Easy Korean Ground Beef and Broccoli
Easy Korean Ground Beef and Broccoli is a delicious meal that comes together in about 30 minutes! Great flavors that the whole family can agree on. A great weeknight dinner to add to your menu!
If you are looking for something to make with ground beef, this Korean Beef is a great recipe made delicious Asian flavors and it couldn’t be any easier.
I’m always on the lookout for super easy ground beef recipes and this delicious Korean ground beef stir fry is a new favorite. I have made it two weeks in a row and there was not a drop left either time. It’s a rare thing that we repeat a meal that often but it is one of the best things when you need an easy recipe.
Ingredients for Easy Korean Beef Recipe
- lean ground beef or ground chuck
- fresh garlic
- soy sauce
- orange juice
- brown sugar
- toasted sesame oil
- cornstarch
- cooked rice – white rice or brown rice
- broccoli
- green onions for garnish
- sesame seeds for garnish
How to Make Korean Ground Beef and Broccoli
- Simply cook lean ground beef, or ground chuck, stirring with a wooden spoon until browned in a large skillet. Drain excess grease if needed.
- Meanwhile cook your rice and broccoli.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients: orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, cornstarch and garlic.
- Pour sauce over browned meat. Simmer ground beef mixture for about 5 minutes.
- Serve Korean beef over cooked rice with broccoli. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions and it’s ready to serve.
Serving Suggestions
Quick Korean beef bowls can be topped with a fried egg and served with an egg roll or add this Thai Cucumber Salad for a delicious dinner. It’s one of our go-to recipes to get a meal on the dinner table in 30 minutes.
Recipe Notes and Variations for Korean Beef
- Ground Turkey: Substitute ground turkey or ground chicken for the ground beef if desired.
- Rice: Use cauliflower rice if preferred.
- Vegetables: Add julienned carrots, sliced onions, bok choy or your favorite stir fry vegetables to make Korean Beef Bowls.
- Spices: Ground ginger or fresh ginger is a great addition to the sauce. Add red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
- Sauce: We like extra sauce and sometimes will double the flavorful sauce.
- Lettuce Wraps: Spoon the meat mixture into butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce with carrots for a family favorite.
- Korean Beef Tacos: Use flour tortillas filled with the flavorful beef.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
- Reheat: Cook over medium heat in a pan, stirring often until heated through.
Getting dinner on the table can be a challenge. I often stare into the refrigerator hoping for some kind of inspiration when I don’t have anything planned. What I love about this Korean Beef and Broccoli is that it comes together quickly, making it a wonderful recipe for busy weeknights.
If you love this Recipe as much as I do, please leave a comment and a five star review, and be sure to help me share on Pinterest!
Easy Korean Ground Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or ground chuck
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 cups of cooked rice
- 3 cups steamed broccoli
- 2 sliced green onions for garnish
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Add ground beef to a skillet and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often and breaking into small pieces. Drain excess grease if needed.
- Add garlic and stir to combine.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine soy sauce, orange juice, brown sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch.
- Pour over ground beef, stirring to combine. Lower heat to simmer and cook 5 minutes.
- Serve over rice with broccoli and top with green onions and sesame seeds.
I love Korean Anything. I will be trying this soon. Question: Is the cornstarch mixed in with gthe sauce ingredients in Step 5, and then poured over the cooked beef and garlic? I can’t see anywhere else where it would go. tia. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Jennifer,
Yes you add it with the sauce ingredients, thanks for letting me know. I have that updated. I hope you get the chance to try it.
~Milisa
My hubby said that the flavor was there but that it was dry. Any recommendations of success that won’t take away the flavor of the ground beef?
Sauces* not success lol
Hi Leticia,
We sometimes double the sauce ingredients to make the dish extra saucy. I hope that helps.
~ Milisa
I made this with a few changes. 1. I used pad Thai rice noodles, 2 tsps of Sriracha sauce, cooked it all and put it together in my wok. Next mixed in the sauce. This dish turned out terrific. Also I used 1 lb of ground beef and 1 lb of turkey sausage. I will be making this dish again. Delicious!!
