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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INCREDIBLE. Made this for my husband and I for lunch like an hour ago and WOW! So much flavor and depth with the perfect amount of kick. We doubled the sauce because we are saucy kinda folks that like a little extra drizzle on top of the rice but outside of that, changed nothin’! It was incredibly quick and easy to make, too (I find too often that recipes say it’ll take 30 minutes but it actually takes 90- super frustrating but this was NOT the case here! It took me 20 minutes start to finish and that was with me getting distracted while gathering ingredients, etc.).
Thank you, thank you! We already decided that we want this on our next week’s menu!
I made this over and over. Replaced sugar with 2 dates and made sauce in food processor. Added about a half cup water.
What is the nutrition facts on this recipe?
This was OK but not something I’ll go out of my way to make a second time. Family was neutral on it. Overall was sweeter than I like and had too much sesame oil.
Thank you for this amazing recipe! <3 So quick and delicious!
I do have one question – what could I add to get more sauce?
Thanks a lot!
You can just increase (maybe double?) the sauce ingredients.
My husband and I love this recipe we make this almost weekly! It’s easy, delicious, and great for meal prep!
I was really looking forward to making this based on reviews, but I found this too sweet and the family was just so-so with it. B
This is such a good, easy recipe, I’ve used ground turkey instead of beef a few times and my family gobbles it up!
Made this so many times and every time its a hit! Love it, had absolutely become a favorite amongst our family.
Excellent recipe
Some reviews mentioned doubling the sauce, but I don’t find it necessary if you’re using 1lb of ground beef. I used ground ginger and roasted the sesame seeds for one min until it’s golden brown. Added shredded carrots and served over rice. Delicious!!!
Very nice but felt it needed something at the end so added some fish sauce and half a lime. Delish.
Delicious. This is now in my regular rotation. I like extra sauce so I double the sauce recipe but just use 1/3 cup brown sugar in stead of 1/2 cup and the sweetness level is perfect.
This was delicious! I am not a good cook even after many years of trying and this was easy. It would also be easy enough for my kids who are learning to cook.
The flavor was very good. I used 1 tsp sesame oil and used ground turkey. Next time I will probably increase the sauce amount.
We make this meal almost weekly
So delicious and easy!
ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!!
We add steamed broccoli in with the meat & sauce. It’s AWESOME!!!
Too much seasame oil- I’d put in about 1/2 tsp. and add if you see fit! Otherwise perfect !
Absolutely delicious! I added carrots and green beans. Yummo! Definitely making this again.
I never leave reviews but I have to tell you that I LOVE this recipe. It’s a regular in our rotation. I like to add chopped fresh green beans just to get a little veg in. As someone with picky kids, it stresses me out when my kids don’t eat dinner. I never have to worry about that when I make this. Thank you so much!!
My daughter said 10 stars!
I tried this recipe with Impossible beef amd it was so good! I doubled the sauce and added veggies.
I have used this recipe so many times to cook for my family and they all love it even some of the picky eaters eat it. Also it is so easy to make I’ve been making it for years and right now I am only 12.