You guys know that I love my bowl meals, right?? They have everything you need in one bowl, with more flavor, texture, and color than you can shake a stick at. But the more I make bowl meals the more they resemble Bibimbap, the mother of all bowl meals. If you haven’t yet discovered the awesomeness of bibimbap, read on to get all the details. While my bibimbap is not authentic, I was able to use what I had on hand to make something similar enough to kick that craving.
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What is Bibimbap?
If you’ve never heard of Bibimbap, it’s a Korean dish that combines rice, seasoned vegetables, meat, egg, and a variety of other toppings. The awesome concoction is cooked in a stone bowl so the bottom gets deliciously crispy, adding even more color and texture to the meal. It’s truly the best bowl meal around.
Try These Authentic Bibimbap Recipes
Because I didn’t have all the ingredients and tools that traditionally go into bibimbap, I want to provide you some links to real bibimbap recipes so you can see what it in all its glory. Check out these traditional bibimbap recipes:
My Interpretation
As I mentioned above, I didn’t have all the ingredients or tools that are usually used for bibimbap, so I had to get a little creative. I didn’t have a stone bowl, so I had to sacrifice that crispy rice bottom. 😭 Also, I didn’t have any gochujang, so unfortunately I didn’t have that wonderfully salty-spicy-sweet sauce to go on top. I ended up adding some kimchi, which is not usually served on bibimbap, but it was still delicious.
Make Your Bibimbap Your Own
This dish is totally flexible and you can add or remove ingredients as you see fit. Pickled vegetables are fantastic in bibimbap, so if you want to take a few extra minutes to pickle your carrots or cucumbers, you won’t be sorry. You can find directions on how to pickle carrots here, and you can use this cucumber salad as a guide for the cucumbers.
While it looks like there is a lot going on in this bowl, I promise it’s super quick and easy. If I hadn’t been stopping to take photos every few minutes I probably could have finished prepping the ingredients for the bowls in about 30 minutes!
Meal Prep it!
Bibimbap is perfect for meal prepping. Simply pack up about four bowls at a time in resealable containers and refrigerate the grab-and-go lunches. You can either fry up an egg fresh each day, or substitute the runny-yolk fried egg with a hard boiled egg.
Love bowl meals? Check out our Bowl Meal category for more easy one-bowl meals that work great for meal prep!
Bibimbap – The Ultimate Bowl Meal
Servings 4Ingredients
RICE
- 4 cups cooked jasmine rice ($0.75)
SAUTEED SPINACH
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
- 6 cups fresh spinach, loosely packed ($1.72)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil ($0.11)
- Pinch of salt ($0.02)
CHILI GARLIC BEEF
- 1/2 lb ground beef ($1.99)
- 2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce ($0.13)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.09)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.04)
FRESH VEGETABLES
- 1 carrot ($0.11)
- 1 cucumber ($1.69)
- 2 green onions ($0.21)
OTHER TOPPERS
- 4 large eggs ($1.08)
- 1/4 cup kimchi ($0.82)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds ($0.08)
Instructions
- If your rice is not already cooked, begin that first and prepare the rest of the bowl ingredients as the rice cooks. You’ll need 4 cups cooked rice.
- Prepare the sautéed spinach next. Heat a large skillet over medium flame and add the cooking oil. Swirl to coat the skillet, then add the fresh spinach. Sauté the spinach for a few minutes, or just until it is wilted. Drizzle the sesame oil over top and season lightly with a pinch of salt. Remove the spinach from the skillet to a clean bowl.
- Add the ground beef to the skillet used to cook the spinach. Cook the beef until fully browned, then add the chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Stir and cook for about one minute, or until everything is evenly mixed and the beef is coated in sauce. Turn the heat off.
- Prepare the fresh vegetables. Peel and grate the carrot using a large holed cheese grater. Thinly slice the cucumber, and slice the green onions.
- Fry or soft boil 4 large eggs (Or however many bowls you plan on eating immediately. If meal prepping, cook the egg fresh each day.)
