Fall-apart tender with a flavorful sauce, this slow cooker honey garlic shredded beef has seven simple ingredients and is assembled in 10 minutes or less. Versatile and perfect to use on sandwiches, in tacos, rice bowls and more.
When it comes to tough cuts of beef, I immediately reach for my slow cooker! A long, slow cook time ensures the tough collagen fibres melt into the meat, producing fall-apart tender, juicy and delicious results. Some of our favorites include slow cooker jerk-inspired beef as well as slow cooker Korean beef lettuce wraps.
This honey garlic shredded beef is another favorite, because it's just so versatile! In fact, this recipe is part of a meal prep plan, which includes three recipes to use up your honey garlic beef.
With seven simple ingredients, and no need to sautee, you can have this recipe into the slow cooker in 10 minutes or less!
Reasons you’ll ♡ slow cooker honey garlic shredded beef
- no sautéing means you can get the ingredients into the slow cooker quickly
- it makes a big batch and you can use up the beef in three different dinners
- it's fall-apart tender, juicy and flavorful!
Recipe video
Watch the video below to see how simple it is to throw this recipe together. It’s so easy! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
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The best cut of beef for this recipe
The slow cooker presents a wonderful opportunity to cook tough, cheap cuts of beef. While it cooks low and slow, the tough collagen fibres melt into the beef, making it tender and juicy.
Feel free to use a brisket, chuck roast, inside round, or blade roast, but any cut of beef will work well for this recipe. You may also want to cut thick roasts in half so that they are more immersed in the cooking liquid (see 1. below!).
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Recipe tips
Big batch
This slow cooker shredded beef recipe makes 4-6 cups, which serves 8-12 people. It's a good idea to have a plan to use it all up!
- Find a meal prep plan + shopping list for this recipe here (link coming on Friday!)
- You can cut this recipe in half, but will need to cook it in a small (2.5 quart) slow cooker
- You can freeze leftover beef for up to 3 months
Fast or slow
While this is written as a slow cooker recipe, it is possible to cook it in either a 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot as well. Reader Heather successfully used a cook time of 55 minute at high pressure with a full natural pressure release. This worked for 2-4 pounds of beef, so feel free to increase the time if you have a larger roast.
If you find that your beef is still too tough to shred after a 55 minute cook time, place the lid back on the Instant Pot and add another 15-30 minutes + 10 min natural pressure release- the pot should come back to pressure quickly!
Shredding tip
Once the honey garlic beef has cooked low and slow for 8 hours, it should be fall-apart tender. Here's a tip: skip using forks to shred the beef and use an electric hand mixer! It will get it done in seconds.
Step by step directions
- Mix up the sauce and place in a 6 quart slow cooker. Cut large beef roasts in half, and place in the sauce.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- After 8 hours, the beef should be very tender.
- Transfer to a clean bowl.
- Shred with two forks or an electric hand mixer.
- Return beef to the slow cooker and toss in the sauce.
Meal prep and storage tips
Freezer crockpot
To prepare this as a freezer crockpot meal, assemble all ingredients in a sturdy freezer bag, reusable silicone bag or meal prep container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely before cooking as directed.
Leftovers
You can store leftover slow cooker shredded beef in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a frying pan over medium heat, using tongs to flip and mix up the beef.
Leftovers may also be frozen in a freezer bag, reusable silicone bag or meal prep container for up to 3 months. Thaw and heat in a frying pan.
Find my favorite freezer containers here!
Meal Prep Plan
Find the full meal prep plan + shopping list here, and use this honey garlic shredded beef in:
More slow cooker recipes
- Smoky Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
- Crock Pot Pulled Pork
- Slow Cooker Peanut Stew
- 7 Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes
- Crock Pot Whole Chicken
Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Beef
Ingredients
- 1 cup stock beef or chicken
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2-3 lbs boneless beef roast cut in half; see note 1
Instructions
- In the bottom of a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker, combine the stock, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and garlic. Whisk until smooth.
- Cut the beef in half lengthwise. Place the two slices side-by-side in the slow cooker, and turn to coat on both sides.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Remove beef from slow cooker and place in a large bowl. Gently pull apart using two forks, or use an electric hand mixer to do it quickly.
- Add back into the cooking liquid, and toss to coat.
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Tips:
- Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat.
- Add the beef and cook for 3-4 minutes, using tongs to break the beef up and turn it, or until warmed through.
- Do not reheat more than once (food safety issues)
Video
Nutrition Information
© 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.
mdefields says
This would be really good in bibimbap or in kimbap as well!!
Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says
Great idea! I hope you enjoy, be sure to come back and leave a rating and review if you try this recipe!
Mikey says
For me, I used it to make a donburi for my family. The big sister helped by cooking some corn in garlic butter, plus bok choy that was in the fridge along with sesame seeds and other condiments. In addition to that, I used pork instead of beef - because that was what was in the freezer. That was good timing with my parents dropping by for a few days. Slow cooker meals can act like that.
Although I try not to eat as much pork these days, I can tell you that this was a surefire hit with the adults in the family. They liked how sweet it was (not too much, but enough to give it character), and the way the meat soaked up the sauce. With my baby nephew sampling it, that leads me to introducing him to cuisine number 17 of 100 by the time he is in year one at school.