Kay,
Thanks for sharing your version, I will be sharing it with my kids, they will love the Siracha sauce addition. So glad you enjoyed it.
~ Milisa
Is this store bought orange juice? or fresh squeezed?
Hi Christina,
I used store bought but either is fine.
~Milisa
Tried this last night, and it was great, and simple, too!! Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoyed it!
~Milisa
Hello,
What can I substitute the Sesame oil for, I have an allergy to sesame.
Hi Stephanie,
You can just skip the sesame oil, it will still be delicious.
~ Milisa
I have been so tired of hamburger helper or meatballs… this was a refreshing recipe to start off other ways to use ground beef! I didn’t have sesame oil and I used 2 oranges for the juice, but this was SOOO good!
Hi Lauren,
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thanks for stopping by to let me know. I love that it’s so easy and never one complaint.
~ Milisa
I absolutely LOVE Korean dishes anyway. This is on top of the list ❤
Have you subbed fried rice before?
Does the nutrition only account for the beef?
Hi Amy,
It should be for the whole meal, but if you feel it is not accurate, there are lots of nutritional calculators online to test it.
~ Milisa
So good!! Definitely a keeper. 👌
Thanks Ashlee!
Could I make this without orange juice, what can I substitute? I have everything else except orange juice.
Hi Jane,
You can make it without the orange juice, you could just add water or broth. It will change the flavor slightly but I think it would still be delicious.
~ Milisa
My mom used to make something similar to this with Saskatoon jelly thinned to orange juice consistency and it was pretty tasty! If you don’t have Saskatoon jelly Concord grape is a good replacement.
Do you think you could sub coconut sugar for the brown sugar?
Hi Brittni,
I think coconut sugar would work just fine. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
~ Milisa
I plan to double or triple the sauce to add to the veggies and rice, too. We love sauce.
Hi Valerie,
I like how you think! More sauce is always a good idea. Thanks for stopping by.
~ Milisa
I dont have sesame oil but have everything else. Will it ruin the taste not using it??
Hi Brittany,
It will be just fine, not ruined without the sesame oil, just a little different.
~ Milisa
Absolutely delicious! The kids and adults loved it. Wouldn’t change a thing! This is going into our regular rotation. Thanks so much for sharing it.
Hi Lisa,
I’m so glad y’all enjoyed it. We make it almost every week, it’s so easy.
Thanks for stopping by,
Milisa
I’m guessing we strain the ground beef after cooking and return the meat to the pan and then add garlic.. recipe sounds great. Cheers!
Hi Steph,
Yes if you have excess drippings, it’s best to strain. I always use really lean ground beef and sometimes forget to mention draining off the grease. Thanks for stopping by.
~ Milisa
You need to revise the recipe to include straining the beef. Otherwise people will follow the recipe literally.
Hi Matt,
If you are using lean ground beef, you may not have to strain off the fat, but I will make a note of that. Thanks for your feedback.
~ Milisa
Thanks Milisa. Great recipe. The kids loved the taste!
So glad y’all enjoyed it!
This was really good and easy, the whole family loved it. A quick weeknight dinner.
Hi Jennifer,
So glad your family enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by.
~ Milisa
Tried this tonight and taste was not as great as I hoped. Followed everything exactly except had my eye up too high for the 5 minute simmer. Could that have been the problem? Thank you!
Hi Tina,
I am sorry you were disappointed. Unless the higher temperature burned the sauce, I’m not sure.
~ Milisa
I thought this was really good and easy. It had really good flavor. My family doesn’t care for broccoli so I added shredded carrots instead. I think adding water chestnuts would be good too. I would make again.
Made this tonight and it’s so quick, easy and amazing! My only change was using tahini paste instead of oil as I didn’t have any, but didn’t want to miss that sesame hint. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Ann,
So glad y’all enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
Delicious! We have a lot of food allergies so I made 3 pans – one as is, one with gluten free teriyaki and one with Worcestershire sauce(soy-free). All turned out AMAZING. All 3 kids loved it!