- Build the bowls by first adding 1 cup cooked rice to the bowl, followed by 1/4 of the cooked spinach, 1/4 of the ground beef, some sliced cucumber, shredded carrots, a cooked egg, an a tablespoon or so of kimchi. Sprinkle sliced green onions and sesame seeds over top. There are no hard measurements needed for each ingredient per bowl, just divide the ingredients evenly or as you see fit.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
Bowl meals are so great because every bite gives you a unique mix with a little of this or a little of that. No two bites are the same!
How to Make Bibimbap – Step by Step Photos
Cook your jasmine rice first so that it can you can prepare the rest of the ingredients as it cooks. You’ll need four cups of cooked jasmine rice.
Add 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil to a large skillet and heat it over a medium flame. Add 6 cups of loosely packed spinach and sauté just until it’s wilted (this only takes 2-3 minutes). Once wilted sprinkle 1 tsp toasted sesame oil over top along with a pinch of salt. Stir to combine.
This is the ingredient that I get the most questions about, so I want to show it here. This is toasted sesame oil, which is made from sesame seeds that have been toasted before pressing. Toasting the seeds gives them a super strong nutty flavor. It’s best to be used as a finishing oil (after cooking) and a little bit goes a long way. Some brands don’t specifically say “toasted” on the label, but you can tell it’s toasted by it’s darker brown color and it’s usually sold in a very small bottle. Regular sesame oil (untoasted) is less expensive, usually comes in larger bottles, and is a light straw color. You can usually find this in the International food aisle of major grocery stores and I’ve found great prices at Whole Foods (365 brand) and Trader Joe’s.
Remove the spinach from the skillet and add 1/2 lb. ground beef. My skillet still had enough residual oil from the spinach that I didn’t need to add any more for the beef (WIN). Cook the beef until fully browned, then add 2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes more, or until everything is well mixed and heated through. Remove the beef from the heat.
This is the chili garlic sauce I used. It’s super inexpensive and can be used in a lot of sauces and marinades. It’s basically just a chunky mix of red chiles, garlic, and vinegar. You can also use sambal, or in a pinch Sriracha.
Finally, prepare the fresh vegetables. Peel and shred one carrot (I use a large-holed cheese grater). Slice one cucumber, and slice two green onions. Make sure to slice those cucumbers very thin. You can cook your egg(s) while you do this. I suggest either frying or soft boiling so that you have a nice runny yolk.
And then just throw everything together in a bowl! There is no hard or fast rule for proportions of the ingredients, just divide them up evenly or however it works for you. Start with a cup of rice, then 1/4 of the beef, 1/4 of the spinach, some of the shredded carrots, some sliced cucumber, about 1 Tbsp kimchi, and your egg. Then just sprinkle some green onions and sesame seeds over top and you’re done!
Seriously. Best. Meal. Ever.
Use this all the time. Easy for left over veges. Easy to have in the freezer to take to work
This is SO good and super easy! I have never liked kimchi, however, I tried the Cleveland Mild Kimchi with this and it’s delicious!!! My husband and son love this too! Will be making this regularly.
Absolutely delicious and easy to make. This will go into my rotation.
I’ve followed the website for years, and come back to this recipe time and time again for meal prep. I usually double the ground beef and skip the egg since I’m taking it to work. Thank you so much for all you do in keeping us healthy and on budget
I love Bipimbap!! First had it when I visited South Korea and ate it every chance I got. One of my favorite parts is when the sizzling pot of Bibimbap is placed in front of me. I usually ordered mine with out meat, just the fried egg, but the meat seasoning in your recipe sounds delicious. Will be making this soon; thank you for bringing back great memories for me with this recipe
I’m a huge Budget Bytes fan and have been sleeping on this recipe for way too long. I loved it, especially the chili garlic beef. So many veggies too!
I have had this every Monday night for the last 2 months! I hate mushroom texture, but we got some white mushrooms on clearance and I ended up dicing them with a food processor and adding them to the meat when I add the sauce. You can not tell they are there which is awesome so you can still get those nutrients. And it kind of doubles the meat!
One of the yummiest recipes we’ve ever had!
