Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

Starting finger foods with babies is fun and exciting – I love being able to introduce tons of new flavors and ingredients to my children, and those first tastes are so very fun! But it can also be really overwhelming – because what do you feed your whole family?! Making a meal that is perfect for finger-food eating tots and older children and adults at the same time can seem like an impossibly tall order.

The Iowa Beef Industry Council and I have teamed up to make dinner a little easier for you with a collection of weeknight dinners that are perfect for families with littles in all ages and stages.

To learn more how beef is perfect for all ages, read this post!

Other healthy beef recipes for families with babies:

• Herbed Steak Sheet Pan is an excellent meal for the whole family – including two purees.
• Chimichurri Ground Beef and Rice Bowl is perfect for those first finger-food stages.
• Shredded Cuban Beef Bowl is packed with great finger food options!
• Greek Meatballs with Lemon Orzo Skillet is  an awesome one pan meal perfect for toddlers and children!
• Grilled Za’atar Beef Kabobs with Veggies, Couscous and Mint-Yogurt Sauce – this easy grilling recipe is packed with fun flavor and beautiful colors!

How do you make Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

This easy family recipe could not be simpler to make! It only requires a few minutes of work (most of which you can do ahead of time), and a few simple ingredients!

1. Thinly slice your beef into strips and toss with cornstarch to coat.
2. Place the beef slices in the slow cooker with your slided onion and peppers. The onions and peppers can be sliced ahead of time and stored in a glass airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day.
3. Mix up the sauce by whisking together the water, coconut aminos, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil and pour into the slow cooker. The sauce can also be made ahead of time and stored in a glass airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day.
4. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
5. During the last hour of cooking time, add in the shredded carrots.
6. Prepare your rice and veggie side dish.
7. Serve your Mongolian Beef with a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds and sliced green onions on top.

What kind of beef do you use in mongolian beef?

A lot of recipes you will find for Mongolian Beef will use flank steak but I choose to use chuck roast. Chuck roast has a rich and beefy flavor, and is PERFECT to use in a slow cooker because it gets so tender!

Flank steak is also a great choice but I prefer to use a chuck roast as it is usually cheaper per pound and it gets really melt in your mouth tender – and when you are feeding babies and little kids, you want beef to be as tender and as easy to eat as possible, right?

Tips and tricks for making this slow cooker mongolian beef

• Slice your chuck roast against the grain. When you look at your roast, you will see lines that kind of resemble the grain on a piece of one. You want to slice perpendicular to these lines, not parallel to them. This will help ensure tender pieces of beef.
• The shredded carrots are optional, but add fun color and texture to the meal. Totally go ahead and buy the pre-shredded matchstick bag of carrots in the produce section of your grocery store. Its worth it.
• If you don’t want your onions and peppers soft, you can toss them in only for the last hour. You can also sub out red, orange, or yellow sweet peppers, depending on what your family likes.
• To make this a complete meal, serve this with steamed broccoli and rice.
• Leftover of this are just as awesome as they are right when you make it!

How to serve this weeknight Asian meal to your family:

• To serve to toddlers – To serve this mongolian beef recipe as finger foods,
• For children – To serve to children, place the meat and rice in separate piles on their plate. Serve with a veggie and a fruit on the side, so they have 4 piles of different colored foods to choose from.
• Plating for adults – Serve over rice and with a veggie. Stir in some sriracha or gojuchang sauce or a pinch of red pepper flakes to spice things up a bit.

Interested in adding more Asian flavors to your weeknight meals but not sure how to make it actually doable? Check out my collection of easy Asian dinner recipes for easy recipes that are weeknight and kid-friendly and will help your weeknight meals be a win!

How Kids Can Help Make Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

One of the best ways of getting kids interested in eating new foods is to have them help you make the meal! The more involved they are, the more likely they will want to try it. Here are some great age appropriate ways to get your kids in the kitchen with you:

• Kids aged 1 to 3 can help you measure the sauce ingredients, and wash and dry the onions and peppers, and sprinkle the finished meal with sesame seeds and green onions.
• Kids aged 4 to 6 can help do everything above, plus help you mix up the sauce, and slice the peppers and green onions.
• Kids aged 7 to 10+ can help do everything above, plus help you slice the onion.

*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.