Sweet and Spicy Beef

Other post title options:

It’s What’s for Dinner.

It’s what I wish was for dinner tomorrow.

It’s one of the quickest and most delicious things I’ve ever made at home…and you probably wouldn’t think so when you look at it.

sweet spicy beef 3

Maybe you’re the opposite of me and you have your life together.

Maybe…you don’t get into pajamas as soon as you get home from work. Maybe your kitchen is clean when you walk in the door and not full of cereal bowls that need to be washed and a sink of juice glasses and coffee mugs. Maybe you have hours to spend on dinner every night and you wear an apron so you don’t mess up your clothes.

I wish all that was me, but it’s not. After a 40 minute drive home from work every day, the last thing I want to do is wash dishes. And the next last thing I want to do is work on dinner for 2 hours and then wash more dishes. I really just want to sit and be lazy for a few minutes, an hour even. Maybe take a nap.

But since most of my nights are kind of mix of those 2 things (usually the sitting for a few minutes, minus the nap, plus all the washing of the dishes and definitely the pjs as soon as possible), quick dinners win out during the week.

sweet spicy beef 2

I love having a long, relaxing meal just as much as anyone else, but it’s not always possible after a long day of work when we’ve still got stuff to do around the house and no one else here to do it for me.

So – quick and easy it is! And if all my quick meals tasted like this one, I would have no problem getting everything done at night.

Thanks to buying a cow with our families this year, we are stocked with beef right now. Our freezer has over 50 pounds of ground beef so you might be seeing a lot of recipes soon. I’ve been trying to not only post beef recipes, but it’s bound to happen when we’ve got this much.

But one can only eat so many burgers, meatballs, and pasta dishes in a row. Enter Sweet and Spicy Beef. This is my homemade trial at making something close to what I had at a korean restaurant, and it turned out just how I wanted: a little sweet, a little spicy, a rich flavor in the beef punched up a little with some fresh lime juice.

if you find yourself in your pjs, looking for something to make for dinner tonight….I think this might be it.

sweet spicy beef 1

Sweet and Spicy Beef
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 and 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup Dixie Crystals brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (depending on how spicy you like it)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 limes, quartered
  • 1 bunch green onions, sliced
  • cooked rice, for serving (about 6 cups cooked)

Directions:

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown the ground beef with the garlic in the sesame oil.
  2. Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt, pepper and red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Squeeze the juice from one of the limes into the beef and stir in half of the sliced green onions.
  3. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions and another squirt of lime juice.

i have an ongoing partnership with Dixie Crystals. All recipes and opinions are my own.

13 comments

  1. LOVE! Sounds so good!

    Oh an I totally put my PJ’s on right when I get home. If I am home I want to be comfy!!

  2. Ohhh. I so need to buy a cow. Or at least half of one. That would be glorious to have all that beef in the freezer!
    This sounds perfect and QUCIK!!!!

  3. I love cooking in my PJs! And I think this sounds absolutely wonderful. Love all of those great flavors!

  4. This sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it out!!

  5. Oh my freaking face, yes.

  6. LOVE it! I just wrote about my crazy behavior with making sure everything is put into its place before heading out of town!!

    Recipes such as this are the best. They just come together, and are always amazing. I have a chicken orzo recipe that I have been making for 20 years – same thing just fell together and now is a fave!

  7. Say what?!?! Ya’ll bought a cow?! And this of course looks delicious!

  8. MMM I love the flavors of this dish. Can’t wait to try it out on my family!

  9. YUM! I love a sweet & spicy combination when it comes to beef. This looks tasty :)

  10. This sounds nice and different! And sweet and spicy is always fun. I’ve never made anything like this so I’ll keep it in mind when I have ground beef and nothing to do with it!

  11. That sounds fantastic and super easy, Brandi! It even sounds like something most of the family (minus the vegan) will eat. I’m going to try this soon.

  12. Pingback: Recipe Wednesday: Refueling with Post Workout Snacks | Healthy Living Blogs

  13. This is SO SO good. My kids just love it. I like serving stir-fry veggies on the side. I usually have to leave out the crushed red pepper because my kids are pansies. :-) Still, it’s so delicious and super easy. We eat it with basmati rice.

Comments are closed.