Love your combo! Coming from a half Korean, I know that craving far too well. My mom makes the best Korean food. One of my favs is to use mixed spring greens and tuna. Add in all the veggies, egg, sesame oil, short grain rice and some red pepper paste and you are set!! I look forward to trying out the garlic chili sauce and jasmine rice to mix it up! Thanks for sharing. 😀
This sounds so good! I’ve never made anything like this. The crispy bottom is a great touch of added texture. I can just imagine a runny egg mixing well with everything else!
This is so tasty! I subbed turkey for the beef because it was cheaper, and I couldn’t taste the difference. Highly recommend. Another winner, Beth!
SO EASY to make! great meal for when you want something quick. i opted for riced cauliflower instead of rice and didn’t feel bad about over indulging one bit!
Turned out fantastic. Really loved it. However, I did not do the spinach for personal preference, and i used a special chili oil for the rice which complimented the ground beef perfectly. Quick to make as well. Cheers!
I make this recipe a lot and love how easy it is, and how customizable as well! Raw snow peas are my favourite addition., and I add mushrooms when frying the beef, or just forgo the beef entirely and fry a bunch of mushrooms in the sauce and it’s always delicious. A great fridge clearer!
I am so happy I made this! I was very skeptical about this recipe because it didn’t seem like something I would eat but I wanted to try something new. This might be a new favorite lunch. I love how you can really customize this dish to what you have on hand. I used kale instead of spinach and because I didn’t have siracha I added red pepper flakes and garlic powder to my meat. I also added half an avocado in my second bowl, a fantastic addition. I can’t wait to play around with this recipe some more :)
So good!
As always we love Beth’s recipes! This was really easy and delicious. Recommend topping with kimchi, so good. We will definitely add this to the rotation. The only thing we did differently was no egg because I was extra lazy tonight.
Great recipe! My bf and I make this a lot and love it. Very filling and nutritious
Loved this Bibimbap. Made basmati rice in pressure cooker while prepping. Subbed gochujang for chili garlic sauce, Tamari for soy & sauteed bean sprouts(blanched for a couple of minutes and tossed with a bit of sesame oil) for cucumbers. The recipe received rave reviews Will definitely add to collection!
First time making this dish and we loved it! I’m going to check my store for the kimchi and gochujhang to add on it next time.
Super flavorful! You can taste all the ingredients individually and then it all comes together in one big flavor explosion! I had to substitute the cucumbers with raw zucchini and it worked well. My 7 yo, 4 yo, and 2 yo LOVE IT!
Followed the recipe with the following changes – subbed caulirice, didn’t add brown sugar to ground beef, guochang instead of kimchi (too lazy to go buy it) and I used the pickled carrots recipe linked above the recipe. So good and a super quick recipe too! Will definitely be adding this one to my rotation.
Do you have a specific brand of kimchi that you prefer?
My favorite brand right now is Wildbrine. It’s a little expensive, so I have to stock up when it’s on sale. It’s a vegan kimchi, so it doesn’t have a strong fishy flavor like a lot of kimchi.
I really love bibimbap. The first time I tried this Korean rice dish, I was in love of this food. Its delicious and healthy. Can’t wait to try it at home
This was DELICIOUS! Time after time, your recipes save the day for me. I have Celiac and get super bored with the same old food. Every time I come here I’m like “Ohhh that looks really good!” And it is!!! Thank you for all these amazing recipes!
Thank you so much Bex!
Would you recommend using a lean ground beef? Haven’t made anything close to this. I don’t have much to compare it to but, I’m just guessing with the flavor profile of the meat a lean grind would lend itself better to the sweetness?
FYI, this is delicious and easily made vegetarian by using crumbled tofu or seitan crumbles prepared with (a little more) of the seasoning recommended for the beef!
We cook this once every 2 weeks in my house! Absolutely flavorful, healthy with good vegetables, easily modified for what you have on hand! Delicious flavor with such variability in taste- YUM!
Good God this is delicious and now a staple dish in my house
My family was thoroughly impressed with the turnout. It was absolutely delicious and incredibly easy to make. I added some gochujang to the meat but otherwise left the recipe as is. Thank you so much for what you do.
