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.
Video
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
thanks for the feedback, Abby. That's a great point, I'll need to update my recipe with ground turkey suggestions. In the meantime, here are a couple ideas: cook some onions with the turkey, they'll release some moisture into the turkey. You can also add a teaspoon or a couple of oil to the pan to cook with the turkey, just adding fat to it directly so it's less dry. I'll try these and see what works and update the recipe.
Tim W says
Rebecca, you don’t instruct to drain the ground beef. Using 80-86%, you don’t think it should be drained? Or is draining assumed?
Rebecca says
oh good catch! you don't have to, but the texture would be better if it was drained.
Sherry Thacker says
I really liked it, my other half said it was a little to sweet. So next time I will cut the sugar in half in the recipe. I will make this again!
Rebecca says
let me know how it turns out the second time!
Lassoa says
I love Thai food, it;s very Yummy, spicy and sour.
Rebecca says
agreed! Soo good
Mary Clyde says
I found oyster sauce at Safeway. I was so glad I did because this recipe is one of the best ever AND easy!
Rebecca says
yay! I agree, this is one of my faves! it's so good
Jein says
Hi! I love this recipe so much so thank you. I have a question though, I don’t cook much so i’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong but mine came out quite watery, like with sauce. I understand it’s because the spinach holds in a lot of water but is this normal or should I have done something differently?
Rebecca says
Hi Jein, glad you made it and liked it (other than the extra water). You probably didn't do anything wrong-just like you said it was the spinach. Just cook it a few extra minutes to let the water evaporate. I wouldn't recommend draining the water because you may drain some of the flavorful sauce with it too. It may take a few minutes to 6-7 depending on how much water was in your spinach and how large your pan is. Another solution is to cook the spinach in another pan, and transfer it to the beef/sauce mixture after it's been cooked. That'd help it not get watery. Let me know how it turns out if you make it again!
Beth Neels says
Yum! That looks so delicious! What a wonderful experience that you got to enjoy Thai food at the source! What a great place to learn! I can't wait to try this!
Rebecca says
yes! it's so good & easy
Lisa Huff says
Love how easy this is to make! We are big thai fans here!
Rebecca says
ahh yay for good Thai food!
Shanika says
This recipe looks so flavorful and delicious! I need to try this for sure!
Rebecca says
awesome! thanks
Tawnie Kroll says
What a yummy and healthy dish!
Rebecca says
thanks girl!
Elaine Benoit says
I love Thai food! That's so cool your dad lived there and you had some cooking lessons! This Thai beef bowl looks scrumptious and yes, I bet the garlic makes it extra tasty!
Rebecca says
ya! and so true! It's really good on it's own but the garlic makes it unbelievable!