Korean Beef Bowl
by Chungah
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Tastes like Korean BBQ (bulgogi) and is on your dinner table in 15 min start to finish! Doesn’t get any easier than this!
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. 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.
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. Any lingering veggies (ex. chopped bell peppers, carrots or broccoli florets) can be thrown right in for a great clean-out-the-fridge meal.
Tips for the Best Korean Beef Bowl
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Use your favorite meat. Ground beef, pork, chicken or turkey, tofu or plant based ground beef will all work very well here.
- Add vegetables. Mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers or snow peas can be added for a more heartier meal.
- More protein. In need of more protein? Top your bowls with a fried egg.
- 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 great options.
- Meal prep as needed. Perfect for on-the-go, these Korean beef bowls can be conveniently meal prepped for the week ahead.
What to Serve with Korean Beef Bowls
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Korean Beef Bowl: Frequently Asked Questions
Bulgogi uses marinated sliced beef, grilled or pan-fried, while Korean beef bowls use ground beef for a faster, budget-friendly weeknight version.
Not at all! Ground pork, chicken or turkey, tofu or plant based ground beef can be used in place of the ground beef.
Absolutely! Here are detailed instructions on how to meal prep this for the week.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
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
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AMAZING! My one year old and the whole family loved this recipe. It’s also great because it takes no more than 15 minutes to make. Definitely saving this one!
So easy and delicious !
Love this recipe, my kids love it so much they made me double the sauce. i also put broccoli at the end with the cover on it. A new staple in our house!
Wow! This was absolutely delicious! So simple, yet oh, so good! My mom came back twice to compliment how good it was and asked for the recipe. Thank you! I used ground turkey and used liquid amino instead if soy sauce (as I always do). I also sauteed a bunch of veggies separately and then tossed them in at the end, mixing in to coat them with the sauce, too.
Delicious!
Seriously, I could just eat the beef mixture with a spoon. I just totally stole this recipe and turned it into a zucchini boat. I made the beef (added a 8oz can of water chestnuts-diced, and it fish sauce) and then took one of those “ready” sticky rice bowls (7.4oz) and mixed it in. Then stuffed that into some gone-wild zucchini’s from my garden. Once baked, I served some Hoisin and Sriracha sauces on the side. (Who’s kidding, I just put the bottles on the table, LOL). I could totally see this working for a Korean Lettuce Wrap as well. Thank you for such a well balanced recipe. It’s fantastic.
The Korean beef was not as sweet as many are which is good for those with diabetes. We halfed on the hot peppers which made it out level of spicey. We added ginger and butter to the rice. Because we loooovvvvvve veggies we add sauteed thin sliced carrots and pickled onions celery and chopped spring mix (lettuce). I guess we left the country of Korea after that. But it was sooooo good. Great flavors. Good recipe. This one is definitely a printer
Loved how easy it was!
Weve made this a few times. Tonight we added a couple cups 9f broccoli from the garden. I increased the sauce by half so it would coat the broccoli nicely. This recipe is a keeper.
Last year, I tasted bulgogi for the first time through the Mr. Bulgogi food truck in Pittsburgh, PA. I scanned the internet to find a similar recipe and was a bit disappointed in the lack recipes that were so easy that my 7 year old nephew could make it. I just stumbled upon this recipe this past week and actually made it for dinner tonight. I almost cried happy tears when my mind took me back to that bulgogi. We need an easy button for this! I did do a couple things a bit differently out of necessity though because I don’t like super close to a store that would have sesame seeds.PF Chang’s Sesame sauce, which already has sesame oil and sesame seeds in it. I also doubled the recipe and only had enough for half of the soy sauce necessary so I used Worchestershire sauce in addition to half the soy sauce called for in the recipe. I thought it was out of this world DELICIOUS!
I made this over ramen with some thin diced onion and red pepper for some added texture & crunch– used the remaining sauce to lubricate the noodles. Very delicious
This recipe was pretty great!! I added half an onion, 1/4 of a large bell pepper, and a few baby carrots chopped to the pan first to add some veggies. I also wound up adding quite a bit more soy sauce, about 1 1/2 tsp of low sodium soy and then 1/2 tsp of dark soy, and then a whole load more red pepper flakes. It was a bit too sweet and needed some more savory. But apart from that, this recipe was so good. I am going to have to double it next time because I know my parents are going to complain about the lack of leftovers.
Easy and delicious! Four stars because there was no veggies – I added thin carrot sticks, shredded bok choy, and bean sprouts. Thinking about it now I could have added some kimchi for an extra kick too. Next time 🙂 Thanks for a great, quick, easy and adaptable recipe.
Really easy and tasty! It will be on the menu again. I didn’t have sesame oil and used olive oil. I also didn’t have green onions. Neither affected the recipe and I think it could be very adaptable. Your main ingredients would be the brown sugar, soy, ginger, and red pepper flakes and are what make the sauce delicious.
This is an amazing recipe. Easy to make for a weeknight dinner. It is my 16 year old sons favorite meal. I have made it with ground pork before too. Delicious.
This is one of our favorites – my husband asks for it at least once a week! I made it while visiting his son and his girlfriend -it was a hit there too! I’ve shared the recipe with them! Recipe is very easy to follow – I usually double the sauce and green onions. Thank you for this DELICIOUS recipe!
tasty and quick to make
This recipe is amazing!! You literally can’t go wrong – doesn’t matter if you add too much or too little of any of the ingredients, it’s delicious no matter what!! My family loves Asian food and this is my go-to quick weeknight meal. Yum. I serve it with white rice and peas in a bowl.
Really excellent, really easy. Used 1 T. grated fresh ginger in place of the powder, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I usually have these ingredients on hand and this outstanding and super simple recipe is now part of the rotation. Thank you, Chungah!
Loved it. Instant dinner for . 30mins or less and everyone loved it.
Had this with the Yves vegetarian ground beef and it was so good! It’s become a regular around our house