This easy beef broth bowl is made with crispy ground beef, fluffy rice cooked in bone broth, colorful veggies, and a creamy coconut curry sauce poured over the top. It’s an easy, family-friendly ground beef dinner that comes together in about 30 minutes and can easily be customized for toddlers and picky eaters.
As a dietitian mom, I’m always looking for simple meals that work for the whole family without requiring me to make something completely separate for my toddlers. And bowls are one of my favorite ways to do that!
Everyone starts with the same basic ingredients, but you can serve them differently depending on what each person likes. I’ll load mine up with the rice, crispy beef, veggies, and plenty of coconut curry sauce, while my toddlers might get everything separated on their plate with the sauce on the side for dipping.
Plus, cooking the rice in bone broth instead of water is such an easy way to add a little more flavor and nutrition without adding another step!
Why You'll Love This Beef Broth Bowl
- Easy weeknight dinner: It's ready in about 30 minutes with simple ingredients
- One meal for the whole family: No need to make a separate toddler dinner
- Easy to customize: Use whatever vegetables you already have on hand
- Protein-packed: Ground beef plus bone broth make this a satisfying family meal
- Toddler-friendly: The components can easily be served separately with the curry sauce on the side
- Great for leftovers: Prep the components ahead of time for easy lunches or dinners throughout the week
I bet your family would also love these Mongolian veggie meatballs with rice and broccoli as another quick dinner win. They're another one of our favorites!
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Beef Broth Bowl
- Ingredients You'll Need
- How to Make Your Beef Broth Bowl
- Hint for the Best Beef Broth Bowl
- Substitutions
- Equipment
- Storing Your Beef Broth Bowl
- How to Serve This Beef Bowl to Toddlers
- Easy Vegetable Shortcuts
- Tiff's Dietitian Tip
- FAQ
- Related
- Pairing
- Easy Beef Broth Bowl with Coconut Curry Sauce
Ingredients You'll Need
Here's what you'll need to make these easy beef broth bowls for the whole family:
Ground Beef - I like using lean ground beef for these bowls because it cooks quickly and gets those delicious browned, slightly crispy edges in the skillet. Feel free to sub with ground turkey, chicken, or even venison!
Rice - jasmine or white rice works really well here. Instead of cooking it in water, we're cooking the rice in low-sodium bone broth for extra flavor.
Bone Broth - bone broth replaces the water you'd typically use to cook rice. I recommend choosing a lower-sodium option, especially when making this for little ones. You can use beef or chicken bone broth depending on what you already have in your pantry.
Coconut Milk - full-fat canned coconut milk creates the creamy base for our curry sauce. It makes the sauce rich and creamy without needing heavy cream.
Coconut Aminos - coconut aminos add a slightly sweet and savory flavor to both the crispy ground beef and coconut curry sauce. You can also use low-sodium soy sauce if that's what you have on hand.
Curry Paste - use a mild curry to keep the sauce family-friendly. I recommend starting with a smaller amount, especially if your toddler hasn't had curry before, and adding more to the adult portions if desired.
Vegetables - this is where you can really use whatever you have!
Some of our favorites include:
- broccoli
- shredded or steamed carrots
- edamame
- peas
- cucumber
- avocado
- zucchini
- bell peppers
Frozen vegetables work great, too!
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Your Beef Broth Bowl
1. Cook the Rice in Bone Broth
Add the rice and low-sodium bone broth to a saucepan and cook according to the package directions until the rice is tender and the broth has been absorbed.
2. Make the Crispy Ground Beef
While the rice cooks, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it into small pieces. Once it's almost completely cooked, add the coconut aminos, sesame oil, garlic powder, and ground ginger. Let the beef cook for another few minutes without constantly stirring it. This gives it a chance to develop those browned, slightly crispy edges. Transfer the cooked beef to a plate and set aside.
3. Make the Coconut Curry Sauce
There's no need to dirty another pan! Turn the skillet down to medium-low and add the coconut milk, mild curry paste, coconut aminos, garlic powder, and ginger. Whisk everything together, scraping up any browned bits left behind from the beef. Let the sauce gently simmer for about 3-5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice if desired.
4. Build Your Bowls
Add the bone broth rice to your bowl followed by the crispy ground beef and veggies. Drizzle the creamy coconut curry sauce over everything and serve!
Hint for the Best Beef Broth Bowl
For the crispiest ground beef, use a large skillet and avoid stirring it constantly. Once the beef is cooked through and most of the liquid has evaporated, let it sit against the hot skillet for a minute or two at a time to develop those browned, crispy edges. And don’t wipe out the skillet before making the coconut curry sauce, those browned bits add tons of flavor!
Substitutions
Ground beef: Ground turkey or ground chicken can be substituted, although you may need a little extra oil since they're typically leaner.
Bone broth: Use low-sodium beef broth or chicken broth if you don't have bone broth.
Rice: Jasmine, basmati, or another white rice works well. Just adjust the amount of liquid and cooking time according to the package directions.
Coconut aminos: Substitute low-sodium soy sauce or tamari.
Coconut milk: Full-fat gives you the creamiest sauce, but light canned coconut milk can be used for a thinner sauce.
Curry paste: Start with just 1 teaspoon for a milder toddler-friendly flavor and increase it to taste.
Vegetables: Use whatever your family enjoys or whatever needs to be used up in your refrigerator.
Equipment
You don’t need any fancy equipment to make these beef broth bowls! You’ll need a medium saucepan with a lid for cooking the rice in bone broth, a large skillet for getting the ground beef nice and crispy and making the coconut curry sauce, and a wooden spoon or spatula for breaking up the beef. Measuring cups and spoons are also helpful for measuring the rice, broth, and sauce ingredients.
