If you are looking for the perfect 20-minute meal, these easy Korean chicken rice bowls are the solution! With a perfectly balanced sauce of ginger, garlic, gochugaru Korean chilli flakes, and a little sweetness from a secret ingredient, every bite is packed with flavor. Topped off with seasoned, quick-pickled cucumbers, this Korean chicken bowl recipe is fresh, bright, and the perfect meal prep or make-ahead meal.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 20-Minute Meal: By using ground chicken, you do not need to spend any time prepping chicken breasts or doing a lot of chopping. These rice bowls are perfect for nights when you are scrambling for time, or when you're looking for a quick work-from-home lunch. Another quick bowl-inspired meal is these Vietnamese pork vermicelli bowls.
- Easily customizable: This recipe is a great base to start from, but you can use any vegetables or add-ins that you have on hand. These bowls are a great way to use up what you have left in your fridge or to use vegetables that are in season.
- A great meat alternative: This recipe is a fantastic way to use up boring ground chicken. Ground chicken is also usually slightly less expensive than whole chicken breasts or thighs, which is a budget-friendly swap when meal-prepping.
- Delicious, fusion recipe: These bowls are not an authentic Korean dish. This recipe is a fast, simple, and easy way to enjoy your favorite Korean food flavors, with a little bit of added fusion. This recipe is also a fantastic shortcut to enjoying tons of flavor in a short time.
Ingredient Notes
- Ground Chicken: Ground chicken is usually made with a mix of white and dark meat. The mix of dark meat helps keep the chicken moist and prevents it from drying out when cooking on high heat. You can use lean ground chicken which is made with all white meat, which will work just as well in these rice bowls.
- Brown Sugar: I recommend using dark brown sugar for the sauce since it has more molasses added to it. The molasses helps to caramelize the ground chicken as it cooks, which also adds some extra texture.
- Soy sauce: Be sure to use light soy sauce in this recipe. Light soy sauce is the most commonly found variety that is sold at the grocery store. If it is not labeled as dark soy sauce specifically, chances are it is light soy sauce. I recommend using reduced-sodium soy sauce so that you can control the salt levels to your taste.
- Pear: A regular bosc pear works just fine for this recipe. You want to choose a very ripe pear, even borderline mushy, as it will blend into the sauce smoothly and will likely be sweeter in flavor.
- Korean chili flakes: Korean chili flakes are known as gochugaru. Gochugaru is not overly spicy and has notes of sweet fruitiness. You can find gochugaru next to the gochujang in the grocery store.
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
Substitutions
- Ground chicken: Feel free to use sliced chicken breasts, chicken tenders, or even boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of ground meat.
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar or honey will work in place of dark brown sugar. You can use granulated white sugar if that is what you have on hand.
- Soy sauce: Substitute soy sauce with coconut or liquid aminos, or tamari.
- Rice Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is the closest substitute to rice vinegar. It has a similar sweet-and-sour balance to rice vinegar. You can also use white wine vinegar if that is what you have on hand.
- Korean chili flakes: Substitute chili flakes with a spoon of gochujang sauce instead. You can also use a pinch of red chili flakes if that is what you have on hand.
- Bosc pear: You can go the more traditional route and use an Asian pear for the sauce. A Bartlett pear will also work just as well in the sauce.
- Quick-pickled cucumbers: Swap these with homemade dim sum cucumber salad as a topper.
Variations
- Extra fresh vegetables: Add in your favorite fresh vegetables like broccoli or bok choy. You can also saute red or green bell pepper with the chicken mixture for some extra bite and texture.
- Top with an egg: For an extra layer of protein and a fancy garnish, top your rice bowls with soft-boiled eggs.
- Korean fried chicken: If you have ever tried Korean fried chicken, you know that it is delicious. These Korean chicken rice bowls will work with fried chicken tenders, too!
- Creamy avocado: Add slices of ripe avocado with the cucumber salad for a layer of creamy texture.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
Collecting all ingredients: This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
Cook rice: Prepare a batch of your favorite white rice - I recommend jasmine rice for these bowls. You can cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stove.
Prep the cucumber: Add the thinly sliced cucumber to a medium bowl, along with the vinegar, sugar, and gochugaru. Mix so the cucumber slices are coated, and set aside.
Grate the cored and seeded pear on the large holes of a box grater on top of a small bowl. Be sure to catch the juice from the pear as you grate it. [photo 1]
Transfer the grated pear to a large bowl with the soy sauce, sesame oil, Korean chili peppers, and remaining sauce ingredients. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until the pear has completely broken down and the sauce is smooth. [photos 2 & 3]
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 ½ tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the ground chicken to the hot skillet, and let it sit untouched for 1-2 minutes. After 1-2 minutes, start to break the ground chicken into bite-sized pieces or crumbles and cook for 2-3 minutes while tossing occasionally.
