Korean Beef Bowl
by Chungah
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Tastes like Korean BBQ (bulgogi) and is on your dinner table in just 15 min! Quick, easy, budget-friendly, and a hit with the entire family!
Featured Comment
Please welcome our favorited Korean beef bowls, one of our most popular recipes on Damn Delicious. This recipe is a special twist on the traditional Korean dish, bulgogi, but as a cheater version, we are swapping out thin slices of sirloin with ground beef.
Why You’ll Love This Korean Beef Bowl
- Weeknight hero. With a short ingredient list, these beef bowls come together incredibly fast. The cooking process itself takes just about 10-15 minutes, and if you have some leftover cooked rice lying around, dinner will be on the table in 20 minutes or less. It’s a budget-friendly alternative to traditional bulgogi while still capturing authentic Korean BBQ flavors.
- Budget-friendly. Using pantry staples, ground beef and rice, this dish can easily feed a family of four without breaking the bank.
- Flexible recipe. Throw in any lingering veggies (ex. chopped bell peppers, carrots or broccoli florets) for an easy clean-out-the-fridge meal.
What is the difference between bulgogi and Korean beef bowls?
Bulgogi uses marinated sliced beef, grilled or pan-fried, while Korean beef bowls use ground beef for a faster, budget-friendly weeknight version. Bulgogi is also marinated overnight to enhance its flavors and tenderness but with this quick ground beef version, you can have the same flavors in lightning speed time.
How to make korean beef bowls
- Prep the sauce. Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and ginger. To make the bowls more spicy, swap out the red pepper flakes for gochujang (Korean red chili paste).
- Crumble the ground beef. Sauté the garlic first in a large cast iron skillet, then crumble the ground beef (or desired meat), draining the excess fat.
- Add the sauce and simmer. Add the sauce, simmering until heated through, about 2 minutes. This would be a great time to add in any leafy greens (baby spinach or kale) for those picky eaters!
- Serve. Serve warm over rice, topped with a fried egg for additional protein.
What to Serve with Korean Beef Bowls
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Korean Beef Bowl: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Use ground pork, chicken or turkey, tofu or plant based ground beef in place of the ground beef.
Add a fried egg on top (sunny side or over easy), breaking the runny yolk into a rich, velvety sauce to mix with the rice.
Yes! Swap out the soy sauce for gluten-free tamari.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Absolutely! Here are detailed instructions on how to meal prep this for the week.
100%! This is one of our favorite crockpot recipes, perfect for those chilly months.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop (adding a tablespoon of water as needed).
Korean Beef Bowl
Video
Ingredients
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and ginger.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in soy sauce mixture and green onions until well combined, allowing to simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onion and sesame seeds, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Pick your favorite protein. Ground beef, pork, chicken or turkey, tofu or plant based ground beef will all work very well here. In need of more protein? Top your bowl with a sunny side up fried egg.
- Add vegetables. Mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers or snow peas can be added for a more heartier meal, perfect for picky eaters and grown ups!
- Double the sauce. Need extra sauce for sopping with rice? The sauce portion can easily be doubled or tripled for those saucy folks!
- Serve with your favorite grains. White rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa or farro are all solid options.
- Meal prep as needed. Perfect for on-the-go, these Korean beef bowls can be conveniently meal prepped for the week ahead.
Did you make this recipe?
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A great quick and easy recipe! Definitely serve over some fresh rice. You can also include firm/extra firm tofu chopped into small 1 cm blocks along with the ground beef to make bigger portions without too much meat. I like to take out the beef after cooking and add the tofu for a few minutes, then put the beef back in along with the sauce step. If you add tofu in addition to the 1lb of beef I’d recommend increasing the amount of sauce accordingly.
As someone else mentioned you can add gochujang (Korean red chili paste) in lieu of the red pepper flakes for more authentic flavour!
Love this.Shared with my family and now it’s everyone’s favorite.I have made it with chicken and steak too.Next is shrimp.
Bulgogi is one of our favorite things to eat when we go out to the Korean restaurant. This recipe tasted like our favorite restaurant just with ground beef! The sauce was excellent. I doubled it because we like extra sauce for the rice. Got some butter lettuce to wrap it all in and my husband loved it! Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe.
I have made this a few times, always great ! Threw some steamed brocoli in with it tonight and cauliflower “fried”rice .
This was so good served over rice! Also served sautéed cabbage and carrots on the side. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for the recipe!
The sugar on this could have been cut in half we felt that it was way too sweet, otherwise the flavor combo was very good.
Super easy and really tasty. I am impressed with this recipe!
I’ve never left a review, but l should as l try so many different recipes. Ths recipe is awesome! Something different to do w ground beef! Fast and easy! My families only beef is they want more sauce for their rice. Lol Tonight is 3rd time l’ve made it. I made the sauce then halved it again! So good!
I love this recipe and have made it many times! I like to add a bag of cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) so I almost double the sauce recipe and pour it all together. This mix is delicious over rice or fried into egg roll shells. This time I added some baby corn. Highly recommend this simple quick recipe
Sooo good! Made tonight! I had 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground turkey. Followed the recipe really simple and fast. I had leftover brown rice,so didn’t have to wait on that. But my timing was off I wanted a veg. So my meat is done didn’t add the sauce,got out baby bok choy and zucchini, steamed them,warmed the rice added the sauce. Dinner!! Hubby said it was good. It was great for me! Will make this again. Thank you!
Just made this for dinner and it is excellent and was very easy. I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect for 2 adults, one tween and a toddler. I made a extra side of veggies that includes thin sliced carrots, orange pepper, thinly sliced ginger and some spinach. I sautéed the veggies in some sesame oil. It paired great with this meal. Will make again. Thank you!
You explained each and everything to make Korean beef in quite easy steps. Your video tutorial is also simple. Thanks for sharing this easy guide with us. Keep sharing the good work ahead…
Excellent recipe as is. Quick, easy, and very tasty. Thank you for all your work giving us the great recipes I’ve used for years. Your website is my favorite go to place for recipes. I recommend it highly.
This is an often requested dish around our house. I made it once and it became an instant family favorite. To top it all off, it is easy to make. Thanks for posting. This recipe is Damn Delicious!
One of my favorite quick recipes to make! I usually pickle some sliced cucumbers and carrots to serve with – they are a great addition. Also, I make a Sriracha mayo and drizzle it over the top. Add some cilantro and yum!!
I absolutely love the recipe! I’ve made it many times with beef, but I’m now allergic to beef so I’m going to try it with tofu and I’m so excited Thanks for such a great quick recipe!
This is so easy and completely DELISH!!! I always make a little more of the sauce to add to rice or what have you… Try it!!!
Made this last night for dinner! Turned out very well! Think I might add some hot sauce next time!
Made this last night. Didn’t have any sesame oil. But followed the recipe exactly. Was a big hit !!! Will definitely be making this again! Thanks!
OMG, this recipe is INSANELY good!!!
So easy, uses pantry staples, takes literally no time at all and the flavour is out of this world! I only had about 200g of mince (half a pound?) so blitzed 250g of mushrooms and added them to bulk out the beef. Then added broccoli stalks for greens. Yep, def making this again, and again, and again 🙂
I’ve been making this for a couple years now based on this recipe. I HIGHLY recommend replacing the pepper flakes with 1 tbsp gochujang (or more/less, depending on how spicy you like it). The flavor is much better and I guess it makes it a bit more Korean!
An amazing recipe! I added fried eggs on top which really brought the flavors together.