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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This was delicious and it really was quick and easy. I did make 2 substitutions – I used bottled minced ginger (out of powder) and I added a jalapeno that I had on hand. SO good, and my 7 year old liked it too 🙂
I have been failing on everything in quarantine cooking but this. IT WAS SO EASY AND DELICIOUS.
This is what I did different.
maple syrup instead of sugar and less of it.
And frozen ginger because I ran out of fresh.
and ground turkey instead of beef.
Cannot wait to try more of your recipes.
Thank you so much!
How much maple syrup did you sub?
We love this! Thank you. Everyone eats it happily (including kids).
My 15 yo daughter and I recently fell in love with bulgogi and 1 recipe we tried was VERY involved and much spicier than my daughter would eat. This was perfect – so much easier, more affordable, and just the right flavors and spice! Thank you!
Very good and easy to make! will definitely make again. I mixed my own sauce with teriyaki, soy sauce, general tso sauce and brown sugar and water with hot sauce and hot pepper flakes! please make this people.
I’ve been making this since last year and it is my 15 year old daughter’s FAVORITE dish, which I love! Her favorite dish is something I can get on the table in under half an hour! We usually add broccoli and add a bit more sauce in order to get things really saucy with the extra broccoli! Thanks SO MUCH for this recipe!
This was excellent, easy, and used what I had in the pantry and the freezer. I made it last week and I’m going to make it again tonight. A perfect, comforting, delicious meal for these trying times.
What a delicious meal! So easy and cheap – but the taste was the opposite.
Have been trying many recipes while in isolation for the pandemic and came across this gem. We loves spicy food so we went heavy on the red pepper flakes. 10/10. Kids ate every bite!
I added some shredded carrot, romain lettuce and shredded cucumber to make it pretty. Loved that I had everything on hand in the pantry. Am going to save this recipe and put it in our meal plans! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
We love this recipe with snow peas and rice. We often use your child garlic sauce in place of the red pepper and fresh ginger, but good both ways.
So good!!! I used a little less brown sugar but otherwise followed the recipe as is. My husband went for seconds. Adding this recipe to our rotation!
This recipe is a winner! I followed everything except I put a bit more ginger in and served it over somen noodles. My husband and I think it’d be good over rice or as lettuce wraps. Definitely putting this on rotation!
used left over rice and ground turkey. I didn’t have green onions so I used a yellow onion. The rest of the ingredients I did have. The meal turned out very good. I added some green peas to the mix. Delicious!
I wasn’t sure what to make tonight and just I happened to find this recipe. I thought it would be an easy way to finish off my ground beef. It was excellent! I look forward to experimenting with it. Thank you for the inspiration !
Top this with a fried egg, some quick pickled asian style shredded carrots and some quick pickled asian style cucumber. Add a garnish of cilantro and some chopped peanuts.
This is recipe is a staple in our house!
I doubled this recipe for my family of 5, and it made enough for the boys to have seconds and my husband to have leftovers for lunch. It tastes even better the second day! My younger kids don’t really like ground beef, but they ate this dish with gusto. I made the recipe as written, doubling all ingredients and using an entire bunch of green onions (white and green parts). I left out the ginger because we didn’t have any on hand, and it had great flavor even without it. I will definitely make this again!
Wow, we loved it! It was quick and easy, but super tasty. Thank you for the recipe.
Super fast, super easy, super tasty! I’ve been making this every 3 weeks or so.
I make this ALL.THE.TIME…love it exactly as is!!
A favourite in our house!
It’s requested at least once a week!
This has been in heavy rotation for years. I always use fresh ginger. I top with cilantro if I have any. I also give each serving a fried egg on top, and that’s what seals the deal.
I may experiment with less sugar and replace some sweetness with shredded pear. I don’t think the full sugar amount is needed.
Excellent.