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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I’ve been looking for simple meals made with ingredients that wouldn’t require my (older) parents to do much specialty shopping. This might make the list.
Question – Is that toasted sesame oil or regular that you use?
I used toasted sesame oil. Hope that helps!
Can not wait to make this for dinner over the weekend! Italian/Irish but LOVE the Asian flavors especially Korean!
Let me know how it turns out!
This is FANTASTIC!!!!
Yum! Subbed ground turkey, added lil extra sesame oil and used fresh ginger… so good! Quick, easy snd delish!! This is a keeper!!!
This was amazing! I doubled the recipe for four people and we hardly had one serving left! This is now in our regular meal rotation. It is so easy to make and it taste soooooo good. We also put the mixture of rice and meat in butter leaf lettuce leaves and ate it like Korean BBQ. Highly recommend this!!!!!!
Hey there. Can I substitute powdered ginger?
Yes, absolutely.
Why? Fresh ginger has a completely different flavor than ground or powedered. If you ever use freshly grated ginger, you’ll never, ever go back.
I’ve been looking for a different meal idea so I can use up my ground beef. This looks perfect! Thanks.
Made it, ate it, LOVED IT!!!! This was quick, easy, and delish! Thanx for sharing 🙂
what can you use besides SUGAR……?????? trying to get off it. Plus the worst mix with meat – just sticks to those arteries…..
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
If you’re using a sweeter soy sauce like kikoman’ that helps. Also don’t be afraid to add onions, when they carmelise their natural sugars fill the gap. I reduced the amount of brown sugar by half and it’s still quite delicious, better even.
I’ve done this successfully using maple syrup in place of the sugar – it’s delicious both ways but nutritionally superior 🙂
Sugar is sugar. Syrups, honeys, etc all equal sugar. On the g factor it’s the same. Unfortunately the only way to reduce sugar intake, is to eliminate some.
Try a grated Asian pear. That’s what my Korean aunties use for their bulgogi marinades instead of sugar
I use honey and it’s great!
Did you use the same amount of honey as the sugar?
Stevia to taste works well with Soy sauce recipes as the aftertaste is covered by the strong soy flavor
not only did you not use sugar, you used fake sugar…is that amount of sugar in this recipe really going to make a difference unless you’re diabetic or 400 pounds!
Molly – while I don’t care for the taste of stevia, your comment regarding it is uneducated. Stevia is not fake sugar. It is a natural sweetener and much, much less than sugar is required to sweeten a dish.
Now, if you want to trash talk true fake sugars, I’ll be in line right behind you!
Stevia sweeteners contain very little of the beneficial components the leaf actually has. Most are mainly made up of erythritol. The plant and the sweeteners are very different. Just use sugar.
Sugar free apple sauce:)
I eliminate the sugar altogether. It’s very tasty. I also add cilantro and a squeeze of lime at the end for a little brightness and freshness.
I’ve made this a few times without any sugar at all and it’s still quite tasty.