I prefer to eat with soy sauce with and chili. Great recipe btw
All in all, this is a good recipe, but it was a little too sweet for me.. I’ll try again and cut back the sugar used in the pickling process, and use the traditional sauce instead of the chili/soy/brown sugar mixture
After sitting on this recipe for awhile, I just made it a few days ago. The beef is much spicier than I remembered it being the last timeI had made it. Was the beef portion of the recipe revamped? I vaguely recall having to click on a second recipe for the beef rather than having it all in one. Or, maybe it’s just been too long since I’ve made it. My husband and I love it, but my kids aren’t jazzed this time with the extra kick of spice… thoughts?
Nope, I haven’t updated this one. :)
THIS WAS AMAZING
Made it exactly the way it was written. I used pickled carrot recipe as suggested. And it was SO GOOOOOOOD.
Hi Beth! I’m really craving this dish, but I’m doing the vegetarian challenge. 😕 think subbing mushrooms for the beef would work? Cut the sauce portion a bit? Any thoughts… Thanks!
Definitely! That’s a great option. You can even finely chop the mushrooms so they have a similar texture to the ground beef. :)
Please don’t even call this bibimbap. Everyhing is wrong, and that sauce clearly says “vientnam” on the bottle. Also, bibimbap doesn’t take kimchi in it. Oh, and also, you’re never supposed to shred carrots. You should julienne them. GAWWD. Who wrote this fake recipe?
geez. The author clearly acknowledges this is not authentic, but her “me” version….
I actually have to agree this is not authentic bibimbap You have to have gochujang sauce (korean red pepper paste)2 tablespoons sesame oil 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon of water 2 teaspoons minced garlic trust me this is a huge difference with the authentic sauce Yes,i know it’s the authors me version but koreans never use rooster sauce sirracha for authentic bibimbap JS
Pretty sure ‘authentic’ wasn’t mentioned anywhere, GAAWWWDD 😒😒
Lighten up, Francis, aka Justin Kim!!! Its just a recipe for crying out loud!! Don’t sweat the small stuff.
I made this for my family (mom, husband, aunts, cousins) and everyone was happy to customize to their tastes and dietary preferences. It was a big hit! I sub pea pods for the spinach because I prefer the texture. Delicious!
How long do the bowls Keep once you prep them (without the egg)?
4-5 days :)
Great recipe, and easy to follow! I thought I had the chili garlic sauce at home, but it turns out, I had the chili paste (same brand). Since it seemed more concentrated, I only used 1 tbsp and added one clove of minced garlic. It tasted great! I also topped my bowl with a drizzle of gochujang for some extra spice.
I also eat it along with soy sauce combined with sugar and chili.
Made this this morning for my lunches this week! Only changes: used Doc Praegers Korean burgs – made them crispy in a pan- and will have to skip the egg because of work (sad face). Love the chili garlic sauce. Perfect for the budget theme since gochujang is so flippin expensive👍🏻. Luv yer ideas!
Can I substitute the chili sauce for Gochujong? Really hoping to try this tonight :-)
Absolutely, that will be more authentic. :)
Do you have an idea how much gochujang you would sub? Equal amounts? If not, I’ll experiment! Thanks!
You can just add a little dollop to each bowl, in any amount that you like, maybe 1/2 Tbsp or so. :)
I’ve never tried the chili garlic sauce you show, but I bought it, and wow! Going to be keeping that on hand. This was a great recipe, and everyone in the house liked it. I also like that this is able to have ingredients added or taken away and still works. I added shiitake mushrooms , red peppers, and zucchini – which was also a nice way to use some extra veggies I had. Doing a bit of research I saw that gochujang would make this more authentic, so I’ll be trying that next time as well. :)
This is JUST the best- I always thought it would be SO hard to make, but here it is, easy, tasty and filling. mmmmmm It introduced me to the joys of toasted sesame oil, which is now a staple.
This recipe sounds amazing, and I want to make it for meal prep this week. How do you recommend storing and reheating it? I’m thinking just the rice, meat, and spinach should get reheated, and the other ingredients should be packed separately to combine at the end? Peel my soft boiled egg at work?
