This Thai inspired beef and spinach bowl is the perfect quick weeknight dinner recipe that takes 20 minutes and is bursting with flavor. Fish sauce and garlic turn this recipe simple ingredients into a delicious meal that's got more flavor in it than time it takes to make.
[This recipe was originally posted in December 2018. It has been updated with new photos, cooking instructions, expert tips, FAQ, related recipes, video and ways to repurpose/use up ingredients]
How will this beef and spinach bowl make your life easier?
A lot of people think that delicious recipes take a lot of time. While lots do, you can easily make a delicious meal in 20-30 minutes with the right ingredients. That's where this flavorful beef spinach recipe comes into play.
If you're new to using fish sauce, I just want to warn you that fish sauce has a strong smell! BUT know that your food will not taste as strong as it smells while cooking. It's delicious. You can also use that fish sauce to add deep flavor and umami to lots of other dishes. Check out my suggestions in the leftover ingredient section, just above the recipe card.
Check out these other beef recipes:
- Chili without Tomatoes
- Beef & Broccoli
- Steak Fajitas
- Shrimp and Steak Fajitas
- Beef Bulgogi
- Brisket Grilled Cheese
What makes this bowl so good?
- Mild oil
- Garlic
- Ground beef
- Oyster sauce
- Fish sauce
- Sugar
- Baby spinach
- Precooked brown rice
How do I make it?
Heat 2 tablespoon mild oil in a frying pan. When oil is hot, add 7 cloves of sliced garlic to pan. Fry for about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Remove garlic, but leave oil.
Add ⅓ lb ground beef to heated oil. (use frozen precooked or uncooked ground beef) Cook until beef is browned, about 3-7 minutes. That depends depends on whether it's precooked or not. Drain, if needed.
Add in 1 ½ tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 ½ tablespoon fish sauce, and 2 teaspoon sugar. Stir. Add 3 large handfuls of baby spinach. Stir until it's just barely wilted. Heat up 1 ½ c precooked rice while spinach is wilting.
Add rice to bowl, top with beef and spinach mixture, then fried garlic. (optional: add red pepper flakes). Enjoy with someone else or save remaining serving for leftovers. This is great as leftovers!
Expert Tips
- Cook until water from the spinach evaporates.
- Rice can take some time to cook, here's a couple ideas to expedite the cooking process:
- buy precooked frozen rice
- buy minute rice
- cook a large batch at the beginning of the week.
- find rice that takes just 15-20 minutes to cook
FAQ
Good thing, all meat goes well with spinach. You can try chicken and spinach with this Strawberry Spinach Salad with Chicken. It's great with sausage/pork, like in these Butternut Squash and Sausage Lasagna Rolls. It's also great with plant proteins like tofu and edamame, like in this Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad.
I don't cut it since spinach shrinks when the water in it cooks off. You definitely can cut spinach before cooking it but it's not necessary to make it easy to eat after it's cooked. You may want to cut the stems off if that's your preference though.
Here are 3 things I like to make when I have too much spinach: this Thai inspired beef and spinach bowl, add it to pesto sauce, like this Pistachio Pesto Sauce, or freeze it in a bag to add to cooked dishes or smoothies.
How can I repurpose this dish?
I'd serve any extra beef and spinach over rice noodles or in a hoagie to have it like a steak sandwich. You can also add it to your favorite vegetables and have as a salad.
What can I make with leftover ingredients?
- Beef: Stuffed Squash with Beef and Rice, you can also substitute ground beef in this Beef and Broccoli or Beef Bulgogi recipe
- Spinach: Add it to this Mixed Berry Smoothie, Butternut Squash and Sausage Lasagna Rolls, or this Pistachio Pesto Sauce.
- Fish Sauce: it's great in lots of Thai recipes. You can also add it to dishes to deepen their flavor or add an umami flavor to it, like in this Spaghetti and Meatball recipe (yes, fish sauce makes this spaghetti AMAZING!)
- Oyster Sauce: You can use oyster sauce in lots of Thai recipes mentioned above.
Did you make these/this Thai inspired beef and spinach bowl? Leave me a comment & rating to share how it/they turned out!
Thai Beef Bowl with Garlic and Spinach
Equipment
- cutting board
- knife
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
- Large Skillet
- Medium Saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons mild oil like grapeseed
- 7 cloves garlic sliced thinly
- ⅓ pound ground beef
- 1 ½ tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar I used turbinado
- 3 large handfulls baby spinach
- 1 ½ cup brown rice cooked
- optional red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat oil up in frying pan. Once oil is hot, add sliced garlic to pan. Fry for about 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove garlic, but leave oil.
- Add ground beef to heated oil. (use frozen precooked or uncooked ground beef) Cook until beef is browned. About 3-7 minutes depending on whether it's precooked or not. Drain if there's a significant amount of fat in the pan.
- Add in oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sugar. Stir. Add baby spinach. Stir until wilted. Heat up rice while spinach is wilting.
- Add rice to bowl, top with beef and spinach mixture, then fried garlic. (optional: add red pepper flakes). Enjoy.
Notes
- Cook until water from the spinach evaporates.
- rice can take some time to cook, here's a couple ideas to expedite the cooking process:
- buy precooked frozen rice
- buy minute rice
- cook a large batch at the beginning of the week.
- find rice that takes just 15-20 minutes to cook
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Abby says
This was okay. I didn't love it, but it was fast and easy. I had the opposite problem of some of the others. It was rather dry. I used 99% ground turkey though, which is dry.
Rebecca Clyde MS, RDN, CD says
Hi Abby, oops, I thought I'd responded to this already. Bummer to hear how it turned out with the turkey. I recommend adding a bit of extra oil to it, or water to keep the turkey from drying out. Since it's 99% fat free, it'd get dried out very easily, I recommend adding a bit of oil more than water for 99% turkey. You could also double the sauce. I actually made a video where I show these two methods. It goes live on Wednesday morning (12/6). I'll link to it when it's up. But this is the channel it'll be added to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF610b4jeRsPXcCVpwahHrQ