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Tender pieces of flank steak are slow-cooked in the tastiest sweet and savory sauce. This slow cooker Mongolian beef is melt-in-your-mouth perfection and bursting with flavor. Quick and easy to prepare and one of our favorite slow cooker meals!
If you love restaurant Mongolian Beef, this super easy make-at-home rendition will be your new favorite dinner. Serve over this easy fried rice for a complete meal. And if you really want to wow your guests, egg rolls and vegetable stir-fry on the side would be amazing!
Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef
Mongolian beef made in the slow cooker is life-changing! Slow cooking the beef ensures that it’ll be delicate and succulent. This slow cooker Mongolian beef recipe is an explosion of flavors in every bite! Garlic, soy sauce, and brown sugar come together to create a caramelized sauce that coats the tender juicy pieces of steak.
This is hands down one of the BEST dinners that I have ever made. My family couldn’t get enough of it! It’s so easy to make restaurant-worthy meals for the family at home. If you love this slow cooker Mongolian beef recipe then I can’t wait for you to try more of our favorites. Make this sweet and sour chicken, these lettuce wraps, of this incredible bang bang chicken.
Mongolian Beef Ingredients
Slow cooker Mongolian beef is SO easy to make with minimal ingredients. The ingredients are simple, but the outcome is incredible! Your dinner is prepped and ready to go in under 10 minutes!
- Flank Steak: Sirloin can be substituted here but avoid stew meat.
- Corn Starch: This acts as a natural tenderizer for the beef.
- Olive Oil: Use canola oil if you’d rather.
- Garlic: Minced or chopped will give the most flavor.
- Soy Sauce: Either low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos can be used here.
- Water: This will help make it saucy.
- Brown Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar is both great in the sauce.
- Carrots: Grate a carrot or instead use pre-shredded carrots.
- Green Onions and Sesame Seeds: Optional garnish, but make a stunning topping.
How to Make Mongolian Beef in a Slow Cooker
The beef literally just melts in your mouth! You can always count on the slow cooker for tender beef. The tasty sauce clings to the cornstarch-coated steak and every bite is bursting with flavor. See the recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Cut and Coat: Cut the flank steak thinly and across the grain to ensure a tender bite. Place the steak in a ziplock bag with the cornstarch then shake to coat. Make sure to coat the beef evenly.
- Add ingredients to the Slow Cooker: Mix the oil, garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar, and carrots in the slow cooker.
- Coat the Beef: Stir the beef into the slow cooker making sure it’s well-coated
- Cook: Set on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours.
- Garnish and Enjoy: Garnish with chopped green onion and sesame seeds for added flavor and texture then enjoy over rice!
Tips and Variations
Everything about this Mongolian recipe is perfect, and I know that it will become a family favorite at your house just like it did at ours! Here are some ideas and variations to make it your own! I also included instructions for making it in the instant pot when you’re short on time!
- Slicing the Beef: When slicing the flank steak make sure to slice it against the grain. I like to slice mine about 1/4 inch thick.
- Veggies: Roast broccoli, green beans or red bell pepper then stir in before serving. Vegetables add texture and nutrition.
- Instant Pot: This easily converts to a quick Instant Pot recipe. Saute the steak on high until browned. Add the sauce ingredients and cook on “Manual” for 10 minutes. Lastly, quick release the pressure and enjoy!
How to Store Leftovers
Store any leftover Mongolian beef you may have, because it’s great for heating up and enjoying later! I like to make a little extra rice as well for a quick lunch that’s super satisfying!
- In the Refrigerator: Place leftovers in a sealed container for up to 4 days.
- In the Freezer: Once cooled, store leftovers in an air-tight container or freezer ziplock bag for up to 4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before rewarming.
- To Reheat: Place leftovers in a microwave-safe bowl then heat for 1-2 minutes or until warmed through.
More Savory Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow cooker dinners always save the day! They’re easy and SO delicious. Everyone loves coming home to a warm home-cooked dinner. Try some of our favorites this week for dinner. You’ll love them all!
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Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds flank steak
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- ¾ cup soy sauce
- ¾ cup water
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup carrots, grated
- green onions and sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Cut flank steak into thin strips. In a ziplock bag add flank steak pieces and cornstarch. Shake to coat.
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the olive oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, water, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine and add to the slow cooker.
