This Mongolian Beef just came out of my slow cooker, and boy let me tell you, I’m in love! I’ve made many a Mongolian beef recipe in the past and the steak is often tough, chewy, and flavorless. Y’all KNOW how I love my Crockpot, so I decided to try flank steak in the slow cooker. I wanted to see if I could achieve that melt-in-your-mouth beef that often only comes from my favorite Asian restaurant. Holy moly, people! This recipe is amazing! My Chinese food craving was completely satisfied and I hardly had to lift a finger to get it.
I think the secret to this recipe, that I originally got from The Recipe Critic, is to buy a good quality piece of flank steak. Don’t settle for knock-off beef tips or strip steak. If you want the Mongolian beef to be tender and juicy, make sure you get marbled flank steak. You will need about 2 pounds. Cut it against the grain (this means perpendicular to the natural grains in the muscle) into thin strips.
Throw the pieces into a large Ziplock bag and pour in 1/4 cup of cornstarch. Shake it up until all the pieces are thoroughly coated.
In the Crockpot you’ll need to add the following ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
3/4 cup of reduced sodium soy sauce
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup grated carrots (I used the precut version from the grocery store to save some time!)
Now add the flank steak on top and stir everything together. Cook on LOW for 4-5 hours. You can also cook this on HIGH for 2-3 hours, but I think the meat is even more tender when it cooks low and slow. 🙂 While the Crockpot does all the hard work for you, start some rice and maybe a side veggie to go with it. If you have 20 minutes, you may like to try my recipe for Loaded Vegetable Chow Mein. It is healthy but super scrumptious!
When the Mongolian beef is all done, simply spoon it on top of some rice and top it with chopped green onions and sesame seeds. I couldn’t get enough of this! Had my family not been there, I might have licked the slow cooker! Thankfully they saved me from embarrassment and helped me polish the whole thing off in a matter of minutes.
Do you love your slow cooker as much as I do? It’s especially nice to use in the summer months so you don’t heat the whole kitchen with the oven. If you’d like more great Crockpot recipes, check out my long list of Crockpot meals. On there you’ll find other Asian favorites like Sesame Chicken and 5 Ingredient Orange Chicken. Happy cooking y’all!
Easy Crockpot Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 2 pounds quality flank steak
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 3/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup grated carrots use pre-cut version from the store
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- green onions and sesame seeds for topping
- Optional: rice and vegetable for serving
Instructions
- Cut steak against the grain into thin strips.
- Put steak into a ziplock with the cornstarch and shake it until thoroughly coated.
- Add the rest of the ingredients (through the sugar) into the Crockpot.
- Add in the steak and stir to coat.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours or HIGH for 2-3.
- Spoon Mongolian beef over rice and top with green onions and sesame seeds.
- Serve with a side veggie for a complete meal.