Easy Korean Beef Rice Bowls (30 minutes!)

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“This is an absolute family favorite and for hugely picky eaters. I make extra sauce to pour a tad over the top. Fantastic.”

~CHERYL

As long as you’ve got a package of ground meat, we’ll work with what you’ve got in your fridge. I keep basic Asian condiments in my fridge door, so they’re staples for me, and I hope they are for you too. But don’t fret if you don’t have them all, your beef rice bowls will still be delicious even if all you have are soy sauce and garlic!

• Hoisin Sauce ~ a thick, sweet-savory Chinese sauce made from fermented soybeans, garlic, and spices. It adds depth and a hint of molasses-like sweetness to the beef.
• Dark Soy Sauce ~ richer, thicker, and slightly sweeter than regular soy sauce. It gives the meat a beautiful caramel color and a boost of umami.
• Mirin ~ a mildly sweet cooking wine that balances the salty and savory flavors. If you don’t have mirin, rice wine or dry sherry works in a pinch.
• Toasted Sesame Oil ~ deeply aromatic and nutty, this finishing oil gives the bowls their signature Korean flavor. A little goes a long way.
• Chili Oil or Chili Paste ~ brings heat and complexity. Use a pinch of dried red chili flakes if that’s what you’ve got ~ they’ll still do the job!

the secret? beef is caramelized in a skillet with simple but intense flavors.

I love this meal because it reminds me of the Dan Dan Noodles I made recently. They were such a hit with us that I really wanted to explore the concept further. This Korean style beef has a similar feel, and it’s equally delicious. Who knew ground meat (beef in this case, pork, chicken, or tofu in the Dan Dan noodles) could taste so incredible?

Korean beef bowl veggie additions

These are so good they really don’t need anything but a shower of sesame seeds and some spicy chile oil. I would have added green onions, but my limited larder didn’t allow. I did add green beans to my second batch of beef and I really enjoyed that little punch of fresh green. You might add carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, or asparagus to your Korean beef rice bowls to up the veggie quotient for family meals.

How to get that rich dark color in Korean beef

The deep color is a distinguishing feature of Korean beef, and it comes from using dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is thicker and richer than regular soy sauce because it’s aged longer. It gives this beef a really dark color.

(Fake it till you make it)

I always use Tamari soy sauce, which is more of a light sauce, so for this dish I got creative and added a bit of, wait for it, Kitchen Bouquet, which is a gravy browning sauce that’s been around since 1873. It’s basically caramel coloring, with some vegetable flavoring, and I know it sounds crazy but I find it very helpful in situations where you want or need a deeper color in gravies, stews, or something like this beef.

Adding an egg on top really makes this dish uber comforting. I could eat it for every meal of the day ~ don’t let one of those delicious crumbles go to waste!

Easy Korean Beef Rice Bowls

5 from 21 votes

Sweet, savory, and kid-approved! These Korean beef rice bowls are quick to make and easy to customize, so everyone’s happy at the dinner table.

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Prep Time:10 minutes minutes

Cook Time:20 minutes minutes

Total Time:30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

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Equipment

• Large skillet or wok

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (I use a garlic press)
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 10 green beans, sliced on the diagonal, optional (substitute carrots, green onions, or anything you've got on hand.)
• 4 cups hot cooked jasmine rice

sauce

• 3 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
• 3 Tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Mirin, or rice wine, or sherry
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp chili oil or chili paste (use some dried red chili flakes if you don't have either)
• 1 Tbsp finely grated ginger

serving suggestions, optional

• sesame seeds
• chili oil
• fried eggs

Instructions

• Heat a little oil in the bottom of a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion starts to soften. Add the ground beef, breaking it apart with the edge of a spatula while it cooks. You want the meat to be as finely broken up as possible, so keep at it.
• Whisk together the sauce ingredients, and add to the pan, stirring to combine. Let simmer for a few minutes. Add the green beans and cook for a minute more.
• Divide the hot rice between four bowls, and then top with the beef. Garnish with the sesame seeds, chili oil, and fried eggs, if desired. Serve with sriracha sauce.

Notes

Substitution suggestions:

• Ground pork, chicken, or turkey will work as well as beef.
• This recipe will work wonderfully with a plant based ground meat product.
• Use noodles instead of rice.
• Put the meat mixture in lettuce cups for a super low carb option.
• If you don’t have dark soy sauce, use a little bit of Kitchen Bouquet or other gravy browning sauce to deepen the color of your sauce.

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Korean

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: Asian, beef, ground beef, Korean, rice, rice bowl

Nutrition

Calories: 548 kcal · Carbohydrates: 56 g · Protein: 26 g · Fat: 24 g · Saturated Fat: 9 g · Cholesterol: 81 mg · Sodium: 1059 mg · Potassium: 453 mg · Fiber: 2 g · Sugar: 7 g · Vitamin A: 95 IU · Vitamin C: 3 mg · Calcium: 51 mg · Iron: 3 mg

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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