Korean Style Ground Beef & Spinach Rice Bowls
So full of flavor, these Korean Style Ground Beef & Spinach Rice Bowls just take 30 minutes to throw together -- a great choice for any busy weeknight!
Do you guys ever do this? Sometimes I just take a pack of meat out to thaw and then decide what to make with it later. After a very chicken-heavy week it seemed time to mix things up with a little ground beef -- and since I've also been dealing with this lovely upper respiratory/sinus thing all week, it also seemed time for a little spice.
Although my first thought on a cold day was chili, I also wanted to incorporate some baby spinach... so eventually landed on the idea for these Korean Style Ground Beef & Spinach Rice Bowls.
This basic recipe for Korean ground beef and rice bowls is floating around in a virtually identical format on multiple sites, but it looked a little too sugary for me -- so I decided to mash it up with the recipe for bibimbap over on Budget Bytes to create my own take on Korean ground beef & spinach rice bowls. I used chili garlic sauce (because again, I wanted mine on the slightly spicier side), but you could also use Gochujang or Sriracha to good effect. Top everything off with a runny fried or soft-boiled egg, and you have yourself some comfort food in a bowl!
This week's Sunday Scratchups recipe from scratch around grocery sales and affordable ingredients is a budget-friendly, all-in-one, 30-minute meal idea, using just one pound of ground beef to feed four (when bulked up with the rice, eggs, and spinach). And if you want to substitute a bag of cheaper regular spinach for the baby spinach -- or maybe use a different vegetable, such as broccoli? Go for it; this recipe is just begging to be messed with. 😉
Korean Style Ground Beef & Spinach Rice Bowls
- for the rice
2-3 cups cooked rice (any kind -- I made a pot of Jasmati; or this is a great use for any leftover cooked rice!)
- for the spinach
1 teaspoon canola oil
½ teaspoon sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon minced garlic)
5 oz fresh baby spinach
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- for the beef -- *See note
1 lb ground beef
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon Gochujang, Sriracha, or chili garlic sauce
- to top
4 large eggs
Canola oil (for frying eggs)
4 green onions, chopped
Directions
I spy with my little eye through my blue glass bowl...!
Start rice cooking (if not using leftover rice). Heat canola and sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering and swirl to coat the pan, then add garlic and saute for just a few seconds. Add spinach and crushed red pepper, then continue sauteing over medium heat until spinach is wilted and dark green, stirring occasionally. Remove cooked spinach from the pan to a separate bowl.
Add ground beef to the same pan you used for the spinach, brown and crumble it over medium-high heat until cooked through, then drain. Stir in soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, sesame oil, and Gochujang. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir, and simmer for another couple of minutes to blend the flavors.
While finishing up your beef, fry four eggs sunny side up in a little canola oil in a separate pan. Divide cooked rice evenly among four bowls and top each bowl with beef, spinach, egg, and green onions. Mix up your bowls and enjoy.
Serve with additional Gochujang, Sriracha, or chili garlic sauce, if desired.
Note: Adjust proportions on the soy sauce, brown sugar, and spicy sauce to taste depending on if you prefer your beef spicier, sweeter, or saltier. Note also that Gochujang and Sriracha have an underlying sweetness, while chili garlic sauce does not.
This Korean ground beef bowls are such an easy weeknight dinner idea...
So much flavor, and so satisfying! These Korean style ground beef & spinach rice bowls make for a super easy weeknight dinner that can be on your table in about 30 minutes, and a nice alternative to common ground beef dinner staples like tacos, spaghetti, or chili. You can also easily make them gluten free by substituting gluten free soy sauce or tamari.
A note on ingredients: If you usually shop ALDI and/or follow my ALDI meal plans, you'll know that ALDI carries neither sesame oil nor chili garlic sauce (although they do sometimes stock Gochujang and Sriracha). UPDATE: ALDI now carries toasted sesame oil a few times a year, so stock up when they have it! 🙂
Both of these are great ingredients to have handy in your pantry, however; they last forever, and just a little bit of either adds so much flavor to any number of dinners. Pick up your chili garlic sauce and sesame oil at a larger grocery store, produce store, or even at Target or Walmart. See more here on suggested pantry staples.