Like the recipe but why oh why did you not add gochujong (sp?), that’s really the dominant flavour in any bibimbap I’ve eaten living in Korea.
I just didn’t have any. Now, luckily, I feel like it’s in EVERY grocery store! Yay!
Love, Love, LOVE this! It’s fantastic as written, but it’s also so adaptable to whatever I might have on hand. I’ve thrown in your Thai cucumbers, hot carrots, pickled red onion as well as sub shredded cabbage or Brussels sprouts for the spinach. I don’t eat much red meat, but your chili garlic beef in this recipe is outstanding.
I too love bowl meals! Would it be possible to tag your “bowl meals” with that name? I want to try them all! Beautiful pictures and even more awesome: Great step by steps! Love your site!
I can’t even thank you enough. As a college student who sucks at cooking you have been a lifesaver. The recipe really cost more like $10, since I bought multiple carrots, cucumbers, 1 lb beef, etc. but I was able to make about 4 servings with leftover vegetables for my next set of meals which I consider a huge success!
Yay! That makes me so happy! :D
Mm so good! The runny egg yolk is key in my opinion! I need to figure out those sizzling hot bowls next. Thanks.
My husband and I absolutely LOVE this recipe! We’ve made it twice in the past three weeks. ;-) It tastes so authentic. We feel like it’s restaurant quality. This recipe gets 10 out of 10 stars from us!
Keep up the great work, Beth!!! We appreciate you!
GREAT meal to sub in random leftovers. For a no rice twist, boil cabbage!
Pro Tip: Save the water from the boiled cabbage. Drink it like tea, and it’s SUPER refreshing on a cold day.
Assalamu’alaikum
I ask permission to download bibimbap images for my school tasks about entrepreneurship
may be useful, thanks
Wassalamu’alaikum
Yes, you have my permission to use the photos for your school project.
I’m living in China right now and need to cook almost all of my own food because of stomach issues, and since I’m in a small town there are almost no ingredients here that I’m familiar with. But, I was able to make almost exactly this! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Made this tonight and it was like being back in Korea! I live in a small town and wasn’t able to find chili sauce so I used a Korea BBQ sauce instead and it was delicious!!
Do you have any suggestion for a chili garlic sauce substitute? It feels weird just omitting it since it’s a full 2tbsp. I have some stomach issues with anything remotely chili-related, sadly. :(
Yep, I often do a simple garlic, soy, brown sugar sauce for my dishes that is similar without being spicy. I would combine 2 Tbsp soy sauce with 1 Tbsp brown sugar and one clove of minced garlic. That should do the trick!
Thanks Beth! It worked wonderfully. Came out amazing.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Tried it for my family. Pinned and shared on my fb page.
Yesterday we went to a Korean restaurant, and I requested a bibimbap dish. It came cold, and I didn’t enjoy it. The server asked if the dish was to my liking and I expressed my disappointment about it being cold. She came back with the dish reheated and it improved the taste. server said that Bibimbap is usually served cold. So what is the truth? Thanks.
There are a few differing versions from what I’m finding in researching your question. There is one which is served cold like a Korean version of carpaccio. Then there are others like Beth’s recipe above that is served warm. I’m also reading that some restaurants serve it cold in summer and warm in winter.
It either comes cold or sizzling in a hot stone dish. Both are delish but the hot stone bowl is the best, in my opinion. They normally ask at the Korean restraints which way you want it.
Pretty flippin miraculous👍🏻 Had no ground anything so used chicken thighs marinated in the chili garlic sauce mix and broiled them. Have I told you I’m thankful for you? I am. Hope you had a good thanksgiving.
Thank you, Karen. :)
This recipe sounds yummy. Does anyone have a lead on reasonably priced Bibimbap bowls? Do you have a preference, stone or clay?
I love making bibimbap. I make it with chicken, pork, or flank steak, and I saute my veggies in sesame oil with a splash of mirin. It’s a great way to use up veggies in the fridge.
