye so the meat and gravy ain't sticking to the bottom but in a slow cooker you can forget about it for hours and nothing can go wrong. I do like that security - don't you?

Honestly, the credit for me getting the slow cooker goes to my blogger friend Arlene Braun Mobley of Flour on my Face. She is the queen of slow cooker recipes and I have been drooling over them for a long time now like this Easy Crock Pot Pepper Steak  And every time I told her I want to make this - she'd say - Veena you must get a slow cooker/Crockpot - it will make your life easier.

Guess what? It does make my life so much easier - especially on days when I'm so busy with my cake orders.

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About this recipe

A very simple and easy recipe that's also very versatile and adaptable. You probably have eaten Mongolian beef from some Chinese take away which usually is made with a similar sauce but cooked with strips of flank steak in a wok to make a quick stir fry.

This recipe takes that same sauce to the next level of comfort food. Here we season the beef and cook it in a slow cooker with the same sweet ginger-based soy sauce and cook it long and slow until the meat is fork-tender. The result is pure comfort food. We also used a similar sauce when we made our Mongolian sweet and sour meatballs

Serve it with a bowl of steam rice or buttered noodles. In the video, I have shown you this recipe using a slow cooker but below I have also given you the recipe for stovetop mongolian beef.

Ingredients and substitutes

• Beef - slow cooking works best with sirloin, chuck roast or flank steak kinda cuts. These can endure long slow cooking without drying out. If you ask the butcher he usually will be able to help you with what he has best available for you.
• Sweet Paprika - if you can handle the heat, try hot paprika and take this to a whole new level. Hot paprika does go so well with the sweetness from the sugar.
• Stock - I always have chicken stock on hand but chicken, vegetable, or beef stock work too
• Brown Sugar - The light brown sugar works best for this recipe. I do not recommend the dark brown because the flavor from the molasses might be too intense. The soy sauce combines well with brown sugar giving a deep unique flavor when combined with the beef juices.
• Dried herbs - Personally, I do like adding some kind of herbs to my meat dishes I think it adds so much more. But you can omit the dry herbs as well

Step by step in instructions (pin)

Season the beef cubes

• Cut beef into large bite-size pieces. Place in a bowl or zip lock bag (for easy clean up).
• In a small bowl - combine salt, pepper, paprika, and flour.
• Add flour mix to the bag and shake the bag to coat as evenly as possible.

Sear the beef cubes

• Add 2 tbsp oil to a skillet on high heat.
• Add the beef cubes and cook on high for 2 minutes - turning to cook the pieces on all sides.
• Remove beef with tongs and set aside - keep warm. 

Saute onions

• To the same skillet - add another tablespoon of oil and saute the onions until translucent.
• Add the ginger and garlic - saute a minute more. 
• Then add ¼ cup stock and deglaze the pan scraping as much as you can.

Slow cooker

• Into the slow cooker add the beef, onion mixture, followed by the marinade. Combine well.
• Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 
• The beef should be fork-tender, soft, and juicy with a gorgeous brown gravy.
• Taste and adjust seasoning before serving.

Stovetop

• Use a Dutch oven or heavy bottom pot. Sear beef cubes as we did above and remove and set aside
• Saute onions, ginger, garlic as we did above 
• Deglaze the pan with ¼ cup stock as we did above.
• Then, add the beef back to the pan.  Pour the remaining stock - stir well. 
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat to an absolute simmer. 
• Cook on low for 2 hours stirring every 20 minutes to make sure there is liquid in the pan. 
• If necessary add ¼ cup water at a time. The heat should be low or the liquid will evaporate quickly. 
• Cook until the meat is fork-tender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

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Frequently asked questions

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