Name: Korean Ground Beef Bowl
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs ground beef; 1/4 cup soy sauce; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 3 chopped green onions; 2 Tbsp chopped garlic; 1.5 Tbsp chopped ginger; 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro; 1/2 - 1 tsp red chili flakes; 2 tsp sesame oil; 1 Tbsp sesame seeds

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Are you craving something other than a Bird? Something high in flavor, yet extremely low in effort. How about something that cooks in 15 minutes, doesn’t have a long ingredient list, and is absolutely delicious?

Look no further! Try this easy, not too sweet and not too spicy, ground beef bowl with all of those Korean BBQ flavors you love… start to finish in 20 minutes. Here we go!!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are past us folks. If you are like me, you’re ready to put the Turkey and all those heavy dishes that comes along it in the rear view mirror until next year. All I want now is easy, fast and tasty. My plan is to spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying the amazing weather down south here in Florida. So get ready for some easy recipes!

If you are looking for something other than chicken… yeah chicken reminds me of turkey when I look at it… this Korean ground beef bowl is the answer. You are going to love this combination of flavors. I am serving up my ground beef in a rice bowl, but it goes great in lettuce wraps if you are looking for something on the lighter side.

What is a Korean Ground Beef Bowl?

Traditionally, there is no such dish as a Korean ground beef bowl. The flavors for this dish are based on their famous dish, Bulgogi Beef, which is known for its sweet, savory and spicy Korean BBQ sauce. Bulgogi is thinly sliced tender cuts of beef like sirloin or filet mignon that are marinated for hours and then stir fried.

But since we are using your regular ground beef that you can find any time in your refrigerator, the cooking time is much faster and can stretch your dollars longer. Yet you still end up with an incredible meal… Win win if you ask me!

All you need to do is brown some ground beef along with ginger, garlic and some green onions and stir in the sauce. Super Duper Easy!!

Ingredients for Korean Ground Beef Bowl

All those sweet, yet savory, yet a little spicy flavors come in to play with just a few following things usually available in your pantry…

Soy sauce – It’s called Korean, so you are looking at Asian flavor. This dark brown sauce is your answer… 🙂
Brown sugar – This Beef has touch of sweetness to it to balance the saltiness of soy and the spiciness of red chili flakes.
Red chili flakes – You can adjust the spice level by adding more or less.
Garlic – No escape from this if it’s an Asian bowl.
Ginger – Yes, if you are looking for authentic flavors you gotta keep this in your fridge.
Green Onions – Great to finish off your dish.
Sesame oil and sesame seeds – For that distinctive nutty sesame flavor to Asian dishes.
Cilantro – We love it, but it’s optional.
Ground beef – Well, of course.

How to make this easy Korean Ground Beef Bowl

In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, red chili flakes and sesame oil.
In a large skillet or wok, cook ground beef, breaking it into crumbles. Sauté until it is no longer pink. That would take 3-5 minutes. Discard excess fat, if any. Stir in chopped ginger, garlic and half of the green onion. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
Stir in the sauce mixture and and mix well. Simmer for another 5 minutes, until sauce is a little reduced. Taste and adjust to your preference with salt and chili pepper.
Stir in rest of green onion stems and garnish with sesame seeds.
Serve it over a bowl of rice. You can eat it just like that, but we love some kind of vegetables to go along. This time I used some edamame and match stick carrots… Perfect! You can throw in other veggies like green beans or broccoli or even some colored pepper, whatever you feel like that day!

People often ask…

Can I make this with other meats?
Absolutely…yum. This recipe works great with ground pork as well as ground chicken… and, yes, turkey whenever you are ready to eat that again of course. If you are looking to go meatless, you can try plant based protein crumbles or even finely diced mushrooms.

How to make this bowl low carb?
Simple… just serve the cooked beef mixture in lettuce wraps or over cauliflower rice!

Can I make this gluten free? You sure can! Just replace the soy sauce with tamari or coconut aminos. The aminos are also soy free and have only a third of the sodium content.

I am missing… can I still make this? The sesame seeds and oil do impart a certain nutty flavor, but this dish will still be yummy if you are missing one or both. If you are out of brown sugar, honey works in a pinch. And as always, cilantro and red chili flakes are completely optional.

How to store leftovers? You can refrigerate your leftovers up to 4 days in covered containers. I recommend storing each component (meat, rice, veggies) separately, then building new bowls with your leftovers.

Ahh… back to eating simple and living simple… Happy New Year, guys!!! Be sure to check our other cracking Asian Recipes and Ground Beef Recipes on GypsyPlate, and come back again for all the new flavors coming to you.