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Crock Pot Sesame Beef is an easy slow cooker dinner made with tender beef and a sweet garlic-ginger sesame sauce. This family-tested recipe delivers takeout flavor at home for less, and the slow cooker makes it perfect for busy weeknights. Serve it over rice for a simple, affordable meal everyone loves.
Why You’ll Love Slow Cooker Sesame Beef!
As you know, we love using the slow cooker and this beef recipe does not disappoint. The restaurant quality beef has the most wonderful flavor and everything blends together for the best meal.
The sauce is loaded with brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce and more to make every last drop so tasty. I could literally eat this sauce by the spoonful because it is seriously that good and one of my families favorite dishes.
If you love getting Sesame Beef at your local Chinese Restaurant, then you are going to love this delicious beef dish. You may also love thes stir fry recipes – Easy Beef Stir Fry Recipe and Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry. If you love this recipe, you may also like Beef and Rice Recipe.
Recipe Snapshot
- Cooking Method: Slow Cooker
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 6–8 hours (Low) or 3–4 hours (High)
- Best Cut of Beef: Chuck roast
- Freezer Friendly: Yes
- Serve With: Rice or noodles
- Budget Tip: Use chuck roast or stew meat when it’s on sale
Ingredients
- Beef Roast – Substitute with stew meat, slice sirloin, or other cuts of meat
- Low-Sodium Soy Sauce – See Best Soy Sauce Substitute
- Brown Sugar – Substitute with honey or make Homemade Brown Sugar
- Minced Garlic – Learn How to Mince Garlic Cloves
- Ground Ginger – See The Best Ginger Substitutes
- Beef Broth – Substitute with beef stock or water
- Sesame Oil – See The Best Sesame Oil Substitute
- Green Onions – See How to Cut Green Onions and The Best Green Onion Substitutes
- Cornstarch – Helps to thicken the sauce
- Garnish – Serve topped with green onions and sesame seeds
How to Make Sesame Beef in the Crock Pot
Step 1 – Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, beef broth, minced garlic, sesame oil and ginger in a bowl.
Step 2 – Place the beef in the crock pot. Top with half the green onions and pour the brown sugar mixture on top. Cover and cook on Low for 6–8 hours or High for 3–4 hours, until the beef is fork-tender and shreds easily.
Step 3 – Once the beef is tender, it is time to thicken the sauce. Whisk the cornstarch with water. Then pour into the crock pot and whisk into the sauce.
Step 4 – Allow it to sit and thicken. Finally, turn off the crock pot and top with sesame seeds.
Recipe Tips
- Slicing Beef – To easily slice beef into thin strips, freeze for about 20–30 minutes to firm up before slicing. Cut the beef against the grain for best results.
- Crock Pot Liners – Make cleanup even easier and line your slow cooker with crockpot liners.
- Sauce Ingredients – We recommend to combine the sauce ingredients completely together so that when it is poured into the slow cooker the beef is coated evenly.
Variation Ideas
- Cut of Beef – We normally use beef roast in this recipe. However, you can try using flank steak to make slow cooker flank steak teriyaki. The chuck roast or a brisket would also be really good. Both of these cuts of meat will get very tender when cooked in a slow cooker.
- Chicken Sesame – If you do not prefer red meat, you can also make this with chicken instead. Follow the same process and slice the chicken breasts or thighs to make a delicious meal with chicken.
- Add Broccoli – Add broccoli to the slow cooker for another idea. Stir the broccoli into the slow cooker for the last hour of the cook time. This is a great way to get more vegetables in your diet and it tastes amazing from being slow cooked with the sauce. Other additions that would be delicious is snow peas and bell peppers.
- Sauce Flavors – Add 1 tablespoons of shaoxing wine, dry sherry wine or rice vinegar for even more flavor to this popular take-out dish.
How to Serve Sesame Beef
There are multiple ways to serve this sesame beef slow cooker recipe.
- Serve over cooked Instant pot White Rice Recipe, Microwave Brown Rice or noodles and top with the rest of sliced green onions.
- Top with shredded carrots for an added crunch.
- Serve over tortillas to make Asian Beef tacos.
- You can also steam broccoli in the microwave for a quick and easy side dish. It is so simple goes great with this recipe.
- If you like spicy dishes, top this beef with red pepper flakes when serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this recipe can be cooked in a wok or a large pan. We recommend marinating the beef strips in half the sauce mixture and then cook the beef strips for about 3-4 to minutes in oil over medium-high heat. Add in the remaining sauce and continue cooking. Then add in the cornstarch slurry mixture to thicken the sauce. Serve over rice for a quick and easy dinner idea.
Store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
The leftovers of this sesame beef freeze great as well. Store in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. To defrost, place the mixture in a crock pot on low for 1-2 hours or thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave.
Crock Pot Sesame Beef
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef roast cut into bite size slices
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 6 green onions sliced
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 6 cups cooked white rice
See how we calculate recipe costs.
Instructions
- Combine ½ cup of soy sauce, ¼ cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of beef broth, 2 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and ½ teaspoon of ginger in a bowl.
- Place 2lbs of beef in the crock pot. Top with 3 sliced green onions, and pour the mixture on top.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.
- You know it is done with the beef falls apart.
- Once beef is tender, it is time to thicken the sauce. Whisk 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Then pour into the crock pot and whisk into the sauce.
- Allow it to sit and thicken.
- Then turn off and top with sesame seeds.
- Serve over cooked white rice and top with 3 sliced green onions.
Recipe Video
Nutrition Facts
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We love hearing how this Crock Pot Sesame Beef turns out in your kitchen! If you try it, please leave a star rating and a comment below. Your feedback helps other families and makes our day, too!
What cut of beef would be best for this? Because the price of beef per pound was so high, I ended purchasing cut-up beef stew pieces. The sauce was delicious, but the beef didn’t really turn out that tender.
When do we use the sesame oil? It’s not listed on the instructions?
I mix the sesame oil with the soy sauce mixture prior to adding it to the crock pot. I have clarified this in the recipe. Thank you.
I love crockpot recipes! I had been looking for a new recipe to add to my rotation. This one was perfect. I served it over some white rice. It was better the second day.
Very good flavor! We had it with steamed brocoli.
Would this recipe also work with Chicken?