Storing Your Beef Broth Bowl
Store the rice, crispy ground beef, vegetables, and coconut curry sauce in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Keeping the components separate helps everything maintain its texture and lets you easily build fresh bowls for lunches or dinners.
Reheat the rice and beef until hot, then warm the coconut curry sauce separately. The sauce may thicken in the refrigerator, so stir in a small splash of water, broth, or coconut milk as needed.
How to Serve This Beef Bowl to Toddlers
If mixed foods are a hard sell in your house, don't mix everything together. You can serve a small scoop of rice, crispy ground beef, and a familiar veggie separately on their plate. Put a little coconut curry sauce on the side for dipping or drizzle a tiny amount over the rice.
This lets your toddler explore the same family meal without the pressure of having to eat a big bowl of unfamiliar foods all mixed together.
And if they don't touch the curry sauce the first time? That's okay! Seeing, smelling, touching, and eventually tasting new flavors are all part of learning to enjoy them. Trust me, this isn't a "typical" meal in my household either!
Easy Vegetable Shortcuts
You definitely don't need to roast three different vegetables to make this meal.
My favorite busy-night shortcut is a steam-in-the-bag frozen vegetable. Microwave some broccoli, peas, edamame, or mixed vegetables while the beef cooks and dinner is basically done. Pre-shredded carrots, sliced cucumber, or avocado are also great options that require almost no cooking.
Tiff's Dietitian Tip
One reason I love bowl-style dinners is that they make it really easy to combine several food groups without overcomplicating dinner.
For this meal, you've got:
Carbohydrate: rice
Protein + iron: ground beef and edamame on the side
Fat: coconut milk and sesame oil (even avocado cubes on the side)
Produce + fiber: whatever veggies you add
And remember, your toddler's bowl doesn't have to look exactly like yours!
FAQ
This version of a beef broth bowl uses bone broth to cook the rice rather than serving everything in a soup-like broth. The broth gets absorbed into the rice, adding savory flavor before the bowl is topped with crispy beef, vegetables, and coconut curry sauce.
Absolutely. Low-sodium beef broth works perfectly in this recipe. You can also use chicken broth.
Toddlers can be introduced to a variety of herbs and spices. For this recipe, I recommend using a mild curry powder and starting with a smaller amount. You can always increase the curry flavor for the rest of the family.
Use a large skillet over medium-high heat and give the beef some time to sit against the hot skillet without stirring constantly. Once the liquid has evaporated, letting the seasoned beef cook undisturbed for short periods helps create browned, crispy edges.
Yes! This is a great meal-prep recipe. Store the components separately in the refrigerator and assemble your bowls when you're ready to eat.
Broccoli, carrots, edamame, peas, cucumber, zucchini, bell peppers, and avocado are all easy options. Use a combination your family already enjoys.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this beef broth bowl:
Easy Beef Broth Bowl with Coconut Curry Sauce
Equipment
- sauce pan
- skillet
Ingredients
Bone Broth Rice
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
- 2 cup low-sodium beef or chicken bone broth or water or more, amount needed according to rice package directions
Crispy Ground Beef
- 1 lb lean ground beef or any ground meat of choice, can sub crumbled tofu for vegetarian
- 2 tablespoon low-sodium coconut aminos more to taste
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Coconut Curry Sauce
- 1 13.5 oz can full-fat coconut milk
- 1-2 tablespoon mild red or yellow curry paste to taste*
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium coconut aminos
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- juice of ½ lime optional
For Serving
- steamed broccoli
- shredded or steamed carrots
- steamed edamame shelled or in pods
- peas
- cucumber
- avocado
- other vegetables of choice
Instructions
- Cook the rice. Add the rice and the amount of bone broth called for on the rice package to a medium saucepan. Cook according to package directions until tender and the broth has been absorbed.
- Cook the beef. While the rice cooks, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it into small pieces.
- Once the beef is almost cooked through, add the coconut aminos, sesame oil, garlic powder, and ginger. Continue cooking for about 3-5 minutes, allowing the beef to sit against the hot skillet periodically without stirring so it develops browned, crispy edges. Transfer the beef to a plate and set aside.
- Make the coconut curry sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low. To the same skillet, add the coconut milk, 1 tablespoon curry paste, coconut aminos, garlic powder, and ginger.
- Whisk together, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly thickened. Taste and add additional curry paste as desired. Stir in the lime juice, if using.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide the bone broth rice among bowls. Top with crispy ground beef and your vegetables of choice, then drizzle with the warm coconut curry sauce.
Notes
- Curry paste: Curry pastes vary significantly in both heat and sodium. For a toddler-friendly version, choose a mild curry paste and start with 1 tablespoon, adding more to taste.
- Using curry powder: Substitute 1-2 teaspoons mild curry powder for the curry paste. Start with 1 teaspoon and add more as desired.
- Bone broth: Use a lower-sodium bone broth, especially when serving little ones. Because different types and brands of rice require different amounts of liquid, follow your rice package for the correct broth-to-rice ratio.
- Coconut aminos: Low-sodium soy sauce or tamari can be substituted, but they may contain more sodium, so adjust to taste.
- Veggies: Use whatever your family enjoys. Frozen steam-in-the-bag broccoli, peas, edamame, or mixed vegetables make this especially quick.
- For toddlers: Serve the rice, beef, and a familiar vegetable separately with a small amount of curry sauce on the side for dipping if mixed foods aren't their thing.
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