Korean Bibimbap Recipe with Ground Turkey - The Schmidty Wife (2024)

An easy Korean Bibimbap Recipe ready to eat in under 30 minutes! The Bibimbap ingredients start with healthy ground turkey and include carrots, mushrooms, spinach, Gochujang sauce, and more! Specifically made in mind for the whole family as each item is cooked separate yet fast for customizable bowls for adults and all the way down to toddlers!

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Easy Ground Turkey Bibimbap

For those of you who haven’t become familiar with this dish yet, Bibimbap is a delicious Korean meal comprised of meat, vegetables, rice, and Gochujang sauce, translated it means ‘mixed rice’ and is pronounced BEE-bim-bap.

For those who have had it before buckle up because this healthy homemade version is about to become your new favorite!

What are the ingredients in Bibimbap?

Great question. There are many varieties of this dish but most of them have the basic elements.

Bibimbap is an ancient dish with humble beginnings, it is said to have originated with farmer’s wives who were often too busy to make a traditional full meal so they took what was available, often leftover vegetables and meats. These would be put on top of rice with an egg and the meal was served.

Fast forward to now Bibimbap is still a rice bowl with meats and veggies. The meats most often seen are beef and chicken, vegetarian versions you will see tofu and in this version we see ground turkey!

Bibimbap is traditionally flavored with sesame oil and Gochujang sauce. You will see both of these in this recipe as well as a little soy sauce to ensure the ground turkey develops flavor.

Gochujang sauce can tend to be quite spicy so in my version I avoid putting it on anything while cooking and serve it on the table, this way kids and people not keen on spicy foods can enjoy the meal too!

Beyond the rice, meat, and sauce a variety of vegetables are cooked and plated with a fried egg. In this recipe I tried to stick with readily available produce that can be found easily at the grocery store.

The last thing that still is technically a vegetable but helps add to the healthiness of the meal in kimchi. Kimchi is fermented cabbage, often spicy it adds a ton of flavor plus the fermentation is great for gut health!

Recipe for Bibimbap Bowl

In my opinion for what bibimbap is it has a pretty short list of ingredients and most of them being fresh vegetables!

To make this recipe you will need:

1. Cooked Rice: Get my blog post on how my Foolproof Method for Cooking Rice on the Stovetop
2. Ground Turkey: I use lean 93% fat but any variety will work here
3. Soy Sauce: Regular works perfect for giving the turkey lots of flavor, but you can use low-sodium if you are sensitive to salt
4. Sesame Oil: You will find this in the Asian section of your grocery store, a little goes a long way with adding flavor to your dish
5. Carrot: 1 large carrot put through the grater, for a short cut you can by pre-cut carrots
6. Baby Spinach: I use a whole 5oz container, this will seem like A LOT but it wilts down A LOT
7. Shiitake Mushrooms: Save yourself sometime and grab pre-sliced pack if they have it
8. Bean Sprouts: Adds a refreshing layer to this dish, and giving them a quick cook really sweetens them up
9. Eggs: an egg to top each bowl, try to keep the yolk as runny as possible, it really adds to the flavor of the dish as you eat it
10. Kimchi: for plating you are going to want a nice helping of kimchi on each bowl, I have never had the time to make it at home myself but if you have homemade kimchi use it, otherwise you can find it in the refrigerator at the grocery store
11. Gochujang Sauce: gochujang can be pretty spicy so I put it on the table and let people serve themselves how much they want, even if you aren’t a big spicy person I recommend just adding a little for full flavor
12. Sesame Seeds: for plating and adding that fun finishing touch

Now you know what you need lets dive in!

Now each element will be cooked seperatly. If you roll your eyes at that process there are 3 things you can do:

1. Suck it up and do it.
2. Have 2 skillets going at once, but caution that means cooking 2 things at once, which can be tricky if you are inexperienced.
3. Cook the vegetables all together in one pan, add things in order of how long they take to cook. Yes you won’t have that beautiful bowl at the end BUT it will be a ton faster, and to be honest you are going to mix it all up with the rice right away anyways!

Last thing to note before you start cooking make sure your rice is already cooked or get it started cooking so it is ready when you are ready to eat!

So now to cook!

Start with the turkey, heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot add ground turkey and the soy sauce. Cook and crumble until fully cooked 6 to 7 minutes. The turkey should have soaked in most of the soy sauce but any remaing liquids from cooking should be drained out. Transfer the turkey to a plate, cover to keep warm.

Next you will cook the vegetables. With the skillet still over medium-high heat begin cooking the vegetables one by one in batches with the following cooking times. Add a bit of oil to the pan if needed (ex: spray olive oil).

• Shredded Carrot: 2 to 3 minutes
• Shiitake Mushroom: 4 to 5 minutes
• Baby Spinach: 1 to 2 minutes (until wilty)
• Bean Sprouts: 3 to 4 minutes
• Eggs: 3 to 4 minutes (or to liking)

When each batch is done, transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Once everything is cooked the Bibimbap bowls can be assembled.

Evenly distrubute rice between large bowls and top with the cooked turkey, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, kimchi, an egg, and top with sesame seeds. Serve with Gochujang sauce for people to serve themselves.

BUT what if you have little kids you are feeding this too??

Serving Korean Bibimbap Bowls to Kids

This is actually a pretty easy meal to serve to kids for one big reason…

EVERYTHING IS SEPARATE!

I know A LOT of kids don’t like things touching so that is a bonus about this meal and that everything is cooked separately. So if this is your case it makes it really easy to plate!

Now just because everything is cooked separate doesn’t mean you shouldn’t challenge them to try a little bit of everything. Don’t be afraid to offer them a bean sprout or a piece of kimchi even if they won’t like it. It is a chance to teach them to have courage and being adventurous to try a new unusual food. Heck my 4 year old recently told me he thinks he actually likes kimchi now after a long time of refusing to try it!

With this meal I know my kids, as most will go after the rice, turkey, and egg. This is great, all healthy options for kids, and if they choose to taste the vegetables that is FANTASTIC!

One thing to note, is if you know your kid isn’t crazy about a fried egg you can take the extra minute and make their egg into a little batch of scrambled eggs if they prefer it that way.

Remember kids are learning even when they are eating dinner so some great talking points are:

• The colors in this dish: So many fun colors between the different vegetables.
• Eating utensils: Traditionally people use chopsticks or spoons to eat this meal. How do they eat it? (Bonus: I have these Children’s Animal Chopsticks from Amazon and my kids LOVE them)
• Korean culture: For a little bit older kids, do they know anything about Korea? Show your kids North and South Korea on the map!

(And yes I am aware I forgot to put a piece of kimchi on the kid’s plate photo)

Love Asian Inspired meals? You might like these:

• Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
• Asian Chopped Grilled Chicken Salad
• Grilled Pork Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwiches)
• Ground Pork Stir Fry
• Easy Pork Fried Rice
• 20 Minute Chicken Stir Fry
• Shrimp Stir Fry
• Crockpot Beef Pho
• Shrimp Banh Mi

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