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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LOVED this. I have to comment (which I have actually never done on any recipe…) since this is the tenth recipe of yours I’ve made. Great flavor. I added green beans and a red bell pepper plus spicy sesame oil instead of plain… could’ve eaten the whole batch but saved some for lunch tomorrow. Yum.
This dish was awesome & different! Very easy to prepare. The only thing I will do differently the next time I make this is to add a little salt to the ground beef as it’s browning, just to give the meat more flavor… I look forward to trying some of your other recipes!
I had never had Korean Beef until meeting my boyfriend who lived in Korea for two years. Bulgogi was one of his favorites and I love to cook so I decided I needed to learn how to make it. I tried a recipe from scratch and two crockpot sauces before giving up. Neither of us were happy with the results and I was wasting expensive meat. It beat me and I had accepted this and settled for trips to the Korean Restaurant three hours away a couple times a year. I saw this recipe and nothing but positive comments so I tried it. When it was done cooking I asked him if it smelled like Korean Beef and he said, “No, sorry.” Then he tried it and loved it! I just found your slow cooker Korean Beef and since beef was on sale this week I decided to try it tomorrow. He’s disappointed because this one was so perfect but I told him the recipes came from the same place and I trusted you. Here’s to hoping he loves it just as much but if not, we’ll be using this one a lot! Thanks!
Loved it! Amazing!
This recipe is fabulous! It has quickly become a family favorite. I use ground turkey and have been swapping in garlic powder for the minced garlic to save a few more seconds. I love that such a simple and fast meal can be so delicious! Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
I made this for dinner it was off the chain very very good.
This was great! The husband went back for seconds and said he wanted the rest for his late night snack. I think the red pepper gave it a nice little kick. I personally think it was a bit salty due to the soy sauce so maybe I’d use a tad less or go with low sodium. Next time I’m going to throw a fried egg on top!! Mmmm.. Thanks for the recipe!
Has anyone tried freezing the cooked beef bowl? My family loves it, by the way – thanks!
Did you ever try freezing this? I was thinking it’d work as a freezer meal.
This looks so good. Going to make for dinner tonight. I only have minced ginger on hand, wondering if that would be good to use instead of ground?
Minced ginger would be fine to use. The ratio for fresh to dry spices is typically 3:1.
i wonder if i use ground turkey instead, would the flavor be weird or just as good lol ?
Yes, you can substitute ground turkey.
Delicious! I wanted to do something different with the ground beef and already had the rest of the ingridents on hand so I went for it. This came together in a snap which is always a plus but more importantly the flavor is amazing. A little spicy to go along with the sweet and the fresh crunch of the green onions makes for a tasty dinner. I glad I stumbled across this!
Made this meal the other nite it turned out great! My wife is first generation and she said it was amazing and asked me to make it again, I think that it being 20$ cheaper with ground beef was the kicker! My 3 year old loved it too def an easy goto in our house from now on!!
Thanks,
The Ireland’s
Made this for dinner tonight….AMAZING. It was quick and easy to prepare and very tasty! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. This will be a regular favorite in our home for sure!
This was delicious. Thank you!!!
Making this tonight with ground turkey … seems so easy & so yummy….can’t wait!
please share! how was it with the ground turkey!?
Our family LOVED this dish and I had it on the table in no time. It is joining our rotation. I really like a lot of the flavors your blog provides, I haven’t had a single thing I didn’t love!
Super recipe – we love Korean food after living there for awhile but good recipes are hard to find. I switched from ground beef to a stir fry beef and since my husband and I love heat added extra crushed chili and several sliced Thai peppers. The sauce is great and we really enjoyed the sweet and spicy contrast. Will definitely make this again. Thanks for a great recipe.
I like to try new recipes, but I always seem to end up with new chicken dishes. I was so pleased to find this new ground beef recipe. I made it last night with a little apprehension as to whether my family would like it, but it received unanimous thumbs up. The sauce is a great combination of sweet and spicy. Low sodium soy sauce may be a good option for some people, but we loved it as written. The sesame oil is a must and adds a wonderful flavor to the sauce. Thanks for the awesome, easy recipe!
My family loves this! I make it about once a week. The sauce is incredible tasting! I’ve done it with ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, even meatballs for a party. Last time I made it I diced chicken breast into small pieces and it was fantastic. Tonight I’m dicing pork sirloin into small cubes. Can’t wait! Thank you for this recipe!
I discovered this recipe a few months and make it once a week now!! It’s super delicious and so fast and easy. I literally crave it every few days. 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe.
Made this tonight. It is so yummy. I used ground pork instead of the beef. Turned out great! Thank you!