Korean Beef Bowl
by Chungah
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
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
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I’m making this again today. It is easy. All recipes should be this easy AND this good. Nothing I hate more than bland salt and pepper recipes. This is amazing. I bought a medium spice jar of toasted sesame seeds to keep in my pantry and just got a jar of ground ginger. Not a ginger fan but it works here nicely. I’ll cook up some jasmine rice in my rice cooker (20 year old one from my mom…LOL). Dinner time. I’m making three pounds of ground meat for the savages, I mean kids. And omgosh, I can’t wait to buy your cookbook. I keep checking every week and I know it’s not til September but I keep hoping the gods would grant me one wish.
So thrilled to have found this recipe! Wanted something new and not so heavy. My only regret was there weren’t any leftovers for me to take to work the next day. It was worth the jaunt to the grocery store, I was out of soy sauce. But it fed everyone and put a smile on their face. This will definitely become a part of my go to recipes! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe is great! Simple but wonderful. Thank you very much.
I made this for my Fiance who was stationed in Korea. He loved it! I doubled the sauce and added some cornstarch. I also used Chili Garlic Paste in the sauce. It’s a winner!
I have made this a few times and I have to remember to make a double batch or my husband and two boys will complain.
This meal is fantastic! I subbed ground turkey but followed everything else. Super delicious. Tonight I’m going to add in some shredded cabbage for crunch and serve it atop cauliflower rice. Would you by chance have the nutritional info on this? I’d love a calorie count if possible. Thanks for the great recipes!
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
435 calories a serving to be exact.
I have tried many recipes from your blog and have loved them all! I thought I’d write a note that I love this recipe- but 10x more now than my sister told me about how she makes it. In addition to the beef mixture (which she also adds sauteed zucchini and mushrooms to), she serves it over vermicelli noodles, and tops it all with grated carrots and cucumbers, and a drizzle of peanut sauce. Incredible!
I have a daughter who is allergic to sesame so I’m going to try this with another oil. What would be a good substitute? Sesame oil has such a distinct flavor, is it even possible to substitute for flavor?
You can substitute vegetable or canola oil.
Made this for my family of 5 so I doubled the recipe. 1/2 cup of brown sugar would have been too much so I stuck with 1/4 and then just doubled everything else. Still was a bit too sweet, but good. Added red pepper, onions and broccoli. Sprinkled the top with some cilantro and avocado slices. Yum!
The flavor was so much better than any other Asian recipe I have tried, they are always more work than reward is worth but not this one. Super easy and tastes great. I was a little short on soy sauce that day so I topped off the measure with Worcestershire but had everything else on hand for a last minute supper. We served the beef over a bag of mixed veggies with noodles picked up from the local grocery and it was a hit.
POWDERED Ginger?!?!? C’mon use the real deal. Completely different flavor.
No comparison between powedered and fresh.
Ground ginger and fresh ginger can be used interchangeably depending on what you have on hand.
would this be good with shitake musrooms?
Yes, absolutely!
This was delicious. I followed your recipe with only a couple minor changes, using a half teaspoon of ground chili paste instead of pepper flakes and adding a couple tablespoons of chopped cilantro after taking it off the heat. It was delicious and a great change from the usual ground beef recipes. I served it with brown rice, sesame broccoli and carrots, and homemade kimchi. It’ll go in our regular rotation, thanks!
My hubby and I both loved this. He has his with Jasmine rice and I had mine in lettuce wraps. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you.
Absolutely love this recipe! When the beef is almost done cooking, I like to add 1/2 cup of water and chopped vegetables to steam for a bit. Great way to increase your veggie intake and add moisture throughout the rice!
I love your blog Chungah!
i know this is an old post, but I just made some, serving size for one, and this is so tasty! I’ll save this to use again and again. I’m glad I found your website.
This was another really delicious recipe I’ve made from your website. All of the things I’ve tried from you are absolutely awesome!!! Most of my “go-to recipes” are from your website, Thank you 🙂
I was skeptical about this recipe, but it is sooooooooo good. It is going into my permanent rotation for sure.
Just made this recipe and it was great. However, it was a bit too sweet for my taste. Definitely plan to make again with less sugar and more red pepper.
I bow to the queen! Thank you for something quick, easy, cheap and DAMNED DELICIOUS! I’m a good cook but even my 12 year old daughter hugged me after eating this. You rock!