I hate the end of the month.
My grocery money envelope is empty and I've usually still got a few days of meals to work through before payday.
Am I alone in this?
We ran out of milk, eggs, butter, and fruit all in the same day. Why, oh why, cruel world!
Yet in my diligent and whole-hearted effort to still provide whole-foods meals to the family, I scrounged deep…really deep…and came up with a winner.
Complicated, it is not.
Frickin' delicious, it is.
Seriously. The first three bites Stuart ate of it he moaned through. I'm totally not even making that up. Twice he said “Wow, that's good…”
And for him that's sayin' something.
As I was eating it, all I could think was, “Why I haven't I made this more?” Like seriously, why haven't I made this over, and over, and over again?
I should have. And I will.
There are a few perks of this meal I would like to point out:
– Cheap cut of meat (ground beef!)
– Minimal ingredients
– Quick cook time
– Enough for leftovers
– No funky ingredients
– Littles love it
So when you're at the point when your kitchen looks like it's been raided by teenage boys and there's no money left in the ‘ol grocery fund, scrounge deep in your cupboards and whip it up.
Whip it. Whip it good.
Korean Beef
You will need:
– 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef (or venison)
– 8 cloves garlic, minced
– 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
– 1/4 cup rapadura, sucanant or dehydrated whole cane sugar
– 1/2 cup naturally-fermented, organic, unpasteurized soy sauce
– Red pepper flakes, to desired spiceness (I'm a sissy and used like five)
– Green onions or chives, minced, for garnish (don't skip! they add a lot!)
Step One: Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Because I use grass-fed beef, I don't end up with enough fat to drain off, but if you have a lot, feel free to scoop it out.
Step Two: Once browned, add in the garlic and ginger. Let it saute with the beef for about three minutes.
Step Three: Stir in the whole cane sugar (rapadura), soy sauce, and optional pepper flakes. Gently simmer for ten minutes.
Step Four: Serve atop a bed of delicious basmati or jasmine rice. Garnish with minced scallions or chives.
So. I sorta feel like I cheated to even blog this recipe because it was so dang easy.
Ah. Who am I kidding. I don't care. Easy is totally my style.
There's a time for blow-your-pants-off-phenomenal-complicated-cooking. And then there's a time for meals like this.
I served ours alongside a delicious Indian cabbage from The Polivka Family. What? Is there something wrong with serving Korean Beef alongside Indian cabbage?
Ya. Didn't think so. Ain't no rules in our kitchen, baby. We do what we want! Which is exactly why I totally cheated on our grocery budget yesterday to buy two pounds of butter.
Sorry, Dave Ramsey.
Maybe if I fed him some of this Korean Beef he'd forgive me. My vote is yes.
For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.
Korean Beef
Ingredients
- 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef or venison)
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- ¼ cup rapadura, sucanant or dehydrated whole cane sugar
- ½ cup naturally-fermented, organic, unpasteurized soy sauce
- Red pepper flakes, to desired spiceness (I'm a sissy and used like five)
- Green onions or chives, minced, for garnish (don't skip! they add a lot!)
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Because I use grass-fed beef, I don't end up with enough fat to drain off, but if you have a lot, feel free to scoop it out.
- Once browned, add in the garlic and ginger. Let it saute with the beef for about three minutes.
- Stir in the whole cane sugar (rapadura), soy sauce, and optional pepper flakes. Gently simmer for ten minutes.
- Serve atop a bed of delicious basmati or jasmine rice. Garnish with minced scallions or chives.
That’s a sweet little girl! And I’m adding this to my meal plan for next week. Thanks! 🙂
I have about 6 meals that I rotate for my poor family. So making this was waaaay outside my comfort zone. But WOW!!! That is freakin’ delicious!!
Just made this last night. It was sooo good. Thank you!
YUM. Just made this today!! SO good! Thank you for this recipe!! 🙂
Thanks for an easy and tasty new meal! We now make it almost weekly!
Hi Shaye, Can you tell me if organic, evaporated cane juice sugar would work for this receipe? Thank you!
Yes! It’s the same thing.
yay!! thank you, im making this as we speak & so far, it tastes sinfully wonderful!
What is the side dish you have there? Looks delicious!
Spiced cabbage!
How in the world can you run out of milk, eggs, and butter?! The Korean Beef looks really good, though. Try it in a simple, healthy, and fun Korean dish called Bibimbap!
Sounds really yummy. Definitely going to try it this week. Thanks!
Jeanette
Thank you for reporting this. I made it tonight for my family of 7. We got rave reviews! My picky 13 yr old son couldn’t stop talking about it! Either he really liked it or I’m going to get hit with a major “mom can I or I want…”
Thanks for posting it!
I totally make this a lot! My whole family loves it! I usually make brown rice and steamed broccoli as sides. I will be making that Indian cabbage as a side next time!
I am not normally a fan of ginger but WOW is this an amazing recipe!! And so simple too!! Just burnt my tongue trying to sneak some from the pan. Thanks!!
could you possibly substitute honey for the sugar?
I’ve never tried that, Mindy!
This was very similar to a recipe I make, except the other recipe is much more labor intensive because it’s VERY heavy on the veggies. I agree that the green onions are a must with this one (although that could be because I took shortcuts and used garlic from a tube and dried minced ginger) for that little bit of extra flavor. This will be going into the rotation at my house — all three who tried it liked it (and it’s very filling even when just served with white rice). Thank you for sharing!
literally the best and so simple!
This recipe, with the cabbage is so flavorful, simple to make, and intense in spices. This recipe allows me to chuckle at my hubby who “does not like cabbage” as he takes big bites of cabbage off of my plate. This is a delicious, quick, time saver recipe. I made it years ago when you first posted it, many times in between and last week. SO GOOD! Thank you for sharing Shaye.
Ok, I wanna make this tonight but I don’t have the fancy ingredients 😂 all I have is ground ginger, regular soy sauce and/or coco aminos, and regular organic granulated sugar. Will these work and how would their quantities vary? Thanks!
I add 1 sautéed chopped onion, and a lot of shredded carrots. The carrots stretch the meat and add to the sweetness and soak up the sauce. Serve this with a side of coconut rice. My family and and extended family make this often! Thank you!