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Liven up your dinner time with these delicious and easy Korean beef bowls. Ready to serve in 30 minutes, these beef and rice bowls are hearty and tasty, and a great option for a weeknight meal.
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If you are stuck in a bit of a mealtime rut, these Korean beef bowls are a great way to shake things up.
Seasoned ground beef is cooked with carrots and placed on a bed of rice, before being topped with cucumber and green onions for one tasty dish that is full of taste and texture.
For more easy recipes, be sure to check out my out my Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Mongolian beef.
Why you will love this recipe!
- Quick: Ready to serve in 30 minutes, these Korean rice bowls come together easily.
- Flavorful: The beef is seasoned with ginger, soy sauce and sriracha for one delicious bite.
- Hearty: This easy korean beef bowl recipe is a great filling and comforting dinner, perfect for a busy weeknight!
Tools You Need
- Skillet for cooking the Korean ground beef and sauce
- Measuring cups
- Garlic press for finely pressed garlic
- Grater for grating the ginger
- Pot for cooking the rice on the stove or Instant Pot for making rice even faster.
Ingredients for Korean beef and rice bowls
For full ingredients list with measurements, check the recipe card below.
- Rice: I used long-grain white rice for this recipe.
- Sesame oil: For cooking. Sesame oil adds a great flavor to the dish, but you can use olive, vegetable or canola if that’s what you have.
- Beef: I use lean ground beef so that the dish isn’t too greasy. If you can, use grass-fed for better quality and flavor.
- Seasonings: Ginger, low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos for gluten-free), sweetener (I use honey), rice vinegar, sriracha, salt and pepper. Optionally, you can also add red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
- Carrots: Carrots are cooked with the seasoned beef and add a great texture as well as a little extra goodness.
- Toppings: I finish of the Korean Beef Rice bowls with cucumber, scallions, sesame seeds, sriracha mayo.
How to make Korean beef bowls
- Cook the rice: Prepare the rice according to the package directions.
- Brown the beef: Heat 2 tablespoons of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef to the hot skillet and brown until almost cooked through (about 7 minutes).
- Add seasoning: Stir in the minced garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sweetener, and sriracha to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook vegetables: Stir in the julienned carrots and cook for about 2 more minutes until they soften slightly.
- Serve and garnish: Spoon the Korean beef over the cooked rice and garnish with chopped green onions, cucumber slices, and sesame seeds and drizzle sriracha mayo for an extra kick.
TIPS FROM NELI’S KITCHEN
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Make sure you brown the ground beef until all the water/liquid has evaporated. It’s best if you brown it over medium high heat for about 3 – 4 minutes without disturbing the beef and before stirring it again.
- You can adjust the spiciness of this Korean Ground Beef Bowl by adding more or less sriracha to suit your tastes.
- Korean beef and rice bowls are a full meal in themselves, but you can serve them with a side of veggies like pak choi, asparagus or green beans if you fancy.
- This Korean beef recipe is so delicious, it’s also great served over noodles.
- To make it gluten-free, use tamari sauce or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
- To make it Paleo & Whole30, use cauliflower rice instead of white rice, and gluten-free tamari sauce instead of soy sauce.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve over steamed white rice or brown rice, topped with sesame seeds and green onions.
- Add fresh vegetables like shredded carrots, cucumber slices, sauted mushrooms, bok choy, avocado slices and radishes for color and crunch.
- You can also top it with a fried egg.
- Don’t forget to add a drizzle of spicy mayo.
- Pair the ground beef Korean bowls with kimchi or pickled veggies for a tangy, spicy complement.
- Wrap beef in lettuce leaves for a lighter, low-carb option.
- Ideal for meal prep or quick dinners
Can you make it ahead of time?
These Korean ground beef bowls are best served as soon as they are ready, but you can make the elements ahead of time too. The seasoned ground beef can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 4 days and then reheated in a skillet to serve.
Cooked rice will keep well in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat it in the microwave, with a couple of tablespoons of water, cover with a damp paper towel and reheat on high for about 20 seconds per cup.
Frequently Asked Questions
I make this with long-grain white rice, like basmati or jasmine, but you can make it with wild or brown rice if you prefer. Just be aware that the water to rice and the cooking times will alter depending on the type of rice you use.
I love to make this recipe with ground beef as it works so well with the flavors in the seasoning. You can of course make this with ground chicken, ground turkey or ground pork as well.
More Beef Recipes
If you loved this Korean ground beef recipe, I am sure you will also love these other beef recipes.
- Ground Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Beef and Cabbage Skillet
- Beef and Butternut Squash Stew
- Sous Vide Steak
Korean Beef Bowls
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Ingredients
- 1.5 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
- 1 lb lean ground beef, I used 93% lean
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce, or coconut aminos / gluten-free tamari sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sweetener, or coconut sugar
- 4 teaspoons sriracha
- ¼ teaspoon salt & pepper, each
- 1 cup carrots, julienne style
- cucumber slices, for garnish
- 4 chopped scallions, for garnish
- sesame seeds, for garnish
- sriracha mayo sauce, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the rice according to package directions.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef to the hot skillet and brown until all the liquid has evaporated and the beef is cooked through.
- Stir in the minced garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sweetener and sriracha to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the julienned carrots and cook for about 2 more minutes until they soften slightly.
- Serve the Korean beef over the cooked rice and garnish with chopped green onions, cucumber slices, sesame seeds and drizzle some Sriracha mayo.
Video
Notes
- Make sure you brown the ground beef until all the water/liquid has evaporated. It’s best if you brown it over medium-high heat for about 3 – 4 minutes without disturbing the beef and before stirring it again.
- You can adjust the spiciness of this dish by adding more or less sriracha to suit your tastes.
- Korean beef and rice bowls are a full meal in themselves, but you can serve them with a side of veggies like bok choy, asparagus, or green beans if you fancy.
- This Korean beef recipe is so delicious, it’s also great served over noodles.
- To make it gluten-free, use tamari sauce or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
- To make it Paleo & Whole30, use cauliflower rice instead of white rice, and gluten-free tamari sauce instead of soy sauce.
My son and I love this recipe! My husband likes it without any of the spice, but we add the mayo to ours and leave it off his.
So glad you all love it! And yes, it’s easy to adjust the spice level for people don’t like spicy food.
What could I use instead of coconut sugar to keep it on the healthier side? My daughter is allergic to coconut. Thanks!
Sometimes I use honey or maple syrup.
This is probably my favorite, I make it about every other week and it’s my go to easy weekday meal, replacing tacos most days. So much flavor! I love it
This is a great recipe! Quick, easy, any my whole family liked it! I served it with green beans.
I love this recipe but you never say what to do with the other two tablespoons of sesame oil
It says 4 T of sesame oil divided . I see that you use 2T sesame oil when Browning the meat . Where do you put the other 2T of sesame oil?
We loved this recipe! I didn’t see what to do with the rice wine vinegar, so I added it to the beef mixture. But as we were eating it, I wondered if I should have maybe soaked the cucumber slices in it? Any tips would be appreciated! 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Corinne, glad to hear that you loved the recipe! The vinegar is added to the beef mixture. I updated the instructions. Thanks for letting me know.