Beef Bulgogi Bowls
with Pickled Cucumber & Sriracha Crema
- Sesame
- Soy
- Wheat
- Milk
This hearty bowl highlights Asian-inspired umami flavors and centers around ground pork browned and simmered in a savory miso-based ginger sauce with nutty sesame seeds. There’s also crisp quick-pickled cucumbers, tender sautéed cabbage and carrots, and spicy crema, all served over fluffy rice. And believe it or not, it’s ready on the table in just 20 minutes (or approximately 7 K-pop songs).
Ingredients
½ cup
Jasmine Rice
2 unit
Scallions
5 teaspoon
White Wine Vinegar
1 unit
Cucumber
4 ounce
Red Cabbage and Carrot Mix
10 ounce
Ground Beef
1 tablespoon
Sesame Seeds
(Contains: Sesame)
4 ounce
Umami Ginger Sauce
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
3 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Sriracha
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
½ teaspoon
Sugar
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • In a small pot, combine rice, ¾ cup water (1½ cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve. • Meanwhile, trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens.
• In a medium bowl, combine half the vinegar (you’ll use the rest later), ½ tsp sugar (1 tsp for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. • Trim ends from cucumber. Using a peeler, shave cucumber lengthwise into ribbons, rotating as you go, until you get to the seedy core; discard core. Stir cucumber ribbons into bowl with vinegar mixture. • Set aside, tossing occasionally, until ready to serve.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and carrot mix; cook, stirring, until just tender, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. • Transfer to a plate.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add scallion whites; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. • Add pork and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Stir in half the sesame seeds (save the rest for serving) and remaining vinegar. Cook for 30 seconds, then stir in umami ginger sauce. • Bring to a simmer, then immediately turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper.
Simply cook through this step as instructed, swapping in beef or organic beef for pork.
• While pork cooks, in a small bowl, combine sour cream with Sriracha to taste. Stir in water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt.
• Fluff rice with a fork; stir in 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) and season with salt and pepper. • Divide rice between bowls; top with pork, cabbage and carrots, and pickled cucumber (draining first). Drizzle with Sriracha crema. Garnish with scallion greens and as many remaining sesame seeds as you like. Serve.
Ground Beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the sweet-and-savory bulgogi sauce, though some found it too sweet; the pickled cucumbers added a nice tangy contrast 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make, with most praising the simple steps and pre-prepped ingredients like shredded carrots.
- Suggestions: Consider using steak strips instead of ground beef for more authentic texture; some preferred less carrots and more rice.
- Leftovers: Several mentioned it reheats well the next day, with the pickled cucumbers developing even more flavor over time.
- Texture: Customers enjoyed the mix of crunchy pickled veggies, tender beef, and fluffy rice for varied textures in each bite.
Reviews from our home cooks
I love Bulgogi Bowls! HelloFresh introduced me to this masterpiece of Asian cuisine last time I used their service - and it's one of the recipes I kept making even after I stopped! I prefer to pickle radishes or cabbage instead of the cucumbers, but that's what I love about Bulgogi Bowls... you can make them with whatever sides you like! A little spicy, a little savory, a little sweet... a little warm, a little cool... a little soft, a little crispy, crunchy... deliciousness.
Easy and quick yet delicious. Pickled cucumber added the perfect touch. Carrots at first seemed a weird choice but mixed with the rice and Crema made a vegetable everyone loved. Saved the recipe and will be making again if I can find the stuff at the store. One of the best dishes so far.
I think calling this bulgogi is a misnomer. First, it was unclear that this was ground beef, which is not what you typically think of with bulgogi. The beef at 15% fat was definitely fatty and much more fat than we are used to buying. It would have been interesting to pickle the carrots, too. The crema was interesting, but again, not typically served with bulgogi. I am not a huge traditionalist, but this recipe just felt underwhelming.
I live in a military community and I eat a lot of bulgogi from local restaurants. I have never had cucumber served on my bulgogi. Mostly carrots and yellow onion mixed with the beef. I have never had a crema served on it either. Next time, I would make a side of cucumber kimchi on the side and not use the crema. I missed the taste of the meat!
Love the dish minus the sour cream/siracha mixture. But it's just an extra add-on at plating so easily avoidable lol! LOVED the chillness of the cucumbers mixed with the warm beef bulgogi and carrots. Omg. I was so full and satisfied after :)
I'm not sure if this is my problem or not, but I am very picky about Korean themed recipes. If I were to make this more authentic I would add Korean chili flakes and sesame oil to the pickled cucumber. I was not entirely enthusiastic about the sauteed carrots as they were just bland. Loved the bulgogi beef though, and the only suggestion I would make there would be to add minced garlic. It was not at all terrible though!
The Beef Bulgogi bowls are so delicious! It took a little longer than expected to make the recipe, but it was worth it! I would definitely make this again.
So yummy. The crispness of the cucumber and carrots went so well with the bulgogi beef. I'll be getting this one again for sure!
Coming from Korean heritage, these Beef Bulgogi Bowls were so comforting. They were delicious and easy to make considering traditional bulgogi.
The Beef Bulgogi is my all-time favorite of the Hello Fresh offerings that I have received so far. Really enjoyed the pickled cucumber. I thinly sliced them and was very pleased with the results. The remaining ingredients melded well with flavors I thoroughly enjoyed!
