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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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!
We LOVED this! It’s definitely going to be in the rotation!
This recipes is now a family favorite! We’ve made this a half a dozen times, and our 3 kids (not to mention me and my wife) can’t get enough of it! We usually add whatever fresh (or frozen) veggies we have on hand to make the dish stretch. We absolutely love it! Thank you so much for sharing it!
This dish was a hit! I love that it’s reminiscent of bulgogi but with a lighter feeling.
I made this recipe last night, it was very flavoursome however it was just too sweet for us. I will definitely use less sugar if we cook it again. I am going to try the beef and broccoli slow cooker recipe tonight – I will add less sugar and then taste after to see if it needs more. Great recipes 🙂
This is so good! And my whole family liked it, something which rarely happens. I know I will serve this often!
I hate it when people change half the things in a recipe and then comment, but I did just that today and it was delish! I added onion, celery, and red pepper and decided to double the sauce because of it. The soy sauce bottle didn’t have enough in it for a double recipe so I used 1/4 cup oyster sauce. So good! We had it on rice, but I think I will use the leftovers in chow mein tomorrow with lots of stir fried veggies and noodles.
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I just made this for dinner tonight….whooooooooo weeeeeeee! We LOVE bulgogi here, so trying this “cheater” recipe with ground beef was such a great idea!!! My 14 year old sons can’t wait to eat it…..we’re waiting on roasted broccoli. Thank you!!
My family really enjoyed this. Spicey and sweet! Will make again.
Oh my. . I made this last night and it was simply amazing. Quick and easy for a weeknight. Everyone wanted seconds and my husband went back for thirds. I paired it with brown rice, egg rolls and broccoli.