Korean Beef Tacos are a complete explosion of flavor! The tasty, marinated beef is loaded into charred tortillas and topped with a quick and crunchy veggie slaw and a delicious Sriracha-lime sauce.
Korean Beef Tacos
These tacos have been a while in the making. We found a fun hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant months ago that had near perfect ratings on Yelp. And after trying their beef tacos, my husband begged me to re-create them. It took a few tries to get them just right, but my husband will tell you he likes this even better — score! Honestly, the beef alone is good enough for a meal!
The marinade is super simple but results in some seriously flavor-packed beef. If you don’t want to go to all the effort of making tacos, whip up some rice and top it with this beef (maybe a little Sriracha mayo too?).
Below I’ll break down the different components of these Korean beef tacos and give a little more detail for each component — the tortillas, beef with marinade, slaw, and sauce! It sounds like a lot, so I’ll also suggest some ways to simplify.
Ingredients In Korean Beef Tacos
- Tortillas: I prefer street-sized flour tortillas, quickly charred or warmed for the best flavor and texture, either by charring directly over gas flames or warming in a nonstick skillet.
- Beef and marinade: If flank steak isn’t available, alternatives such as flat iron steak, hanger steak, or skirt steak can be used.
- Slaw: You can adjust spice levels according to preference.
- Optional Sauce: The sauce has only five ingredients. I recommend adding the Sriracha gradually, to personal taste and spice preference.
Quick Tip
Sometimes a grocery store will label a flank steak under a different name such as a London Broil, Flank Steak Fillet, and/or Jiffy Steak. When in doubt, ask the person at the meat counter. If you can’t find a flank steak you can use flat iron steak, hanger steak, or skirt steak with this recipe.
Korean Beef Taco Notes
- Spiciness. Overall, I’d say this recipe is fairly mild, but it certainly has some heat. To reduce the heat almost entirely, remove the Sriracha from the slaw and reduce the amount in the sauce. To add more heat, add an extra drizzle of Sriracha or Gochujang Sauce to the tacos.
- Make sure the skillet is hot before you add the marinated beef. High heat sears the surface of the meat, resulting in a juicier beef with an amazing char. (Char/color on the beef = flavor).
- Don’t overcrowd the skillet with beef –this lowers the temperature of the skillet and keeps the beef from charring nicely. Give the meat plenty of space to cook!
Simplify these Korean Beef Tacos
- Serve over rice: Skip the tortillas and slaw. Add the marinated and cooked beef and some sauce on top with some avocado or (raw) matchstick carrots
- Replace the slaw: Use regular shredded cabbage (red or green) instead of the full-blown slaw recipe included.
- Simplify the sauce: Make a super-simple Sriracha mayo — just mayo (1/4 cup) and Sriracha (2-3 teaspoons)! Or just drizzle plain Sriracha over everything (or use gochujang sauce).
More delicious taco recipes
- Ground Beef Naan Tacos with a simple herb sauce
- Chicken Tinga Tacos with quick pickled red onions
- Asian Chicken Tacos with a mango slaw
- Pinto Bean Tacos with avocado and fresh corn
- Baked Chicken Tacos with a cilantro-lime sauce
Korean Beef Tacos
These Korean Beef Tacos are a complete explosion of flavor and texture! The tasty marinated beef is loaded into charred tortillas and topped with a quick and crunchy veggie slaw and a delicious Sriracha-lime sauce.
