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 is a keeper for my kitchen; excellent and really tasty. Thank you for posting!
Easy to make. Loved by ALL 5 in the family which is maybe done with 4 or 5 recipes. I usually make 4X the amount rice and meat and 6X the sauce because of it’s great taste alone on the JASMINE rice! Thank you for the inspiration!
Hi! I found your recipe on Pinterest and I had to try it. Let me tell you, it’s a HUGE favorite in my house with my teen boys (and me)! I’ve already made it 3 times in about 6 weeks. And when I make it, I have to quadruple the recipe, so that we have plenty of seconds and lunches for the next day!
made this a bunch of times. to me it tastes better with coconut aminos. I also add broccoli. kids love it too.
Thanks!
This is delicious and so easy. Its one of my husbands favorite recipe. If you dont have sesame oil, buy it online or you will pay a lot in a grocery store.
This is one of my all time favorite recipes. My teens and hubby loves it, and my picky toddler niece and nephew love it. I have this on rotation and always triple it.
Made it twice this week! So good!
Great recipe! Works great with some extra peppercorns. I stir fried the rice in and added an egg and it was extra tasty!
This recipe is so good! It’s been a little while since we’ve had it and making again tonight. I like to serve it with Stir fry cabbage and broccoli, and omit the sesame seed garnish.
This was really good, although I did make a couple tweaks. First I doubled the sauce recipe to pour over my rice. I also added some Sombal paste because we like a little more heat. And next time I will drastically cut the amount of sugar as it was way too sweet even though I didn’t use the full amount needed. A very good recipe though and will add to our weekly rotation.
I’ve made this, and just by chance mixed my salad that had Newman’s Own Sesame Ginger on it. Now I just put the salad and dressing on top all the time! So good
This is a favorite in my house. I add onions, mushrooms, and peppers (any kind I happen to have) and serve it with Jasmine rice and baked broccoli. Adding onions took this meal to the next level. I also use ground turkey. Turned out great and works well for meal prep as well. I have used the same sauce here with angel hair pasta and chicken for like a stick pasta meal. Its delish!
Thanks for sharing Sam!
EXCELLENT recipe! Quick, easy and tasty! I made mine with ground turkey and it was delicious. Thank you for another “keeper” recipe 🙂
Thanks, Gina!
This was delicious! Thanks for the great recipe.
Can I double this recipe? We are a family of 5 and plus I would love to have left overs. Thanks!
Yes, absolutely!
This looks amazing, as usual. Will be making this week.
Let us know how you like it!
We had this for dinner yesterday, and it was perfect. However, because my teen son hates onions of any kind, but my husband and I love all onions, I prepared them in a separate skillet, added some spices to it, then I put some on top of ours. Everything was amazing. Thans a gain for alway post such tasty meals. Now they are asking me to make more this week. I will be pulling up some of your older post to try and make everyone happy again. Thank you!
That’s so great to hear! Thank you for sharing with us. We’re excited you’ll try more of our recipes!
This recipe is awesome! I actually crave it so much my family (which also loves it) is getting annoyed! We love the amazing flavour and how simple it is to throw together. Definitely a keeper!
Thank you, Giselle! That makes us happy 🙂
I’m guessing a tsp or so of gochujang would be an appropriate substitute for the crushed red pepper?
Great idea!
Since I am not familiar with Korean food, it would be helpful to have serving suggestions at the end of the recipe. I.e; what other items you serve it with? Sometimes having the right dish to go with can make a big difference in whether or not you like the recipe.
You can serve with rice (or veggies) as pictured. 🙂
This is so good! And sooooo easy to make!!
Great to hear, Jane!