Korean Style Ground Beef & Spinach Rice Bowls, printable recipe
Korean Style Ground Beef & Spinach Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- for the rice
- 2-3 cups cooked rice (any kind -- I made a pot of Jasmati; or this is a great use for any leftover cooked rice!)
- for the spinach
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon minced garlic)
- 5 oz fresh baby spinach
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- for the beef -- *See note
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon Gochujang, Sriracha, or chili garlic sauce
- to top
- 4 large eggs
- Canola oil (for frying eggs)
- 4 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Start rice cooking (if not using leftover rice).
- Heat canola and sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering and swirl to coat the pan, then add garlic and saute for just a few seconds. Add spinach and crushed red pepper, then continue sauteing over medium heat until spinach is wilted and dark green, stirring occasionally. Remove cooked spinach from the pan to a separate bowl.
- Add ground beef to the same pan you used for the spinach, brown and crumble it over medium-high heat until cooked through, then drain.
- Stir in soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, sesame oil, and Gochujang. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir, and simmer for another couple of minutes to blend the flavors.
- While finishing up your beef, fry four eggs sunny side up in a little canola oil in a separate pan.
- Divide cooked rice evenly among four bowls and top each bowl with beef, spinach, egg, and green onions. Mix up your bowls and enjoy.
- Serve with additional Gochujang, Sriracha, or chili garlic sauce, if desired.
Notes
Recipes in the real world
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We love these flavors. Mmm, gochujang. I think we'll have to try this soon.
That looks amazing. Can't wait to try it.
Has anyone tried this with ramen noodles instead of rice?
Made this last week for dinner, and it was amazing! I cut back on the Sriracha since my 12 & 7 year olds were eating it too. Hubby just added extra to his bowl.
My 12 year old declined a fried egg, but loved everything else.
@Rebecca - I bet this would be great with noodles!
Do you use toasted sesame oil or plain? I can't tell in the picture. Also is Sriracha or Gochujang hotter? This sounds and looks really good.
I used toasted! It was fabulous!
I used plain sesame oil. Sriracha and Gochujang are similar in spice levels -- Sriracha is a little garlickier and tangier and Gochujang is richer and saltier.
Omg! That is all I have to say! This was one of the BEST dinners! Definitely keep this in the rotation with the weekly dinners??. It was delish!! Thanks for sharing!!
Awesome! So glad that you enjoyed it. 🙂
Absolutely delicious! Just the right blend of ingredients for the flavour.
I used lightly steamed silver beet as I didn't have any fresh spinach but it was still scrumptious.
It was a tad too spicy for my husband's heartburn although he enjoyed the flavour, and I added spoonfuls of chilli garlic paste to mine just like I used to with my Bi Bim Bap in Korea.
This looks absolutely amazing. I probably shouldn't be so obsessed with calories but here I am. I'm 3 weeks post-op from a bariatric surgery so whenever I see a new recipe the calorie amount per serving is instantly where my brain goes to. So can anyone tell me the calories per serving?
People often use happyforks.com or myfitnesspal.com to calculate -- you can also cut calories and carbs by substituting cauliflower rice, if you prefer.
I just bought toasted sesame oil in my local Aldi on Tuesday
We love these! They are a new regular in our rotation! My Air Force Veteran friend who lived in Korea for a year said they were spot on Korean flavors. We made them according to recipe and with 50/50 ground pork. Both are delicious!!
This dish really works the taste buds. The egg really compliments the flavor. All of the ingredients go perfectly together. My husband, son, daughter and I really enjoyed this meal. It is a must try!
Very nice! Made it exactly as instructed. Will add this in as a regular item.
Thanks!
Easy and tasty. Didn't change a thing. Topped with some more Sriracha.
