Mmmm…Korean Beef! I love Chinese food. A lot. I love eating a lot of it. I love the experience of a nice Chinese restaurant and the cozy, kick-back feel of takeout. I love reading the word in Mandarin on the back of the fortune cookie (you knew I was a nerd, right?). And I love using chopsticks, eating egg rolls…oh.baby.
But. I don’t love the nastiness of what goes into most Chinese food. And I don’t always have time to create elaborate dishes (we don’t often eat shrimp and stuff on our grocery budget 
). So that’s why I love this recipe:
- It’s easy.
- It’s delissshhhhhous. (<—-It’s ok to spell a word wrong to get your point across.)
- It’s made with ingredients you already have on hand.
- It can also easily be made gluten-free!
- You can eat it with chopsticks.
- It can be made with real food ingredients without having to think twice.
- It’s easy.
Oh. I said that one already. But seriously, the last time I made this, I forgot to start dinner on time. I had three 2 year olds screaming down my neck ankles and I whipped this meal together (including leftovers for another dinner!) in less than 20 minutes.
Korean Beef is usually made with flank steak, but I don’t usually have that on hand! I do, however, use a lot of ground beef (our family buys it from a farm in 5-lb. packages). I’ll also make up a biiiiiig batch of rice (I do a quick soak and long cook as outlined in Nourishing Traditions) and will freeze some for future dishes. This makes my Korean Beef faster than ordering takeout!
**A note on soy: Yes, I know soy products are very bad for you. This is the only soy product our family eats. And I estimate each serving contains about 12 grams of soy sauce. If you used this naturally fermented soy sauce, even better!**
Ingredients
- 1 lb of grass-fed beef (find a good source near you here)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup local, raw honey (or sucanat, or whatever sweetener is currently your fancy)
- 1/4 cup organic soy sauce (find an organic, gluten-free bottle here)
- 1/4 tsp fresh or powdered ginger (find here)
- 1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes
- real salt (find here)
- pepper
- 1 bunch of fresh chives, diced
Directions:
Heat skillet on medium heat and brown beef with the garlic. Drain as much of the fat as you’d like. Add the honey, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper, salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes. Sample. Yummy, right?
Serve atop rice and sprinkle chives on top. Eat with chopsticks. Or a fork.
Serves two hungry grown-ups and three hungry toddlers.
What’s your fave Chinese dish? Have you ever made Korean Beef before?
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This is going on next week’s menu. Thanks for sharing!
Lemme know how it turns out! Yum!
It was so yummy! All of my crew liked it except HR. And I didn’t offer to the twins.
Thanks for sharing!
Haha! Well, yay for the crew!
This looks amazing!!!! I added this to my idea list of recipes when I don’t know what to make. I think my husband would love it!!
Aw good! And congrats on the bump!
I do make Korean beef. I usually make my Korean beef (bulgogi) using ribeye steaks/roast, sliced really thin. It’s a labor of love. However, I’m loving your idea of using ground beef to make rice bowl meals. Quick and yummy! This half-Korean girl will also be adding some toasted sesame seeds on top or adding a little sesame oil to the meat. Heck, will probably add a little minced onion in there, while I’m at it. I’m going to make this over the weekend. Hoping, my hubby and four boys will enjoy it. If so, I can add this to my list of quick meals when short on time, but not short on hunger. LOL. Thanks for recipe.
Hey Vicky! The sesame seeds/oil are definitely a great addition! I know they aren’t staples, though, in many homes.
You’ll have to let me know what you think!
If dinner wasn’t already on the stove this would be it!
Right?