Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

Why is Mongolian beef so tender? ›

Coating beef in cornstarch is important because it helps to tenderize the beef. It also helps to thicken the sauce, allowing it to fully coat the beef. Flank steak (sliced against the grain) is most commonly used to make Mongolian beef, although any quick cooking beef works great.

Our recipe for Mongolian beef sauce includes oyster sauce, soy sauce, tamari soy sauce (as a replacement for dark soy sauce), chili sauce, sugar, and cooking wine. Check the ingredient list to see precise amounts. Don't forget that you can scale the recipe up and down!

You will be addicted to this Crockpot Skirt Steak. The flavors are unreal and it takes 2 minutes to prep — pretty much guaranteed to enter into your dinner rotation. You can swap the skirt steak for flank steak & use the same seasoning, also delicious.

If you are looking for an alternative to flank steak, the best would probably be skirt steak. Typically flank steak is more expensive, but skirt steak is very similar in texture and flavor. Feel free to add some broccoli to the slow cooker for a dish that tastes like P.F.

While there are several ways to velvet, a pound of meat needs about two teaspoons of cornstarch and two teaspoons of oil, says Leung. You may also include two to three tablespoons of water. For beef, add a 1/4-teaspoon of baking soda for tenderizing. Additional seasonings are optional and vary from recipe to recipe.

Mongolian Beef can be described as having a savory soy-based sauce with scallions as its main aromatic. Szechuan Beef has a similar soy sauce-based profile but with the addition of a spicy element, such as fresh or dried chilis and/or Sichuan peppercorns for a numbing sensation.

It gives the Mongolian beef its signature glossy, thick sauce. If you can't find cornstarch, use flour instead, but it may not provide the same clear, glossy finish. Soy sauce: This gives the dish its savory, umami flavor.

Despite its name, the dish has nothing to do with Mongolian cuisine. Mongolian beef is among the meat dishes developed in Taiwan where Mongolian barbecue restaurants first appeared. Thus, none of the ingredients or the preparation methods are drawn from traditional Mongolian cuisine but rather from Chinese cuisine.

If you cook meat at too high of a temperature in your slow cooker, you're likely to overcook it. When you cook your food slowly at a lower temperature, you unlock the magic of slow cooking.

Do you brown steak before putting in crockpot? ›

While this hands-off, low-effort method will produce delicious results, it is worth adding one additional (straightforward) step when you're slow-cooking beef. Before putting the meat in the slow cooker, brown it in a skillet for a few extra minutes.

The best meat to use instead of flank steak is skirt steak, flat iron steak, flap (sirloin tip) steak, tri-tip steak, and hanger steak (in that order). Each has its differences, but all do well being marinated and cooked over high heat, like flank steak.

If you're looking for a tender and flavorful way to cook flank steak, consider slow cooking. Slow cooking allows the meat to break down and become melt-in-your-mouth tender while infusing it with rich flavors.

Under blade steak maintains its shape even when slow-cooked

But unlike most steak cuts, the under blade takes just as well to slow-cooking — this cut will maintain its integrity through the low and slow cooking process, per The Spruce Eats. Also known as a chuck flat, according to Beef.

In addition to cooking properly, you could also consider marinating meat cuts to improve tenderness. Marinades use weak acids to help tenderize the surface of the meat cut. These weak acids often come from products such as vinegar, wine, lemon juice or tomatoes.

Tenderloin Steak

The most tender of all cuts of beef, tenderloin steaks are lean and known for their delicate, butter-like texture and thick cut.