A fun and delicious spin on traditional tacos! These fully loaded Korean Ground Beef Tacos are ready in 30 minutes, full of flavor, and topped with crunchy cilantro-lime slaw and the best sriracha crema sauce!
I love Korean beef (aka bulgogi); it packs so much flavor, is slightly sweet, and can be served multiple ways. We’re talking inside tacos (my favorite), a bun, or lettuce, even served over steamed rice!
The beef is cooked to perfection in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, brown sugar and a few other staple seasonings. YUM.
But, what I don’t always love is how long it takes to prepare. Traditional Korean beef is made using steak, which has to marinate for at least a few hours and is typically grilled. Both take time.
That’s where ground beef swoops in for the win! Ground beef is my jam. It makes its way into a lot of my meals because it’s so easy and can be used in so many ways. Well, that and we always have ground beef in our freezer. Perks of raising your own. You can find beef and pork in multiple freezers on our farm at any time. I’m talking steaks, bacon, ham, all the good stuff.
Ground beef works perfectly in these tacos! It’s cooks up in less than 10 minutes and still has the same incredible flavor that you get when you use steak.
And because tacos need all the toppings, and I’m always the girl all about the toppings, I’ve got you covered there, as well!
Tacos require both something crunchy and something creamy. These have both! A super easy and light cilantro-lime slaw that packs a tang from the lime juice and has a slightly sweet touch from honey. The finishing touch is the sriracha crema, which is made with only a few staple ingredients, and only takes a minute to throw together using essentially sriracha, sour cream and mayo. Plus, this crema can be used in so many other ways. It’s really good on roasted brussel sprouts and salmon (YES. Try it before you knock it) or traditional tacos!
If you’re feeling fancy, you can also add some kimchi, fresh cilantro leaves, fresh jalapenos, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice to top it all off! Lots of options.
Let’s talk farm life for a minute. We’ve had a lot of new baby calves lately. Although they are super cute, teaching them how to suck when they are only a few days old can be challenging. So, they have to be fed one at a time so you can help them learn, which is time-consuming.
When it comes to feeding our calves, we kind of take a non-traditional route. We basically let them eat until they cut themselves off or we can tell that they are full and are just eating because the milk is there. That said, our young calves eat up to 2 full bottles at each feeding, which happens in the morning and night. And, each bottle has 6 pints of fresh whole cows milks from their moms.
As well, another non-traditional thing we do is feed our calves milk until they are about 6 months old. My brother decided to go this route because he said that it’s better for their health. Traditionally people wean (take them off of milk) their calves at 6-8 weeks old.
I guess we just march to the beat of our own drum. That’s probably why my family become one of the first 50 Organic Valley farmers (which now has about 2,000 farmer members) and were one of the first farms to join Organic Valley’s Grassmilk program. Meaning our cows eat a diet that consists only of fresh pasture and dried forage (aka hay). This results in milk that has a richer flavor and higher levels of Omega-3s and CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). I’ll let you do your own research, but they’re both good for human health and maintaining a healthy weight.
As for my family, we drink milk straight from our own bulk tank.
More of my favorite ground beef recipes:
- Grandma's Ground Beef, Zucchini and Sauerkraut Hotdish
- Slow Cooker Chili Cheese Sloppy Joes
- French Onion Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
- Kicked-Up Tator Tot Hotdish
- Five Pepper Beer Chili
- Beer Cheese Burgers on Pretzel Buns
Korean Ground Beef Tacos
Ingredients
Cilantro-Lime Slaw:
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ small purple cabbage shredded
- ¼ red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup cilantro leaves
Sriracha Crema:
- ⅓ cup mayo
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 garlic clove minced
Korean Ground Beef:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1- inch knob fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound ground beef
For serving:
- Small flour tortillas
- Kimchi
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh jalapeno slices
- Lime wedges
Instructions
Cilantro-Lime Slaw
- In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, sesame oil, honey, salt, and pepper. Mix in cabbage, red onion, and cilantro. Set aside for serving.
Sriracha Crema
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sriracha aioli ingredients. Set aside for serving.
Korean Ground Beef
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all Korean Ground Beef ingredients, except for ground beef, to make the Korean sauce.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink, about 6-7 minutes. Drain grease if necessary. Reduce heat to medium and pour Korean sauce over ground beef. Simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring a few times, until sauce is slightly thickened and incorporated into the beef.
Assembling tacos:
- Place Korean ground beef in tortillas, top with cilantro-lime slaw, and drizzle with sriracha crema. If desired, top with kimchi, fresh cilantro, fresh jalapeno, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated by a third party software and is only an estimate, not a guarantee. This information is provided as a courtesy, and you are solely responsible for all decisions related to your health.
Allison Kosanda
I made these and they were awesome! I added sautéed onion and red and yellow bell bell peppers to the ground beef for a little extra and it was good like that but I bet it’s good without those veggies too!
Kim
I made everything as is, and wowww! I can eat that cilantro lime slaw all on its own everyday!
Rebecca Brekke
I love this recipe, I have made it several times!! Thank you
Modern Farmhouse Eats
Rebecca, I'm so happy you love the recipe! Thank you for sharing!