An easy and delicious weeknight favorite: Korean Ground Beef Bulgogi. All the traditional flavors of bulgogi with accessible ground beef. Make this easy Korean rice bowl and top with a fried egg for a complete meal. The best kind of 15-minute simple dinner!
What is Ground Beef Bulgogi?
Ground Beef Bulgogi is Korean Bulgogi — but made with ground meat and served in a rice bowl. Traditional beef bulgogi is made with thinly sliced meat — a cut that typically requires a separate trip to the Korean grocery store. But in this version, easy and accessible ground beef is used instead.
When cooked, Ground Beef Bulgogi becomes deliciously crisp and caramelized. The ground beef absorbs all that BIG flavor from the bulgogi marinade. Every bite is filled with traditional Beef Bulgogi flavor. Piled on white rice and topped with a golden fried egg — it’s easy, fast, and delicious!
In Korean cuisine, Bulgogi means “fire meat.” It’s a traditional dish with thinly sliced meat, savory sauce, and quick cooking over intense heat. Ground Beef Bulgogi is not exactly traditional — but it’s every bit as delicious and much easier to make.
If you love Korean flavors, you’ll love these fast and easy beef bulgogi bowls. Perfect for busy weeknights. A satisfying and easy ground beef recipe.
Ingredients:
- Ground Beef. Extra-lean ground beef works best. Otherwise, the final dish will be very greasy and oily. Can be swapped with ground chicken or ground turkey, if you prefer.
- Onion. You’ll need 1 large onion. Half is grated to a juicy pulp and placed directly into the marinade. The other half is diced and sauteed in the wok.
- Garlic. Fresh garlic is essential for the flavor. Don’t skimp on the amount!
- Soy Sauce. Lots of salty umami flavor.
- Sugar. Regular white sugar works fine. Swap with brown sugar, if you like.
- Mirin. Sweet Korean cooking wine adds intense flavor and depth. A common addition to meat in Korean cooking so it doesn’t taste or smell too gamey. Look for it at Asian grocery stores. Can be swapped with sake, vermouth, or sherry.
- Sesame Oil. A fragrant, nutty drizzle of sesame oil completes the meal.
- Green onions (scallions) + Sesame seeds. The garnish that every bowl of Korean food needs.
- Rice. Serve with white rice. Or swap with cauliflower rice, quinoa, or brown rice. Multi-grain Korean Purple Rice is also a nice base.
- Egg. A fried egg on top add more protein and lots of flavor. Make sure the yolk is runny. A classic Korean rice bowl topper.
How to make Ground Beef Bulgogi Bowls:
- Prep the onion. Grate half an onion on a box grater into a juicy pulp. Dice the remaining half an onion into chunks.
- Marinate beef. In a medium bowl, make the bulgogi sauce: add grated onion, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, Mirin, and sesame oil. Add ground beef. Mix until well combined.
- Cook. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add a little oil and the diced onion. Cook onion until soft and translucent. Crank up the heat to medium-high heat. Add the marinated beef. Cook until most of the juice has evaporated and the beef has taken on a lovely, caramel-brown color with crispy edges.
- Serve. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds. Heap into rice bowls with a fried egg on top. Add toppings of choice. Enjoy!
PRO Tips:
- Use a wok or cast iron skillet. For that charred, smoky flavor.
- Cook until caramelized. Ground beef releases a lot of water. Cook until crispy and caramelized with a dark-brown color. It will take a few minutes.
- Make in advance. Reheats well. Good for meal prep. Store leftovers in an airtight container.
- Make it spicy. If you’d like more fiery heat, add 1-2 Tbsp of Gochujang to the marinade.
To Serve:
For an easy dinner, add a fried egg. With kimchi on the side, it’s a complete meal!
Or, drizzle with Gochujang Sauce. And serve with lettuce wraps or red or green leaf lettuce. Or perilla leaves or roasted seaweed snack (gim).
Add more sides: Korean Cucumber Salad, Korean Lettuce Salad, or Gamja Salad.
FAQ:
How do I store leftovers?
Easy Beef Bulgogii Bowls can be stored in airtight containers. Transfer to the fridge where they should keep for 4-5 days.
More bulgogi recipes:
- Korean Beef Bulgogi. The classic made with thinly sliced rib eye
- Ground Pork Gochujang Rice Bowls. Made with spicy gochujang marinade and ground pork.
