Korean Beef Tacos
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The most mind-blowing tacos EVER! Filled with everyone’s favorite Korean beef, caramelized kimchi + Sriracha mayo!
I feel like I have been all over the place these last 10 days. I was in Arkansas last weekend, then flew off to Minneapolis for a quick work trip at the General Mills headquarters, then worked at the studio in downtown Los Angeles for two days, and now I’m off to Ecuador tomorrow morning!
I literally have been all over the place. But the only thing keeping me sane right now are these tacos.
These Korean beef tacos that are absolutely to die for.
I don’t know if it’s the Korean beef, the caramelized kimchi or the Sriracha mayo, or the combination of everything neatly tucked in a mini flour tortilla.
It’s just amazing. And I’ve had about 17 of these while packing for my next trip.
Maybe I can pack 3-5 for the flight? The passenger sitting next to me probably won’t mind, right?
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Korean Beef Tacos: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground pork or ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
Kimchi is a fermented vegetable dish made with napa cabbage. It is a staple in Korean cuisine, and can be found in most grocery stores such as Whole Foods.
Yes! You can freeze the Korean beef leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop (adding a tablespoon of water as needed).
Korean Beef Tacos
Ingredients
For the Korean beef
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces ground beef
For the kimchi
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 cup chopped kimchi
- 1 teaspoon sugar
For the Sriracha mayonnaise
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
For the tacos
- 12 mini flour tortillas
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
for the korean beef
- 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 until well combined, allowing to simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes; set aside.
for the kimchi
- Heat sesame oil in the skillet over medium high heat. Add kimchi and sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, until caramelized and heated through, about 3-5 minutes; set aside.
for the sriracha mayonnaise
- In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, Sriracha and lime juice; set aside.
for the tacos
- Serve ground beef mixture in tortillas, topped with kimchi, red onion, cilantro and sesame seeds, drizzled with Sriracha mayonnaise.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I just made these!
I’m pretty sure I messed up the meat. I used ground turkey. I thought I used 2 lbs so I doubled the sauce. I think I actually used 3 lbs so I had to add a little more soy sauce mixture.
Despite my inept recipe following abilities, these were delicious! My family liked them too!
Yum! Yum!
Thank you!
These tacos were great! They are packed with flavor: sweet, spicy, sour, salty. My husband loved them and asked me to make them again soon. My 9 year old even asked for a taste and ended up eating a whole taco! His first time eating kimchi was a success! Thank you for the recipe. I was looking for something different from what I usually make…and this was worth the gamble!
amazing,my granddaughter made these, the whole ffamily loved them and the flavor was wonderful, not too hot and made you want to eat more. made sure she gave me the recipe!!!
When it comes to tacos I’ll trust the Koreans.
Incredible!!!! And to stretch out not having to cook (too much) I made rice for Korean Bowls the next day. Just added all the leftovers. During this COVID-19 quarantine my kids average eating every 18 minutes. My son added a fried egg to the ‘tacos turned bowls.’ His views is pretty much…add a fried egg to anything. Side note: he will survive college. I digress…this was a really great recipe.
Yep, mind-blowing.
These were a fantastic twist on regular tacos! My husband kept commenting on all the layers of flavors. I am making for the second time tonight!
Dang, this is good! What a combination of delicious flavors! I’ve made this several times and use thinly sliced top sirloin – freeze it the night before and put in the fridge in the am and it’s easy to slice. I also toss on some cilantro and scallions but it’s the combo of the sweet soy with spicy, carmelized kimchi snd sriracha Mayo was that takes this to smother level – fantastic!
Just made these last night for the first time. Wow! So easy and delicious!
Great! I subbed portobello mushrooms for the beef, and used vegan mayonnaise, to make it vegan. I also added some spicy kimchi juice to the marinade. I made them for my husband’s birthday dinner and he said they were the best tacos we’ve made.
You completely altered the recipe (called it great) and then left it 4 stars? What kind of monster are you.
Peter…this was the best comment I’ve seen all day! #truth
Making something vegan is totally altering? Ummm, no.
Amazing!! I’ve never had anything like this and am so excited to have a new favorite! I used a coleslaw cabbage mix because it is near impossible to find cool veggies in Montana and it turned out beautiful and oh so delicious. Thank you!
This is Kelly again and I thought it was important to share that instead of using ground beef, I used thinly sliced beef from our own steer. It was tender and perfect with this sauce.
This is a wonderful dish! We’ve probably had it 10 times in the past 6 months. I double everything and mix some flour in with the ground beef & sauce at the end so it sticks to the beef better instead of dripping out of the tacos.
I can’t wait to try this! It looks amazing. My one challenge is that I’m allergic to sesame seeds! Do you have any suggestions for an alternative? Thank you!
You can omit, Emily. 🙂
Quick question on the pepper flakes. Ate you using crushed red pepper flakes you would find in a pizza shop or are they specialty Korean pepper flakes? Thanks for the recipe!!!
Was wondering what is Kimichi and where can I find it? Does it have to be fresh or can it be canned or from a jar? I live in southwestern Kansas!
I Want the best possible results!
OMG! This is Delicious! Never had Chimchi before and I will definitely have again. Thank you for the experience of tasting this flavor packed tacos!
I made these for dinner the other day and WOW. So flavorful! The sweet and spicy sauce on the meat with the crunch of the red onion… Heavenly. The kimchi was an excellent addition too! I’ve never had it cooked this way before and it was so good. Only thing I did different – I only had over a lb of ground beef and didn’t want to divide it up into 8 oz. So I cooked the whole lb and then just doubled the sauce so everything was coated. Yummy! Thanks for the delicious recipe.
These are fabulous! easy, quick an simply the best!
These are definitely mind blowing!!!! Thank you so much for this receipe. I have made them several times and shared the receipe with my adult children, we all swear we could eat them everyday and never tire of them.
This is very delicious, and a great recipe
Soooo good, thank you for a great taco now my favorite
Wow, this recipe was so unique, but, so good. Loved it. Have made it three times now… it’s a keeper!