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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Just made this today with ground turkey and it is delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Yum! Thanks for sharing.
This is a massive hit in our house. I also have success freezing this in portions on rice for hubby who works away to heat for dinner. I usually make four times the amount so we get dinner, left over lunches and some in the freezer for hubby. Thankyou for shearing this recipe x
That’s awesome Rosana! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for such an amazing recipe. I am officially obsessed 🙂
I enjoy it plain as written, and also sometimes use it as a filling in a meat pastry which is also delicious.
You can check out my full review of it here–>
https://bitesnpieces.co/2018/06/10/simple-yet-delicious-korean-beef-bowl/
hi, chungah! long time follower, first time commenting. love this recipe so hard. i’ve made it countless times. its great with ground turkey, and i always use gochugaru (bc korean spice is life…and my mom left me an xl mason jar full in my freezer – not mad!). thank you for recipes that remind me of my favorite meals growing up.
That’s awesome Helen! Thanks for sharing.
My favorite recipe of yours so far. So easy and delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Our pleasure!
Delicious and ridiculously easy to make, thanks for sharing!
Of course Rebecca! Thank you for sharing!
This was an amazing dinner experience. I will be adding this to our normal rotation. Easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing this.
Awesome to hear Steve! Thank you 🙂
Made 2 versions of this last night. One with ground beef and one with vegetarian crumble for my daughter. Both were absolutely delicious. Will make this regularly.
Awesome Tish! Glad it worked as a vegetarian version as well!
i used ground wagyu beef, reduced the sugar, splashed some cooking wine and added carrot strips and mushrooms and they are DIVINE! you can eat it alone or pair it with spinach pita bread. A great way to finish off left over ground beef.=)
Great additions/substitutions Diana, so glad you enjoyed it so much!
Do you think vegan beef crumbles would be okay?
To be honest, I have never tried vegan beef crumbles before so it’s hard to say!
Let me say, it was “Damn Delicious” I served it with Teriyaki Rice with celery added. Next time I will probably add more veggies. But it was good to the last forkful
This is very similar to a dish my friend Okie from Indonesia taught me to make. Just use Indonesian Ketjap (sweet soy sauce) instead of brown sugar and soy sauce. It is more delicious. Also, I add about a pound of bean sprouts to the burger and Ketjap. It is so good.
I make this recipe regularly for my family. I double the batch for a family of 4 and we seldom have much left over. I use sriracha instead of red pepper flakes – and I use quite a bit – 2-3 tablespoons at least. Also, I use the stir in ginger paste from Kroger (easy to use) and I use a lot of that too – I would say a tablespoon plus. I also use a bit more garlic than this recipe calls for. I make the rice in the instant pot and it is all ready at the same time. My youngest son says our house always smells like PF Chang’s when I make this. Highly recommend this recipe!!
This is the ginger I use:
https://www.kroger.com/p/gourmet-garden-ginger-stir-in-paste/0087520800068
I put one third the sugar and triple the ginger and it turned out well. It would have been way too sweet the original way.
The recipe is so easy and tastes sooo good! Had to pull something out in a pinch because dinner plans changed so ended up eating home and this fit the bill to a T. Added onions and tricolor peppers for more colors and texture. Omitted the red pepper flakes as cooking for kids as well. It’s such an amazing recipe..thanks so much for sharing! Definitely in the meal rotation now!
Ok, my husband and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this meal! We use sushi rice instead, just preference. We’ve used regular rice in the past.
Have you thought about a left-over dish for this? We always have extra and as happy as I am with leftovers, I’m not creative enough to turn it in to something else. Just a thought! Thanks!
The leftovers are still just as good!
I have made this a few times now. Its officially been added to dinner rotation. Tonight I tossed everything into the slowcooker and used ground turkey. I serve with peppers ans onions, its a great weeknight meal!
Can you substitute worcestshire sauce for soy sauce?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Ok thankyou 🙂
This is one of my all time favorite recipes. So easy, fast, and delicious! Kid and husband approved. 🙂 There is never a scrap leftover. I always make it with some roasted broccoli. Thanks so much! I am currently making your one pot stuffed pepper casserole…Love your recipes!
We are allergic to sesame, is there anything I can substitute for the sesame oil? I’d just leave the seeds out. Thanks!
You can omit.