Hi Suzi,
So glad y’all enjoyed it! It’s one of our favorites.
~ Milisa
We can’t have soy in our family either, coconut aminos work great as a replacement!!
Simple and delicious, my two favorite combinations. Even my semi-picky three year old loved it. It’s definitely going into my recipe box. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Melissa,
That makes my day! So glad y’all enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
Do you think this would also be good with rice noodles in place of rice? I’m looking to use up some rice noodles. Can’t wait to try!
My husband retired last year and cooking meals has been trying because as we all age some of our tastes change, so finding a new recipe that he approves of is a task. I made your Korean broccoli and beef with no sesame oil and fried with rice. It was marvelous and he love it. Thank you!
Hi Carol,
So glad y’all enjoyed it and thanks for letting me know how it turned out without the sesame oil.
~ Milisa
Can you use regular sugar instead. I don’t have any brown sugar
Hi Angey,
You can! I hope you enjoy it.
~ Milisa
Great recipe!! I made it tonight and loved it. I substituted water for the orange juice and it worked out great! Thank you so much for having this on Pinterest! 😃
Hi Karla,
I am so glad y’all enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
I’m making this tonight, so I can’t comment on the recipe. I had to take a moment to tell you that I really appreciate your style. You have a little personal info and experience and then got right to the point. The webpage was easy to read, easy to navigate, and offers so many suggestions. Thank you. I literally exhaled a sigh of relief while reading it. Thank you for what you do.
Hi Julie,
Thanks so much for taking the time leave such a kind and thoughtful comment. You have seriously made my day. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as my family does!
~ Milisa
This recipe was sooo yummy. It was a bit salty for my liking but next time I’ll just go light on the soy sauce. My family loved it
Hi Emily,
So glad you enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
Yummy! I added a yolky egg to the side.. delish!
And some Kim chi 😁
Hi Jen,
Love your additions!
~ Milisa
I made this tonight. It was delicious! I didn’t have any brocolli, so I added whole green beans, water chestnuts and red pepper. I sauteed them while the sauce cooked then added about 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes and served over boiled Asian noodles. This will now be added to my rotation of meals.
We all loved it and kids have requested again so twice this week.
Hi Shannon,
I’m so glad y’all enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
Good flavor but too salty
Loved this! Super easy and full of flavour. Kids loved it as well But it is rich, definitely pair with rice to help soak up some juice. I realised to late we had no rice, so noodles worked OK.
Hi Jess,
Glad y’all enjoyed it. We’ve made it with noodles too.
~ Milisa
Have you ever tried this with chicken?
Hi Nicole,
I have not but I am sure it would be amazing as well. Let me know if you give it a try.
~ Milisa
Thіs info is іnvaluable. How can I find oᥙt more?
I made this last night for dinner and my boyfriend and I both LOVED it. I used quinoa instead of rice and added a dash of ground ginger to the sauce mixture before pouring it over the beef. I also added some thinly sliced carrots along with the steamed broccoli and tossed all of the veggies in the sauce with the beef for the last few minutes. My boyfriend usually hates leftovers and never eats them but he was excited to pack up the extra for his lunch today!
This will definitely be added to the regular rotation.Thank you!
Hi Lauren,
So glad y’all liked it. Love your additions!
~ Milisa
This was excellent. I added pea pods and mushrooms and made double sauce. So good!!! Thank u!
Hi Rachel,
I’ve used pea pods a few times and I will have to add mushrooms next time, sounds great! Thanks for stopping by and leaving your additions.
~ Milisa
Made this tonight for dinner. It was so easy and yummy. Everyone liked it. I used the last persons idea and added ginger and the broccoli (i microwaved it for a min before) to the meat for the last few minutes. I used low sodium soy sauce and now think I should’ve salted the broccoli and added some red pepper flakes, since I added them after it was served. Thank you for the recipe
Made as is, except decreased brown sugar to 2T, added little fresh ginger, and added 2 dried chilis. Delicious. Served with 1/2 brown rice and 1/2 cauliflower rice
Hi Tonie,
So glad you enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
Hi, does the nutrition info include the rice and broccoli or is it just the beef?
