The most perfect summer meal – Beef Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps!
You know those meals that are easy to prep, can be served al fresco and just require your friends or family to DIY their own plate? This is one of those! And you’ll find the recipe itself to be fantastic and then it’ll lead to some lounging around after dinner just enjoying your company and basically licking your plate clean.
I’ve been making these Beef Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps since back in the private chef days. They were always a hit with my clients as they are packed with flavor, a fun dinner item and can be made into incredible leftovers.
The meat is marinated in sesame oil and soy sauce along with pear for some sweetness and garlic, all of which leads to some truly flavorful meat.
A few tips and tricks before you whip this up.
- You might want to make a double batch so you can eat some leftover Beef Bulgogi over a rice bowl the following day. You can add it to my fried rice recipe and it’s incredible.
- Make sure you freeze the meat for 30 minutes before slicing and marinating. This allows you to slice SUPER thin strips of beef which will cook more quickly and make for the best bulgogi.
- I use a hanger steak often when making this (it’s my favorite cut of beef) but you can use Ribeye too!
- If you don’t want it too spicy, you omit the red pepper flakes – but don’t fear – the spice really enhances the dish!!
Okay – away you go!!
Beef Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
For the Beef Bulgogi
- ¼ pear grated
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated and peeled
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 pound trimmed hanger steak
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- Kosher salt
For the Scallion Salad
- 8 scallions thinly sliced on a bias
- 1 cup cilantro leaves picked off and stems removed
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- Salt to taste
To Serve
- Bibb Lettuce
- Steamed White Rice
Instructions
- Freeze the meat for 30 minutes.
- While the meat is chilling, combine the grated pear, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes and sugar in a large zip-top plastic bag.
- After 30 minutes of chilling, use a sharp knife to slice the meat into very thin strips. Add the meat to the marinade and mix everything together until evenly coated. Let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour, or chill in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet or cast iron or wok over medium-high. Remove half of meat from marinade, letting excess drip back into bag. Season lightly with salt and cook in a single layer without moving until lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes to create a golden sear. Toss meat and continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until cooked through and crisp at edges, about 3-4 minutes total. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, remaining meat, and more salt. Discard excess marinade.
- To make the scallion salad, combine the scallions, cilantro, sesame oil, rice vinegar and sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Toss to combine. Season with salt as needed.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe from What’s Gaby Cooking
Sounds delicious – can this be made with chicken or does that defeat the point?!
It can! It’s called “dak bulgogi” when you use chicken.
Any kind of lettuce wrap is my jam!! This sounds really flavorful and delicious, as well as EASY!!!
I have that defective “cilantro tastes like soap to me” gene. Do you think parsley would work or just skip it?
just use extra green onions / scallions!
Great idea. Thanks for the tips also. Have a pleasant day !
Yah I need these stat!!
Love the use of the pear in the bulgogi!
I like making Chicken Fried Rice with soy sauce.
ok- I am freaking out. My stomach is growling looking at these pictures and I know I have to make this!
We love lettuce wraps!
Great recipe, but I’ll be honest sometimes too many ingredients make me shy away from trying it. I love lettuce wrap though so will give it a go.
Soy sauce, garlic and ginger sound like a great combination! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Looks delicious! I am going to try this recipe
These wraps look delish! I can’t wait to try soon!
I will definitely try this recipe! I love lettuce wraps!
I have been craving bulgogi beef since I had it recently in San Fran!! This looks so good!
Beef bulgogi is one of my favorite dishes EVER! I totally need these in my life!
I just can’t resist a delicious lettuce wrap! Gorgeous!
Look at these gorgeous wraps! Perfection!
BULGOGI is one of my favorite dishes, love the Bibb Lettuce wrap idea.
Now THIS is a lettuce wrap I can get on board with!!
I love lettuce wraps – all the flavor and fewer calories. I’ll try this.
This really sounds delicious. Going to give this a try.
I would LOVE to try a lettuce wrap like this. Looks amazing!!
westiemks5 at yahoo dot com
I haven’t had Beef Bulgogi in too long — I need to try this recipe at home!
This looks incredibly good!!
My kids enjoy this beef over Jasmine rice! I like to make it often with a fruit alas on the side.
These are so perfect for my new diet thanks for sharing this one.
I absolutely must, must make this!!!
We love to eat lettuce wraps – looks wonderful
This looks amazing, I bet it packs quite the flavor PUNCH!
It looks great, especially the Scallion Salad…yum!
So simple but very tasty. I love this.
Tweet – https://twitter.com/willitara/status/833568164243968000
My favorite dish to cook with soy sauce is chicken fried rice but I’ve been wanting to try lettuce wraps for a while now, I’ll try this recipe soon
tweet entry – https://twitter.com/iamdadtastic/status/833601163505176576
That looks yummy
these look delicious – i need to try them
Looks really good! Thanks!
LPT: If you’re lucky enough to live in a major city in California you can almost bet you’ll be able to find a korean market where you can buy pre-marinated bulgogi meat and save an extra step 😛
This was a fan favorite at our home! The scallion salad was such a yummy topping. Will need to double it next time.
I have made these twice with beef. Then, once I substituted chicken thighs. This recipe is so flavorful.
I told my husband this tastes so much better than lettuce wraps in a restaurant.
Thanks, Gaby. From Gabby.
I made the Beef Bulgogi for a special New Year’s Day Dinner for 2! Amazing flavors! Me and my hubby loved it. Definitely going in my recipe collection. I added some extra chives since I was low on scallions and live butter lettuce was all I could find. Thank you for this great recipe!
This was really delicious!! Was planning on saving the leftovers for lunch the next day, but there were zero leftovers!! I’m sure it would be just as great leftover – will definitely make again!
What can you sub for pears if they aren’t in season?
So good and very quick to prepare. Slightly shocked how damn good this is for minimal effort. I used flank steak and marinated for 8 hours. I added the garlic to the marinade, although it’s not listed in the ingredients to mix in.
I cook for my family a minimum of 5 times a week. Never once have I made a recipe two weeks in a row, let alone three times! This is one of the best recipes I have ever tried! Thank you so much for sharing!
Delicious. The meat is incredible and the crunchy lettuce wrap.is the perfect accoutrement.
These lettuce wraps are delicious and have become a family favorite!