Skip to Content
Menu

Simple Korean Ground Beef Bulgogi

  • Jump to Recipe
  • Save
Updated Oct 5, 2017
  • Save
  • Share
  • Jump to Recipe
Wish you had enough pennies to eat out tonight? No way, bae. Because this on-the-cheap version of bulgogi doesn’t need pricey steak. Just ground beef, a few traditional fresh ingredients and rice. (So much rice.) Actually, you won’t feel like you are eating out. You’ll feel like you’ve tripped yourself to the motherland to get some grandma-made bulgogi fresh out the pan.

More About This Recipe

  • We’ve got your cheap eats right here. Eight years ago, I answered an ad hidden on the back page of our neighborhood bulletin: “Host Families for Korean Students Needed.” It sounded like a fun adventure, welcoming foreign students into our home for a school year. We had an extra guest bedroom. We had an extra-large table. We lived just down the street from the local high school. Everything was perfect. Three weeks later, a knock at the door. A 14-year-old boy, being dropped off by nervous parents. They’d toted gifts all the way from their home city, handing them to us with smiles and nods, explaining that they hoped we’d care for their son because of their generosity. We promised we’d have cared for him anyway. Hugged them. Watched his mama cry as she drove away, leaving her boy in this unfamiliar new place. Turns out, she didn’t have anything to worry about. When two Korean women in our neighborhood heard there was an exchange student in the cul-de-sac, they took it upon themselves to shower him with all the comforts of home. Weekly, they toted over fresh-made bowls of kimchi: “Good for the gut,” they said. Every other day or so, a batch of sticky rice for him to take to school: “Americans don’t understand, we Koreans need our rice. It gives us our rice power,” they explained. When he got sick, they’d bring a special soup: “The kind mothers make for their boys on birthdays.” And once a month, they made sure to invite him out for a special night at a favorite Korean restaurant: “The bulgogi here tastes just like home.” He agreed. The bulgogi was good; we had to try it. And so, one Sunday, he insisted on treating the entire family to bulgogi. He was certain it would become a favorite. He was right. Bulgogi is the finest of comfort foods. Bite-sized bits of steak, flavored with aromatics, cooked ‘til tender, served over sticky rice, forked into mouth with chopsticks until your belly bulges and demands you stop. It’s so good. So good that once monthly wasn’t enough. And so, we conjured our own budget-friendly riff on the stuff. Ground beef, instead of steak. The same authentic spices to create a bowl of delicious bulgogi for just a few bucks per serving. The ingredient line-up consists of a few easy-to-find, affordable veggies, plus ground beef and rice. Though you’ll be able to find online recipes that shortcut the sauce-making, avoid the temptation. Preparing a sauce of Asian pear, onion, garlic, fresh ginger, may take a few minutes longer than the oft-used soy-sauce and brown-sugar blend many quickified recipes use. But it’s so worth it. For about $3, you can grab everything you need for the sauce. Blend the ingredients for two minutes or so, then cook the meat in the mixture. Doing so imbues this intense flavor to the meat, making it tender and savory. You won’t believe you’ve just whipped up a skillet of ground beef—because no ground beef you’ve ever made has been this awesome. Spoon it all on top of sticky rice. Top with sesame seeds and more green onions than you’ve ever seen. You will not be sad. Serve with chopsticks. And enjoy. Or, as the ladies in our neighborhood would tell our student, “Mashittge deuseyo!”

Simple Korean Ground Beef Bulgogi

  • Prep Time 10 min
  • Total 20 min
  • Servings 4
  • Ingredients 11
  • Save
  • Share
  • Print
  • Keep Screen On

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Asian pear
  • 1/2 white or sweet onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • 1 bunch green onions, finely sliced
  • 2 cups cooked white sticky rice

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    In a blender, puree pear, onion, garlic and ginger. Pour into a large skillet. Add ground beef and cook over medium-high heat, breaking meat up with a spatula, until beef is browned.
  • Step 
    2
    Drizzle soy sauce, sesame oil and honey over the pan, cooking meat just until coated. Serve over rice and top with green onions.

Nutrition

510 Calories
26g Total Fat
33g Protein
36g Total Carbohydrate
15g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving
Calories
510
Calories from Fat
240
Total Fat
26g
40%
Saturated Fat
8g
42%
Trans Fat
1g
Cholesterol
105mg
34%
Sodium
860mg
36%
Potassium
460mg
13%
Total Carbohydrate
36g
12%
Dietary Fiber
2g
8%
Sugars
15g
Protein
33g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
4%
4%
Vitamin C
4%
4%
Calcium
6%
6%
Iron
20%
20%
Exchanges:
1 1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 1 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
2 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Expert Tips

© 2024 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved