Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Meatballs
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Korean BBQ meatballs are made with a combination of ground beef & ground pork, then slow cooked in a crock pot in a scrumptious Korean BBQ Sauce for a totally tasty recipe!
Ever since my bestie PK introduced me to Korean BBQ, I’ve been hooked!
Korean BBQ is all about the marinades and sauces. Luckily for you, I’m sharing the most delicious Korean BBQ sauce recipe, along with this meatball recipe! The sauce is sweet and spicy and really easy to make!
I will put this sauce on anything and everything! I make Korean BBQ Salmon by glazing the sauce over fresh salmon on the grill. You can also slow cook chicken in the sauce for Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos.
I sous vide Korean BBQ Short Ribs, then poured the sauce over the short ribs. You can also pour the sauce over ground beef to make easy Korean BBQ Beef Bowls. Seriously, I can’t get enough of this scrumptious sauce!
Table of contents
How to make the sauce
- Combine brown sugar, low sodium soy sauce, mirin, water, rice wine vinegar and chili paste in a medium sized pot.
- Add sesame oil, black pepper, ginger, garlic and green onions.
- Place the pot on the stove over medium high heat. Bring the sauce to a boil.
- Combine cornstarch and water, then add it to the sauce.
- Whisk the sauce, then reduce the heat to medium and allow the sauce to simmer 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool.
- Add the sauce to your favorite Korean BBQ dish or store it in the fridge to use later.
How to make the meatballs
- Combine ground beef, ground pork, breadcrumbs and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl.
- Add low sodium soy sauce, chili paste, sesame oil, garlic, green onion, salt and pepper.
- Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients. Form into 1 inch diameter meatballs.
- Heat an oven to 375°F.
- Place all of the meatballs on a baking sheet and into the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place in a slow cooker.
- Top with Korean BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
How to make them on the stove
If you don’t have a slow cooker or don’t have the time to slow cook these meatballs, you can easily make them on the stove. Follow the instructions above for making the Korean BBQ sauce and the meatballs.
After the meatballs come out of the oven, instead of transferring them to a slow cooker, transfer them to the pot of BBQ sauce on the stove. Simmer the meatballs in the sauce on the stove over low heat for 20 minutes.
What to serve with them
Korean meatballs can be served with white or brown rice. For a really delicious Korean twist, serve them with Kimchi Fried Rice.
Korean meatballs can also be served by themselves with wooden skewers as a great party appetizer!
Are they gluten free?
These Korean BBQ Meatballs are gluten free. Always make sure to use gluten free soy sauce to make the Korean BBQ sauce and meatballs.
More meatball recipes
- Slow Cooker French Onion Meatball Soup
- Buffalo Cheesy Sausage Meatballs
- Mozzarella Stuffed Meatball Wellington
- Buffalo Honey Mustard Meatballs
- German Meatballs and Potatoes
Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Meatballs
Ingredients
Korean BBQ Sauce
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cups low sodium soy sauce, Tamari for gluten-free
- ¼ cup mirin
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tbsp chili paste
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chili paste
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 2 egg yolks, whisked
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
Korean BBQ Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, over medium high heat, combine the first 11 ingredients of the BBQ sauce and bring to a boil, cook 5-7 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water.
- Add this mixture to the boiling sauce.
- Whisk to combine well, reduce heat to medium and cook 3-4 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and set the sauce aside.
Korean Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add all of the meatball ingredients to a large bowl.
- Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients, then form into 1” balls.
- Place the meatballs on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Place the meatballs in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and add them to a slow cooker.
- Pour the korean bbq sauce over the meatballs.
- Cook on low 5-6 hours or on high 2-3 hours.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
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14 Comments on “Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Meatballs”
how long does the korean bbq sauce last if in the fridge. Would it be good still after a month?
Thanks
Hi Carol, I would only keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. After that, you could freeze it for up to 6 months.
Thanks 🙂
Thank you so very much for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
spicy hot
Hi Carol, I would cut down on the chili paste (probably in half) and add an extra tablespoon of soy sauce to cut down on the spice level.
Made this recipe as a trial run yesterday and I think that I slow cooked them too long. tThey were very hot! Could I add more mirin and water to the sauce to reduce the heat some?
Hi Carol, are you referring to temperature hot or spicy hot?
So check this out. I found this recipe where you take a trimmed pork tenderloin and butterfly it and pound it 3/4″ thick to make a large “pork steak” (I love sayin’ that). Season it and toss it on the grill and lacquer it 3 or 4 times with the sauce (yes, your grill will be a mess afterwards). Let it rest and cut it into “boneless spare rib size” and wow. Incredible “spicy Korean boneless “short ribs”. This sauce is quite versatile (I use low sodium soy or I think it’s way too salty). I love to put it on salmon with some sticky rice and I even glazed a meatloaf with it. LOL
These are really good! Next time I’ll use low sodium soy sauce (it was just a bit too salty), but the flavor was great and the sauce was just the right consistency. I baked mine in a baking dish with the sauce poured over them. Definitely recommend.
So I made these today as a trial run for a party I’m having next week and they are fantastic! I did use a slightly different method. Instead of browning them in a pan, I just put them on an oiled baking sheet and popped in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. Then, once the sauce was as thick as I wanted, just plopped ’em in there and let it sit on low for about 15 minutes. So good… I’m going to use the leftover sauce to glaze some salmon. Thanks for sharing this!
So I made these today for dinner and they were on low for 6 hours. They are burned and in-edible. I am so disappointed because they smelled delicious yesterday when I prepped them. Maybe they don’t need to be slow cooked and just cooked in a skillet in the sauce for. Short period of time?
Hi Beth, I’m so sorry that happened! I know that some slow cookers tend to cook a lot higher and faster than others.
You could definitely cook the meatballs a little longer in the skillet, then add the sauce to the skillet and simmer for 10-15 minutes and serve them that way instead of using the slow cooker.
Ha ha, LOVE this!!! I’m dying to try your concoction! Happy to get the shout out! 🙂