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.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
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!