Easy Korean Beef Bibimbap Recipe (2024)

Bibimbap was my first introduction to Korean food. This easy recipe does have some components to it, but none if it is complicated. This is a great recipe to make for a crowd!

What Is Bibimbap?

Meaning, “mixed rice,” bibimbap is comprised of warm rice topped with different seasoned vegetables, sauce like gochujang (korean red pepper paste), and often meat and/or an egg.

It’s all mixed up, and usually just eaten with a spoon (no chopsticks needed). It. Is. Awesome.

First Exposure to Korean Home Cooking

It always seemed wonderfully colorful and complex when a bowl of bibimbap was placed in front of me. I’d get hit with the different colors of all the ingredients, and sometimes the sizzling sound of the rice if it were served in the hot stone pot. Never did I imagine that it was something I’d try to make at home.

But then in college, my English professor invited our class to her house for dinner and a rousing discussion on chivalric romance literature.

She was Korean, and what did she prepare? Bibimbap. (Side note, best professor ever. Later that same semester, we were reading Jane Austen, and she invited us all over again for homemade jam, scones and clotted cream.)

I remember this professor saying something like, “Bibimbap so easy to make for a lot of people.” Cue surprise.

But as my classmates and I scooped veggies, kimchi, and cooked ground beef on top of our rice bowls, lining up to receive a sunny-side up egg from a be-aproned Professor Kim at the stove, I looked down at my glorious dinner and saw new possibilities for dorm room cooking.

Getting the Timing Right

The key to an easy bibimbap recipe is getting the sequence of events down pat.

You do have a few different components to prepare, so doing them in the right order (blanching vegetables while the rice is cooking, cooking the beef last so that it’s hot when you serve, etc.) can save you time AND give you perfect results for your efforts.

I’ve made sure to outline my method in detail, so that you can replicate it at home. This is how I like to make it, but feel free to experiment with different ingredients to change up the recipe!

Easy Korean Beef Bibimbap: Recipe Instructions

Start by preparing your rice in a rice cooker and getting that going. If you don’t have a rice cooker, follow our instructions for making rice without a rice cooker. Then put a medium pot of water on the stove, and bring to a boil.

While the rice is going and your water is heating up, prepare your vegetables. Wash the bean sprouts and watercress, and then julienne the carrot. While you have the chopping board out, mince the garlic.

By now, your water should be boiling. Blanch the bean sprouts for about 5 minutes, and remove with a slotted spoon to a colander to drain.

Then add the watercress to the same pot of boiling water, and blanch for 1 minute. Set aside in another colander to drain.

Rinse both the bean sprouts and the greens under cold running water to stop the cooking process, and then thoroughly squeeze out any excess water from both sets of vegetables.

Transfer the bean sprouts to a medium bowl.

Roll the watercress into a cigar and slice 3 or 4 times to create shorter strands of vegetable. Set aside in a separate bowl.

Season each bowl (the bean sprouts and the greens) with salt to taste and a teaspoon of sesame oil. Divide the minced garlic between the two bowls, and toss to combine. Set aside.

In a skillet over medium high heat, add a tablespoon of canola oil along with the julienned carrots. Stir-fry the carrots until tender but still a little crunchy, about 1 minute. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Turn up the heat to high. Add the ground beef to the pan, and brown, breaking up the beef into smaller pieces. Stir in the soy sauce.

Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, cook the eggs sunny side up, leaving the yolks runny.

To serve your Beef Bibimbap, divide the cooked rice among four bowls, and top with the beef, seasoned watercress, seasoned bean sprouts, cooked carrots, kimchi, and egg. Serve this bibimbap recipe with a good dollop of gochujang, and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.