A truly easy recipe for very tasty Korean beef. There’s no need to marinate the beef! Simply stir fry, add the yummy sauce and serve.
This easy recipe is ready in just 30 minutes. It’s made with pre-sliced sirloin steak and does not require marinating the beef. Simply stir-fry the beef, add the sauce, garnish and serve.
This recipe is so easy to make!
I love the flavors of Korean beef and make this recipe quite often, but not just because it’s so tasty.
This is a very easy recipe, one of the easiest and quickest in my repertoire. (Another good one, and a variation on this recipe, is Korean ground beef).
I have several stir fry recipes on this blog (this beef stir fry is excellent), but most require me to prep vegetables. It’s not that adding veggies to a dish is a bad thing. But when truly pressed for time, I really appreciate how easy this recipe is.
The ingredients used in this recipe
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this tasty dish. Exact amounts are listed in the recipe card below.
- Light soy sauce (or a gluten-free alternative)
- Honey
- Cornstarch
- Seasonings: crushed red peppers, garlic, ginger
- Avocado oil
- Beef sirloin
- Green onions
- Sesame seeds
- Sesame oil
What meat to use?
To make this recipe as easy as can be, I tend to use pre-sliced sirloin (sold in trays and marked as “beef for stir fry”). Of course, it’s fine to simply buy sirloin steaks and slice them yourself.
Sirloin is appropriate for this recipe because it’s lean, and while it’s not super tender, it’s also not overly tough. So you can get away with not marinating it.
How to make Korean beef
As I said, it’s so easy. Here are the basic steps. The detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Start by whisking together a tasty sauce, made with soy sauce and honey.
- Brown the beef in oil, then add the garlic and ginger.
- Add the sauce and cook until it thickens.
- Garnish with green onions, sesame seeds and sesame oil.
Is this a healthy recipe?
I think that this particular recipe is indeed healthy. Not everyone agrees, but I believe that fresh lean red meat is very nutritious. And so are garlic, ginger and sesame oil.
While the honey and cornstarch add some carbs, a serving of this recipe is still quite low in carbs (9 grams).
As for soy sauce, I don’t mind using it. If you do, or if you must follow a gluten-free diet, there are gluten-free and paleo alternatives that you can use. If you go that route, you might need to add some salt to this recipe.
How to serve Korean beef
If you serve it on a bed of cauliflower rice, you don’t even need to feel bad about the lack of vegetables in this dish!
You can also mix it into cooked shirataki noodles, or – if you don’t mind the carbs – use rice.
How to keep the leftovers?
You can keep leftovers in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently, covered, in the microwave on 50% power.
Korean Beef
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce (or use a gluten-free alternative and add salt as needed)
- 2 tablespoons honey*
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 lb. beef sirloin, cut into strips
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1/4 cup green onions, green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, cornstarch and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced beef. Stir-fry the beef until browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, 1 more minute.
- Add the soy sauce mixture. Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry until beef is well coated and sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat off. Spoon the Korean beef and the pan juices into plates or bowls. Top with the green onions and sesame seeds, drizzle with the sesame oil, and serve.
NOTES
More Healthy Recipes:
Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., has been following a healthy real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She has taken 
