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Delicious Korean Ground Beef is made with basic pantry ingredients and served over rice, for and easy 30 minute meal everyone loves!
Ya'll know I'm all about easy, family-friendly dinners and this Korean Ground Beef is always a winner! I love that it uses simple ingredints I always have on hand.
If you want some more great dinner ideas, check my list of 30-minute meals or one pan meals!
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.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
This is a great meal to make a few hours or day ahead of time–it reheats well on the stove!
To Freeze, allow the mixture to cool, then place in a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then rewarm on the stove.
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Korean Ground Beef Bowls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 cloves garlic, , minced
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger, *
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce, , crushed red pepper flakes, or chili garlic sauce
- 1 bunch green onion, , chopped
- hot cooked brown or white rice, , for serving
- Fresh cucumber, , sliced, for serving
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Season beef with black 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe February 2018. Updated May 2021 with process photos and a video.
Delicious!! We love this!! Made it per recipe and though I’m very salt sensitive, it was perfect!! Thank you!!
It kills me that the people that all say it was salty, all used something that has LOTS more salt than the reciepe calls for. We have made it twice now and the whole family love it!!
Quick, easy, and tasty! Bonus for using ingredients I usually have on hand. Will definitely make again.
Thanks Mia–I agree, I love that I usually have what I need to make it!
Thank 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.
I 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 🙂
Going 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!
This 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?
That must be why–I’ve never used liquid aminos. Sorry!
I 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.
This is one of my new favorite dinners! It is quick, easy, and delicious which makes it the perfect week night dinner.
This recipe is as delicious as it is easy. We love it!
Thanks for commenting Donna! I’m really glad you enjoyed it!