I used water in place of the orange juice, and added kimchi as a second side! It was a tad bit salty but I’ll just use less soy sauce next time (: So easy and delicious — thank you!
Danah,
So glad y’all enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
We ate this last night and it was amazing! Have you tried making it with ground chicken or turkey? I have a family member who can’t eat red meat. I am wondering if the sauce would be too strong with a light meat like chicken or turkey.
Hi Katie,
It would work just as well with ground chicken or turkey. I’m glad y’all enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
I don’t have toasted sesame oil could I use regular sesame oil. When I looked it up it said it was not recommended but it looked like it depended on the recipe. Thanks.
Hi Christenna,
It will work just fine. I hope you enjoy it.
~ Milisa
If I make this again, I think I will use only half the sugar and low sodium soy sauce. I like the flavor, but it was way too sweet and too salty for my taste. However, it was quick and easy to make.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the feedback. I tend to use low sodium soy sauce too, I will update that in the recipe.
~ Milisa
This dish was so easy to make, and everyone loved it! My husband even wanted seconds, who is typically a harsh critic. There were no leftovers! Finally a tasty recipe for ground beef- thank you!
Hi Jennifer,
So glad it was a hit for y’all. It’s one of my go-to easy dinners.
~ Milisa
I don’t have sesame oil or corn starch what can I use instead or can I just omit?
Hi Laura,
You can omit both. The sauce will have a different flavor and will be thinner. If you want to thicken the sauce, you can mix 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour with the orange juice before adding. I hope that helps.
~ Milisa
This was phenomenal! My husband has been wanting beef and broccoli but I was too afraid to use the crockpot so I tried this and it was perfect! We are both gluten-free so I use gluten-free soy sauce and it worked perfectly. I will definitely be coming back to you for recipes! Thank you!
Why 11/2 pounds of ground beef when it usually comes in 1pound packages or tubes? Then I’m always left with a 1/2 pound I wonder what to do with!
Hi Bryan,
I use 1 1/2 pounds because I have guys with hearty appetites. You could make it with 1 pound of ground beef and the same sauce measurements. I hope that helps.
~ Milisa
Love this. I usually have all of these ingredients on hand, so when in doubt, this is the perfect dinner.
Hi Bree,
So glad y’all are enjoying it.
~ Milisa
I used this Korean Ground Beef and Broccoli recipe for my weekly meal prep. Not only was it incredibly easy to prepare, but it also reheated beautifully, making my week’s meals a breeze and absolutely delicious!
This dish has become my go-to when I don’t have a dinner plan and need to get something on the table. It’s every bit as delicious as take out, cooks up in a flash and always gets rave reviews!
I substituted beef for ground turkey, orange juice for pineapple juice, reduced the sugar and added grated fresh ginger. Super yum.
Hi Lee,
So glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by to share your ideas and substitutions.
~ Milisa
😋 yummy not to mention quick and easy with a variety of options for future meals. Definitely going in the weekly rotation!!
Hi Wendy,
So glad you enjoyed it!
~ Milisa
Was looking for something quick to whip up for dinner. Came across this recipe – have made something similar which I have saved. This all blended well together. Used 1 pound of ground beef and 1/2 pound of ground pork (I think pork bring out the flavor of the beef). Replaced soy with coconut aminos. Kept everything else as is. Allowed to simmer while rice cooked. Served with brown basmati which I had soaked before cooking, and with broccoli
Because I didn’t want to dirty up yet another pot and after rice was cooked, threw broccoli in with meat mixture to let steam to my liking. Turned out great! Hubby had enough leftover for lunch next day.
Hi Susan,
I am so glad y’all enjoyed it, thanks for stopping by with your ideas and creative spin!
~ Milisa
Easy and absolutely delicious! Thanks so very much for the recipe.
Hi Eileen,
I am so glad you enjoyed this Korean beef, it’s one of our favorites.
~ Milisa