My husband likes a mild version, but for me, no bowl of bibimbap is complete with gochujang, the fiery, sweet Korean paste. I’m looking forward to trying your version!
I think this is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever eaten.
This was very satisfying! I love eating bibimbap at Korean restaurants (my favorite is in a hot stone bowl) but this was a good substitute that I could make myself.
Only change that is highly suggested is to add gochujang sauce. I bought some at my local not fancy grocery store, they had it in the asian food section. This sauce is red chili paste and it is savory and sweet and the perfect addition.
You forgot the gochuchang. It’s not bibimbap if there is no gochu. Try it in either the stone bowls or lodge has 9 inch woks. The rice gets nice and crispy.
You should eat it with a spoon. I’ve never seen people eating Bibimbap with chopsticks.
This may not be completely relevant because of the other hot ingredients and since it’s not typically Asian, but spinach works extremely well with walnut oil. I’d use that if toasted sesame oil isn’t available.
If you put a lid on the pan while frying the eggs they should get some cooked egg white over the yolks, just like they’ll have in your fav. Asian restaurant.
What is Kimchi? What other sauce could I use that I might have on hand. I have 4 of those 9″ pans.
Kimchi is a fermented cabbage condiment. It’s optional, so you don’t have to replace it with anything, but any type of chili garlic sauce would also be good.
This was awesome!
I made a few alterations: served this over rice noodles instead of rice, and used TVP in place of the ground beef, since my fiancee is (mostly) vegetarian. I rehydrated 1 cup TVP in 1 cup beef broth–like I said, mostly vegetarian–with a splash of liquid smoke and a small shake of MSG, and sauteed it for a little before adding the chili sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. The bowls were an awesome mix of tastes and textures, and I’m sure we’ll make this recipe again!
Nice! I was just eyeing this and going to use TVP also. Thanks for the recipe you used.
I’ve been inspired by your meal prep posts, so I thought I’d try and adapt this recipe to meal prep for the week. Almost identical, but no kimchi (since we couldn’t get ahold of any) and double the beef to make up for no egg (since I didn’t think they would last well in the fridge).
I just finished the first one for lunch today, and good grief is it delicious! What a wonderful meal.
This recipe was so amazing. I wasn’t sure how the ground beef was going taste, instead of the traditional beef in Bibimbap but I loved it!! Going to add this meal to my rotation.
I highly recommend using Gochujang (a red pepper paste) for the beef! It’s amazing too.
I didn’t have the same sauce as Beth so I eyeballed an analogous amount of gochujang instead. SO GOOD.
This recipe is SO GOOD. It is definitely in my top five favorites from your site, and that is saying something. LoL I had never tried kimchi before, but I found some in a jar at Walmart, and I am in LOVE. I could eat this every day for the rest of my life. Thanks for this one! <3
Please for the love of god get kimchii from a proper korean market.
For such a simple sauce, it is amazing how tasty and filling this meal this is. The soft cooked egg adds so very much texture and flavour.
This, and your other recipes, have helped us to reduce our monthly food budget, increase our vegetable intake, and improve our overall eating habits.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for the Korean joy! I’d strongly suggest a fast brine of the cucumber using the Momofuku cucumber recipe (search). I think it is critical to have the Kochujang sauce to give it some kick; it adds cost, but lasts forever and works on many dishes.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I had only had Bibimbap one other time (from a food truck) and I loved it, but I live in a pretty red-neck kind of town so it’s not something that we regular access to. My family was skeptical about the kimchi (found it in the organic section of our grocery store) and the fried eggs on top, but they all went to town on it! My four year old especially loved it… he wasn’t even halfway through his dinner and he was asking for me to make it again! I know in the future I won’t be quite so careful with the chili paste and the kimchi (I wasn’t sure how hot they would be together, so I took it easy). This is a wonderful addition to my recipe rotation.
I just stuffed my face with this and it is so good! I used rice noodles because I was not waiting for the brown rice I have in my pantry to cook. That made chopsticks a little difficult to use, but it worked! I’ll definitely return to this recipe again.
