If you want something a bit left field of your go-to creamy cheesy casseroles, then this recipe for Slow Cooker Korean Beef Noodles is for you! The set it and forget it method of the slow cooker turns this meat crazy tender and makes for a complex sauce that coats every inch of the meat and noodles.

This recipe uses an often forgotten cut of ox cheeks. If you can’t find ox cheeks, you can opt for other braised meat cuts like oxtail, short ribs, or chuck roast, all of which break down to a wonderful tender texture.

The sauce has a few uncommon ingredients like gochujang, garlic and ginger paste, and dark soy sauce, but they can all be found either at an Asian grocery store or on online shopping sites. While there’s no good substitution for gochujang, you can substitute the garlic and ginger paste with freshly minced garlic and ginger and simply use a more readily available soy sauce.

After mixing most of the ingredients in the slow cooker, the meat gets coated in the same sauce and then placed on top of everything else in the slow cooker. At the end of eight hours, the meat is shredded and jumps back into the pot with udon noodles and a bit of fresh herbs.

Garnish with black sesame seeds, and this meal is ready to eat!

The sauce is insanely complex, with the umami elements from the garlic and ginger paste and dark soy sauce creating deep body and richness. The tiny touch of brown sugar goes a long way to perfectly balance the spicy kick from the gochujang.

With this recipe for Slow Cooker Korean Beef Noodles, a restaurant-worthy meal comes to the kitchen table.