By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 4, 2026
Serves 4
272 cal · 11 min
Soboro Beef
Recipe GLPR008c711d7e8faa
A quick and savory Japanese ground beef dish where seasoned, crumbled beef is cooked until tender and glazed with a light soy-mirin sauce. Finished with fresh scallions and served over steaming white rice, this simple yet flavorful meal comes together in just minutes.
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Ingredients
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
8 ounces ground beef chuck
2 tablespoons sake (Japanese rice wine)
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 scallions, chopped
white rice, for serving
Directions
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the ground beef and cook, stirring constantly and breaking the meat into small, granular pieces as it cooks, for about 3 minutes, until the beef is no longer pink and the pieces are browned and cooked nearly through (165°F internal temperature for food safety).
Pour in the sake and continue stirring for about 1 minute, allowing the liquid to evaporate and flavor the beef.
Add the mirin and soy sauce, stirring to combine. Continue cooking for about 1 minute longer, until the liquid in the pan is nearly evaporated and the beef is coated in a glossy glaze.
Remove the pan from heat and stir in the chopped scallions, tossing to distribute them evenly throughout the beef.
Serve the soboro beef over hot white rice.
Comments
Soboro beef is a straightforward weeknight win: ground beef, pantry soy and mirin, scallions, and rice. Every ingredient lands at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Kroger, or Walmart with no special stop required. The eleven-minute claim is honest if you start with cooked rice and assume pre-minced beef; total elapsed time from cold stovetop to plate clears thirty minutes easily. The dish feeds four generously over rice, needs no fussy attention once the beef hits the pan, and leftovers reheat perfectly in the microwave for lunch the next day. The only caveat is cost: mirin adds a dollar or two if you do not stock it already, and quality beef changes the math more than other components, but the per-serving total stays under four dollars even at full retail.
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