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Home Quick and Easy

Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi – Korean BBQ Beef)

By:Nagi
Published:17 Aug '15Updated:19 Apr '21
106 Comments
Recipe v

This is an authentic recipe for Korean Beef Bulgogi. It’s easy and fast to make, and the ingredients are all from the supermarket. I think you will be surprised by two key ingredients in the marinade: grated apple and grated onion. This is quite unique to Korean cooking – and it makes an incredible base for this simple, tasty stir fry!

Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi - Korean BBQ Beef) - easy to make with ingredients from the supermarket. Great marinade!

Korean Beef Bulgogi

When I think about food trends in recent years, one of the cuisines that comes to mind straight away is Korean food.

Legends like David Chang (of the world renowned Momofuku restaurants) and Roy Choi (LA Korean fusion food truck extraordinaire) have brought Korean food into the limelight. Whereas once you had to hunt to find great Korean restaurants in Sydney, now they are really common in the city and there are growing pockets throughout the suburbs with an increasing number of great Korean restaurants.

Korean food is now cool. It’s what sushi was 10 years ago!

I have always loved Korean food, from the moment I first tried it. But honestly, it wasn’t until perhaps about 5 years ago that I started making it myself at home. You will laugh when I tell you how I got onto Korean home cooking….

It was because of my Korean hairdresser. Truly! She’s a character. Even though I now live 30km/20 miles from her salon, I still make the trek there every 6 weeks not only because she knows what she’s doing, but also because she dictates recipes to me while she colours and snips away!

Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi - Korean BBQ Beef) - easy to make with ingredients from the supermarket. Great marinade!

Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi - Korean BBQ Beef) - easy to make with ingredients from the supermarket. Great marinade!

One such recipe she dictated to me was Bulgogi, which is otherwise known as Korean BBQ Beef. It is probably one of the more commonly known Korean dishes in Western countries. Marinated beef which is stir fried with onion and carrots. Then served either using lettuce wraps or on rice.

The recipe she dictated to me was a loose interpretation, along the lines of “throw in some garlic, grated apple and onion, splash of sesame oil” etc, but I still jotted it down. Then went in hunt of a full recipe to follow!

That’s when I first stumbled onto My Korean Kitchen, and food blog run by Sue who is a native Korean now living in Australia. For anyone interested in making real and fusion Korean food at home (note: it’s fusion that stays on the right side of the fusion line!), My Korean Kitchen is a fantastic blog to bookmark. Not only are her recipes delicious, they always work and she goes to great lengths to ensure she explains ingredients that might not be familiar to everyone.

So this Korean Beef Bowl (aka Korean BBQ Beef) I’m sharing today is very slightly adapted from her recipe for Bulgogi – Korean BBQ Beef. So you can have absolute confidence that this is the real deal!

The use of grated apple and onion in a marinade is quite uniquely Korean. It’s a fabulous way to get a bit of sweet and touch of tang from the apple and flavour from the onion into a Marinade. This exact Marinade is fantastic used with chicken, beef and pork for grilling on the BBQ. In fact, it features frequently at my fusion-Asian BBQ’s I put on!

Hope you give this a try! It really is fabulously delish! – Nagi x


More Korean Recipes

  • Spicy Korean Pork Stir Fry

  • Momofuku Marinated Beef Skirt Steak Ssam

Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi - Korean BBQ Beef) - easy to make with ingredients from the supermarket. Great marinade!

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Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi - Korean BBQ Beef) - easy to make with ingredients from the supermarket. Great marinade!

Korean Beef Bowl (Bulgogi)

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 5 mins
Total: 20 mins
Dinner, Stir Fry
Korean
4.97 from 28 votes
Servings2 -3
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 368
This is a very classic, traditional dish from Korea. It is becoming increasingly popular in Western countries as more and more people are discovering not only how delicious it is, but how easy it is to make with ingredients you can get from the supermarket! The beef has a lovely balance of sweet and salty. The use of grated apple and onion is classic Korean and it makes all the difference!

This recipe makes enough for 2 to 3 people, served with rice as a main.

