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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I’m watching my picky nephew who has refused to eat anything all day. (He’s 4 and a vegetarian. Okay. Sure.)
This plus vegetable protein and peas over cauliflower rice. He ate 2 bowls and passed out. Bless you and bless this recipe.
Love,
Forever A cool Aunt, never a parent.
Noah.
This is fantastic! It was a winner for both the picky husband and a small child! I will probably try more vegetables in it next time but this recipe is definitely a winner and was super easy!
Amazing flavor! I added cooked mushrooms to the beef before cooking in the sauce. I ate over rice, cooked zucchini and carrot sticks, which I also drizzled with some of the sauce and it was amazing! Will definitely be making again!
Super quick and easy. I added sliced onion and red pepper since I had them on hand and topped with an egg and avocado. None of this is necessary as the dish alone is fantastic. Great easy dish which can be supplemented easilyIf you have the time and ingredients.
Great recipe and super easy to make! Will definitely add this to my weekly rotation. 🙂
Very tasty and so easy to make. My family loved it and I make it all the time now
Amazing flavour. Didn’t have red pepper but used chilli powder and 5spice instead. Absolutely delicious
Made this today and put it on a sandwich roll as I was craving a bahn mi-type sandwhich. Added cilantro and siracha mayo and it really satisfied.
Love this, it has become my go to! (I made the vegetarian version of this using quorn mince).
So delicious!
I use Truvia brown sugar blend to save on some calories. I steam and mix in shredded broccoli and carrots and riced cauliflower. Tried tonight with a fried egg! Makes an already fantastic meal even better!
Love your recipes!
I’ve been using this recipe for over a year. Does not disappoint!
Quico and sooo delicious
Needed to make something with ground beef and my leftover rice and this recipe was the answer! Had all the ingredients on hand, so easy to make and very flavorful! Going to add some veggies next time or maybe throw it in a salad. Thanks for another great recipe!
Love this!
I made it so fas. My modifications were very small: tsp of garlic chili paste instead of chili flakes and i added a dash of fish sauce.
I also served it with a medium fried egg. YUM!
So delicious, quick and easy!
I tried serving in lettuce bibs – even better! Thank you for the recipe – this is going to be a good go-to for a quick dinner with ground beef or turkey.
Soooo gooood! Added a couple of dashes of fish sauce for umami (because no green onion) to the meat at the end. Served with steamed broccoli, rice, chopped peanuts, and spicy mayo coleslaw on the side. Can’t wait for the leftovers tomorrow.
Wowza! Simple and so tasty!
This a great recipe for a week night meal. I Added some quick pickled red onions and quick pickled radishes as a garnish.
So good! Amazing. Tickled all the “Asian” food parts of my brain! Thank you!
Served with grated fresh carrots on the side and steamed green beans.
Easy and flavorful! I topped it off w a runny sunny side up egg!
My family loves this and it’s so quick and easy to make! I didn’t have ground ginger so I substituted Allspice. So good!