Crispy ground beef is coated in a spicy gochujang sauce and served over rice in these 30-minute Korean beef bowls. They can be customized with your favorite toppings and are easy to meal prep on busy weeks.
These Beef and Rice Bowls Are Packed with Savory, Umami Flavor
If there’s one cuisine our daughter could eat every single day, it would be the Korean food she fell in love with during her gap year travels. She is hooked. And now, so are we.
With so much flavor from so few ingredients, this 30-minute Korean ground beef bowl makes it incredibly easy to get our culinary cravings cured at home.
The flavor foundation of this simple recipe is the 4-ingredient gochujang-based sauce. The savory, spicy gochujang is toned down with a little brown sugar while soy sauce and toasted sesame oil add bold umami flavor.
Make these bowls your own by piling on the toppings. I kept things simple with lettuce (my favorite is delicate bibb), sliced cucumbers, and kimchi, but you can doctor up your bowls however you like.
Enjoy!
Ingredient Notes
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
Gochujang Sauce
The sauce combines gochujang (a Korean brown rice and pepper paste that comes in various heat levels), soy sauce, toasted sesame oil (so much more flavorful than regular sesame oil!), and brown sugar. If you’ve not cooked with gochujang before, it has a mild, savory heat that’s more flavorful than dragon-breathing hot.
If you don’t have brown sugar, try swapping in granulated sugar, honey, or pure maple syrup.
Aromatics
Since this is such a simple recipe, please please please use fresh onion, garlic, and ginger. The ginger in particular adds so much fragrant flavor to the Korean ground beef.
Beef
Stick with 85% lean ground beef. As the beef heats up with the cold pan, the fat will render and help the meat really crisp up.
You could likely use ground turkey or ground chicken too, but you’d need to add some oil to the skillet so the meat doesn’t dry out.
How to Make Korean Ground Beef Bowls
- Press the ground beef into an even layer in a cold pan. The trick here is to cook the beef for a few minutes without stirring so the bottom builds a crust and adds more beefy flavor.
- Add the aromatics. Add the ginger, garlic, and onion to the crispy beef and cook just until the onion softens.
- Stir in the sauce and veggies. We’re in the home stretch now! Stir in the gochujang sauce, peas, and green onion and keep cooking just until the peas are hot.
- Top and serve. I typically add about ½ cup cooked white rice to each bowl, followed by ¼ of the ground beef mixture and lettuce, cucumbers, and kimchi.
Meal Prep Instructions
If you’ll be reheating these bowls for lunch or dinner throughout the week, I suggest portioning out the rice and ground beef mixture into their own containers and the toppings into another. Everything will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge.
The Korean beef and rice can be reheated for 30-second intervals in the microwave without issue, but try to keep the kimchi, cucumber, and lettuce cold in their own container until you’re ready to top your bowl and eat.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Korean Ground Beef Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 2 tablespoons gochujang
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
For the Bowls
- 1 pound 85% lean ground beef
- ½ yellow onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- ⅓ cup frozen green peas, thawed
- 3 green onions, white and green parts sliced
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- bibb lettuce, sliced cucumbers, and kimchi, for serving
Instructions
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons gochujang, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon brown sugaruntil smooth, and set aside.
- Cook the ground beef. Press 1 pound 85% lean ground beef into a 10-inch non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high. Cook for 4-5 minutes without stirring to create a crisp bottom crust, then use a spatula to break up the meat, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Drain off any excess grease.
- Add the aromatics and vegetables. Add ½ yellow onion, 4 garlic cloves, and 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger. Cook until the onion softens, stirring so the garlic doesn't burn, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the reserved sauce and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in ⅓ cup frozen green peas, and 3 green onions, and cook, stirring, until peas are heated through. Top with 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide 2 cups cooked white rice among four bowls, top with the ground beef mixture, sprinkle with more sliced green onion, and serve with bibb lettuce, sliced cucumbers, and kimchi on the side.
Nutrition
Side Dish Suggestions
These Korean beef and rice bowls are a meal in one with plenty of carbs, protein, and veggies, but you can stretch the recipe by serving it with one of the following sides:
More Rice Bowls That Are Great for Meal Prep
- Potsticker Rice Bowls
- Orange Chicken and Broccoli Rice Bowls
- Pick-Your-Protein Buddha Bowls
- Korean Beef Bulgogi Bowls
- Sesame Shrimp and Rice Bowl
- Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls
- Orange Chicken Bowls
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