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.
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love this recipe, family loves this recipe, easy to make anymore easy recipes you would like to share?
I tried this recipe over the weekend since I had some ground beef in the fridge. It turned out DELICIOUS!!! My 21 month old son devoured a bowl of it and my husband approved that it’s a “keeper”. I added cubed soft tofu and cilantro at the end, it was great. It was like a “Korean Mapo Tofu”. I put kimchi in my bowl too, yum! Thanks for the great recipe! I’ll definitely make it again.
Made this over the weekend. Both my husband (who spent 2 years in Korea in the Army) and I loved it. My 3-year-old liked it pretty well, but shied away from the spiciness. I think next time, and until he’s a bit older, I’ll dial the red pepper flakes back to 1/4 tsp or so. Once his tastes have matured, we can come back to the 1/2 tsp.
It was probably the ginger that was too spicy. Red pepper flakes do add flavour but not heat.
I forgot to add that I love eating this wilh a little raw cole slaw mix mixed in. It is great!
This recipe is THE BEST…….I mean THE BEST!!!!!! We have it about once a week and everyone loves it….even the pickiest eater loves it.
This dish was absolutely delicious. I used ground turkey instead of beef and Sriracha instead of chili flakes. Thank you for this wonderful recipe, I will definitely be making this again!!!
This recipe was quick, cheap, and delicious!! The holy trinity for a poor college student:}
It’s the holy trinity for busy families too – we make this at least once a week!
Made this again last night as written though I swapped ground chicken breast for the beef. I also roasted cauliflower in my cast iron pan and topped it with the meat. I very nearly ate the whole thing – it was sooo good. And maybe a little healthy? this recipe is becoming a goto, for sure!
This is comfort food at its best! I made it even simpler by replacing the soy sauce, sugar and ginger with Yoshida’s Gourmet Sauce (my go-to sauce for everything from cooking chicken to marinating beef jerky). I’m a garlic fiend so I left that in. I also like the suggestions by others about adding assorted veggies to make it a one pan meal. Thanks for posting this recipe… I’m so glad I found your blog!
Tried this recipe tonight and wanted to add some veggies to it round it out. I tripled the sauce and added shredded cabbage, broccoli slaw, carrots, mushrooms and a frozen veggie mix. My husband loved it! I didn’t take into account that the veggies would make it a little sweeter than usual. Overall it was good! It was the first meal that I have made in 2 weeks that my husband has enjoyed, so I thank you!
I absolutely love your recipes. And this? Oh my delicious! Just made this for dinner, and I don’t think I have ever been so excited for left overs. Not that I left much…
I made this last night and it was fantastic. I did a quick pickling (sugar and vinegar) of shallots, cucumbers and red cabbage which I let sit while I cooked the rice and the ground turkey. We topped the bowl with shredded carrots, the pickled vegetables, this fantastic recipe and a soft fried egg. We drizzled sriracha over the entire bowl and LOVED EVERY BITE. Thanks so much for the great recipe, Chung-Ah!
Delicious! My husband and I love Asian food and recently moved to an area that is sorely lacking in any Asian restaurants! So sad! But, I now will be making things like this delicious Korean Beef Bowl to help satisfy our cravings! Thank you for the recipe.
This was delicious, thank you!
Just whipped this up. AND IT WAS AMAZING! I was inspired by the comment above to add broccoli, which I roasted with peanuts in my cast iron skillet while frying this up. SO GOOD! I used a pretty unhealthy but flavorful ground beef – 85/15 but I had bought it on a great sale – it was the Dakota grass fed organic – which I NEVER buy but I think my market was trying to make it move. Needed a good recipe for it and found you. Next time I’ll try it with ground turkey – and i could definitely see this inside a lettuce leaf! THANK YOU! Just discovered your Damn Delicious blog and you ain’t kiddin!
I’m so glad you had a chance to make this. I actually just made this tonight too – we have this at least once a week!
I made this last night and couldnt believe how good it was. I was out of sesame oil so i subsituted with sesame tahini and didn’t notice a different. It is my new go-to comfort food.
Just made this tonight and WOW, it was so good and a perfect match to my bulgogi craving! The only change I made was using Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of soy. I was able to pull it together, and make burnt chili garlic cauliflower in under 40 min. I will definitely be making this again, thanks!
Thus was amazingly yummy. I feed 5 boys plus my husband and I at least 6 nights a week. This was quick, different and fairly cheap. Also the cat liked it too (we have a cat who eats some of the meat portion of our dinner everynight).
I’m so glad! Quick and easy is a must, especially when you have 6 boys and a cat to feed!
Fabulous!! My kids devoured this! Served with a side of Japanese cucumber salad
I just made this (with the addition of sliced orange pepper) and my daughter loved it!