Korean Turkey Bowls in the hooouse. Super simple, fast, and easy! Only 10 ingredients! It’s perfect with rice, or even just simple lightly sauteed cabbage, or over baked potatoes. All three drizzled with yum yum sauce of course!
This is a 2-for-1 dinner. You make it tonight and have delicious hot Korean turkey bowls drizzled with yum yum sauce, creamy boiled eggs, sour kimchi (or any pickled veggie!), tons of crunchy carrots and cabbage, and the pies de resistance of any seriously flavorful food aka plain white rice. I’m really serious about the plain rice part. Flavorful foods needs a neutral buffer and I’ll be damned if any other ingredient does it better than plain white rice*.
*I don’t wanna hand in my Romanian card over this so I will add that mamaliga serves the job of white rice in our cuisine.
Back to the 2-for-1. Then you have leftovers that are equally as delicious. Honestly, I love this turkey in bowls but I’ve also spooned it over baked potatoes (crazy good y’all) and put it into sandwiches to create like a sloppy joe/loose meat concoction.
Then we have the sauce… ooh that sauce. It’s like the Hibachi restaurants answer to “fry sauce”. This one uses tomato paste which just knocks you with all that concentrated flavor. It adds creaminess to this dish and I love it. I mean the name is Yum Yum! That’s gotta tell you something about this dish.
I swear I am so dramatic when I talk about food. I feel like Marshall in HIMYM where he waxes poetic about the perfect burger. If you’ve never seen that bit then you need to click on the link, it is hands down one of the funniest moments in the show.
Other cozy and delish foods served in bowls with an assortment of toppings:
Simple veggie filled Thai Green Curry
One Pot Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
The Best Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
Healthier Cheeseburger Salad (I know what you’re thinking with this last one… “Did this woman really include a salad on a list for cozy bowl foods?!?” and yes, yes I did! This is a warm salad because the meat is warmed through and mixed with sautéed peppers, onions, and melty cheese. It meets my requirement for cozy bowl food)
Easy Korean Turkey Bowls with Homemade Yum Yum Sauce
Korean Turkey Bowls in the hooouse. Super simple, fast, and easy! Only 10 ingredients! Serve it with yum yum sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 tbs canola oil
- 1 tbs fresh ginger
- 4-6 cloves fresh garlic, smashed and diced
- 2 lbs ground turkey 93 lean/7 fat
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbs sugar brown, white, whatever
- 1 tbs sesame oil, plus a dash more
- 1 tsp red chili flakes Note 1
- 1 tsp sriracha or another Asian style hot sauce, Note 1
- 1/2-3/4 cup chopped pineapple, fresh or frozen Note 2
Yum Yum Sauce (makes a heaping 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1 tsp tomato paste Note 3
- 1 tsp white sugar
- pinch of salt, garlic powder, and paprika/cayenne (for color)
- 1-2 tbs water to make it drizzle-y
For serving
- Steamed Jasmine rice
- boiled eggs
- Chopped green cabbage
- Kimchi or Pickled vegetables
- Carrot ribbons
Instructions
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In a large pot, heat up oil over medium high heat then add ginger and garlic and stir until fragrant and lightly brown. Add ground turkey, and cook over high heat until turkey loses most of its pinkness.
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In a jar combine all sauce ingredients, shake and pour over turkey, mix together. Lower heat and cover pot and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until turkey is completely done. Meanwhile Combine all yum yum sauce ingredients in a jar, mixing to combine.
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Serve hot with rice, boiled eggs, pickled veggies, and plenty of yum yum sauce.
For meal prep: Store in a large container for 1 week. You can heat this up either in the microwave or on the stove top. Eat it on rice, or on sandwich rolls. Enjoy!
Store remaining yum yum sauce in the fridge in a covered jar for up to a week.
Recipe Notes
Note 1: If you don’t have both the dried chilis and sriracha you can just sub more of one for the other. I like using both because it makes the heat more complex.
Note 2: If you are using canned pineapple, either drain it or use the sweet juices in place of the added sugar. You can substitute the pineapple with fresh grated or finely diced pear.
Note 3: Tomato paste is super concentrated so it gives this the best flavor BUT you can sub ketchup if that’s all you have on hand. It will alter the taste but the spirit of the sauce is still there.
