I love to mix up our dinner rotation with these quick and easy Korean Ground Beef Bowls. The flavor combination is fantastic with the perfect blend of sweet and spicy Korean BBQ flavor in the meat, served over hot cooked brown rice, with a side of fresh sliced cucumbers. This meal can be ready in less then 30 minutes!
Ya’ll know I’m all about easy, family-friendly dinners. If you want some more great dinner ideas, check my list of 30-minute meals or one pan meals!
I love that this recipe uses ground beef, and other ingredients I usually always have on hand.
If fresh ginger is something you don’t normally have, I would suggest buying it for this recipe, and freezing what you don’t use! It will keep really well in the freezer, and then you’ll have it in the future. You can use it for my favorite Thai chicken lettuce wraps, or Mongolian beef.
How to make Korean Ground Beef:
Start by browning your ground beef in a sauce pan. I season it with salt and pepper as it cooks. Remove grease.
This is totally optional, but once it’s browned I like to put the meat in my food processor. I pulse it 2-3 times into very small pieces, and then return it to the pan.
I love the way the sauce and flavor soaks into the meat when it’s finely ground like this.
Next add the sesame oil, garlic and ginger.
Stir in brown sugar, soy sauce, and sriracha (or crushed red pepper of chili sauce).
Add half of the chopped green onions, reserving the rest for garnish.
Serve over hot cooked rice, garnished with chopped green onion. I like to serve sliced cucumber on the side. It adds a wonderful fresh crunch and flavor that really compliments everything.
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- 1 pound lean ground beef
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger (*see note below)
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauces , crushed red pepper flakes, or chili garlic sauce
- 1 bunch green onion , chopped
- hot cooked brown rice , for serving
- Fresh cucumber , sliced, for serving
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Season beef with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook, stirring and crumbling into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned.
- Drain excess grease.
- (Optional: put beef in a food processor. Pulse it 2-3 times into very small pieces, and then return it to the pan.)
- Add sesame oil, garlic and ginger.
- Stir in brown sugar, soy sauce, and sriracha (or crushed red pepper of chili sauce).
- Cook for a few minutes, allowing some of the sauce to absorb into the meat.
- Add half of the chopped green onions, reserving the rest for garnish.
- Serve over hot cooked rice, garnished with chopped green onion.
*Fresh ginger really is best for this recipe, so here’s a TIP: freeze your leftover ginger to use another time! fresh ginger keeps really well in the freezer.
Donna says
November 11, 2018 at 3:01 pmThis recipe is as delicious as it is easy. We love it!
Lauren Allen says
November 12, 2018 at 9:54 amThanks for commenting Donna! I’m really glad you enjoyed it!
Jordan Merrell says
November 23, 2018 at 11:31 amThis is one of my new favorite dinners! It is quick, easy, and delicious which makes it the perfect week night dinner.
Elissa says
November 24, 2018 at 8:14 pmI made this tonight and while I imagine it would be very good, it was just too salty. I didn’t have low sodium soy sauce because I have to use gluten free Tamari and couldn’t find a low sodium version. I used half a cup of regular soy sauce it was still extremely salty. It would be great if this recipe included an option for the ratio if you use regular soy sauce.
Leah says
November 28, 2018 at 12:35 pmThis smelled so good! But unfortunately I think I may have messed up somewhere since it was so salty (not noticeable at first, but after a few bites). Wondering if it’s because I used liquid aminos instead of low-sodium soy sauce?
Lauren Allen says
November 29, 2018 at 9:03 amThat must be why–I’ve never used liquid aminos. Sorry!
Miki says
December 6, 2018 at 1:58 pmGoing to make this tonight, So I don’t have any comments on the recipe itself yet, but I thought I would share something…
you mentioned putting the beef in a food processor to break it down more.
I used to hate the fact that ground beef didn’t break down as much as I wanted it to, and somewhere along the way I realized that if you brown your beef with about 1/2 cup of water per lb, it for some reason breaks down much more. So as long as you plan on straining the grease anyway, you should try it!
Laura says
January 25, 2019 at 6:24 pmI didn’t have ginger, sriracha sauce, or cucumber. I split all the ingredients in half bc I felt like it was too much for for 2. It was easy and tasted soooo good! I will def try this recipe again. Bookmarked 🙂
Arleen says
February 9, 2019 at 7:37 pmThank you for the recipe. The flavor was very good but as others have mentioned, it was too salty. I used a half cup reduced sodium Gluten Free Tamari sauce (700mg per TBSP.) and a half cup coconut aminos (270mg per TBSP.) If I knew how to adjust the sodium I would gladly use the recipe again.
Mia says
March 25, 2019 at 10:54 amQuick, easy, and tasty! Bonus for using ingredients I usually have on hand. Will definitely make again.
Lauren Allen says
March 26, 2019 at 10:52 amThanks Mia–I agree, I love that I usually have what I need to make it!