Korean Beef Zucchini Noodles
LOW CARB Korean beef bowls except with zoodles! It is so much healthier and lighter without any of the carb guilt!!!
These zucchini noodles came just in time.
Because as you guys know, I am currently on a pasta hiatus since my Italy trip.
I also really need to lay off the carbs.
(Even though it is actually sweater weather.)
So I’m taking my favorite Korean beef bowls, and subbing out the rice with zucchini noodles.
I know.
Why didn’t I think of this before?
It’s still just as hearty and filling, so you can pat yourself on the back for getting your serving of veggies in.
And for indulging in your KBBQ fix without any of the guilt.
Korean Beef Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 ½ pounds 4 medium-sized zucchini, spiralized
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil and Sriracha.
- Heat olive oil in a large 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 zucchini noodles, green onions and soy sauce mixture until well combined, allowing to simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with sesame seeds, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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this recipe is beyond delicious & so easy to make…..I have now made it with both ground turkey & ground beef…..OMG
Thanks for a great recipe. We added some carrots, snow peas and mushrooms, it was perfect! Just the right heat.
This was absolutely amazing! Great idea flipping pasta for zucchini. Guilt free Korean Beef without pasta and I used Serve Brown Sugar Replacement to have less carbs . Already added to my Favorites and will be making this again and probably soon . I’ll be making your amazing Hot and Sour Soup to go will it next time and I’m already looking forward to that.Thanks for sharing your recipe with us.
It’s so delicious , thank you for the recipe ❤️
One of my families favorites! Great flavor. I’d like to try it with ground Turkey but the rest of the family gave that idea a thumbs down!
Had extra garden zucchini so I came here. Delicious dinner that even the teens enjoyed. Sauce is amazing.
Love it! ❤️. I used lefy over steak instead of ground beef!! So good! I’d add even more noodles next time!!
One of my families favorites!
I used Swerve Zero Calorie brown sugar and coconut aminos and it was delicious!!! This recipe is a low-carb keeper!
Easy peasy and simply delish! My teenage son calls it “bussin bussin” which is the highest compliment
Yum! What an easy looking dinner idea with all ingredients I have on hand.
This was so delicious! I almost ate the whole pan!!
I have made this several times and each time I get so many comments about the delicious taste. I cut back on the brown sugar and add a little more heat. Always satisfying.
I’m making it again to take camping. It will be glorious!
I made this tonight. It was delicious! I am anxious to try some of your other recipes.
Thank you!
this was the first i made it! my family loved it and of course we enjoy asian food period! but for my youngest son to ove the zucchini mixture was awesome. Thank you
This was fabulous! So tasty, the sauce is devine! So glad I found this site! Had the scallops the other night and delish! Thanks for sharing!
I add zucchini, julienned bell peppers, onions, and carrots and have this over rice instead of zucchini noodles and it is AMAZING! Reminds me of a local Korean restaurant I have been missing since COVID hit.
SO good! honestly really easy too, the longest part was making the zoodles, but of course worth it!
Yum! Made this keto for my husband by omitting sugar and subbing coconut amino for soy sauce, it is naturally sweet, and I added a tad bit of salt, since it doesn’t have the same level of sodium as soy sauce. So good!
Thank you! Loved this- it has become a new favorite. Do you have any nutritional info for this recipe? I usually find it before reviews on you other recipes.
Holy moly! I love this recipe! I make this in a snap for a delicious healthy dinner – so quick, so perfect. I make a couple of subs: ground turkey instead of beef, and I omit the brown sugar. For fun I put in 3 tsp of Oyster Sauce.
Super good!
Delicious! So yummy and simple to make
We loved this,
Instead of ground beef we fried a couple of steaks and thinly sliced them.
Also just did 3 zuchini, 1 carrot and a handful of mushrooms.
