If you love bold Asian flavours, crunchy veg and saucy, savoury protein piled over fluffy rice, these Teriyaki Beef Rice Bowls are about to become your new Friday night obsession. Think crispy teriyaki beef, glossy sauce, and colourful toppings layered over white rice for a bowl that looks impressive but comes together surprisingly fast. It's the kind of delicious meal that feels like takeaway - but better.
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Crispy Beef In A Poke Style Bowl
We've been obsessed with rice bowls and poke-style bowls for years now. There's something about a base of cooked rice topped with loads of fresh veggies and a seriously tasty protein that just works. Traditional poke bowls often feature raw fish, but over time they've evolved into all sorts of creative rice bowls packed with flavour.
This recipe is our fusion of reader-favourite crispy chilli beef and our teriyaki recipes - and it works because you get that irresistible crunch coated in sticky sauce without sacrificing freshness.
Ingredient Notes
Here's everything you will need to make these crispy beef teriyaki bowls:
- Sirloin or Minute Steak. Thinly slicing against the grain gives you tender beef. If you prefer, rump works too. Avoid overly fatty cuts - they won't crisp as well.
- Sesame Oil & Soy Sauce. These build the base flavour. Use low sodium soy sauce if preferred. Coconut aminos also work for a slightly sweeter, lighter option.
- Cornflour (Cornstarch). This is essential for crispy teriyaki beef. It creates that light, golden coating when fried properly over medium-high heat.
- Egg. Helps the cornflour cling evenly to the beef strips.
- Vegetable Oil. Neutral oil is best for frying. You need enough for shallow frying - don't skimp or it won't crisp.
- Teriyaki Sauce. You can use a bottle of teriyaki sauce for convenience, or make your own teriyaki sauce (see below). Have more teriyaki sauce? Try our Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin Rice Bowls or Crispy Teriyaki Chicken next!
- Rice. White rice is classic, but basmati rice or brown rice work beautifully too. The fluffy base balances the savoury beef.
- Veg Toppings. Edamame beans, grated carrot, red bell pepper, cucumber and spring onions keep things fresh and colourful. Sesame seeds add texture and finish. But you can add things like mange tout, green beans, grated radishes and any other veggies you have in the fridge.
Find a full ingredient list, complete instructions and nutritional information in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step-By-Step Method
1. Marinate the Beef. Slice the steak thinly against the grain. In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, sesame oil and a pinch of brown sugar. Toss the beef and leave for 15-20 minutes.
2. Prepare the Rice & Veg. Cook your rice according to packet instructions. Fluff and keep warm. Prep the toppings while it cooks.
3. Coat the Beef. Crack the egg into the marinated beef and mix well. In a separate bowl, season cornflour with salt and black pepper. Toss the beef through until evenly coated.
4. Fry in Batches. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or large wok over medium-high heat. Fry the beef in batches for 2-3 minutes per batch until golden and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.
5. Make the Sauce Base. In a clean pan over medium heat, sauté fresh garlic, ginger and chilli flakes for about 1 minute. Stir in the teriyaki sauce mixture and warm gently.
6. Coat the Beef. Return the crispy beef to the pan and toss just long enough to glaze - 1-2 minutes only.
7. Assemble. Divide cooked rice between bowls. Top with teriyaki beef, edamame beans, cucumber, carrot, red pepper and green onions. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve immediately.
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
If you'd rather skip store-bought teriyaki sauce, this easy homemade teriyaki sauce takes minutes:
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon fresh garlic, finely grated
- ½ teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with a little water
Combine soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and sesame oil in a small saucepan. Heat gently over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the cornflour slurry and heat just enough to thicken. That's it - your own quick teriyaki sauce ready to use.
Variations
- Quick Pickled Onions or Cucumber. Toss thinly sliced red onions or cucumber with rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar for 10 minutes.
- Add Pineapple. Pineapple chunks bring sweet contrast to crispy teriyaki beef. Or try it with our Cucumber and Pineapple Salad.
- Radishes & Kewpie Mayo. Grated radishes with a spoonful of mayo add crunch and creaminess.
- Swap the Sauce. Skip teriyaki and use Chinese BBQ sauce instead - equally delicious.
- Switch the Rice. Make seasoned sushi rice with rice vinegar for a teriyaki beef poke bowl feel. Or use cauliflower rice for a lighter option.
- Use Lean Ground Beef. You won't need to coat it in cornflour, and you have crispy beef, but it still makes fantastic, easy teriyaki beef bowls. Ground turkey will work too!
Recipe Tips and FAQs
- Coat the beef thoroughly in cornflour for maximum crunch.
- Fry in batches - overcrowding lowers the temperature and causes steaming.
- Keep the oil hot before adding each batch.
- Don't let the beef sit in the sauce too long before serving, or it will lose its crispy texture.
Yes, but your beef will lose its crispy texture. For best results, store beef, sauce and cooked rice with veggies separately in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Briefly re-crisp the beef in an air fryer or a dry pan, then coat with sauce just before serving.
Yes, but it won't be crispy teriyaki beef. It will still be tasty and works well for easy dinners on busy weeknights.
More Rice Bowls To Try
These teriyaki beef rice bowls are bold, crispy, fresh and utterly satisfying - and very likely to become a family's favourite. You'll find plenty more bowl-style easy recipes below - perfect for meal prep and quick weeknight dinners.
Teriyaki Beef Rice Bowls
Ingredients
For The Crispy Beef
- 200 g (7 oz) sirloin steak or minute steak fat trimmed off, cut into thin strips
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 small egg or just an egg white
- 120-150 g (¾ cup) cornflour corn starch
- a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste
- 120 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil for frying
Sauce
- ¼-½ teaspoon chilli flakes red pepper flakes
- 1 heaped tablespoon ginger peeled and very finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and very finely chopped
- 4 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
Rice and Toppings
- 210 g (1 cup) rice
- 90 g (½ cup) edamame beans
- 1 large carrot coarsely grated
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 90 g (3 oz) cucumber cut into thin semi-circles
- 1 spring onion green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cut the meat into thin, long strips, slicing against the muscle fibres. Place them in the bowl and add sesame oil, caster sugar and soy sauce. Mix and set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare all the fresh vegetables for topping your rice bowl.
- Crack a small egg (or just an egg white) into your beef and mix to coat. In a large mixing bowl, mix the cornflour and season with some salt and pepper.
- Then handful by handful, allwing excess egg to drip off, add the beef and mix with your hands until all the beef strips are fully coated and no longer stuck together. If you see any uncoated or clumped together beef strips, add a little more Shake off any excess cornflour and place the coated beef strips on a clean plate.
- At this point, cook rice following the packet instructions.
- Heat oil in a small pan or a wok. Once hot, add ⅓ of your beef and fry for 1-2 minutes, until crispy. Transfer cooked beef on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the rest of the beef. You can use a large pan or wok, but you will need to add a lot more oil for the beef to submerge in oil. It is important, however, not to overcrowd the pan if you want your beef crispy.
- In a separate large frying pan, add a small splash of oil and saute garlic, chilli flakes and ginger for 1 minute over low-medium heat.
- Reduce the heat to low, add the teriyaki sauce (if it's very thick, add a splash of water), mix and allow to warm up for 30-60 seconds.
- Add the crispy beef to the pan and stir just enough to coat and for the beef to warm through again.
- Divide the rice between bowls. Arrange the teriyaki beef, edamame beans, cucumbers, grated carrots and bell peppers. Sprinkle the top with spring onions and sesame seeds! Enjoy!
Nutrition
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