The only thing we changed was using ground turkey instead of beef. I’ve never had bibimbap, but holy cow, this is so delicious. I pickled the carrots and cucumbers using the provided recipes and they were the perfect touch. I will definitely keep this recipe. Thanks!
I love bibimbap and this looks so good! We recently did a kind of Mexican riff on bibimbap (tho everything was cooked) and it was a bit inspired by you! :)
Chorizo, onion, white corn, spinach, and some of your super tasty enchilada sauce (I already had some leftover in fridge along with these other ingredients that needed to be used up) over rice with a fried egg and some avocado slices on top and, of course, a sriracha swirl! DELISH!
Thanks for all that you do! I love this site and am constantly recommending it to friends.
I love it! Great idea! :D
Made this tonight, WOW this is good! I served mine over cauliflower rice, yum.
This is the best dish I’ve ever made. So delicious! I will make this again and again.
I made this last night and it was FANTASTIC! If I had more ingredients, I’d just make it again tonight. Definitely going into the regular rotation!
Tweaks that worked out well:
– Per the suggestion of other commenters, I bought some gochujang and swapped it in for the chili garlic sauce.
– Because I made a bit too much rice and spinach, I cooked an entire pound of ground beef (so I doubled the beef seasoning ingredients).
– I quick-pickled the carrot and cucumber in white vinegar with a bit of sugar (a trick I learned from a banh mi recipe).
Thanks so much for sharing this!
Beth, my husband says he doesn’t like kimchi. I haven’t tried it – is there something else I could sub? Pickled red onions? Thanks!
Yes, any pickled vegetable would be great in this bowl. :)
I had to change some ingredients due to what I had on hand, but this dinner was a hit in my house. My husband tasted it, looked at me, said, “Damn woman, hot damn.” (which is considered the highest compliment).
I’m looking forward to making this again, but next time with fresh ginger too! Great job!
Hahaha I love it! :D
I made this recipe last night. My girlfriend and I loved it! The flavors were fantastic. I will make this again for sure! Thank you Beth
Can I make it with frozen spinach? Fresh one is hard to come by where I live this time of the year.
Yes, you could sauté a little frozen spinach and toss it in your bowl. :) The texture won’t be quite as good, but it will work in a pinch.
This was really excellent! Very satisfying and filling. Pickling the carrots the night before was worth it – not hard to do and added great flavor. I ended up using ground turkey instead of beef because that’s what I had on hand. Can’t wait to eat it again for lunch tomorrow.
I was actually quite shocked at just how delicious this was! I didn’t add any chili garlic sauce because of my husband but did add a bit of garlic powder. I put sriracha on mine. My 2 & 4 year olds gobbled it down and one cried because there were no left overs :)
Yum! Made this tonight, Beth — and it’s a winner! I was a little worried about all that chile garlic sauce being too much for 1/2 pound of ground beef but it was fine. Next time I’ll do the egg for my son (I don’t do runny yolks). To sub the kimchi, I used “Southern-style kimchi” also known as chow chow! It was delicious! And I think next time I will make my Refrigerator Pickled cucumbers to go with this recipe — there’ll be a next time!
Thanks for all your great recipes!
I like making bibimbap with sauteed mushrooms and fresh bean sprouts. The last time I made it, I wasn’t vegan yet and could put an egg on it. If i wanted to recreate a similar dish, I think I’d make some pan-fried and seasoned tofu to replace the egg and then come up with some kind of savory sauce to replace the runny yolk (although a runny yolk is so hard to replace ;D)
I made this today, it was so yummy and easy! I don’t have gochujang, but I did have chili garlic sauce. I went to the store and gochujang was $5.99 so I said no thanks and used what was already in my pantry :) very good!
LOL….I suggest you get a better paying job
Beth (and all)–
Love the meal bowl concept but almost all pictures of the bowls are taken from directly above. No real sense of depth or breadth of the bowl itself. Is there a standard size for such bowls? Are we talking 8 oz, 16 oz, 32 oz? Two inches deep, four inches deep, etc? Help!!
