Quick + easy Korean Beef Bowls are quickly turning into a weeknight favorite for us! I’m someone who is always looking for quick weeknight meals and a different way to use ground beef – so this recipe is a clear winner for me. This bowl is packed full of flavor with ground beef, rice, cole slaw and other toppings you choose to use.
This is a really simple recipe you can actually start to prep ahead of time. It’s perfect for weeknights when you don’t have a ton of time to cook and you can easily customize it for your taste buds.
What I love about this recipe:
- It’s so quick and easy – and you probably have a lot of the ingredients already on hand. Even without a ton of prep you can probably make this recipe in less minutes. I mean time is money people and this doesn’t take a lot of it!
- You can prep it ahead of time. Have extra time on the weekend to brown some ground beef and prep some rice? Then you basically just have to throw those ingredients in the microwave when you’re ready to eat and you can have this in literally less than 10 minutes. Also super good to prep for lunches, too!
- Customizable! Here’s the thing – I can be a pretty picky eater. Others in my life? Not so much. Luckily with this recipe I can get different toppings and add-ons we’ll all enjoy so no one goes hungry or misses out on their favorite flavors. That being said, mix up your toppings! While I suggest different toppings, the list doesn’t have to end there. You can use other veggies like broccoli, zucchini or brussel sprouts.
Want to make this recipe with as few steps as possible? Here's how:
- Cook your rice ahead of time. Or, buy microwave rice. I won’t judge you for using that.
- Coleslaw mix. Instead of making your own toppings I cannot stress how easy it is to just use coleslaw mix! You can chop your own cabbage if you prefer, but let’s be honest – coleslaw is an easy way to go.
- Cucumbers. I actually like to prep cucumbers for my week and have them pre-sliced so I can grab for a quick snack. I just throw some of these on top to add some extra crunch and flavor!
- Carrots. Sure you can shred your own, but they also have the little stick carrots at the grocery store already shaved exactly how we need them for this recipe.. Buy those! You can shred your own but if you know you’ll be short on time it just makes it one step easier.
- Yum Yum Sauce or Spicy Mayo. Just buy the premade stuff. It’s cheaper, easier and tastes great. You do you if you want to make your own, but I’m choosing the easy option.
Quick + Easy Korean Beef Bowls
These Quick + Easy Korean Beef Bowls are super easy and absolutely delicious. The best part? You can make them in under 20 minutes (and they're still full of flavor)!
Equipment
- 1 skillet pan
Ingredients
For the Beef
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tbsp minced ginger
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
For the Bowls
- 1 serving white rice per person
- 1 bag tricolor coleslaw mix
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 thinly sliced cucumber
- 1/4 cup spicy mayo or yum yum sauce
- optional other toppings: green onions, sesame seeds, broccoli, zucchini, Brussel sprouts, a fried egg and way more.
Instructions
For the Korean Beef
- In a skillet brown the ground beef with the sesame oil. Make sure you cook it until the meat is no longer pink and cooked all the way through.
- Add your minced garlic to the skillet and continue to cook until it gets a little fragrant, about one minute.
- Add your ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes to the skillet and sauté until the sauce is bubbly and completely coats the meat.
For the Bowls
- Add one serving of rice to a bowl.
- Top the rice with 1/4 of the Korean Beef mixture, coleslaw, shredded carrots and cucumbers. If you choose to add other toppings to your bowl add them now. Drizzle with your choice of spicy mayo or yum yum sauce.