Made this dish yesterday with some changes so it fits into Paleo diet: honey instead of sugar, coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, no Sriracha. Was REALLY GOOD and easy! Thank you for the recipe!:)
Easy, pleasing, yummy weekday meal when ordering take out sounds like a good idea bc one is tired and just want to watch something purely for entertainment and placing, just for a moment, the ‘issues’ of the world on the side. But being wise, just know that restaurant food will be anti-climatic. I had almost everything in pantry and fridge for this recipe so went for it. Substituted red pepper flakes for Sriracha, grated zucchini bc on no spiralizer, tossed grated zucchini with olive oil and sea salt (no cooking) for the base in extra large white bowl perfect for hands. Added meat goodness on top and tossed in bowl while hot. Super yummy, husband said there was not enough. Next time, leaning towards more meat, adding mushrooms and maybe spicy bamboo shoots. My inner tastebuds feel this would be a nice bolt-ons. Great idea and damn delicious for sure.
Thank you for your feedback, Lilly! Glad you opted for this homemade version over takeout! 🙂
Actually 3.5 stars. Took the advice of other reviewers and added about half the sugar and a TBS of honey and Gochujang instead of Sriracha since I already had it . Also added spiralized carrots, onions and julienned carrots. My husband and I both thought this would be better with sliced beef instead of ground beef and I would give it 4 stars.
Will make again with sliced beef.
10/10!!!!
This recipe is EASY and so packed with flavor!!!
I subbed organic honey for the brown sugar, and used two pounds of 90/10 ground beef. I accidentally forgot the ginger but wow-this is unreal!!!!! I will definitely make again.
Thank you this was fabulous.
Like the other review “I couldn’t stop eating it!”
I doubled the recipe for lunch leftovers!!!!!!
(If it lasts) lol
We loved this!! Substituted sesame oil with EVOO. we’ll definitely add this to the regular rotation. Trying to eat healthier & this was so flavorful.
This recipe is great, super easy and flavorful. The sauce is awesome! I used frozen spiraled zucchini noodles and they turned into mush once mixed in. Didn’t matter bc it was still so good, just served with rice for my toddlers. We also used stir fry beef at my husbands request. Next time we will try ground beef and try to find a substitute for the brown sugar.
Thanks for sharing, Catie!
Delicious! Delicious! Delicious! Can’t stop tasting it. Used 2 10.7 containers of spiralized zucchini and one 10.7 of spiralized sweet potatoes. Only 1 Tbsp of sugar with plenty of garlic and ginger and soy sauce and no sesame oil. Didn’t have any in the pantry. The HEAT came from Sweet Thai Chili sauce – ready to serve – and some Chili Garlic Sauce and Sambal Oelek aka Ground Fresh Chili paste. Just the right amount of HOT without the FUMES.
Going to try it with 3 tablespoon agave and more ginger and heat next time.. was a bit shocked when my fitness pal said this recipe serving 4 was still 624 calories per serving. I’ll update this post if I make it again using agave and other additions with new caloric content based on ingrience integration through MyFitnessPal.
Delicious otherwise! Trying also with skirt steak next time for a twist as my husband said he’d prefer it with “steak”.
I entered the nutrition facts into MFP and got a similar result as you (around 600 cals) but then I noticed that on the Sriracha line, MFP populated Sriracha Kettle Chips – making the calorie count sky rocket! After the correction, my calorie count is 380, using 90/10 ground beef. Hope this helps! 🙂
This turned out really good! I used honey instead of brown sugar but otherwise I followed the recipe. Definitely will make again!
Made this for the first time last night – we all loved it! It is easy and quick to make, doesn’t require a lot of ingredients and has great flavor. This will definitely be going into the rotation.
Could we use tofu instead of beef ?
Sure! But as always, please use your best judgement when making substitutions and modifications. 🙂
This was AMAZING! Quick and simple. Will definitely serve this over rice next time to soak up the sauce. Mmmmmm….
Delicious! I added about 1/2 cup frozen edamame to the beef before adding the zoodles and sauce. Super easy as tasty. Thank you!
Great addition!
This is good and very quick! The sauce was a little sweet for our tastes. If I make this again, I will cut the sugar in half and use more sriracha.
Thanks for your feedback, Eileen!
I have tried several of the Damn Delicious recipes and have enjoyed all of them, the most recent being the Korean Beef Zucchini Noodles. What I like most is the simple ingredients, most I have on hand.
Thank you!
Do you know the nutrient break down?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
This is delicious! I added shredded carrots and cut a bit of sugar. It was scrumptious and super easy for a quick Friday night dinner.
Great modifications!
Hello
Please tell me how would I spiral the zucchini into noodles?? Is there some kind of machine I need to buy??