- Add the grated carrots and coated flank steak to the slow cooker and stir until coated in the sauce.
- Serve over rice and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Pretty good. However, the sauce wasn’t as thick as I was expecting. I did use more steak (closer to 1.75 lbs) and didn’t adjust any of the other amounts – do you think that might have lead to thinner sauce?
This looks awesome! Might be a dumb question, but can this be done with previously frozen steak? I just purchased a flank steak and may not get a chance to use it in time, just wondering if the thawing will affect the cornstarch step with the extra liquid
frozen meat is no problem just thaw it first in fridge
um, what about the cloves?
Pretty sure she meant ginger; you don’t chop cloves and ginger is the traditional ingredient.
She means cloves of garlic not the spice cloves. Hope this helps
Can i substitute brown sugar for honey instead?
My daughter is sensitive to corn. Is there an alternative to the corn starch we can use? Thanks!
I’ve never tried it myself, but I’ve heard that arrowroot can be substituted for cornstarch, 1:1.
Could you use coconut sugar in place of brown sugar?
Let be your recipe
Do you think it would be possible to add frozen broccoli to the crock pot, if so when should it be added?
Hi, I like to use my slow cooker while I’m at work which means it will be cooking for 8 hours on low. Will this recipe be ok if I cook it so long? Thinking of just adding a little water.
I need your help!! The first time my wife and I made this dish it came out amazing. The other 2-3 times not so much. For some reason the sauce is turning into a jelly substance. What are we doing wrong? We love the flavor if this dish, but not the jelly. Please help.
UGH! I am so sorry this is happening to you. I have not had this happen to me. Have you changed the heat setting or anything on your crockpot?! Sometimes over cooking it and then having it boil a little bit may thicken it up. If you have a timer on your crockpot can you put it to warm after it starts to boil? OR maybe doubling the sauce recipe?! I hope that helps! This is one of our family favorites too!! Thanks for letting me know!
If it’s turning into jelly than you are using too much cornstarch. Try shaking off the excess and see if that helps. Cornstarch thickens and when you cook it longer it becomes like glue.
This looked great, so I just tried it with a few modifications. I like a little spice to my Mongolian beef, so I added some red chili flakes, hot chili sesame oil and upped the garlic to 3 large cloves that I minced. My store didn’t have flank steak in stock so I used top round and sliced it very thin. About an hour before the meat was ready, I rough chopped a large white onion and tossed that in. The whole thing was amazing, it will be a go to recipe for sure! Thanks!
That sounds AMAZING!! You are a natural!! Thank you for sharing!!
I have been making this for some time, but I recently switched to the InstaPot on the “meat/stew” setting. It cooks in 40 minutes and comes out great. I do cut the water back to a half cup.
I also add a lot of minced fresh ginger, some five spice (just a couple of shakes) and a little bit of hot sauce, and replace a teaspoon of the oil with sesame oil. All that dresses it up a little bit.
I LOVE your thoughts and ideas!! I am in love with my InstaPot too!! Thank you for sharing!!
Add a 1/4 teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice, and a few tablespoons of Sriracha to take this recipe to the next level!
Those are great add-ins!! Thanks for sharing!
I am in the process of making this recipe now, prep time was good, I love Mongolian beef so I will definitely add to this review when I taste the finish dish.
Awesome! I can’t wait to hear! Good luck and happy cooking! Xo
Your Recipe Critic,
Alyssa
hi this looks so yummy, my slow cooker only has 2 timings, 6 hours or 8 hours, which one would be best to put on for this receipe, thanks di
I am not sure if your slow cooker has a high or low setting along with the 6 or 8 hour timing. I would recommend the 6 hour on low but would watch closely around the 5 hour timing. If you can see and even taste it being cooked through and done at 5 hours, I would turn it off. I would hate for you to over cook the meat and dry up the sauce. I hope that helps! Good luck and let me know how it turns out! Xo
Your Recipe Critic,
Alyssa
I made this tonight. WONDERFUL!!! I forgot to coat my meat so I added cornstarch and water to thicken it up. Served it over Udon noodles. Can’t wait for the leftovers tomorrow. Will definatly make again!!!!!!
That is so EXCITING! I am so happy it was SO Good! Glad you loved it and the Udon noodles are a great idea! Thanks for your comment! Xo
Your Recipe Critic,
Alyssa