Ingredients

Beef

  • 14 oz / 400 g thinly sliced beef , any good quality tender cut suitable for grilling (Note 1)
  • 1 scallion/shallot stem , green and white part separated, both finely sliced (Note 2)
  • 1/2 large onion (brown, yellow or white), peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 medium carrot , peeled, cut vertically then cut into thin slices on the diagonal
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil (I use peanut or vegetable oil)
  • 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds

Marinade

  • 3 tbsp ordinary soy sauce (I use Kikkoman)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp mirin (Note 3)
  • 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp grated onion (brown, white or yellow)
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 3 tbsp grated red apple (not green - they are too tart) OR nashi pears
  • 1/2 tsp minced ginger
  • Black pepper

Instructions

  • Blot the beef dry using a paper towel then place into a bowl.
  • Mix together the Marinade ingredients in a small bowl, then add the beef. Stir gently to coat the beef, cover with cling wrap and set aside to marinate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Because the meat is thin, you still get good flavour even with 1 hour of marinating.
  • Heat the oil in a wok or large fry pan over high heat.
  • Add the onion and white part of the scallion/shallots. Cook for 1 minute.
  • Then add the beef, including the Marinade, and carrots. Cook for around 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the beef is just cooked.
  • Remove from heat, then toss through the sesame seeds.
  • Serve immediately with rice - or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice! Sprinkle with extra sesame seeds and the reserved green part of the scallions.

Recipe Notes:

1. As with all stir fries, this cooks very quickly so you need to use a decent cut of beef for it. Rump, flank, sirloin, t-bone and scotch fillet are excellent for this recipe.
Slice the beef against the grain. When you look at the beef, you will notice that the fibres are mostly going in one direction. Place the beef in front of you so the fibres are going left to right. Then cut through the fibres i.e. cut perpendicular to the direction of the fibres (see here for illustrative image). Cutting it this way makes the beef more tender!
Slow cooking cuts, like chuck, are not suitable unless you tenderise it (see How to tenderise beef the Chinese restaurant way)
You can actually find very thinly sliced frozen beef at Asian grocery stores. If you have one in your area, this is a fantastic tip! Note only is it cheaper, you save yourself the cutting time and it is super handy to have in your freezer for quick stir fries.
2. I separate the green and white part of the scallion because I cook the white part and use the green part as garnish.
3. Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used for cooking. You can substitute with dry sherry or sake + 1/2 tsp of sugar. If you cannot have alcohol in your cooking, substitute with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar + 1/2 tsp sugar.
4. Adapted from this recipe: Bulgogi - Korean BBQ Beef by My Korean Kitchen. A wonderful blog for authentic Korean recipes and provides great information about Korean ingredients. It's run by Sue who is a Korean living in Australia which is great because it means I know I can get all the ingredients she uses!
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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106 Comments

  1. Genoa says

    June 30, 2022 at 1:44 am

    5 stars
    I made this yesterday evening and everyone loved it! It was very easy to make gluten free by using gluten free soy sauce. I served it with rice and a side of steamed greens and optional kimchi and hot sauce. So good!

    Reply
  2. Gretchen says

    April 3, 2022 at 2:12 am

    5 stars
    This was perfect! Flavorful and I paired it with your stir fry veggies recipe!

    Reply
  3. Sara says

    February 26, 2022 at 12:40 pm

    5 stars
    Oh my gosh! This wasn’t just stupid easy to make, but it was delicious. I was even missing two ingredients (apple and green onion) and I just can’t imagine it could be tastier. Husband and baby and toddler approved! Can’t wait to make it again with the missing ingredients. I’d never had bulgogi, never heard of bulgogi, never had Korean dishes or anything but I had almost everything needed to make this (it’s clean out the pantry/fridge week here) and when I came across this gem of a recipe I had to give it a try and I’m so glad I did, it’s going to be a regular meal here now!

    Reply
  4. Evelyn says

    January 18, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    A hit with the whole family!! My two year old devoured it and my 8 yr old even helped me make the marinade. So quick n easy!! Thanks Nagi for another awesome recipe!

    Reply
  5. Lola says

    April 1, 2021 at 2:33 pm

    5 stars
    OMG this is the best bulgogi I’ve ever had. Thank you very much Nagi for these delicious recipes. Everything I have tried so far from your recipes comes out so amazing, my family said this tastes even more delicious than when they had it in Korean restaurants.

