Name: Bulgogi Korean Beef Bowls
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 6 tbsp soy sauce; 3 tbsp brown sugar; 2 tbsp mirin (or rice wine); 1 small onion (grated); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 1 pinch black pepper & salt; 1 lb ground beef; 1 tbsp oil; 1 onion onion (sliced); 3 cloves garlic (sliced); 1.5 cup mushrooms; 4 servings cooked rice; 1 carrot (optional); 1 zucchini (optional); 1/2 purple cabbage (optional)

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Skip the Korean take out and make these Bulgogi Korean Beef Bowls at home instead! Perfect as a weeknight dinner or as a meal prep!

Korean Bulgogi at Home

There’s something about marinaded Korean meat that just gets me drooling. One of my favourites is bulgogi; bulgogi is thinly sliced beef that is marinaded before grilling. Sirloin, rib eye or brisket are frequently used cuts of beef for the dish. It is a classic sweet and savoury dish!

When making bulgogi at home, I keep things simple by using ground beef. In a lot of traditional bulgogi recipes, it is recommended that an asian pear be added to the marinade. Can’t be any pear, it must be an asian pear as there’s a specific enzyme in it that breaks down/tenderizes the meat. However, because I’m using ground beef instead of a cut of beef like a brisket, we can skip the asian pear.! This means you’re more than likely have everything in your pantry to make this bulgogi beef bowls at home.

What You Need To Make These Bulgogi Korean Beef Bowls

For the bulgogi marinade:

soy sauce
brown sugar
mirin (or rice wine)
onion
garlic
black pepper
salt
ground beef

Sides:

oil
onion
garlic
mushrooms
rice
carrot (optional)
zucchini (optional)
purple cabbage (optional)

How To Make This Korean Meal Prep Beef Bowl

The Marinade:

In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, grated onion, minced gralic, black pepper and salt. Mix to combine then add your ground beef to the bowl and mix it together. Set it aside in the fridge for 30 minutes.

The Sides:

While the beef is marinading, you can work on your sides of choice. I cut up a carrot and zucchini, tossed it with some olive oil and salt before roasting it in the oven for 20 minutes at 400F.
Slice up an onion and some mushrooms and set it aside.

The Beef Bowls:

Start with a drizzle of oil in a hot skillet and sauté the onions before adding in the garlic.
After 2 minutes, add your ground beef to the skillet. The ground beef should have absorbed all the marinade so there shouldn’t be any left over in the bowl.
Let the beef cook on medium-high heat but be sure to break up the beef with a wooden spoon so that as the beef browns, it browns evenly.
Once your beef is almost finished cooking, add in your mushroom. Add more salt and pepper as needed. Continue to cook until done.
Serve with your optional sides immediately or pack for later in your meal prep containers.

Tips For Making This Korean Beef Bowls

For the marinade, you’re going to not want to skip grating the onion. A grater breaks down the onion, turning it into an applesauce like consistency that makes the onion flavour stronger. You can always slice up the onions for the marinade but it tastes way better with the grated onion as it gets absorbed fully into the ground beef. I use this grater.
An alternative to grating the onion is to blend the entire marinade in a Vitamix to save time.
Bulgogi goes great with lettuce wrap as well if you want to skip the rice.
I’m a huge fan of glass containers for packing my lunches in as they’re great for reheating in the microwave and they don’t hold onto smells over time. You can even get glass containers that have dividers so you can keep the rice separated.
Not a tip for making bulgogi, here’s how bulgogi (불고기) is pronounced for those curious: buul-GOH-ghee.