Homemade Korean Bibimbap Recipe
A bowl of homemade Korean bibimbap with rice, slow cooker beef, seasoned vegetables, and a fried egg on top

Homemade Korean bibimbap. The name might be unfamiliar, but the dish itself is one of the easiest dinners in my whole rotation.

If you have spent any time around Korean food, you have probably seen it. It usually arrives at the table in a screaming hot stone bowl with a raw egg sitting on top, and the bowl itself cooks the egg while you watch.

My family loves Korean food. We have been to a lot of Korean restaurants over the years, and almost every time we go, somebody at our table orders bibimbap.

I always loved it because it is simple, filling, and full of flavor. Rice, meat, a spread of vegetables, and a really good sauce over the top. For years I wondered how hard it would be to make at home . . . then one day I found a recipe and decided to try it.

My family loved it. And it was ridiculously easy. It has been a staple here ever since, and we make it at least once a month.

What Bibimbap Actually Is

Bibimbap translates roughly to "mixed rice," and that is exactly what it is. A bowl of warm rice, a pile of seasoned vegetables, some kind of protein, a fried egg, and sauce over the top. You stir the whole thing together right before you eat it.

There is no single correct version. Every family in Korea makes it a little differently depending on what is in the garden and what is in the refrigerator. That is a big part of why it works so well at home.

Why This Is Such a Good Family Dinner

Here is how we do it. We cook the rice and the meat, fry the eggs, cut up the vegetables, and mix the sauces. Then everything goes out on the counter in an assembly line and each person builds their own bowl.

That one detail changes dinner. The kid who will not touch bean sprouts can skip them. The teenager who wants three times the beef can have it. Nobody is negotiating with anybody, and I am not standing at the stove making four different meals.

It also means the leftovers sort themselves out. Whatever does not get eaten goes back in the refrigerator as separate components, which is far more useful later in the week than one mixed casserole.

If you like dinners that come together from parts you can prep ahead, that is the whole idea behind the 30 Minute Meal Formula.

The One Ingredient Worth Tracking Down

This recipe looks intimidating the first time you read through it. It really is not. Get as many of the ingredients as you can and substitute where you need to. No bok choy? Use spinach. No bean sprouts? Add extra carrots.

The one thing I would not skip is the gochujang, the Korean chili paste that gives the sauce its color and its depth. Any Asian market will have it, and most larger grocery stores now carry it in the international aisle. It looks like this.
A red tub of gochujang, the Korean chili paste used in bibimbap sauce

Two Sauces, One Bowl Night

I make both sauces every single time. The gochujang sauce is the traditional one, sweet and savory with real heat behind it. The kid-friendly sauce is soy sauce based with no chili at all, and it is the reason my youngest eaters will sit down to this dish.

Both come together the same way. Put everything in a bowl, whisk it, done. Make them while the rice cooks and they will taste even better by the time you eat, because the garlic has had a few minutes to soften into everything else.

How to Handle the Vegetables

The vegetables are the part people overthink. They do not need to be fancy, and they do not all get treated the same way.

Cucumbers go in raw and julienned. Carrots get julienned and cooked briefly so they keep some bite. Spinach or bok choy just wilt in a hot pan. Bean sprouts need about one minute in boiling water. Green beans or broccoli need only enough heat to turn bright green.

Then toss everything with a teaspoon of sesame oil and a quarter teaspoon of salt. That one small step is what makes homemade bibimbap taste like restaurant bibimbap.

What to Serve With It

Honestly, it does not need a thing. It is rice, protein, vegetables, and an egg in a single bowl.

When I am feeding a crowd, I set out a jar of homemade kimchi and a plate of extra fried eggs. That is the entire spread, and nobody has ever asked for more.

From Dr. Michelle's Kitchen

Homemade Korean Bibimbap

By Dr. Michelle Jorgensen

A build your own Korean rice bowl with slow cooker beef, seasoned vegetables, a fried egg, and two sauces: the traditional gochujang version and a mild, kid-friendly one.

Homemade Korean Bibimbap
Servings6 servings
Prep Time30 min
Cook Time4 hr
Total Time4 hr 30 min
CuisineKorean
CategoryMain Course

Ingredients

Slow Cooker Korean Beef

  • 1 1/2 pounds thinly sliced flank steak (or steak of choice)
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 1 tsp powdered ginger
  • 1/2 cup beef broth
  • 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp sesame seeds, for finishing

Bowls and Toppings

  • Cooked rice, about 1 cup per person
  • Cucumbers, julienned
  • Cooked greens (spinach, bok choy, or similar)
  • Carrots, julienned and briefly cooked
  • Bean sprouts, blanched 1 minute
  • Green beans or broccoli, briefly cooked
  • 1 tsp sesame oil, for tossing the vegetables
  • 1/4 tsp salt, for tossing the vegetables
  • 1 fried egg per person

Bibimbap Sauce

  • 1/2 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste)
  • 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
  • 4 tsp vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or rice vinegar
  • 4 tsp minced garlic

Kid-Friendly Sauce

  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 4 tsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tsp minced garlic

Directions

3 to 4 Hours Before Dinner

  1. In a small bowl, coat the sliced flank steak with the corn starch. Place the meat in a slow cooker.

  2. In a separate bowl, combine the sesame oil, rice vinegar, smashed garlic, powdered ginger, beef broth, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Stir until thoroughly mixed, then pour it over the meat and stir to coat.

  3. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, or on high for 2 to 3 hours. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the meat right before serving.

30 Minutes Before Dinner

  1. Start the rice on the stove or in a rice cooker.

  2. Make the sauces. For each one, combine all of its ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Set them aside so the garlic has time to mellow.

Right Before Serving

  1. Prepare the vegetables, cooking each one as noted above, then toss them all with 1 teaspoon sesame oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

  2. Fry one egg per person and season lightly with salt.

  3. Set everything out in an assembly line and let each person build a bowl: rice first, then meat, then vegetables, then sauce. Stir it all together before eating.

Notes

Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Store the components separately if you can. The next day, combine everything in a hot pan with a little extra sauce and some scrambled egg for a bibimbap stir fry.

The kid-friendly sauce has no chili in it at all, so make both and let everyone choose.

Meat adapted from Dinner at the Zoo's slow cooker Korean beef. Sauces adapted from My Korean Kitchen.

Make It Your Own

The first time you make this, follow the recipe. The second time, start swapping.

Use chicken thighs instead of flank steak. Use cauliflower rice if you are watching carbohydrates. Add whatever vegetables are actually sitting in your refrigerator, because that is what bibimbap has always been for.

That is the part I love about this dish. It is a format more than a recipe, and once your family knows the format, dinner gets a lot easier.

Happy cooking.

 30 minute meal formula lower
michelle-dental

Dr. Michelle Jorgensen
Topics:
Recipes

Free Resources

 30 Minute Meal Formula

Related Products

 Real Food for Real Families