Bibimbap (Korean Rice Bowl with Beef and Vegetable)

Classic bibimbap made with an array of vegetables, beef, and the savory bibimbap sauce representing the best of Korean food. The colorful display of vegetables makes this world famous Korean mixed rice dish a wholesome and healthy meal. This bibimbap recipe can become vegetarian or vegan if you omit the beef and egg.

Even if you’ve never been to Korea, bibimbap is a distinctively Korean dish that has become a favorite in many households. You can find this traditional bibimbap on the menus of many local Korean restaurants in your neighborhood.

Once you have a bibimbap experience, you’ll be hooked. And you can totally make this scrumptious Korean bibimbap at home with this easy bibimbap recipe. You can easily feed a crowd by simply increasing the amounts of each ingredient.

What is bibimbap?

The literal translation of bibimbap (bibimbop) means mixed rice – “bibim” means to mix, and “bap” means cooked rice.

Bibimbap is a well known Korean mixed rice dish with all sorts of seasoned vegetables and meat (typically beef), and topped with a sunny side up fried egg.

You can enjoy the rich flavor and the crisp texture of each ingredient in every bite. This Korean rice dish is served with a sweet and spicy bibimbap sauce made with gochujang – Korean chili paste. This gochujang sauce has become super popular in recent years. It is used to dress up many dishes in Korean and other cuisines.

What is Dolsot bibimbap

Bibimbap is traditionally served in a large bibimbap bowl made with stainless steel or porcelain. In contrast, dolsot bibimbap is served in a Korean stone pot that can be put directly on the heat source.

This hot stone bibimbap is well known for the crackling rice on the bottom of bowl as a result of heating the pot directly.

You can purchase Korean stone pot if you want to make it authentic, but you can get a same result by using a heavy duty cast iron skillet of carbon steel skillet. Check my recipe video below to see how to make dolsot bibimbap in a skillet.

What is in Bibimbap Bowl

1. Vegetables

The vegetables used in bibimbap recipe are collectively called namul (나물). On their own, they are Korean vegetable side dishes. When you consider what vegetables to use, always strive for a color contrast to make it look more appetizing. Most typical bibimbap vegetables are:

• soybean sprouts or mung bean sprouts – See my bean sprout side dish recipe for more detailed instruction.
• spinach – Try my Korean spinach side dish recipe.
• watercress – I prefer watercress over spinach because you can skip the blanching process.
• carrot
• zucchini (fresh or dried)
• Swiss chard
• radish
• eggplant
• bracken (gosari) – Needs a lot of work to prep beforehand (see my Yukgaejang recipe for the idea)
• mushroom – it is not one of the “namul” vegetables, but mushrooms are always included in bibimbap. The most common mushroom used is shiitake mushroom, but other mushrooms are fine.

Important: Each vegetable should be cooked and seasoned separately to retain its taste and texture.

Here’s a tip: start by cooking the lightest colored vegetables (radish) first, and then progress one by one to the darker colored vegetables. That way, you can maintain each one’s natural color, and you will only need to use one skillet.

2. Meat (beef bulgogi)

The famous bulgogi bibimbap recipe uses traditional Korean marinated beef. The downside is that you will need to prepare the beef several hours, or up to a day, in advance.

When I make my bibimbap, I use my ground beef bulgogi recipe for my bibimbap bulgogi. It is much quicker (less than 15 minutes) and just as tasty as marinated beef. Ground beef bulgogi is also easier to mix with the rice and vegetables than the bigger chunks of traditional bulgogi beef.

3. Bibimbap Sauce

As important as vegetables and meat are in making bibimbap, you can’t ignore the bibimbap sauce. In fact, the battle to find the best bibimbap is with the sauce. This gently sweet and spicy bibimbap sauce recipe uses gochujang, and it is simple and quick to put together.

Ingredients for bibimbap sauce:

• gochujang
• Korean plum extract -optional, but recommend
• corn syrup or sugar
• sesame oil
• toasted sesame seeds

How to make bibimbap

For the soy bean sprouts: blanch them and drain. Season with a a mixture of 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 2 teaspoons Korean soup soy sauce, pinch salt, 2 teaspoon sesame oil, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, and 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions. Toss well.

For the radish: slice into thin matchsticks. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the 2 teaspoons of minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add radish slices and a couple pinches of salt, and toss well. Cover with a lid and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Drizzle 2 teaspoon of sesame oil. Taste and add more salt if needed.

For zucchini: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons garlic, zucchini slices, and salt. Stir fry until soft, about 1-2 minutes. Add 2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Toss well

For watercress: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the 2 teaspoons of minced garlic and watercress; stir fry for 1 minute. Drizzle 2 teaspoon Korean soup soy sauce and cook until wilted.

For mushrooms: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the 2 teaspoons minced garlic and the mushrooms; stir fry for 1 minute. Drizzle 2 teaspoon Korean soup soy sauce and cook until soft. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds at the end and toss.

For carrots: heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add carrot and salt and toss together for 30 seconds. Pour in 2 tablespoons water to create steam and cover with a lid immediately. Cook for 1-2 minutes until soft. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds at the end and toss.

Assembling Bibimbap

1. Put a desired amount of rice on the bottom of a large serving bowl.
2. Arrange the vegetables on top of the rice in alternating colors for a good visual presentation. Put bulgogi meat in the center.
3. Place a fried sunny side-up egg on top.
4. You can either drizzle the bibimbap sauce (about 2 tablespoon) directly over the rice bowl, or you can put the sauce in a small sauce bowl on the side next to the bibimbap so that your guest can add the sauce directly to the bowl in their desired amount.

How to eat bibimbap

1. Mixing:

Your bibimbap presented in a nice serving bowl looks picture perfect and almost artistic, but it is about to get destroyed.

To eat, use whatever method you like to mix everything up. Keep in mind, however, that the easiest way to mix bibimbap, and the way most local Koreans do it, is NOT TO USE THE SPOON to mix it.

• Use a pair chopsticks first. Holding each chopstick in one hand, use a cross pattern to break-up the runny egg yolk and egg white into pieces.
• You can then hold both chopsticks in one hand and toss the rice and vegetables to mix the sauce in.
• Only as a final step, complete the mixing with a spoon to coat everything in the bowl. See my tutorial video to understand better.

2. Serving:

Take a big spoonful into your mouth and savor every component – the rice, meat, and vegetables coated in a savory gochujang sauce. Since bibimbap has a ton of vegetables mixed in a bowl already, you don’t need any additional side dishes except kimchi.

Bibimbap is typically served with a light soup made with soybean paste, such as my arugula soybean soup or kale soybean paste soup recipe in my cookbook.

Vegetarian or Vegan Bibimbap

Turning my traditional bibimbap recipe into a vegetarian or vegan bibimbap is easy. Simply omit the beef (meat) and egg. You can replace with tofu to add extra protein if you wish. My pan-fried tofu recipe is a great to use in place of beef. The crispy, nutty taste of the tofu will enhance the chewy texture.

Other bibimbap dishes

If you love bibimbap, you will love these Korean rice dishes:

• Salmon Bibimbap (No Cook Recipe)
• Beef Steak Bibimbap With Spinach
• Mushroom Rice Bowl with Meat Sauce

Tried this recipe? Please take a moment to leave a star rating & comment below. I love hearing from you and it helps other readers, too.