Ground Beef and Sugar Snap Peas

Posted: 9/1/16 Updated: 8/28/20

This slow cooker sesame beef is topped with crisp snap peas for an easy take-out alternative! Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.

This slow cooker sesame beef is a great stir fry alternative, with MUCH less prep work involved. If you are looking for more easy take-out inspired meals that you can make at home, try these Slow Cooker Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps or this Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Beef.

For today's recipe, I wanted to create a super easy dinner recipe for back to school. To start, you only need to throw 7 simple ingredients into the slow cooker, and then you walk away for 5 hours.

Half an hour before dinner, you throw some cornstarch into the slow cooker to thicken it up. Then your veggies. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice. There is plenty of sauce to soak into the rice with a ton of flavor!

I love this recipe because it has great flavor from the sweet and savory sauce, great texture from the fall-apart-tender beef and crunchy sugar snap peas, it is so easy to prepare, and SUPER easy to clean up after.

Reasons you'll love this slow cooker sesame beef

• no sauteeing which makes this recipe super easy to prepare!
• can be assembled ahead of time and frozen for a freezer crockpot meal
• leftovers are delicious!!

Let's Talk Ingredients!

For this recipe you'll need:

• beef: pretty much any cut will work, but if there is a lot of fat, I do recommend cutting it off or the sauce will end up very fatty. Stewing beef cubes are a great shortcut.
• soy sauce: I recommend reduced-sodium soy sauce. Use coconut aminos for gluten-free
• oyster sauce + sesame oil: should be easy to find in the Asian aisle at your local grocery store
• sugar: use brown or coconut sugar. Maple syrup or honey will probably work as well
• fresh ginger: I love grating on a microplane or the fine side of the box grater
• veggies: snap peas & bell peppers to be added 1 hour before serving
• cornstarch: to thicken. Arrowroot is a great alternative

Recipe Tips

• first, stir together the sauce ingredients in the slow cooker, then add the beef
• make sure you remove as much fat as possible from the beef (to keep the sauce from getting really fatty)
• all slow cookers cook differently, so use your best judgment when cooking this recipe
• add veggies during the last hour of cooking so they don't overcook

Find my favorite kitchen tools in my shop!

Storage + Meal Prep Tips

• store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days
• reheat gently in a pot or in the microwave until steaming hot
• freeze for up to 3 months
• may also be assembled (but not cooked) and stored in the fridge (check expiry date on meat, up to 4 days); or freezer (up to 3 months)

FAQs

Which cut of beef should I use?
You can use pretty much any cut of beef in this recipe; I like to use stewing beef cubes to cut down on prep time. You can use a beef roast and cut into 1-inch cubes. I tend to avoid bone-in cuts to make prep easier.

Can I make this recipe low carb?
I have a feeling you could swap the sugar for monk fruit sweetness (and I generally do ¼ of the volume when using monk fruit), but I have not tested. If you give it a try, I'd love to hear how it goes for you!

How should I serve this recipe?
You can serve the beef over rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice, or even zucchini noodles.

Looking for more easy and delicious meals?

• Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef
• Low Carb Satay Beef Meal Prep
• Lighter Mongolian Beef Meal Prep
• Sesame Ginger Beef + Zucchini Noodles
• Healthier Beef Barley Soup

Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!

This slow cooker sesame ginger beef is topped with crisp snap peas for an easy take-out alternative!  Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.

• ▢ 2.2 lbs boneless beef roast 1 kg; as lean as you can get; inside round roast or stewing beef are good choices
• ▢ 1.5 cup stock chicken or beef
• ▢ 3 tablespoons soy sauce reduced sodium
• ▢ 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• ▢ ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• ▢ 3 tablespoons ginger minced or finely grated

After 5 hours

• ▢ ¼ cup cold water
• ▢ 2 tablespoons corn starch
• ▢ 16 oz sugar snap peas
• ▢ 1 red bell pepper sliced thinly

To serve

• ▢ 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• ▢ rice

• Stir together the stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and ginger, and add to the slow cooker.

• Prepare the beef: cut off any fat you can see, cut into 1 inch cubes, and place in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on the lowest setting for 4 hours.

1 hour before serving

• Stir together the cold water and corn starch, then stir into the slow cooker. Add the bell pepper and sugar snap peas. Turn up the heat to the highest setting.

• Cook for 1 more hour.

• Serve over rice with toasted sesame seeds.

I used a 5 quart slow cooker.

If you use a fattier cut off beef, you may wish to let the slow cooker cool slightly then spoon off any fat that floats to the surface before adding the cornstarch.

Alternatively you can cook the beef the day before, refrigerate the slow cooker base overnight, spoon off the fat, and reheat over high heat for 1 hour before adding the cornstarch/water slurry and vegetables.

Serving: 1 /8 batch , Calories: 322 kcal , Carbohydrates: 29 g , Protein: 25 g , Fat: 15 g , Saturated Fat: 4 g , Cholesterol: 70 mg , Sodium: 718 mg , Fiber: 2 g , Sugar: 14 g

© Sweet Peas & Saffron - Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.

Meet Denise Bustard

Denise Bustard is the creator of Sweet Peas and Saffron, a meal prep-focussed food blog. With a PhD in biochemistry, Denise takes a scientific approach to perfecting her recipes. You can find Denise's work featured on Huffington Post, MSN, Self and more.

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