Easy Ground Beef Bibimbap (Korean Mixed Rice Bowl)
Easy bibimbap recipe made with ground beef, colorful vegetables, and gochujang sauce. A quick Korean rice bowl you can make at home in under an hour.
Bibimbap (비빔밥) means “mixed rice” in Korean — a warm bowl topped with colorful vegetables, beef, egg, and gochujang, all stirred together before eating. It’s one of Korea’s most iconic comfort meals, both nourishing and endlessly customizable.
While traditional versions often use marinated bulgogi beef, which takes longer to prepare, this simplified recipe uses ground beef for a quicker, just-as-satisfying approach.
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As someone who grew up in Korea, I’ve enjoyed bibimbap in many forms — from sizzling stone bowl versions to weeknight family meals like this one.
With my tips, you can make authentic-tasting bibimbap at home in under an hour, without sacrificing flavor or balance.
What You Need to Make Bibimbap
Meat
Many bibimbap recipes use marinated bulgogi, but it takes time to prepare. This version uses ground beef bulgogi, which takes less than 15 minutes and mixes more evenly with the rice and vegetables. It’s flavorful, fast, and ideal for weeknight meals.
Want to skip the meat? Just use tofu or double up on mushrooms for a vegetarian or vegan version.
Vegetables (Namul)
In Korean, the seasoned vegetables used in bibimbap are called namul (나물). You can mix and match based on what’s in your fridge, but aim for a variety of textures and colors.
Common vegetables include:
- Spinach
- Soybean sprouts
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- Mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, or button)
- Radish or cucumber (lightly pickled or sautéed)
Pro Tip: Sauté each vegetable separately and season lightly for the best layered flavor.
Gochujang Sauce
This signature red sauce pulls everything together. If you have basic Korean pantry staples, it’s quick to whip up. Mix everything together and adjust to your taste. You’ll need:
- Gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- Gochugaru (chili flakes)
- Sugar
- Sesame oil
- Corn syrup (optional for shine)
- Korean plum extract (optional, adds sweet tang)
How to make bibimbap
Making bibimbap at home might seem complex, but it’s really about prepping each component, then assembling them into one colorful, delicious bowl. Here’s how to do it step by step.
1. Prepare the rice. Cook short-grain rice (Korean or Japanese-style). It should be warm, slightly sticky, and ready by the time toppings are done.
2. Cook the Beef and Make the Sauce. Cook the Beef and Make the Sauce. Sauté ground beef with seasoning. Mix gochujang sauce separately.
3. Prepare the vegetables. Blanch or sauté each vegetable and season lightly.
Helpful Tip: Start with light-colored vegetables like radish and finish with darker ones like mushrooms. This helps each ingredient keep its natural color and flavor, and lets you use just one skillet with less cleanup.
4. Assemble. Scoop rice into a bowl, neatly arrange the beef and vegetables on top, and finish with a sunny-side-up egg in the center. Drizzle the gochujang sauce on top — or serve it on the side so everyone can add to taste.
5. Serve. To eat bibimbap the traditional way, drizzle the sauce over the top, then mix everything thoroughly with a spoon — rice, vegetables, egg, and all — until each bite is packed with balanced flavor. This Korean rice bowl is hearty enough on its own, but it pairs beautifully with a light soup like kimchi bean sprout soup for a satisfying, well-rounded meal.
How to Make Dolsot Bibimbap Without a Stone Bowl
Dolsot bibimbap is traditionally served in a sizzling stone bowl that crisps up the rice and keeps the dish hot. But you can recreate that same delicious texture at home using a small cast-iron or heavy-bottomed skillet.
Coat the pan with a little sesame oil, add warm rice, and arrange the toppings on top. Press gently and cook over medium heat until the bottom turns golden and crispy. Then scrape up the crust, mix everything, and serve hot.
🎥 Watch how I do this in a skillet at 4:09 in the video below for an easy dolsot-style bibimbap at home.
Bibimbap recipe video
More Easy Korean Meals to Try
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Ground Beef Bibimbap
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Bibimbap sauce
- 4 tbsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
- 1 tbsp Korean plum extract (maeshil cheong), optional
- 2 tbsp corn syrup, or 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
For bibimbap
- 6 cup freshly cooked white rice
- 6 egg
- 1 lb ground beef bulgogi, see not below for vegetarian or vegan option
Bibimbap vegetables
- 1 lb soybean sprouts
- 1 lb Korean radish, sliced into very thin matchsticks
- 2 small zucchini, sliced
- 1 bunch watercress, sliced
- 6 oz shiitake mushroom, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, sliced into thin matchsticks (see note)
Vegetable seasonings
- 3 tbsp minced garlic, divided
- 2 tbsp Korean soup soy sauce (gukganjang), divided
- 2-3 tsp salt, to season, divided
- 2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, divided
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
Instructions
To make bibimbap sauce
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well; set aside.
To make bibimbap vegetables
- For the soybean sprouts, blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes and drain. Season with a a mixture of 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 2 teaspoons Korean soup soy sauce, pinch salt, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, and 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions. Toss well.
- For the radish, 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.
For ground beef and egg
- Cook ground beef bulgogi according to the recipe direction.
- For eggs, fry eggs to sunny-side up or over easy in hot oil.
Assembling Bibimbap
- Put a desired amount of rice on the bottom of a large serving bowl. Arrange the vegetables on top of the rice in alternating colors for a good visual presentation. Put bulgogi meat in the center. Place an sunny-side up egg on top.
- 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.
