Ground beef cooked in a sweet and savory sauce and served over rice with roasted veggies. These easy Korean Ground Beef Bowls will be on your table in less time than it takes to order takeout!
Big flavor, quick cooking, and DELICIOUS! This is another one for you to add to your collection of no sweat, I don’t feel like cooking tonight recipes.
These Korean Beef Bowls are an inexpensive and easy way to satisfy your craving for the flavors for beef bulgogi at home. The sauce has the same sweet and savory flavors but using ground beef instead of steak eliminates the need to marinate and speeds up the cooking time. This meal can be on your table in about 30 minutes from start to finish!
If you’ve never had Korean beef, you are in for a treat! It has the most irresistible flavor profile of soy, sesame, garlic, and ginger sweetened with brown sugar.
To up the nutritional value and make it a complete meal, I like to serve this Korean beef over rice with a sheet pan full of vibrant roasted veggies.
Ingredients in Korean Ground Beef
- Fresh ginger root adds a distinctive flavor that is an important component to this recipe. I always have unpeeled fresh ginger root in a small resealable plastic freezer bag in my freezer. It stays fresh for a month or more and is easier to grate from the frozen state. To add it to recipes, use a microplane zester or cheese grater.
- You’ll find sesame oil in the Asian section of your grocery store. In addition to being a cooking oil, it adds unique, AMAZING flavor to recipes like this.
- You can easily control the spice level of this dish by adding more or less crushed red pepper. You can also eliminate it all together if you’re feeding little ones with a sensitive palette.
- Gochujang sauce is an optional topping for these Korean Ground Beef Bowls. It’s a bright red, sweet and spicy sauce made with red chile paste that adds a ton of flavor. It has gained in popularity and can be found in the Asian section of most major grocery stores. If you opt to keep the beef mild, serve this sauce on the side so the spice lovers can add a little heat to their serving.
The Roasted Veggies and Rice
The beef cooks so quickly that you want to get your veggies and rice started first. Cook your rice according to the package directions either on the stove or in a rice cooker and then get your veggies in the oven.
I like to use broccoli florets, onion, and red bell pepper but anything goes here. Use a combination of vegetables that you love. Be sure to chop them in equal sizes for even roasting. Mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, green beans and cauliflower would also work well.
- Spread the veggies out on to a large rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring half way through the cooking time.
Small pieces of onion have a tendency to burn if roasted the length of time needed for the other veggies to get tender. To avoid this, cut the onion into about 6 or 8 chunks and keep the chunks intact when you transfer them to the baking sheet. They will naturally separate as they roast and break apart when you stir the veggies part way through the cooking time.
While the vegetables are roasting, start the Korean Ground Beef.
How to Make Korean Ground Beef
- Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, ginger root, garlic, and crushed red pepper in a small bowl.
- Cook the ground beef in a little canola or vegetable oil over medium heat, stirring to break up the meat, until browned and crumbled. Drain off the excess grease, return the skillet to the heat, and season with salt and black pepper.
- Stir in the soy sauce mixture and cook, stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes to allow the beef to absorb some of the flavorful sauce.
Garnish the beef with sesame seeds and green onion and serve it over the cooked rice with the roasted veggies.
More Easy Ground Beef Recipes
- Hamburger Stew with Rice
- Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
- Lazy Lasagna Casserole
- Cabbage Roll Soup
- Spanish Rice with Beans
Korean Ground Beef Bowls
Ingredients
For the Korean Ground Beef
- ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger root
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red-pepper, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound 90% lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds
- Go-Chu-Jang Sauce, optional topping
For the Rice and Veggies
- 3 cups water
- 1 ½ cups long grain white rice, like Jasmine or Basmati
- 1 head broccoli or 2 crowns, cut into florets
- 2 red bell peppers, cored and cut into large 2- to 3-inch pieces
- 1 sweet yellow onion, cut into about 6 chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cook the rice according to package directions.
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Meanwhile, transfer the veggies to a large rimmed baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the baking sheet to the preheated oven and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until browned and fork tender, tossing with a spatula half way through the cooking time.
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While the veggies are roasting, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, ginger root, garlic, and crushed red pepper in a small bowl.
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Heat vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring to break up the meat, until browned and crumbled Drain off excess grease, return the skillet to the heat, and season with ½ teaspoon salt and black pepper, to taste.
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Stir in the soy sauce mixture and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes, to allow the beef to absorb some of the flavorful sauce. Remove from the heat and garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.
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Serve beef over cooked rice with the roasted veggies. For a deliciously spicy kick, top the bowls with Go-Chu-Jang , if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Adapted from Damn Delicious