Once the chicken is almost cooked through, add the pureed Korean BBQ sauce to the skillet and lower to medium heat. Toss the chicken in the sauce until everything is coated well.
Add the frozen edamame beans to the chicken mixture, and saute until the edamame is heated through and the sauce has thickened. [photo 4]
Assemble the bowls with a base of cooked rice, and a serving of the ground chicken mixture over top. Finish with the sliced cucumbers, and optionally green onions and sesame seeds.
Expert Tips
Allow the chicken to caramelize: Give the sauce enough time to coat and caramelize the exterior of the chicken. This adds more texture to the rice bowls but also amps up plain ground chicken.
Extra garnish: For more crunch and flavor, garnish the finished bowls with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Substitute for immersion blender: If you do not have an immersion blender, you can blend the sauce in a small blender or a food processor. You want to puree the pear into the liquid completely.
Keep some leftover marinade: If you like your bowls even saucier, reserve a little bit of the sauce for drizzling over the top of the rice bowls when serving.
Make Ahead & Storage
The sauce can be prepared 2-3 days in advance. Store in an airtight container or jar, and keep in the fridge until you are ready to use.
Leftover chicken or assembled rice bowls can be stored in airtight containers for 2-3 days in the fridge. Allow the chicken and rice to cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge.
Reheat leftover ground chicken and rice in the microwave. To keep the rice moist, add a splash of water or cover it with a wet paper towel.
Serving Suggestions
Rice: For an alternative to regular white rice, swap with cauliflower rice or even jazzed-up coconut rice, by cooking jasmine rice in coconut milk.
Vegetables: You can serve the Korean ground chicken mixture on top of sauteed vegetables, or with homemade garlic green beans.
Salad: Top your favorite salad greens, or butter lettuce with the cooked ground chicken mixture for a delicious, filling salad that is inspired by bold Korean flavors.
Recipe FAQs
You definitely can freeze these chicken rice bowls. I recommend freezing the ground chicken mixture and the rice in separate freezer-safe containers. Thaw before reheating and serving.
The key to keeping the chicken moist is to cook the mixture on high heat, and fast. Once the sauce has thickened and coated the exterior of the chicken pieces, remove from the heat and serve.
Easy Korean Ground Chicken Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 500 g Ground chicken
- 1 cup Edamame - frozen
- 2 cups Jasmine rice - cooked
Marinade
- 1 Bosc pear - cored and seeded
- 2 tablespoon Brown sugar
- ⅓ cup Soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup Gochugaru - Korean chili flakes
- 5 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger - minced
Cucumber Topping
- ½ English cucumber - thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon Rice wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon Granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon Gochugaru - Korean chili flakes
Instructions
- Add the thinly sliced cucumber to a medium bowl, along with the vinegar, sugar, and gochugaru. Mix so the cucumber slices are coated, and set aside.½ English cucumber, 1 tablespoon Rice wine vinegar, ½ tablespoon Granulated sugar, 2 teaspoon Gochugaru
- Grate the cored and seeded pear on the large holes of a box grater on top of a small bowl. Be sure to catch the juice from the pear as you grate it.1 Bosc pear
- Transfer the grated pear to a large bowl with the soy sauce, sesame oil, Korean chili peppers, and remaining sauce ingredients. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until the pear has completely broken down and the sauce is smooth.2 tablespoon Brown sugar, ⅓ cup Soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Sesame oil, 1 teaspoon Rice wine vinegar, ¼ cup Gochugaru, 5 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon ginger
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 ½ tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the ground chicken to the hot skillet, and let it sit untouched for 1-2 minutes. After 1-2 minutes, start to break the ground chicken into bite-sized pieces or crumbles and cook for 2-3 minutes while tossing occasionally.500 g Ground chicken
- Once the chicken is almost cooked through, add the pureed Korean BBQ sauce to the skillet and lower to medium heat. Toss the chicken in the sauce until everything is coated well.
- Add the frozen edamame beans to the chicken mixture, and saute until the edamame is heated through and the sauce has thickened.1 cup Edamame
- Assemble the bowls with a base of cooked rice, and a serving of the ground chicken mixture over top. Finish with the sliced cucumbers, and optionally green onions and sesame seeds.2 cups Jasmine rice
✱Recipe Notes
- Allow the chicken to caramelize: Give the sauce enough time to coat and caramelize the exterior of the chicken. This adds more texture to the rice bowls but also amps up plain ground chicken.
- Extra garnish: For more crunch and flavor, garnish the finished bowls with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
- Substitute for immersion blender: If you do not have an immersion blender, you can blend the sauce in a small blender or a food processor. You want to puree the pear into the liquid completely.
- Keep some leftover marinade: If you like your bowls even saucier, reserve a little bit of the sauce for drizzling over the top of the rice bowls when serving.
Crystal Miller says
This was very good. My family loved it. I didn’t have the pepper flakes but added gochughang paste instead and loved it