Yes, there are many zucchini spiralizers available online such as Amazon.
Grocery store is out of fresh zucchini and pre spiralized! Would butternut squash be an acceptable alternative? Thank you!
Yes, what a great idea!
Thank you! Love your recipes
Thank you for this!! This is fantastic, simple, easy to make, with ingredients that most people usually already have on hand, and it tastes very authentically Korean!! My hubby loves it, he almost wants to lick the skillet 🙂 Next time when I make it, I’ll probably try to thicken the sauce towards the end so the zucchini noodles can soak it all up.
Great idea!
This was very yummy. Instead of using 1/3 cup of brown sugar, I added a tablespoon of agave nectar. Thought I had some sesame oil, but did not. Went without. I bought pre-packaged zucchini noodles…Zoodles. lightly salted them and roasted them in the oven at 250 for about an hour to get rid of the excess water. It was delicious.
Great!
This was fabulous! I used sweet chili sauce instead of brown sugar and siracha. And I put it over a little handful of rice because I’m not going to let those lovely juices go to waste. I’m making it again to take camping. It will be glorious! Thanks for this inspired post!
That’s so great to hear! Thanks!
This was amazing, thanks!! For those who don’t eat sugar – I omitted the sugar and added gochujang and extra sriracha to replace the lost flavor.
Thank you for your feedback, Dee!
1/4 cup brown sugar? Not very low carb any more! One sneaky fix I learned from a Korean friend is to use diet Coke for the sweetner. The acidity tenderizes the meat, too.
This was very good, but as in other comments above, not really low carb with the 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Saying that, I made the recipe exactly as stated and would next time try less sugar – maybe 3 tablespoons. For personal taste as I found it a bit sweet for my personal liking. As well, I would add more zucchini – the 1/2 pound of meat to 1-1/2 pounds of zucchini was not quite enough. Overall, great recipe and thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for your feedback Olwen!
Yes, I made this recipe for dinner tonight and halved the sugar (and doubled the ginger and garlic, and probably octupled the Sriracha, we like heat!). I didn’t miss the extra sugar, and the flavors were excellent. Definitely going into my easy weeknight dinner rotation.
Yay! So happy you liked it!
Very tasty! However, I feel like the ratio is off a little? I might not have had enough zucchinis though. Definitely will make again but add more vegetables like carrots, mushrooms, and maybe some red onion.
Glad you enjoyed it Jackie! Yes, more veggies are always a good idea!
This is the best DISH EVER! MUST TRY!
I used Korean Gochujang red chili paste instead of siracha much better and authentic.
I was just going to ask this question! Thanks for doing it for me.
Should you salt and drain zoodles before using or do you need the liquid for the recipe?
Yes, you can drain the zucchini noodles prior to using.
I used stir fry steak, cut into bite size pieces!! Loved this meal!! In fact every meal I’ve made of yours has been… well, damn delicious!! I will be adding some spiral carrots next time for a little added crunch!! So much you can do with this dish. Thank you always!!
Does this freeze well?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
We loved this recipe! Just enough spice to make things interesting. I did use ground turkey and think it’s a good substitution. It’s already on next weeks’ menu. Damn delicious, indeed.
1/3 cup of brown sugar has roughly 48g of sugar (AKA CARBS, PEOPLE)…. I don’t see how this can be considered low carb. Really deceptive. Maybe you should label it “Lower-Carb”, because the zucchini noodles certainly cut out a significant amount of carbs but the recipe still contains a hefty load of sugar. Just my two cents.
I am one of the lucky ones that is no diabetic and i’m Not watching my carb intake, what can I substitute for the zucchini? Maybe rice, spaghetti or one of the Asian noodles?
You can substitute with any grain or pasta you prefer, but without further recipe testing, we cannot answer with certainty on how it’s going to turn out. Please keep in mind that cooking times may vary. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I just made this for my four kids and husband, and they all just loved it. Amazing! They’re usually pretty picky. I havent seen them eat vegetables so happily in a long time! I made white rice as a side.
This is so yummy/ Best dish ever!!
Would this be good with spiralized sweet potatoes?
Yes, absolutely. What a great idea!
Do you come the zoodles before hand? Or do they soften up when you simmer?
Yes, they will soften in step #3.
