Mongolian beef made in the slow cooker is tender and full of ginger and garlic flavor.

Mongolian beef is typically made with flank steak, but I made this one with sirloin, which I cut into thin strips. I have a bunch of sirloin steaks in the freezer that I got on clearance. Whenever I see a good meat clearance, I tend to stock up. Because they were a clearance deal, they aren’t all ideal cuts. I wanted to use them in something that would make the beef cook really tender, which a slow-cooking option would be good for. The flavor in this was amazing. The sauce thickened as it cooked, and the sirloin was almost fall-apart tender. I definitely didn’t need a knife! I’m excited to use a similar cooking method to do more sirloin in the slow cooker. This recipe also reheats very well in the microwave, which makes it a great leftover to take to work for lunch.

The recipe is easy to make gluten-free. I served this with noodles, but just swap that for rice. The only other thing that contains gluten is the soy sauce, so just use a gluten-free soy sauce.

Mongolian beef is often made with shredded carrots, but I didn’t have any, so I used a frozen stir fry veggie mix instead. If you use shredded carrots, it’s probably fine to add them to the slow cooker at the beginning along with the beef. The first time I made this recipe, I added the frozen veggies at the beginning and they were overcooked at the end – this is why I recommend adding them within the last hour of cooking, or steaming them separately and adding them when the beef is done.