Korean Ground Beef Bowls
These Korean Ground Beef Bowls are a simple and delicious meal! They’re paleo and can be made to be whole30 and AIP.
Korean beef is a delicious, flavorful, and easy-to-make protein-forward dish! It’s traditionally made with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes and served over white rice. It’s often also served with kimchi, but my non-traditional version is made to be more easily adaptable for nightshade-free.
This dish is so simple and cost-effective to make as it’s made with ground beef and seasonings that you likely already have on hand. Pair it with cauliflower rice, cucumber, and carrot for a fresh and easy meal!
Recipe Ingredients
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Ground Beef. Easy and cost-effective!
- Coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, and sriracha. You can omit the siracha if desired, or use rice wine vinegar instead.
- Ginger and garlic. I prefer to use fresh ginger and garlic.
- Cauliflower rice, cucumber, and shredded carrot. You can mix up the sides if you prefer, but I think these all pair together well.
How to Make Korean Beef Bowls
Here are the simple steps, with photos, to make this recipe. Find full instructions in the recipe card.
Step one. Prep the sauce by whisk together the coconut aminos, sriracha, coconut sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
Step two. Using a large skillet, combine the garlic, ginger, and beef over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat into crumbles and cook until browned.
Step three. Pour in the sauce and stir to fully coat the beef. Allow reducing for 1-2 minutes.
Step four. Serve beef topped with green onion over bowls with prepared cauliflower rice, cucumber, and carrots.
Michelle’s Tips & Tricks
- Choose your ground beef fat level to your liking. Typically, I tend to cook with a leaner ground beef like a 90/10 to maximize the protein I get in my meal. However, if you go for a 80/20 or even a 85/15, you’re going to have a much more flavorful base that will be less likely to dry out!
- Customize the sauce:
- For a thinner sauce- Simply add 1-2 tbsp of beef broth if you like a thinner sauce!
- For a thicker sauce- Combine 1 tsp of arrowroot starch with about 1 tbsp of broth and whisk. Add to the pan and simmer for a few minutes to thicken the sauce.
Recipe FAQS
Yes, you can easily season to taste with red pepper flakes. My husband is a big sriracha fan, which is why I made it for him with sriracha! You can also leave it out altogether for a milder dish.
Coconut aminos is a soy sauce alternative that’s made without soy or gluten. You can easily use other options that you tolerate, but be aware of the sodium content and adjust salt to taste.
Other Recipes to Try…
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Korean Ground Beef Bowls
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Ingredients
- 1 tsp rice vinegar, sub apple cider vinegar for AIP
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 1 tsp sesame oil, omit for AIP
- 1-2 tsp sriracha, season to taste, omit for AIP
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar, omit for whole30
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 thumb ginger, grated
- 1 lb ground beef
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper, omit for AIP
To serve
- 1 tbsp green onion, sliced
- Prepared cauliflower rice
- 1 cucumber, sliced thin
- 1 cup carrots, julienned
Instructions
- Whisk together the coconut aminos, sriracha, sesame oil, coconut sugar, and rice vinegar, ginger and garlic. Set aside.
- Using a large skiller over medium heat, add the ground beef and crumble until browned. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
- Pour in the sauce and stir to fully coat the beef. Allow to reduce for 1-2 minutes. The sauce should coat the beef and the garlic and ginger should be lightly fragrant.
- Serve the beef topped with green onion over bowls with prepared cauliflower rice, cucumber, and carrots.
Notes
- For a thinner sauce- Simply add 1-2 tbsp beef broth if you like a thinner sauce!
- For a thicker sauce- Combine 1 tsp of arrowroot starch with about 1 tbsp of broth and whisk. Add to the pan and simmer for a few minutes to thicken the sauce.
This was delicious. I cooked the white parts of the scallions with the beef. I also used my vegetable peeler to make carrot straws instead of julienned pieces . When the core of the carrot became too thin, I chopped them in tiny pieces for sloppy joes later in the week. Then I also served Mandarin orange slices on the side. Thanks for another easy and delicious recipe my entire family can enjoy. It’s so hard to find on this AIP diet.
So glad you enjoyed!!
Loved this dish. Used turkey instead of ground beef and served on cauliflower-rice and it was great. Has a little kick but just right.
Sounds so good! Thank you, Staci!!
I am big fan of Korean foods and always love to eat and cook korean recipe. Thanks for this great recipe tutorial. Can’t wait to try out this today.
I loved the simplicity of this. I like the simplicity of many of the recipes on this site. This is the third recipe that I’ve tried from this site in less than a week. It was wonderfully tasty and satisfying. I think it’s a new favorite staple. The recipes here are making it feasible to eat for healing, in an AIP-inspired way.
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it!
I’ve made this twice already. I like to use pre prepped frozen cauliflower rice for convenience, because well, nothing in my chronically ill diabetic life is convenient
I’m going to my cousins husbands funeral this week and their adult son also has T1D and I thought this would be a good dish to bring. Was thinking of doing an 8X8 disposable pan. Making the meat and then layering it over the rice in the pan with some heating instructions.
Trying to figure out how to break this down. Maybe I should roast or precook the cauliflower rice to get some of the moisture out first, or not?? Does anyone have an idea of what temp to heat it on and for how long??
Sorry to throw this challenge at you, but I think this is an amazing recipe!!