Korean Beef Bowl
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Tastes like Korean BBQ and is on your dinner table in just 15 min start to finish! It 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 i love this recipe
- 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.
- 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 and tricks for success
- 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 bowl
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Korean Beef Bowl: Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop (adding a tablespoon of water as needed).
100%! This is one of our favorite crockpot recipes, perfect for those chilly months.
Korean Beef Bowl
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
Equipment
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.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Love this recipe! I modify and use ground turkey and add in onions, peppers, broccoli, carrots or whatever else I have on hand. It’s huge hit in our house and my go to meal when I am short on time or tired. Love it!
Thank you SO much for this delicious and so so easy recipe. I served it with yuzu marinated cucumbers and it was a big hit with my family. Its always great to have a new option for ground beef!!
Super delicious! My whole family loves it.
I wanted to add a review for this recipe. I was a bit skeptical of the ground ginger but it works perfectly. I really appreciated not having to grate ginger for the sauce when I had come home late and I was rushing to get dinner on the table. I love this recipe as it is tasty, quick and loved by all family members. I served it with udon but I also have served it with rice.
Awesome! So simple! My entire family loves this! That NEVER happens!
I didn’t have a few of the ingredients so I used apple cider vinegar, white sugar, honey, regular soy sauce and did not add Sriracha as I’m cooking for my kid. Sauteed chopped yellow onion before putting everything else in the pot. Turned out delicious! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
This is my go to recipe. It’s like spaghetti in everyone else’s house but in my house, this is it. My kids love this dish!!! I love it and my husband. I make a few adjustments because I don’t usually have green onions always at hand but everything else I do. I double the sauce and use rice noodles because it tastes so good!
easy, very tsty, will add broccoli chopped or peapods next time toot
Just tried this, it’s really good! And easy. I might try to make it with less sugar but maybe not
This is a family favorite. Only thing I did different was instead of ground beef I used ground venison. No one even knows! Worked better I think less fat. Thanks
Super easy, super tasty!
All kids AND husband love it!
It’s a fav in our house!
Thank you !
A favorite and quick and easy. Thank you.
Awsome, not too sweet, the red pepper flakes make it. I tried it with hamburger and more brown sugar (another recipe) and my family wasn’t too crazy about it, but I really liked it. I made this last night, with stir fry sliced beef and it was a hit.
I love this! I modified a bit, by throwing in some sugar snap peas and sliced water chestnuts (skipping green onion).
It’s a household favorite and I admit to making it way too often.
This recipe is amazing. The kids love it, so thank you for making my job easier.
Thank you for such a super simple and delicious recipe! My family loved it!!
I made this except I swapped out soy sauce with coconut aminos (required slightly less brown sugar due to coconut aminos being a little sweeter than soy sauce) and added sliced grilled mushrooms. I served it over brown rice, the family loves it and it is part of our meal planning now.
Very good! Added zucchini noodles, shredded carrots and red paper. Will definitely make again!
My family loves this recipe. My sister is very picky so it is always hard finding a new recipe she loves. She loves Korean Beef and can’t stop asking for it. My mom and dad back home have fit it to our normal rotation of dinner meals.
As for myself, I am up at college and think Korean Beef is to die for. I have even added in mixed veggies corn, carrots, and green beans to make it into a nice stir fry dish. I have also on occasion made it with rice-a-roni instead of rice.
I have also occasionally, substituted some of the soy sauce for teriyaki sauce to add some sweetness to it. Mmmm good tasted like desert for dinner.
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!
We have made this several times now. We added sliced mushrooms and onions. We double up the sauce so there is lots for the rice.