You can get an idea of the size of the dish, Perry, by looking at the ingredients and dividing by the number of servings specified. In my mind, I’m calculating that you would want a sixteen ounce or a little bigger container, three or four inches tall. Remember, a ‘bowl’ recipe may be served in a bowl or a plate. The beauty is that it can be served in one dish and eaten with just a fork so it is easy to arrange and pack. Hope this is helpful!
The particular bowl that I was using is rather wide and shallow, but I would say that this bowl meal is about 2-3 cups in volume. :)
Speaking as a half-Korean who lived in Korea, bibimbap is often served in big bowls. Like, the food shouldn’t fill more than 2/3 of the bowl. The first thing you’ll do when you eat bibimbap is give it a real good stirring to mix up the rice, vegetables, egg yolk, and gochujang (fermented chili and bean paste). The big bowl helps ensure you don’t have ingredients flying all over the place when you stir.
Also, I haven’t tried the sauce Beth recommends, but if you can get your hands on some gochujang, I’d recommend trying it. It’s used in lots of Korean food, and I personally think it tastes great with eggs.
Made this last night – yum! Boyfriend had never heard of the dish and loved it, too. I found some kimchi at the Asian store but forgot to add it. Didn’t bother pickling the vegetables, but I bet that would take it to the next level. Next time.
If you can find it cheap, pickled seaweed is fantastic with these sort of dishes.
Love this recipe one of the easiest recipes I have seen. I made it vegetarian (because I am vegetarian) and I had to sub the cucumber for green beans and I also sub the garlic chili sauce for Sweet Spicy Thai sauce and added extra garlic because I didn’t have those ingredients but it really good and pretty easy to make.
Just made this for dinner! It was excellent :) The flavours really come together and that runny egg yolk is the perfect addition. I used both of the pickled vegetable recipes you provided and was happy with how straightforward they were (I’ve never pickled anything before and was worried I would mess it up!). Thanks for a great recipe!
Yummmmm!!!!
Omg, I can’t believe that I can’t wait to try this! (But I’ll probably make sure the yoke is hard.) Also going to get the Korean Chili Sauce! And try it all with tuna too! Thanks so much to everyone!
Should use gochujang instead of the chili garlic sauce for authentic bibimbap.
Yum! This looks so good
Get yourself a bottle of Gochujang (Korean chili sauce)! You’re already in the Asian food isle for this recipe and it’s pretty cheap. It’s really similar to the chili sauce you used here, but more of a paste, so you could swap out or use as an additional condiment. It is so good, you’ll start putting it on everything.
I love the idea of bowl meals but I worry that they will be rather dry, not saucy. Any thoughts? I love all the ingredients though!!
Between the slightly saucy beef, the kimchi, and the yolk I felt this one had plenty, but you could always add some sriracha. :)
Can’t wait to try this!! I love bibimbap!
I live in Korea and this meal is definitely a staple here. Swap out the beef for some canned tuna to make it even cheaper and, if you can find it, add some gochujang (a spicy chili paste) to your rice before mixing everything. So simple yet so fantastic.
I love the tuna idea!
Omg that looks amazing!
Yay, I’m so glad you finally have a bibimbap recipe on here! As someone who’s been eating bibimbap since a young age (courtesy of my Korean grandparents), I support and appreciate the spreading of the gospel of bibimbap to the world. If you have the budget/desire to make it a bit more “authentic”, a bibimbap must for me is the kongnamul muchim (AKA bean sprout salad), which is basically just boiled bean sprouts with sesame oil, garlic, and soy sauce. Also, bibimbap usually has a dollop of red chili paste sauce on it, (here’s a recipe if you want it http://www.food.com/recipe/kochujang-sauce-190227) but plain ol’ sriracha will definitely do in a pinch – I’ve definitely supplemented what the takeout places provided sauce-wise with a good helping of sriracha!
Do yourself a favor and spring for some gochujang, it’s a Korean spicy chili paste. They have it at Whole Foods but if you go to an Asian grocery store it’ll be way cheaper (and plus, Asian grocery stores always have amazing prices on fruits and veggies). Bibimbap just isn’t the same without it.
My mouth is watering right now!!! I can’t wait to make this recipe for lunch!!! :-)