Notes
For carrot: I use package pre-shreded carrot matchsticks. It’s a time savor and makes prep time shorter. For vegetarian or vegan bibimbap: You can either omit the beef and egg, or replace with tofu and other plant based protein.
Thank you for your easy video presentation, so simple and quick. I will try to make this recipe for my family tonight.
Fantastic! The chili paste sauce was excellent. Simply delicious.
can you make bibimbap without onions or garlic? substitutes are okay, just not sure what if you can still make it.
Hi Melody, you can omit the onion and garlic in the recipe. It will make the dish milder in overall flavor.
Am eating this now. Thanks! You solved the long-mysterious cucumber riddle for me: restaurant bibimbap (first tried whilst living in Seoul–love!) tasted like cucumber, but was it really cooked first or did it heat up in the dol sot? Mmmm–this tastes like heaven! Haven’t had this taste of cucumber since late nights doing the obligatory student outings in Shinchon and Itaewon with Gangnam thrown in every once and a while. Thanks…
This was a great dish. One question though, I live in Belgium and it s difficult to buy Korean soy sauce, I used Kikkoman instead or is it better to use the Chinese soy sauce version?
Thanks for sharing all those delicious recipes
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia
I prefer Kikoman soy sauce over Chinese version. I am glad to hear that you liked the Bibimbap. Yum!
Thank you! Love it!
My absolute favorite Korean dish! In Hawaii, we can get the fern ( we call warabi) quite easily ( the dried as well, but i like the fresh better) fresh, it has a nice crunchy texture. Love all Korean food – had the unusual experience of being he only Portugese boy working in a Korean restaurant for almost 26 years lol. The menu was a Hawaiian style localized Korean foods, but the food in the back f restaurant that the Korean owners cooked …O MY!!! The Owners Mom cooked made every kinda of kim chee you can imagine , home made Korean miso paste, korean pickles … everything. She is now 85 years old, and can still outwork ANYONE in that kitchen – amazing woman that cant speak a lick of English, but the sweetest, kindest woman I know. And man can she COOK!!. The owners husband would come out everyday, and make all kinds of banchan for everyone’s lunch, and got me hooked on things like black spaghetti, ginseng chicken and spicy pork belly cooked with kochujang, a little dashi, bell peppers and onions and served over rice. Family would always come visit and bring persimmons, Korean mochi, and all the marvelous foods linked to the Korean holidays. I found my self hugely complimented when I was continually asked to make tofu and kimchee chigae, yook gae jung, seaweed and beef soups and other Korean specialties for the owners and family, and pregnant and/or sick women over the Korean workers !!!
haha..was a very nice experience, becoming “adopted” to another culture – in Hawaii, ive experienced that with Japanese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Samoan and many other cultures – but Korean people had the BEST and most intriguing foods… except for the bottle of prepared fish guts my boss always brought to the table for her rice !! 😀
But my first love was always bibimbap. Great site, love all your recipes – thanks for sharing!!
Wow, thanks Robert. I think you truly are a Korean food lover. I think Hawaii must have very good Korean restaurants. Lucky you that you get to try so many variety of Korean food. Thanks for you wonderful comments.
Hi. Bibimbap has been an instant favorite eversince I was introduced to Korean food. I was wondering, is there a way to have a simplified bibimbap? What about seafood bibimbap? Thanks.
A simple, yet tasty Bibimbap we make is just rice in the bowl (sticky, short grain rice of course!), a little high quality sesame oil dribbled over the rice, julienne japan cucumbers, Korean daikon, some blanched mung bean sprouts, watercress and choi sum – each seasoned with a little salt , sesame oil, garlic and pepper – topped with kochujang , some fine-chopped teriyaki rib eye ( just fry it up in a pan or grill),and a fried egg. you can realty go as simple as you want with the veggies, or leave out anything you dont like, To me, the real flavor i cant do without is the teri beef, fried egg ( not hard, over easy so some yolk runs out..yum!) . sesame and kochujang – it makes th3 dish in my opinion.
hi…i made this food for my little family…and my hubby love it…and so do i…cant imagine the taste is great like that…i made with doraji , carrot, and bulgogi…really great…thx for your recipe..^_^
Thank you for such a fast response!
“Namools can be stored in the fridge over a week.” *cheers!*
I went to my H-Mart in New Jersey (I love them so much) and have everything to make this tonight! Brackens have been soaking overnight. My question: will namool keep in the fridge overnight?
Namools can be stored in the fridge over a week. For the Brackerns, after the overnight soaking, cook in the water for 45-60 minutes until tender. Add a little bit of baking powder or sugar might help to tenderize them. Good luck and enjoy your hard work!
i am so thankful for this site! I really need to make a trip to the Korean store. I love hearing the Korean language it is so awesome!
Hi Kay
Thank you for visiting my site. I hope you make a trip to Korean store and buy lots of god Korean stuff, and explore on Korean cooking. Do you speak Korean?
I just found you site. This is awesome. Thanks. Your overview answered a lot of questions and we can’t wait to try..
I love this dish! Last time I had it was when I was in Korea which was 2 years ago. So, thanks for posting this. I will have to make a trip to the Korean store and make this.
Thanks jade. 2 years is a long time not to have this bibimbap. Better make them soon!
Yes, it indeed is some work to make this dish. That's why I don't make that often, and If I do, it is to feed the company.
Yummy, I love bibimbap too! It's healthy, delicious and so nice to look at with the vibrant colors. It takes quite a lot of work to prepare though. That's why I usually eat it outside. But thanks for the gorgeous photos!
I always, always order Bibimbap at our nearby restaurant. Love it! I thought the name is Bibimba, though, as that`s how it`s written on the menu 😀