Easy Korean Ground beef is such a simple dish, but it bursts with the sweet, savory, and spicy flavors of your favorite Korean BBQ!
There are days when I want to eat lavish meals, and then there are days when all I want is a quick dinner. But you probably know by now that boring food isn’t my thing, so even my quick meals need to have a ton of flavor.
If you’ve made Firecracker Ground Turkey, then you’ll find this recipe pretty familiar. It happens to be the all-time most popular post on this blog! That always surprises me given how simple it is, but maybe that’s the point. So here we are again! I’ve just swapped some ingredients to add more Asian flare.
This one is done start-to-finish in about 15 minutes. While the beef is cooking, I’ll heat up some frozen jasmine rice in the microwave. Add some steamed broccoli to the mix, and you’re good to go!
What Makes this Dish korean?
To be fair, there is nothing traditional about this dish. I love the sweet/savory/spicy combination in a lot of Korean dishes, so I tried to emulate that here.
I love the flavor of bulgogi, which is marinated steak that is usually grilled. So delicious! This is a quick and easy spin on that.
The only problem is that a lot of bulgogi recipes include quite a bit of sugar. In my opinion, there still needs to be quite a bit of sweetness to hit that perfect balance of salty and sweet, so I did a little research.
Some Korean beef recipes include grated Asian pear or apple. I figure most of you have applesauce in your pantry, so that’s a great ingredient to add some sweetness without too much sugar.
The soy sauce, sesame, garlic, ginger, and sriracha round everything out for a flavor punch to the mouth!
how to prep Easy Korean Ground Beef
Because of the minimal cook and prep times, this is obviously a great weeknight dinner dish. Just adding some rice and steamed veggies will do the trick for a complete meal.
But this recipe is also excellent for lunch prep!
I find that the leftovers are great either cold or warmed up, so you have a lot of options.
- Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps
- Korean Beef Salad
- Korean Beef Sloppy Joes
- Korean Beef Tacos
- Korean Beef Quesadillas (use reduced-fat mozzarella)
Let me know if you get creative with other ways to use this recipe!
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! Leaving a starred review and comment below helps my blog grow. I’m always grateful when you can take the time to do that!
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Easy Korean Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound 96% lean ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 5-6 medium green onions, chopped
- 1/2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar or honey
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp sriracha (optional if you like a little heat)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
OPTIONAL (QUICK PICKLED SALAD)
- 1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 cup thinly sliced or shredded carrot
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp salt
Instructions
- Heat cooking spray in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Quickly sauté garlic and ginger until fragrant, about a minute. Add in beef, and cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is browned, about 5 minutes.
- While meat is cooking, mix together sauce ingredients and chop green onions. Set aside.
- Add in sauce and half of the green onions to the skillet. Bring to a boil, then simmer until sauce has thickened and coats the meat, about 5 minutes. Add in a splash or two of water if the sauce gets too thick.
- Garnish with remaining green onions and sesame seeds.
FOR THE PICKLED SALAD
- Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for 10 minutes, or up a few days.
What a quick and super delicious recipe for a week night. Lots of flavor and perfect over rice. One question though, is the pickled salad really 1TBSP of salt? I found it a bit too salty for my taste but I’ll simply adjust. Will be making this one again very soon.
Yay! Happy you enjoyed the recipe. Yes, the tbsp is the correct amount for a pickle brine, but you can definitely adjust for your tastes. Since the veggies are only in there for a few minutes, I found that they didn’t pick up too much of the salt. Make sure it’s kosher salt, too. Regular table salt is much saltier.
Thank you for the recipe Geri, it looks sensational.
Loved this recipe! It’s quick and simple, but the flavor is fantastic. It also reheats well for leftovers. I also enjoyed the addition of the optional cucumber and carrot salad to add some veggies to the meal. It was also very tasty.
I made this yesterday. It’s fantastic! It will be in my weekly rotation. Thank you!
Awesome! Glad you liked it.
So glad you liked it, Janet!
Made this for dinner tonight, it came together so quickly and is SO full of flavour. The balance of sweet and spicy is just perfect. Another winner!! We’re definitely adding this into our weeknight dinner rotation. Thank you for another AMAZING recipe!!
Yay!! Thanks for taking the time to review, Nicole. 🙂
Loved this so much I’m meal prepping this for the 2nd week in a row!! Thank you for an easy and delicious recipe!!
made this with 99% ground turkey and it was SO GOOD! great recipe!
Thanks for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it Carrie. I appreciate it!
Absolutely delicious! A huge hit at my house. Oh, I used cinnamon applesauce ‘cuz that’s all I had. It was still delicious!
That makes me so happy to hear – and good to know that it even works with cinnamon applesauce, haha.
GIRL!!!! You just rocked my tasted buds. I love your chicken wraps so I had to try this one and it is my new favorite. So much flavor, easy to make and great on points! 1/2 a cup sounded small but it’s a good serving size. Winner winner!
Yay! Those are my favorite types of recipes, too, lol.
I made this recipe and wrapped up the beef with some shredded carrots and a little rice in egg roll wrappers and air fried. So good!
I didn’t have the green onions or the minced ginger and this still turned out delicious! I used butter lettuce as the wrap, so good. I can’t wait to make this again! Thank you!
Good to know! Thanks for the review, Victoria!!
Made this for dinner tonight. My family loved it and already asked me to make it again!
Yay!! Love that it was a hit for you and the fam.
I followed this recipe to the “t”! It was SO good. My parents came over for dinner and I decided to make it because it’s been on my list to make for a while now. Always risky making a new recipe for company but this is an easy no fail recipe. Even the kids loved it. They kept saying “I want more meat!” Definitely adding to rotation. Thanks Geri!!
So yummy, quick and simple, hubby said this is a keeper!
Love this recipe!!! I actually made Korean beef biscuit cups and they are soooo freaking delicious!! Thanks for such an easy delicious meal!!!
I never would have thought to try it in biscuit cups, but that sounds delicious – like Southern Korean fusion food
This was simple to make and delicious in flavor. It came together quick and I had all the ingredients on hand. I’m already looking forward to making it again.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This was so simple to make and had so much flavor! I made a batch and have been taking leftovers for lunches and it reheats so well. So much flavor as always in your recipes!
Thank you,Katy!!! I’m thrilled to hear you’re enjoying it. Thanks for taking the time to comment 😀
I made the Easy Korean Ground Beef and it was super delish (but took me lots longer than 15 mins lol)—the pickled carrots/cucumbers/red onion were the perfect cool, tangy compliment to the spicy beef—loved it & will definitely make again (soon)! This was the first of your recipes I’ve made (though I’ve saved/bookmarked many), and I know it won’t be the last—thx for sharing your yummy food!
Made tonight for the first time…could not be more simple or delicious!! Will definitely make again and I’m looking forward to enjoying the leftovers!!