Korean Beef Bowls are quick, easy and packed full of flavor! Ground beef is browned and then simmered in a sticky, delicious, Korean-inspired homemade sauce of soy sauce, brown sugar and seasonings. The result is a 20 Minute Korean Beef Bowl so good that you’ll have them on your weeknight dinner rotation in no time!

What KJ Loves about this Recipe
I can’t get over how much I love this recipe! It’s such a fun twist on a way to cook up ground beef. Plus, it comes together so quickly, you’ll be asking yourself why you haven’t made this recipe sooner! I also love how easily customizable it is – spice it up, keep it mild, add in extra veggies, top with toppings galore or meal prep it for a delicious dinner or lunch all week long! No matter how you make it, these Korean Beef Bowls will easily slide their way into your weeknight dinner rotation.

Let’s Make the Sauce
Start this recipe out by whipping up a quick and delicious Korean-inspired sauce. All you need is a few simple ingredients to bring this sauce to life:
- Low-sodium soy sauce – I like to use the low-sodium soy sauce option for this recipe since there is a larger amount of soy sauce, that the salt content won’t be too over-powering.
- Garlic – a wonderful aromatic for this recipe that can’t be beat.
- Brown sugar – the perfect companion to the salty soy sauce! Plus, it helps the sauce caramelize as it cooks down.
- Sesame oil – this gives the sauce a wonderful nutty, toasty flavor that is classically delicious.
- Red pepper flakes – add in as little or as much as you would like depending on your heat preferences!
- Green onion – chopped green onion adds a brightness and wonderfully, light onion flavor to this recipe.
Simply whisk all the ingredients together and you are ready to go!

How to Make Korean Beef Bowls
After the homemade sauce is ready to go, making the Korean Beef couldn’t be any easier.
Add the hamburger to a skillet and brown, breaking apart as you go. Cooking until all the way cooked through, or reaches a internal temperature of 160 degrees.
Then, pour in the sauce and toss it all together. Cook for a bit longer to allow the sauce to caramelize and soak into the ground beef.
Finally, serve it up!
See? How great and easy is that? As long as your ground beef is defrosted (not frozen in the middle) this recipe comes together in under 20 minutes. Talk about a great weeknight meal option!
Ground Beef Tips
80/20 or 90/10 ground beef options can be used for this recipe. If you are using frozen ground beef, allow it to properly defrost a day or so in advance in the refrigerator so that it is ready to go for when you need to make the recipe.


Serving Ideas
Serving these Korean Beef Bowls is fun and easily customizable! Here are some ideas:
- Over rice – I love to use my Coconut Cilantro Rice with this recipe!
- Over noodles – cook up a couple packs of your favorite ramen noodles and then add them in when the sauce goes in. You’ll have a wonderfully saucy noodle bowl!
- As tacos – a fun twist on a taco! Korean tacos, anyone?
- As wraps – add the cooked Korean Beef into your favorite wrap or lettuce wrap and roll it up with your favorite toppings.
Topping ideas:


Looking for other Ground Beef Recipes? Check these out!

Korean Beef Bowls
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Korean Beef Bowls are quick, easy and packed full of flavor! Ground beef is browned and then simmered in a sticky, delicious, Korean-inspired homemade sauce of soy sauce, brown sugar and seasonings. The result is a 20 Minute Korean Beef Bowl so good that you’ll have them on your weeknight dinner rotation in no time!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, lightly breaking it up as you go, about 5-8 minutes.
- Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil and red pepper flakes and pour the sauce over the browned beef. Stir to combine and allow the sauce to caramelize slightly and soak into the ground beef, about another 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the green onion and then serve as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- 80/20 or 90/10 ground beef can be used for this recipe.
- Serve the Korean Beef over rice, noodles, as tacos or in wraps!
- Topping ideas: cucumber, green onion, avocado, sriracha mayo, shredded cabbage, kimchi, limes and more!
- Nutritional information for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 281
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 1839mg
- Fat: 9.4g
- Carbohydrates: 12.3g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 36.7g
- Cholesterol: 101mg
Keywords: Korean Beef Bowls

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