Korean Beef Bowl
by Chungah
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Tastes like Korean BBQ (bulgogi) and is on your dinner table in just 15 min! Quick, easy, budget-friendly, and a hit with the entire family!
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.
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. Throw in any lingering veggies (ex. chopped bell peppers, carrots or broccoli florets) for an easy clean-out-the-fridge meal.
What is the difference between bulgogi and Korean beef bowls?
Bulgogi uses marinated sliced beef, grilled or pan-fried, while Korean beef bowls use ground beef for a faster, budget-friendly weeknight version. 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.
How to make korean beef bowls
- Prep the sauce. Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and ginger. To make the bowls more spicy, swap out the red pepper flakes for gochujang (Korean red chili paste).
- Crumble the ground beef. Sauté the garlic first in a large cast iron skillet, then crumble the ground beef (or desired meat), draining the excess fat.
- Add the sauce and simmer. Add the sauce, simmering until heated through, about 2 minutes. This would be a great time to add in any leafy greens (baby spinach or kale) for those picky eaters!
- Serve. Serve warm over rice, topped with a fried egg for additional protein.
What to Serve with Korean Beef Bowls
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Korean Beef Bowl: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Use ground pork, chicken or turkey, tofu or plant based ground beef in place of the ground beef.
Add a fried egg on top (sunny side or over easy), breaking the runny yolk into a rich, velvety sauce to mix with the rice.
Yes! Swap out the soy sauce for gluten-free tamari.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Absolutely! Here are detailed instructions on how to meal prep this for the week.
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
Notes
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Pick your favorite protein. Ground beef, pork, chicken or turkey, tofu or plant based ground beef will all work very well here. In need of more protein? Top your bowl with a sunny side up fried egg.
- Add vegetables. Mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers or snow peas can be added for a more heartier meal, perfect for picky eaters and grown ups!
- 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 solid options.
- Meal prep as needed. Perfect for on-the-go, these Korean beef bowls can be conveniently meal prepped for the week ahead.
Did you make this recipe?
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This is amazing! Just as promised easy to make and delicious. Made a double batch and froze half…cant wait to eat it again. Yum!
This is sooooo good!! Next time I’m making double!!
This was SO good! And so easy! My daughter and her two friends (they are 12) devoured it. I should have doubled the recipe.
I tried this with ground pork and added sliced onion and leftover cooked cabbage. It was yummy.
I made this tonight for dinner it was AMAZING! We only eat gluten free so I had to use a gluten free soy sauce, I also substituted tahini for the sesame oil (I was out of oil). Thank you!
Thank you so much! This was delious!
OMG! This is soooooooo good. I had taken out ground beef for dinner and the last thing I wanted was meat loaf. So I found this. It was amazing. I added a little lemon to the rice. Next time I make this I may add more veggie to the meat just because it was so good.
Thanks for a great and easy recipe!
This was so delicious. The only complaint that my family and I had was that it wasn’t spice enough but that’s nothing some extra chili flakes and hot sauce can’t fix. It’s a great last minute throw something together dinner.
I’m a Malaysian living in Ohio–made this tonight. It was SO STINKIN’ GOOD that I HAD to post a comment although I almost never comment on blog recipes. I’m so impressed with how complex the flavor is given the simple ingredients and the whole 15 mins it took to prep! Perfect for a work night. I’ll be making this again… and again… and again. Thanks!
My husband and I just made this for dinner. It was yummy! So simple to prepare. We will definitely make it again. Thank you!
Cery easy and tasty dish. Even my stubborn 4 yo was eating it. Only thing i would change is adding some veggies to it. Other that that, great recipe
Really enjoyed this. My husband says it’s going into the dinner rotation.
I had some fresh ground beef on hand, plus all the other ingredients yeaaa. I needed to make something quick for my husband so I found your recipe. My husband isn’t picky at all! He just eats and won’t say much, but said: That was actually really good! Lol, thanks again I’m hugging you through the computer. 🙂
This looks amazing! But would it taste any different if I used ground turkey??
Ground turkey would be a great substitute!
Wow, this recipe tastes amazing, quick and easy to prepare too! My daughters loved it. The only complaint was that there was not enough left over for their lunches tomorrow
I’ve made this twice now, and it’s amazing. So easy and so delicious! We like more sauce, so I doubled the sauce. Will be great with any vegetables mixed in. I think I’ll saute up some green peppers and add them to the mix. Yum! Thanks for such an easy, great recipe.
This was very good, very easy, and just the ticket for “I’m too tired to fuss” work nights. I did use fresh ginger (well, fresh from the jar…) and Sriracha instead of the red pepper flakes. Will definitely make again…great flavors.
Love this blog…
Made it in 15 minutes and everyone thought it was great!!
super yummi! Made this in Germany tonight, wish I had more 😀
This was posted on a FB page a few months ago and I finally made it tonight. It was absolutely wonderful!!
I absolutely love this recipe. I first tried it about a year ago and it has since become a staple in my kitchen. Tonight I added chopped onion and shredded carrot for some additional color. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!