A few weeks back, my office brought in Korean rice bowls for lunch. I was excited to be getting free lunch, but I didn’t know that I was about to have a life changing experience. I got the avocado bulgogi bowl. And let me tell you, it was love at first bite.
The itty bitty roasted sweet potato cubes. The creamy avocado. The warm white rice. The delicious juicy ground beef. I could do without the vegan kimchi or the kale salad that came in the bowl, but I couldn’t go another day without the rest.
I knew I was going to have to figure out how to make it myself at home because I wasn’t about to drag myself downtown every time I needed a rice bowl. And it turned out to be just as simple as I thought!
So here’s the deal:
– Korean beef: I’m not vegetarian so I chose not to use the Impossible Beef that my inspiration did, but I’m sure if you substitute it would be just as good! The beef features green onions, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger paste, and gochujang. If you can’t find gochujang, you can use sriracha or even red pepper flakes to give you some heat!
– Sweet potatoes: Cut them into tiny cubes and roast in the oven. So so simple and so so good
– Rice: Sauté some green onions in sesame oil for a little extra flavor, then add in the white rice
– Toppings: slice up an avocado, throw that in the bowl, add some sesame seeds if you like, and you’re done!
This recipe only takes about 10 minutes to prep and 30 to cook, so dinner is quick and easy to get on the table!
So let’s get cooking!
The order of operations here is sweet potatoes, rice, beef. If you do it in this order, everything should finish around the same time and be warm and ready for plating.
Start by preheating your oven to 425. While it’s warming up, chop up your sweet potato into small cubes. To make life easy for yourself, chop everything else now so you don’t have to worry about it once you start cooking. Mince up your garlic, and thinly slice the whites of two green onions and the entirety of two more green onions. Now you’re all prepped and ready for cooking.
Toss the sweet potatoes on a sheet pan with about 1.5 Tbsp of vegetable oil and salt to taste. Spread the potatoes out as much as you can on the pan, then pop in the oven. You’ll want them to cook for about 30 minutes, tossing them at the 15 minute mark to ensure even cooking.
Once the sweet potatoes are in the oven, you can start on the rice. Heat about a teaspoon of sesame oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the whites of two green onions and cook until they start to look like they’re browning a bit. Throw in a cup of rice, a cup and a half of water, and about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn to low. You’ll want to cook this until the water is absorbed and the rice is nice and fluffy, about 15-20 minutes.
Now get started on the beef. Heat a drizzle of vegetable oil in a skillet on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add the ground beef and brown.
While your ground beef is browning, mix up your sauce. It’s just 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, a teaspoon of gochujang, and half a teaspoon of ginger paste. Feel free to play around with this- if you like spicy food add more gochujang. If you love ginger, you’re going to want a good bit more ginger paste. This is perfect for my tastes though!
Once the ground beef is cooked, drain any excess grease. Pour in the sauce and the remaining green onions and cook until the sauce has reduced a little.
To assemble your bowl, add the rice and top with the cooked sweet potatoes and ground beef. Slice up an avocado and add it on top. Don’t skip the avocado, the creamy texture makes this bowl something incredible. Then, if you’re feeling fancy, you can top the bowl with some sesame seeds.
And that’s it! Super simple, not super fancy, but super delicious. This feeds Matt and me two meals, but could easily be stretched further by cooking more rice and serving each meal with less ground beef.
Korean Beef Bowls
Ingredients:
Sweet Potato-
– 1 Sweet Potato
– 1.5 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
– Salt to taste
Rice-
– 1 cup White Rice
– 1.5 cup water
– 2 green onion whites, sliced thinly
– 1/2 tsp salt
Beef-
– 1.5 lb ground beef
– 3 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
– 1/4 cup brown sugar
– 1/4 cup soy sauce
– 2 tsp sesame oil
– 1 tsp gochujang
– 1/2 tsp ginger paste
– 2 green onions, sliced thinly
Other-
– Avocado
– Sesame seeds
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Cut sweet potatoes in tiny cubes. Add to sheet pan and toss with salt and 1-1.5 Tbsp of vegetable oil
3. Roast sweet potatoes in oven for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through
4. In small pot, heat a drizzle of vegetable oil on medium heat. When hot, add green onion whites and cook until tender
5. Add rice, water, and salt to pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn to low. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until water has absorbed and rice is fluffy
6. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about a minute)
7. Add ground beef to skillet, and cook until browned
8. While beef is browning, mix up sauce. Combine brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, gochujang, and ginger paste and stir until mixed
9. Drain ground beef, then add sauce and green onions
10. Cook until sauce has reduced a bit while potatoes and rice finish cooking
11. Assemble bowls. Add rice, sweet potatoes, beef to a bowl, and top with sliced avocado and sprinkle sesame seeds on top
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I hope you love this Korean beef bowl with avocado and sweet potatoes! Let me know if you try it out!
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