This Korean ground beef recipe is the kind of dish that both beginning and experienced cooks need in their life.
The meal comes together in minutes and is full of fantastic flavors. It is easier to make than ordering take-out, saves you money, and tastes better too!
Easy Korean Beef
I love so many things about this recipe! This has been one of my favorite takeout meals for a long time. Good Korean beef is salty, savory, sweet, tangy, and spicy all at once.
Everything is simple enough to be found in most grocery stores, too. No running around town looking for hard-to-find ingredients. (Who has time for that?)
The recipe I’m sharing today is a “cheater” version because it uses ground beef instead of the more traditional (and expensive) cuts of meat. This dish includes our favorite Asian ingredients, including fresh ginger.
The fact that this super easy Korean beef is made with ground beef instead of a more expensive cut of meat makes it a really great alternative to pricier meats when you are craving Chinese food or an Asian meal.
Best of all, you can make this recipe from start to finish in less than 20 minutes.
Korean Beef and Rice
I’ve served this over rice, wrapped in lettuce, and on top of a salad. Korean ground beef and rice bowls make for a crowd-pleasing dinner or lunch. It packs up wonderfully in to-go containers to take to work or school and reheats beautifully.
We like this so very much that I’ve taken to doubling the recipe every time I make it just to ensure we have leftovers. I get absolutely giddy when I’m wondering what to serve for lunch and remember I have a container of Korean Beef waiting in the fridge.
Your favorite takeout place is going to start missing you once this Korean ground beef is in your meal rotation. It’s so easy, flavorful, and economical that you’ll wonder where this recipe has been all your life.
And if you love Korean food as much as we do, you need to put beef bulgogi on your list to make soon too!
Korean Ground Beef
I’ve tried a few different recipes for Korean beef over the years. So, when my friend Amy told me about this Cheater Korean Beef, I made it the very next day.
It turns out that this is a very popular recipe and to the best of my knowledge, it started here with this Korean beef recipe from Lizzy Writes. (Thanks, Lizzy!)
We were in the middle of moving at the time and over the following month, I made this for dinner four more times. It really is one of the easiest dinners that you can make.
My family has quite a few “favorite” easy meals so, as you can imagine, that says a lot about how much we enjoyed this Korean ground beef recipe.
This is the perfect dinner for busy nights when you just don’t have much time to think about what you’re going to be eating. My kids still cheer when they see this on the stove, even after eating it countless times over the past few years.
Kitchen Tip: I use this rice cooker and this skillet to make this recipe.
Korean Ground Beef Recipe
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this:
- sesame oil
- ground beef
- garlic
- fresh ginger
- light brown sugar
- cornstarch
- soy sauce
- chili paste
- kosher salt, ONLY if needed
- frozen peas
- green onions
My first choice when making this recipe is to slice the ginger into tiny matchsticks for the best taste and texture combination. However, when I only have frozen ginger on hand, or when I simply don’t have an extra minute to slice it, it works beautifully to simply grate the ginger on a microplane.
This dish reheats wonderfully and I’ve learned to double the recipe every time I make it. This is also an excellent freezer meal. Just freeze the cooked beef before you add the green onions.
After thawing and reheating, add the green onions on top when you’re ready to serve, if desired. Korean Beef is pretty much the ultimate in flavorful and frugal make-ahead meals.
If you’re looking for more lightning-fast, easy dinner recipes, check out the Kielbasa Cabbage Potato Skillet, the {Better Than Take Out} Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry, and this Pizza Soup. My kids love every one of those recipes and my older boys can make them on their own too, making them even easier dinner nights for me.
I have Monterey Chicken, Turkey Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, and Easy Skillet Lasagna on my list to try soon. Every one of these meals comes together in under 20 minutes.
For fellow enthusiasts of Asian-inspired recipes, I highly recommend trying Foodie with Family’s Chinese Pork Recipe for an upcoming weekend meal.
Korean Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 pounds ground beef
- 3-4 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger cut into tiny matchsticks
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2-3 teaspoons chili paste plus more, if desired
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt ONLY if needed
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 3 green onions sliced thin
Instructions
- Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Brown the beef until cooked through, crumbling it as it browns. Drain thoroughly, then add the garlic and ginger and cook another minute or two until fragrant.
- Whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, and chili paste. Pour the liquids over the beef, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes to blend the flavors and slightly thicken the sauce.
- Add the peas, stir and simmer a minute longer. The peas will thaw and warm in the hot skillet. Sprinkle with green onions before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
{originally published 2/26/15 – recipe notes and photos updated 4/6/23}
Amy @Very Culinary says
I knew you'd be sharing this! Wheeeeee! This dish has saved my butt on so many busy nights. Love your addition of peas.
Anonymous says
This looks fantastic. I have been making a Korean Beef dish like this from a recent post at Mel's Kitchen Cafe and it is excellent. Can't wait to try your version, which is different. But do you know if chili paste is the same as sweet chili sauce (which I have in my pantry, unopened). We do not like too much spice. Will this do or should I get the chili paste? Is it spicy? Thanks so much.
Mary says
Sweet Chili Sauce is not the same thing. I would recommend buying the chili paste and just using a small teaspoon of it. You could make the dish without it, but it adds flavor even more than it adds just heat, if that makes sense. We add a full tablespoon of it to this dish, because I do like a bit of heat in the dish, but a teaspoon shouldn't warm it up too much for you. I hope that helps!
Kalyn Denny says
I have some of that Korean chili paste in my fridge, and this looks like a good way to try it! Great recipe idea from Amy.
sue says
Made this for dinner the same day as you posted it. Fabulous! I always use less hot stuff (chili paste) so reduced that to just one teaspoon and it was perfect for us. Also I finely diced some cucumber as additional garnish. Love your recipes! Thank you.
Stephanie says
YUM! Tonight's dinner…easy, flavorful, delicious. I had garlic chili paste on hand from your Huli Huli Chicken so I used it along with with 3-4 cloves of garlic. Thanks so much!
Mom O' Nine says
This looks so very tasty. Can't wait to try it.
Jean OToole says
Mary you rock! Way to hit all the points, ground beef, double batch, freeze, different ways to eat, you know how to make flavor last!
Anonymous says
I just made this and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much.
Anonymous says
I love, love, love this recipe. I substitute 1/2 head of shredded napa cabbage for 1/2 pound of the ground beef. This is a perfect, complete meal for the two of us.
Anonymous says
This was fantastic! Thanks!
Lavinia says
When do you add the onions?
Sarah Snell says
Last month i had the chance to take a bite of this Cheater Korean Beef. OMG, I’ve to tell you – i am the biggest fans of this chilly beef with rice meal. Thanks for sharing and remind me of those days.
slither io says
Thanks for your sharing! The information your share is very useful to me and many people are looking for them just like me!
Meagan says
This dish was a hit with both of my kids! Very delicious and easy- thank you for sharing!
Elina says
Hello. I don’t have chili paste, but I have a chili sesame oil. Would this be OK if I add a little, bc we don’t like spicy?
Thank you.
Mary says
You can skip the chili paste, however, it does add a depth of flavor to the final dish. Given the choice, I’d recommend simply using a little less vs skipping it altogether. I’ve never used chili sesame oil, so I can’t speak to how that would work in this recipe.
Alicia O'Brien says
I’m out of brown sugar!! Help lol
I only have dark brown sugar or raw sugar. Would either of those be a suitable substitute.
Thank you!
Mary says
Either of those will work.
Mary Lewis says
I’m going to try this!