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This easy Korean beef recipe turns a pound of ground beef and a handful of pantry staples into a sweet, savory, garlicky dinner in about 25 minutes. It has all the flavor of Korean bulgogi with none of the slicing, marinating, or fuss. You just need a skillet, a bowl, and some rice.
My Favorite Weeknight Korean Ground Beef Recipe
This Korean beef is one of those dishes I go back to on autopilot when I don’t have the bandwidth to think too hard about dinner. It’s made with ground beef, so there’s no marinating and no fancy cuts of meat to track down, and the whole thing is done in the time it takes my rice to cook. If you’ve made my Korean bulgogi, think of this as its faster, more weeknight-friendly cousin. It’s not traditional, but it’s certainly delicious.
Toasted vs. Regular Sesame Oil
Toasted sesame oil is more flavorful than regular sesame oil, and it’s what I always reach for in this recipe. Look for it near the other Asian condiments at your grocery store. It’s usually in a small bottle, and it’s a bit darker in color. If you can’t find it, regular sesame oil will still give a great flavor.
How to Make Korean Beef
Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Brown the beef in a sesame-oiled skillet set over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Pour the sauce over the cooked beef, stir to combine, and let everything simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the beef. Spoon over white rice and dig in!
Can I Make it In a Crockpot?
Yes. Brown the ground beef first in a pan—don’t skip this step; it adds tons of flavor! Transfer it to your slow cooker with the sauce ingredients, and cook on low for 2–3 hours. This is a great option if you want dinner ready and waiting when you walk in the door.
Swaps and Substitutions
Here are a few common ways to change up this dish:
- Protein: Ground pork or turkey both work well in place of beef. Sliced flank steak or sirloin will also work here—slice against the grain, sear, and serve.
- Veggies: Add sliced cremini or shiitake mushrooms alongside the beef for earthy depth.
- Aromatics: I prefer fresh ginger and garlic for the punchiest flavor, but ¼ teaspoon of dried ginger and ½ teaspoon of dried garlic will work in a pinch.
- Spice: Stir in a spoonful of gochujang or a squeeze of sriracha along with the sauce for a little extra kick.
- Make it vegan: Swap the ground beef for crumbled tofu or your favorite plant-based ground “meat.” Press the tofu well first so it browns.
Serving Suggestions
This Korean beef recipe is endlessly versatile. Here’s how I like to serve it:
- Spooned over a bowl of white or brown rice, optionally with a fried egg on top for a quick and easy version of my fav Korean Galbi Bowls
- Wrapped in butter lettuce cups for a lighter, low-carb dinner
- Tossed with cooked rice noodles and a little extra sauce for a quick noodle bowl
- On buns topped with kimchi and extra sauce for a Korean-style sloppy joe
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Store leftover Korean ground beef in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a skillet set over medium heat until warmed through, or microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between. This is a fantastic recipe for meal prep!
Korean Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (59 ml) low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) packed dark brown sugar
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 pound (454 g) lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, onion, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes together.¼ cup (59 ml) low-sodium soy sauce, 2 tablespoons (24 g) packed dark brown sugar, 1/2 yellow onion, 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- In a skillet, on medium high, cook your ground beef with the sesame oil until well done.1 pound (454 g) lean ground beef, 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- Pour in the soy sauce mixture over the meat and combine together. Let it simmer for a few minutes.
- Serve over white rice.
Nutrition
Photographs by Eat Love Eat
Can you sub light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar? Will it taste the same?
yep, you can do that and it’ll taste the same!
I was a little skeptical on how’d this would taste with all the ingredients with ground beef but wow.. amazing! I subbed the brown sugar and soy sauce for coconut aminos since it’s healthy but still sweet and it was incredible. Definitely on our weekly dinner schedule now!
Fantastic recipe! I make a couple of tweaks but it always comes out great. I double the sauce, I cook the yellow onions with the ground beef, and I add mushrooms and green onions. Tasty and easy. Thanks!
I made this using soy be’f crumbles and then made a side dish of vegetables with the same dressing. My husband’s first comment was this would be a good meal with the plant based meat – I said “It is” – he couldn’t tell the difference. Very yummy! We will have this again!
ha! that’s awesome
This was great I doubled it next time I will
Use ground turkey . Definitely use low sodium soy sauce. I let it cook down for about 35 minutes. I added extra ginger and spice and made as lettuce wraps and served with brown rice. Great for meal prep.
Excellent recipe and easy!!
Very disappointed that you made this recipe member only. One of our family favs but I’ll find a similar recipe elsewhere from now on. Really don’t like being forced to sign up for newsletter.
hi Courtney, i can understand that. out of the 1,400+ recipes on my site, i have only locked 10, this being one of them. there’s just another side to all this than “being forced to sign up for a newsletter” that i wish people would actually take the time to read about (https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/table-for-two-premium/) instead of accosting small business owners about this. it’s about supporting a small business, such as this blog, and helping keep it afloat in uncertain times. it costs a lot of money to provide readers with free recipes and even if you’re being “forced” to sign up for a newsletter, you may find that you like it. it’s once a week (every friday) and it is a roundup of the new recipes that have been posted – who knows, you may find something new to try! most importantly though, if you read what the premium is about and how it helps us keep this site for free, you perhaps may change your mind. if not, then that’s fine too. you’re right – you can probably find it elsewhere but this is becoming the norm on a lot of websites – in fact, it already is subscription-based for NYT, America’s Test Kitchen, etc. and they make people pay.
@Julie Chiou, I love this…thank you for the recipe and the knowledge…happy to support you :-)
thank you! i super appreciate it!
I made this for dinner tonight and served it over extra buttery rice. My husband said the only thing he would change was the amount I put on his plate. He went back for thirds haha. This is definitely going in the regular rotation!
I made this recipe, but served it as the filling for lettuce wraps. It was amazing.
that is such a good idea!! thanks for sharing!
I substituted riced cauliflower,but went by the book otherwise.
I doubled the recipe and it fed 6, very generous plates.
Served with potstickers.
Husband ranked it in his top 3 weekday meals!!