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.
Heidi
March 27, 2013 at 7:55 amThat’s a sweet little girl! And I’m adding this to my meal plan for next week. Thanks! 🙂
Karen Robins
March 30, 2013 at 4:55 pmI 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!!
Cate M.
April 5, 2013 at 10:26 amJust made this last night. It was sooo good. Thank you!
Jaimie Ramsey
April 17, 2013 at 7:53 pmYUM. Just made this today!! SO good! Thank you for this recipe!! 🙂
erickson.stacy
July 23, 2013 at 8:12 pmThanks for an easy and tasty new meal! We now make it almost weekly!
Andrea
December 11, 2013 at 4:02 pmHi Shaye, Can you tell me if organic, evaporated cane juice sugar would work for this receipe? Thank you!
Shaye Elliott
December 11, 2013 at 6:05 pmYes! It’s the same thing.
Andrea
December 11, 2013 at 7:30 pmyay!! thank you, im making this as we speak & so far, it tastes sinfully wonderful!
Nina
March 26, 2014 at 12:11 pmWhat is the side dish you have there? Looks delicious!
Shaye Elliott
April 3, 2014 at 4:08 pmSpiced cabbage!
Kelly
March 26, 2014 at 12:16 pmHow 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!
Jeanette @ Creating a Life
March 26, 2014 at 1:20 pmSounds really yummy. Definitely going to try it this week. Thanks!
Jeanette
Jennifer
March 26, 2014 at 10:30 pmThank 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!
Robin
March 27, 2014 at 6:50 amI 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!
Stacie
March 31, 2014 at 5:07 pmI 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!!
mindy
October 16, 2014 at 5:01 pmcould you possibly substitute honey for the sugar?
Shaye Elliott
October 16, 2014 at 9:31 pmI’ve never tried that, Mindy!
Kira
September 22, 2017 at 6:31 pmThis 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!