What would you make as a side dish?
My absolute favorite side dish is the garlic parmesan roasted potatoes. But please feel free to check out all of my side dish recipes here.
This was indeed ‘damn delicious’! So much so, that were making it again this weekend for an after Thanksgiving antidote. lol Thanks for the yumminess!!
Do u think ground chicken would be good?
Yes, absolutely.
This was amazing! Thank you so much!
Could I use olive oil instead of sesame oil?
Yes.
Everything you cook looks amazing. And what I’ve tried, tastes amazing. That’s all.
Super quick and easy and my entire family LOVED it! Even though I was liberal with the Sriracha 🙂
Say what! This was soo delish. I didn’t have the green onions this time but I used all the other ingredients. Must say the ginger soy sauce is definitely a winner. Thanks for the recipe \0/
Do you know the calories per one cup serving?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
I never really have any guilt when I have KBBQ – because, hey!, it’s KBBQ – but I do LOVE zucchini noodles and lots like an awesomely healthy twist on a classic! 100
Being diabetic I can say that this recipe is pretty low carb and I have cut brown sugar in desert recipes from 1/3 to 1/4 cup without losing the flavor. Some limited carbs are inexpensive especially if the meal is low fat and high fiber. This recipe seems the fit that profile. I have also found that eating about 1/2 cup of cooked cabbage or cauliflower with a carb Laden meal has helped slow absorption of glucose so you fasting blood glucose stays in a reasonable range the following morning. Check it out. Looks like a tasty meal to using chicken or beef!
How to make the zoodles?
You would need a spiralizer.
Or, if you don’t have a spiralizer, or, don’t have the time to do it, check your local grocery store’s produce section. Many stores now have pre-done zoodles!
Yes! Sometimes I buy the prepackaged ones from Whole Foods!
just made it! terrific!
Your Korean Beef Zucchini Noodles dish really looks delicious as some of your othere dishes!! I’m glad I was able to get on your website and will need to make some of your recipes!! The problem I have is that I’m a diabetic and need to limit myself to eating pasta (I love carbs!!) and to much sugar! Is there something else I can subsitute for the brown sugar, or maybe just use less of? Do you have recipes for diabetics?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I was thinking of adding a few tablespoons of honey instead of the brown sugar. Will let you know how it turns out.
There is a product called Sukrin Gold that is a low carb replacement for brown sugar. It can be found online, but, I haven’t yet tried it, myself.
Splenda makes a brown sugar that’s safe for cooking….Wonder if that would work?
Personally, I am going to swap it out for 1/4 cup of organic coconut sugar, it has a lower glycemic index (about half) than brown sugar.
There is brown sugar Stevia and brown sugar Splenda that you could probably use in place of regular brown sugar. My friend who is a diabetic does it all the time. He even bakes cookies for special occasions and no one can tell that he’s used a sugar substitute.
Good luck!
I love so many of your recipes and look forward to trying this one. Thank you
If you didn’t have a “Zoodle” machine, could you just use the shred feature on the food processor? (Smaller noodles?) 🙂
Yes, of course.
Can I substitute Ground Turkey or chicken instead of beef?
Yes, what a great idea!
This looks amazing! I need this in my life asap!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I love the healthier option. Would the flavor really go out the door if I omitted the brown sugar? Is there something healthier that I could replace the sugar with?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I just replied to another poster that there is a product called Sukrin Gold that is a low carb replacement for brown sugar. It can be found online, but, I haven’t yet tried it myself. I love the recipes here, so much, but, have recently gone very low carb, so need to get some substitutes. This recipe sounds like something I have been missing so much!! Have to get it in my rotation! And, I may also try it with cauliflower rice ( a great replacement for real rice!)!
My Korean mom uses ground apple or kiwi and extra ground onion with no sugar in hers. It’s amazing.
Do you think this would reheat well, could you use it as a meal prep dish? Thanks!!
Yes and yes!
Haha… I just printed your lettuce wrap recipe so this is perfect timing. I plan to make both dishes for my diabetic dad 🙂 Thank you!
Love that this is a healthier option!
Could you use spaghetti squash?
Yes, of course!
Would steak work with this recipe? If so, which cut would you recommend?
Steak would work but ground beef is really best – it’s budget-friendly and quicker to cook through too!