High Protein, Low Calorie Sticky Korean Beef Bowl Recipe

If you’re trying to eat more protein or keep calories under control, meals definitely don’t need to mean plain chicken, rice and broccoli on repeat.

These sticky Korean-style beef bowls are packed with flavour, ready in around 20 minutes and deliver plenty of protein without piling on the calories. You get savoury, slightly sweet and spicy beef, fluffy rice and loads of crunchy vegetables all in one bowl.

Using extra-lean beef mince keeps the protein high and fat relatively low, while ingredients like soy sauce, garlic, ginger and gochujang give you a sauce that tastes far more indulgent than it actually is.

Perfect for a quick dinner, post-workout meal or meal prep for the next day.

What makes these high protein Korean beef bowls so good?

A good fat-loss meal needs to do more than simply be low in calories. If you’re hungry again an hour later, it’s probably not going to become a regular. And if the flavour is lacking, you won’t be bothered making again, no matter how high in protein it is.

High protein – extra-lean beef provides a big serving of protein to support muscle maintenance and recovery.

Around 240 calories – you get beef, and a tasty sauce, leaving you flexiblity around how much rice you want to add.

Ready in 20 minutes – there’s very little prep and everything comes together quickly.

Loads of flavour – sweet, salty, spicy, garlicky and slightly sticky. Definitely not boring diet food.

Great for meal prep – make a larger batch of the beef and you’ve got lunches sorted for the next few days.

High protein, low calorie – maximum flavour!

Sticky Korean Beef Bowl Ingredients (Serves 2)

500g 5% fat beef mince
1 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
2 tbsp gochujang paste*
3 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp water
1 medium carrot, grated
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
4 spring onions, finely sliced
Optional fresh chilli or chilli flakes

*If you can’t get hold of gochujang paste (often found in the Asian food section of most supermarkets): replace with 1 tbsp sriracha + 2 tsp tomato purée + 1 tsp honey.

Recipe Method

Start by making the sticky Korean-style sauce. Mix the gochujang, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, cornflour and water together in a small bowl until smooth.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat, add the oil and heat for a minute. Add the beef mince and cook for around 5 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Once the beef is nicely browned and cooked through, add the carrot, garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for a few minutes, until fragrant.

Pour in the sauce and stir everything together. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly. The sauce should reduce and become glossy and sticky, coating the beef.

Serve in bowls with basmati or jasmine rice and top with the cucumber and spring onions.

Add some fresh chilli or chilli flakes if you want an extra kick.

Make it even lower calorie

Want a bigger bowl without adding many calories? Reduce the rice slightly and add more crunchy vegetables. Shredded cabbage, peppers, edamame, broccoli or bean sprouts would all work well.

Meal prep

The beef is ideal for meal prep and can easily be scaled up.

Keep the cooked beef and rice refrigerated in airtight containers and store the cucumber and other raw vegetables separately so they stay crunchy. Reheat the beef and rice thoroughly before adding the cold toppings.

High Protein, Low Calorie Korean Beef Bowl Nutrition

This high protein, low calorie recipe serves 4.

Approx nutrition per serving (excluding rice): 239 Kcal, 8g fat, 14g carbs, 29g protein

More high protein, low calorie recipes

Eating well consistently becomes much easier when the meals you’re making are ones you’d choose to eat anyway.

These sticky Korean beef bowls tick all the right boxes: high in protein, sensible on calories, quick to make and packed with flavour. They’re also easy to customise depending on your goals, whether that means adding more carbs around training or loading up on vegetables when you’re keeping calories lower.

And when dinner takes 20 minutes and tastes this good, there’s really no need to settle for another plate of plain chicken and broccoli.

If you like this, check out some of our other high protein, low calorie recipes, like this Creamy Chicken Recipe or this Air Fryer Salmon Recipe.