Sweet and spicy Korean Ground Beef with all the flavors of your favorite Korean BBQ but for a third of the cost and kid friendly!
This is the quick weeknight version of your favorite Korean restaurant’s Korean BBQ. A plate of sweet and spicy beef made easier with the use of ground beef instead of short ribs.
Sabrina’s Korean Ground Beef Recipe
Cooking Asian Recipes with ground meat is an easy way stretch your dollar and you don’t have to sacrifice flavor. Two of the most popular dishes on the site recently have been Ground Kung Pao Chicken (1 Pan!) and Ground Orange Chicken (1 Pan!) which taste exactly like takeout, but much easier to make and with less fat!
This recipe was originally posted with a wilted slaw. If you’d like to make the slaw it is listed in the notes under the recipe card.
Here is an easy hack to create your own spicy mayo, which makes a nice condiment to serve atop Korean Beef, if you’re a fan of Sriracha.
JAPANESE SPICY MAYO RECIPE
- 2 cups Mayonnaise
- 2-3 tablespoons Sriracha
- When you finish a bottle (or if you’re not close, use a new squeeze bottle) take off the top and wash it really well.
- Add the mayonnaise (we use light) to the bottle using a funnel into your almost completely empty bottle.
- Shake it up, test the flavor. Add more in 1 teaspoon at a time from your new bottle.
- When you’ve got the right heat level, shake really well then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
In a day or so the flavors will meld together perfectly making the classic Japanese Spicy Mayo you love and pay way too much for in the restaurants.
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How to Make
- Make sure you drain off some of the fat you’ve rendered from the beef. Or use a leaner cut of beef.
- You can have an even deeper flavor with dark brown sugar.
- If you don’t have fresh garlic or ginger, use ground garlic and ground ginger in its place (½ teaspoon of each)
- To make this Korean beef taste more like takeout brown the beef really well and keep the chunks larger.
More Asian Recipes
- Crispy Sesame Chicken
- Cheesecake Factory Mandarin Cashew Chicken
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Easy Mongolian Beef
- Panda Express Recipes… every single one in fact: Panda Express Recipes Index
- Many more options…
Tools used in the making of this Korean Ground Beef:
Sesame Oil: The flavor of sesame oil in this dish is unmistakeable and not really able to be substituted. Some Asian grocery stores will try and sell less expensive options that aren’t actually sesame oil, so just be sure the one you’re buying is authentic sesame oil.
HOW TO STORE KOREAN GROUND BEEF
- Serve: You can not keep Korean Ground Beef at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Store: Transfer the leftover beef to a Ziploc bag or cover the whole dish in plastic wrap to store in the fridge. It will keep well for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze Korean Ground Beef in a gallon freezer bag for up to 3 months. To reheat the beef, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat on the stove.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger , minced
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup lite soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 2 green onions , only the green parts
Wilted Slaw:
- 6 cups napa cabbage , sliced
- 2 carrots , grated
- 2 green onions , diced from tip to tail, excluding the root
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over medium high heat.
- Brown the meat with sesame oil, garlic and ginger.
- Drain 75% of the fat, add brown sugar, soy sauce, and Sriracha.
- Cook until the liquid has reabsorbed and the meat is shiny but not soupy.
- Top with green onions, toss together and serve.
Wilted Slaw:
- To make the slaw, put the Napa cabbage, carrots, sesame oil and canola oil in the skillet the meat just came out of.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes until the water has evaporated.
Video
Notes
- 6 cups sliced napa cabbage
- 2 carrots, grated
- 2 green onions, diced from tip to tail, excluding the root
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- To make the slaw, put the Napa cabbage, carrots, sesame oil and canola oil in the skillet the meat just came out of.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes until the water has evaporated.
Nutrition
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Photos used in a previous version of this post.
