Easy Korean Beef- one of the easiest Asian recipes to make with ground beef. Caramelized saucy meat served over rice comes together in under 20 minutes!
If you are craving takeout but want to cook at home, this recipe is perfect for you! Just like my Easy Cashew Chicken or Mongolian Beef Bowls.
What I like the most about creating copycat recipes or our restaurant favorites, is how easy they can be. They all have the word "easy" in the name for a reason. This Korean Beef recipe is most definitely one of the easiest you can create in your own kitchen and have dinner ready on the table under 20 minutes. Every bit of the caramelized beef with onion and garlic makes you crave another bite. Serve simply over rice or add steamed vegetables. This recipe is a simplified version of the Korean Beef Bulgogi dish, also knows as the Korean BBQ Beef. We are using ground beef here and we are not marinating the meat since it is ground.
Ingredients:
- lean ground beef
- olive oil
- onion
- garlic
- low-sodium soy sauce
- brown sugar
- sesame oil
- crushed red pepper flakes
- ground ginger
- black pepper
How to make it?
- In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil.
- Add ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. I like to cook it just a little bit past the done stage until brown bits appear at the bottom of the pan. They give the dish even more flavor.
- Next, mix the sauce ingredients in a measuring cup and pour over meat.
- Stir well, cover the pan and let simmer over low medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Done! Serve beef over rice. You can add steamed vegetables, like broccoli, on the side.
Side dishes
My favorite way to serve Korean beef is on a bed of rice, with steamed broccoli on the side. You can turn it into tacos or serve as lettuce wraps.
Can I make this dish ahead of time?
You can even make the rice and beef ahead and cool completely, place in a ziploc bag and freeze. Then thaw and heat up in the pan. It all saves time and makes dinner time easy!
Can I use ground turkey or chicken to make this dish?
Absolutely! Any ground meat works in this recipe. You can even use thinly sliced beef (skirt steak) or chicken breast to make it. It will be fantastic!
More easy Asian recipes:
- Quick Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls
- Easy Chicken Stir Fry
- Thai Peanut Noodles
- Easy Chicken Yakisoba
- Mongolian Beef
- Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
For more recipes, browse our Asian category.
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
Easy Korean Beef
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef lean is the best
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Heat up oil in a large skillet. Add chopped onion and minced garlic and saute until onion becomes translucent.
- Add ground beef and cook over medium heat, breaking it up into bits with a wooden spoon.
- Cook until done and no longer pink.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, oil, pepper flakes, pepper and ginger. Pour sauce over the beef, stir well.
- Cover the pan and let simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
- Serve over rice, garnished with chopped scallions or parsley.
Notes
- I like to cook the beef just pass the done point, until brown bits appear on the bottom of the pan. They add more flavor to the dish. After you add the sauce, make sure you scrape the bottom with the wooden spoon so everything is in the dish.
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use calorie counter you are familiar with.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on April 11th, 2018 and updated on October 29th, 2019.
Erin says
I have made this several times and my husband and I both love it! He doesn't really eat a lot of Asian dishes and he is limited because he cannot have soy sauce or MSG, so I use coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce and it is absolutely delicious. Such an easy recipe as well!
Monet Dufala says
Such a tasty, easy recipe !! Great for workdays, thank you!
Laura says
This is a favorite with my hubs and I. We love it. I implore everyone to make sriracha Mayo and pickled veggies to go with this (I prefer pickled onions) but any pickled veggie goes great as long as the seasonings r simple. (Garlic, and peppercorns for example) That’s how we serve it and it’s amazing! We just top the rice with the beef, squirt on the Mayo and pour on the veggies. Dig in and enjoy! When we make it, I make a triple batch EVERY TIME. do we eat it all? Nope! But the leftovers r equally amazing and we eat it all to the very last of it.
Anna says
I love the spicy mayo and pickled veggies additions! That sounds perfect! Thank you for sharing, Laura!
Casey says
This is a hit with the family and became a family favorite! It’s delicious and quick and easy! I’d recommend this to anyone and tell em it’s a keeper!
Virginia says
I love recipes that are easy and tasty.
I had ground turkey in the frig and didn't want to make tacos...again, so I came across this recipe. I was deciding on this one and another one w hoisin. So glad I decided to try this one - so simple, but everyone loved it! I served on rice with cucumber salad.
Thank you!
Sara Welch says
This looks divine! I am definitely adding this to my dinner line up for the week; too good to pass up!
Anna says
I hope you love it, Sara!
Beth says
This turned out so good! We loved how simple it was to put together!
Anna says
That's awesome! Thank you, Beth!
Stephanie says
This was incredible! The flavor was amazing and it was so easy to make!
Anna says
Thanks for giving it a try, Stephanie!
Natalie says
Wow, I love all these flavors! Korean beef is so delicious & this recipe is so easy!
Anna says
Thank you, Natalie!
Valentina says
We love making this easy Korean beef recipe for dinner!
Anna says
Thank you, Valentina!
Marlene says
How sweet does this taste? I generally don't like sweet with meat.
Anna says
Hi Marlene! This dish does have a sweet flavor. You can always skip it or decrease the amount of sugar to 1 tablespoon.
Jamie says
Can you substitute ground turkey?
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Jamie! Yep, you can use ground turkey or even chicken! Hope this helps!
Landon says
Looks delicious! How important is the ginger in this recipe? I have all the other stuff and was hoping to avoid a trip to the store. Thanks!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Landon! Feel free to skip the ginger if you don't have it on hand. It adds a little bit of flavor but the dish is still delicious without it. Let me know if you make it! Thank you for the question!
Cathy @ Lemon Tree Dwelling says
These flavors sound so amazing!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Thanks, Cathy!
Erin says
Such a great meal! My family definitely love this!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Thank you, Erin!
Katerina says
I love how easy and delicious this is!! YUM!!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Thank you so much!
Allyson Zea says
These look so flavorful and easy to make! YUM!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Thanks, Allyson!
Jen says
I love that this is so easy to make! Great for a busy weeknight!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Thank you, Jen!
Sabrina says
This is one of my favorite dishes! Can't wait to try your recipe!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
I hope you love it, Sabrina!