Ingredients
Steak & Marinade
- 2 pounds flank steak
- 1 tablespoon ginger root peeled and chopped
- 1/3 cup regular (not lite) soy sauce
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon EACH: toasted sesame oil, fresh lime juice
- 1 packed cup coarsely chopped yellow onion
- 1 packed cup coarsely chopped Fuji apple
- 4 cloves garlic
Quick Slaw (OPTIONAL -- See Note 1)
- 4 cups finely shredded green cabbage
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 1 cup matchstick-cut cucumbers (~2-3 Persian/Salad or 1 English cucumber)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (~1 bunch, stems and leaves, measure before chopping)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons EACH: regular soy sauce, rice vinegar, white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon EACH: toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
Sauce
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons regular mayonnaise (we love Hellman's/Best Foods)
- 2-1/4 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
- 1 teaspoon EACH: white sugar and garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons lime juice + 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
- Fine sea salt and pepper
Tacos
- Street-size flour tortillas + olive oil cooking spray
- Optional: additional lime wedges and cilantro for serving
Instructions
- STEAK MARINADE: Remove flank steak from packaging and pat dry all over with a paper towel. If the flank steak is wider than 4 inches, cut in half lengthwise. Then, against the grain, very thinly slice the flank steak into small strips. Place all the cut steak pieces in a large plastic bag. In a large/powerful food processor (or blender) add all the marinade ingredients. Pulse to finely chop and break down ingredients until you have a thick paste. (I know, it does not look appetizing!) Pour over the steak and then seal the bag without air. Massage the marinade into the steak and refrigerate for at least an hour up to overnight. (Even with just an hour of marinade time you'll still get lots of flavor!)
- SAUCE: While I'm making the marinade I like to also whip up the sauce so it can chill and get more flavorful. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir briskly until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, but add to preference). Cover and store in the fridge until ready to eat.
- SLAW: Combine all the ingredients listed under "slaw" (from cabbage to Sriracha) in a large bowl. Toss gently with tongs until well combined. Toss a few more times and right before serving. (See Note 1)
- COOK BEEF: Set out the beef for about 15-20 minutes before cooking (if it's super cold it will make the pan cool/meat less juicy). Set a large, heavy, non-stick pan on high heat for about 1-2 minute(s) without adding anything. We're going to cook the meat in batches now: use tongs to grab some of the meat and marinade and add to the hot pan. Quickly separate the meat into an even layer (so the meat is not overlapping/over-crowded). Meat should make a loud sizzle when added to the pan (this is how you know the pan is hot enough). Let the meat stand for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned and then flip and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for another 2-3 minutes or until the beef is cooked and the marinade has caramelized on the meat. Transfer to a plate, cover with foil, and quickly wipe down the skillet with a paper towel and repeat until all the beef is cooked through.
- ASSEMBLY: Warm or char tortillas (See Note 2). Add beef, slaw, and lots of sauce on top! Enjoy immediately.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: If you don't want to make the slaw, these tacos are still extremely tasty. I'd recommend just adding a handful of green cabbage (tossed in a little soy sauce) for some crunch.
Note 2: To char the tortillas: Spray both sides of the tortillas with olive oil cooking spray and char the tortillas directly over the gas flames for a few seconds. Use tongs to flip until tortillas are lightly charred and soft. Immediately fold the tortilla in half (so it will fold into a taco nicely later) and place it under a towel to keep warm. Alternatively, warm tortillas in a large skillet over medium heat (in batches so the skillet isn't over-filled). Flip to warm each side, remove from heat, fold in half, and place under a towel to keep warm.
Nutrition
Calories: 480kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 1290mg | Potassium: 1255mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 9448IU | Vitamin C: 76mg | Calcium: 158mg | Iron: 5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
All of your tips on preparing and cooking the flank steak were so helpful. It was very flavorful and really tender. Dinner was a great success, and we loved these tacos! I decided to use my large cast iron pan to promote browning, but it was a bear to clean between batches of steak and also when I was done. Did you specifically recommend a non-stick pan for a reason? I bet the excess marinade would have wiped off more easily. I had to scrape it with a spatula!!! I should always listen to you!
I am so happy to hear this! For easy clean up non-stick is definitely best! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂
Im allergic to eggs so I replaced the mayo w/sour cream .YUM..YUMYUM
Great idea 🙂
These are fantastic! Highly recommend!
So glad you enjoyed these! Thanks Louie!