- Chicken Bulgogi. Kid-friendly and made with juicy, tender chicken thighs
- Spicy Pork Belly Bulgogi. Fatty, crisp pieces of pork belly marinated with gochujang + pear
- Osam (Pork Belly + Squid) Bulgogi. Tender, spicy bites of squid + pork belly
Korean Ground Beef Bulgogi Recipe
Equipment
- wok or cast iron pan
Ingredients
In a bowl:
- 1 lb extra lean ground beef
- 1/2 large onion, grated
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce (not the low sodium kind)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp Mirin (Korean sweet cooking wine) rice wine also works
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1-2 Tbsp Gochujang *optional ingredient (for more spicy flavor)
In the wok:
- 1/2 large onion, diced
Assemble into bowls:
- 4 cups (cooked) rice
- 4 sunny side up eggs
- 2 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Cook rice, according to package directions.
- Prep the onion. Grate 1/2 onion on a box grater so that it becomes juicy, onion pulp. Dice the other 1/2 onion in a medium dice.
- Marinate ground beef. In a large bowl, add ground beef, grated onion, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, Mirin, and sesame oil. Mix until well combined with hands or a fork. Set aside.
- Cook. Heat a wok or cast iron skillet on medium heat. When the pan is hot, add 1-2 Tbsp neutral oil (I use grapeseed oil) and swirl around in the pan. Add onion and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium-high heat. Add the marinated ground beef and keep cooking, breaking apart big chunks with a metal spatula or wooden spoon. Initially, a lot of liquid will release from the meat. Keep cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated and the meat has turned dark brown in color with crispy edges, about 8-10 minutes.
- Garnish. Remove from heat and add green onion and sesame seeds.
- Assemble. Evenly divide rice among 4 bowls. 1 cup cooked rice is a generous portion so feel free to adjust, according to your preference. Evenly divide ground beef bulgogi over the rice. Top with a fried egg. Enjoy!
Notes
-
- Use a wok or cast iron skillet. For that charred, smoky flavor.
-
- Cook until caramelized. Ground beef releases a lot of water. Cook until crispy and caramelized with a dark-brown color.
-
- Make in advance. Reheats well. Make once and organize into separate portions for easy lunch meals all week long!
- Make it spicy. If you’d like more fiery heat, add 1-2 Tbsp of Gochujang to the marinade.
Hi,
I’ve made your pork mince bowl quite a few times, it’s easy and definitely a favourite of mine.
I think there’s some errors with this bulgogi recipe however.
First, there’s nothing hot in the recipe as it stands. The recipe doesn’t include gochujang or gochugaru.
Second, the grated onion is used twice in the instructions. It’s in the marinade and it’s also used at the start of the cooking step where it is sautéed. I expect that the intent is to sauté the garlic and onion, and not have it in the marinade.
Thanks for posting your recipes.
Cheers,
– Mark
Hello! Thanks for your feedback and it’s nice to hear you enjoy the pork mine bowl. For this recipe (Ground Beef Bulgogi Rice Bowls), you are right — the onion is used twice. One half of the onion is used in the marinade and the other half is sauteed at the beginning of the cooking process. Adding grated onion to the meat marinade and also while it cooks is a classic Korean preparation. Also, this is not a spicy bulgogi recipe. Not all bulgogi is spicy! This on has a salty-sweet flavor. However, if you’d like more spicy flavor – I’ve listed an optional ingredient: you can add 1-2 Tbsp of Gochujang to the beef marinade. I’ve listed it as an option but I will make sure to include that option in the recipe card – thank you!
Easy to make and guaranteed great flavour. My kids are mastering this recipe too. Garnishing with green onion and sesame seeds makes it look like a restaurant dish!
My family and I love this recipe! I have to double it for my family of five. I serve it with white rice or will also use quinoa. This is an easy weeknight dinner – as long as I remember to thaw the ground beef!
Absolutely fabulous! Made with ground turkey. Cooked the meat as the recipe suggested until it turned a little brown and crispy (took more like 15-18 minutes) and that made a huge difference in the texture and flavor.
Served with green onions, kimchi, toasted sesame seeds, chili garlic paste. Next time will pickle some carrots and daikon.
Great recipe!!!!
Delicious! This is now on my bi-weekly meal plan! It feels so comforting and there are endless toppings to add!
This was so easy and tasty to make! I never thought I would be able to make the bulgogi sauce with ingredients I already have at home. I typically buy the pre-made jars! I will use this future again for the future 🙂
This was such an easy, fast, last minute meal. A really homey dish that I’ll definitely make again.
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