Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef Recipe aka Best Mongolian Beef

Name: Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 360 min
Total time: 370 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 650 grams Beef (Sirloin / chuck roast / flank steak); 2 tbsp Canola oil; 3 tbsp Flour or cornstarch; 1 tbsp Sweet paprika; 1 Onion (about 1/2 cup chopped); 1 tbsp Garlic (minced or grated); 1 tbsp Ginger (grated or minced); 250 ml Stock (beef /chicken/veg or water ); 2 tbsp Tomato paste; 100 grams Brown sugar; 120 ml Soy Sauce; 1 tsp Dried herbs (optional, 1/2 tsp dried parsley +1/2 tsp dried thyme)

March 17, 2017 *Updated* August 23, 2018 By Veena Azmanov 40 Comments

Recipe Video Print

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef Recipe

An absolute classic dish with fork-tender meat that just melts in the mouth. This slow cooker Mongolian beef recipe is a simple, easy and effortless way to get dinner on the table especially on busy days. Tender pieces of meat are cooked in the slow cooker with a sweet ginger based soy sauce creating a delicious gravy. Have it with steamed rice, noodle or some crusty bread.

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I am a big fan of slow cooking but I have never owned a slow cooker; until recently. Well, I use to do all the slow cooking on the stove top. The only difference really is that on the stove top you have to keep an eye so your 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. If you love slow cooker recipes – I highly recommend you visit her blog soon after you’ve seen this delicious recipe of course.

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Busy cake days

Guess what? It does – especially on days when I’m so busy with my cake orders. For example, the other day I had to leave for cake delivery and I know I’d be late. Usually, we’d have to get take out or eat sandwiches. But I threw a few things into the slow cooker – set it on low and left..! When I came home the house was filled with the aroma of slow-cooked Teriyaki Chicken. By the time the kids got home from school, I made a nice bowl of hot rice and taken pictures for my blog to share the recipe with you. So yes, Arlene was right it does make my life a lot easier.

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About this slow cooker Mongolian Beef Recipe (Save/Pin)

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.

Serve it with a bowl of steam rice or noodles. My kids love a bowl of rice with this very much. I love bread so I usually keep some crusty bread like a baguette on hand when I make this dish.

Here I have used the slow cooker but for years I have made this recipe on the stove-top cooking on low for long hours or in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes when I need a quick urgent meal.

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Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin)

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 this recipe has in it. But my kids are small so I don’t use as much hot paprika. I use more sweet or smoked paprika with a dash of hot paprika. I have made spicy Mongolian beef and it is to die for and all it takes is switching that sweet paprika to a hot paprika. Works like magic.
Stock – I usually always have chicken stock on hand but water works just as well. You can use chicken, vegetable or beef stock whatever is on hand.
Brown Sugar – The light brown sugar works best for this recipe. Do not use the dark brown – the molasses might be a bit more intense in flavor. The soy sauce combines well with brown sugar giving a deep unique flavor with the beef juices.
Dried herbs – this is optional. Personally, I do like adding some kind of herbs to my meat dishes I think it adds so much more. But again you can omit or switch to personalize it to your favorite herb.

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Recipe – Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef Recipe or Soy Ginger Beef (Save/Pin)

Tools

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Ingredients

Beef – 1.5 lbs. / 600 to 700 grams – (sirloin / chuck roast / flank steak)
Canola oil – 2 tbsp
Flour or cornstarch – 3 tbsp
Sweet paprika – 1 tbsp
Onion – 1 small (about 1/2 cup) chopped
Garlic – 1 tbsp minced or grated
Ginger – 1 tbsp (1/2 inch) grated or minced

Sauce/Marinade

Stock (beef /chicken/veg) or water – 250 ml (1 cup)
Tomato paste – 2 tbsp.
Brown sugar – 1/2 cup (100 grams)
Soy sauce – 1/2 cup (120 ml)
Dried herbs (optional) 1/2 tsp dried parsley +1/2 tsp dried thyme.

Method

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 beef bag and shake the bag to coat as evenly as possible.

Progress Pictures for this step by step tutorial on how to make slow cooker Mongolian Beef Recipe

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Sear the beef cubes

Add 2 tbsp oil to a saute pan or skillet – bring to high heat
Add the beef cubes and cook on high for 2 minutes – switch sides and cook another 2 minutes
Remove beef and set aside – keep warm.

Saute onions

To the same skillet – add a 1tbsp more oil
Saute onions for a minute then
Add the ginger and garlic – cook a minute more.
Then add a few tablespoons of stock to help scrape the pan so you get all the caramelized bits stuck to the pan. (See video)

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Prepare Sauce

Add all sauce ingredients to a bowl or measuring cup
Stir well to combine.
Set aside.

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For slow cooker Mongolian Beef

Into the slow cooker
Add the seared beef cubes
Followed by the cooked onion mixture
Pour the sauce/marinade over.
Give it a stir to make sure it’s all mixed well.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours ( or overnight) up to 10 hours.
OR Cook on high for 3 hours then on low for 2 hours
The beef should be soft, tender and juicy with a gorgeous brown gravy.
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed before serving.

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Stove-Top Mongolian Beef

Sear beef cubes as we did above and set aside
Saute onions, ginger garlic as we did above
Scrape the caramelized bits using some stock as we did above
Then, add the beef back to the pan.
Pour the stock over – stir well.
Add one extra cup of water to the pan – 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 1/4 cup water at a time. The heat should be low or the liquid will evaporate quickly.
Mine usually gets done in 2 hours but a little longer is ok too as long as the meat cooks to fork tender.

Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.

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Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

Author: Veena Azmanov

5 from 22 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 6 hrs

Total Time: 6 hrs 10 mins

Calories: 132kcal

Adjust Servings Here: 6 servings

Description

An absolute classic dish with fork-tender meat that just melts in the mouth. This slow cooker Mongolian beef recipe is a simple, easy, and effortless way to get dinner on the table especially on busy days. Tender pieces of meat are cooked in the slow cooker with a sweet ginger based soy sauce creating a delicious gravy. Have it with steamed rice, noodle or some crusty bread.