    Reply
  6. Chris says

    March 2, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    5 stars
    This was truly a winner at our dinner table tonight. I’ll definitely be making this again and again. Thanks, Nagi, for the great tip about buying the beef pre-sliced from the Asian grocers. I’ll be doing that from now on. It is by far so much easier than slicing it myself.

    Reply
  7. Dave says

    January 27, 2021 at 8:12 pm

    Hi .
    While really yummy it wasn’t quite there for me. I micro plained the pear an onion. Was this a mistake as apposed to course grating.

    Reply
  8. Nyasha says

    September 8, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    5 stars
    Love the recipe, I always have it interesting to see what others do with bulgogi. I’ve seen others do it with chicken but always feel beef is the best for it! Will have to try out your recipe soon! I hope you can comment and check out my recipe as it’s spicy bulgogi beef udon: http://nyamwithny.com/nyam-recipes-spicy-bulgogi-beef-udon/ I personally love using the Daesang Beef Bulgogi Marinade as a sauce in my recipe.

    Reply
  9. Yasmin D says

    May 16, 2020 at 3:53 pm

    Hi Nagi, I’m so looking forward to making this! But I have an intolerance to apples and was wondering of I could substitute this to apple cider or something else?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 17, 2020 at 9:11 am

      Hi Yasmine, use white vinegar or rice vinegar 🙂 N x

      Reply
  10. Gwen Stone says

    January 9, 2020 at 3:04 am

    once again you came to my rescue in proving the perfect recipe for me to prepare for my son/daughter-in-law (Korean) and family.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 9, 2020 at 7:19 am

      WOOT!!!

      Reply
  11. Emily Neal says

    November 27, 2019 at 9:32 am

    5 stars
    We have made this twice, once with rice and tonight with cabbage. We diced the cabbage up finely and made the double the sauce, using half of it to cook the cabbage in. It was even better than the rice! It did end up a little soupy, so we will back off the sauce next time, but the flavor was amazing.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      November 28, 2019 at 6:28 am

      I’m so glad you loved it Emily!!

      Reply
  12. Rene says

    December 28, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    Going to make this Saturday night. There’s a “Disneyland of international foods” supermarket in the Sacramento area. It used to be called Koreana Plaza until it expanded to about 3x it’s size. Now, one can find an unimaginable array of foods (yes, including live fish and turtles for cooking). We now live 6 hours away, but whenever my husband travels to Sacramento, he stops at KP International Market and brings home premarinated Bulgogi meat and/or un-marinated meat for it. It’ll be thinly sliced beef rib eye for this recipe. Can’t wait!

    Reply
  13. Betsy G. says

    November 16, 2018 at 7:14 am

    5 stars
    LOVED it!! I will definitely make this again. Another great recipe from your site. Personally, I will leave out the ginger next time, I tasted it too much on my palate (just one of those flavors that for me, less is better). It was still fabulous! I’m making Kung Pao tonight from your site. Love the variety of recipes!!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      November 17, 2018 at 9:01 pm

      Glad you enjoyed it Betsy!! Thanks for sharing your feedback 🙂 N x

      Reply
      • Bri says

        July 1, 2021 at 7:42 am

        5 stars
        WOW this was so easy to make I’m so glad I gave it a try! Hubby loved it and were making it again a week later! This will definitely be in my normal rotation!! The only thing I changed was I added more carrot and onion! Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe!

        Reply
  14. Melissa says

    July 5, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 6, 2018 at 5:40 pm

      You’re so welcome! 🙂 N x

      Reply
  15. Melissa says

    July 3, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    This looks yummy! What other type of meat would you suggest to use in this recipe? I’m living aboard and beef is expensive here.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 4, 2018 at 9:33 pm

      Hi Melissa! Pork, chicken or turkey would be terrific!

      Reply
      • Bekah says

        July 18, 2020 at 12:50 pm

        5 stars
        We used this as written to make a “bulgorito” – our at home version of a burrito from a local Korean fusion restaurant. We used a flour tortilla, cilantro lime rice, your bulgogi, and a drizzle of Sriracha mayo. Amazing!!
        Is there any reason you’d recommend against using applesauce for the grated apple?

        Reply
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