We loved this dish! The taste is subtle, interesting, not overly spicy, definitely Asian and simply wonderful. Thank you! I will make this again and again. I made a 1/2 recipe for the 2 of us retired seniors. I followed the recipe - except that I used 1 tsp less of Soy sauce, fresh ginger (~1/2 tsp) and I also added 2 TBSP of water to the meat mixture. I chose a garlic-ginger sauce. As always, I used a 1:1 mixture of ground pork/beef both of which I buy from a local butcher at our famers' market. I used torn spinach from our garden. I would add a little more spinach the next time. As with many Asian recipes, doing mise en plus is the way to go with this recipe! Helen, Burlington, Canada.
I made this a couple of days ago, man it was so tasty.
The only variation was I used ground beef that I canned a couple of months ago.
I've been eating this for three days and will finish it off tomorrow, so looking forward to it.
I will definitely make it again!
Quick, easy, and flavorful. New weekday hit. Used honey instead of brown sugar. Added a little salt to spinach once cooked. Whipped up and served in under 30 mins. Will make again soon.
This recipe is fantastic. I was out of brown sugar so used honey. Even my pickiest eater gobbled this down.
So delicious! I added a couple Serrano peppers sliced thinly. I will have leftovers in lettuce wraps - yum!
I can't count the number of times i heard, "this is so good! ' and 'you've got tti make this again, next week!' within a couple minutes of sitting down to eat.
I did add a diced onion as the hamburger was cooking.
Loved this!! I googled ground beef and spinach recipe and landed here. My fresh spinach reduced to almost nothing so I added a can of artichokes. I only had regular oil. And I used sweet chili sauce. This was fast and a huge hit. Gonna make this vegetarian-style next so my daughter will also love it. Yum yum !!
Hi Rachel, I stumbled upon your Korean dish as I'm trying to get rid of fresh spinach. I was surprised when I saw your name. I was an avid follower of yours years ago when you use to do couponing. Glad to see you are still The Mashup Mom. Merry Christmas
My husband and I are finding these family meals for four are perfect for us empty nesters as we follow the original directions and have food enough for TWO meals. This Korean Style Ground Beef & Spinach Rice Bowls is no exception. I made it using a product I had never cooked with before; Chung Jung One Hot Pepper Paste Sold (Gochujang), Korean Brown Rice Red Pepper Paste, no Corn Syrup 1.1 pound pack Medium Hot which I bought on Amazon. it is selling for $9.19 for a 1 pound container at the time of writing . I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that stuff. This meal is healthy, quick to make, and has good flavor. I'll certainly be making it again.
Gochujang is amazing, and I'm so glad I discovered it a few years ago! A little goes a long way, so that should last you a while.
I made this back in May for myself and my toddler. We LOVED it! I just spent the last 20 minutes desperately searching Google and my text messages trying to find this recipe. Thank God I sent a screenshot of this recipe that included your name in it! If it weren't for that I don't think I would have found you again.
So glad you made it back! 🙂
I just found you last week. I am finally out of my cooking rut. This is so much fun! We're not eating the same meals anymore and we're saving money. I appreciate you!
Just made this this evening, it was delicious. Only changes, I used a big bag of spinach and didn’t measure it, fried a shallot with my ground beef because I didn’t have any green onions, and added a diced orange pepper to the beef, just to add another veggie. I also poached the eggs, just because I wanted them softer to mix with the other ingredients. I also use gochujang which is delicious. Thanks for sharing
Made this a couple weeks ago and everyone loved it! I'm making it again tonight but with broccoli and noodles instead of spinach and rice.
Made this tonight. Delicious & so easy! I topped with some kimchi.
Made this last night after looking for a recipe that used both ground beef and spinach in it. We love Korean food so I already had gochujang on-hand as well as minced ginger and green onion. It came together quickly and we all loved it. I did add a little extra tamari sauce to mine and we put two eggs on ours (preference). I'll make this again.
This was so good. Love the flavors and it smells amazing! I started it a little late so just ate the meat and spinach. Can't wait to try it with the rice and eggs. Thank you!
Hi Rachel. I just finished making your recipe. I really enjoyed it. Very flavorful. Thank you so much for sharing. Have a wonderful day.