Whoa! I’m pretty sure I’ve created the mother of all toasties! Juicy, caramelised steak meets the bold flavours of garlic, soy, and gochujang, all packed into a toastie (grilled cheese) for the ultimate flavour and texture. This Korean Steak Sandwich might just be the best sandwich you’ve ever eaten!
The steak is marinated in a bulgogi-style dressing which consists of gochuchang (a sweet and spicy Korean paste – if you haven’t tried it, give it a go, it’s amazing!), soy sauce, garlic, a little sugar and grated apple for sweetness, plus a few other goodies.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients
For the Korean style steak (bulgogi):
- 2 medium or one large ribeye (approximately 320g or 0.7lb in total)
- Gochujang < affiliate link
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Sesame Oil
- Light Brown Sugar
- A sweet eating apple (or use Asian pear if you can find them)
- Rice wine
- Ginger and garlic
Traditional bulgogi uses a grated Asian pear in the marinade. This is a pear with an apple-like texture, that’s juicy with tart-sweet flavour notes. I can’t get Asian pears in my area, so I swap it out with an apple (I use a Jazz apple, which actually has a pear-drop-like flavour, but any sweet apple will do). The apple adds little pops of sweetness which compliment the bold and spicy flavours in the marinade.
Rest of the sandwich ingredients
Note on the bread. I’m using 4 thick slices of tiger bread but you can use your favourite bread or even homemade bread.
Now you can stack this Korean Steak Sandwich up however you want but I’d recommend:
- Strong (mature cheddar cheese)
- Sliced and fried peppers and spring onions (scallions)
- Thinly sliced red onion and jalapeños
- Mayo and sweet chilli sauce
- Sesame seeds
🧑🍳 How to make it
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post***
- Start by marinating the thinly sliced steak with all of those delicious flavours. You want to leave it to marinade for at least 30 minutes.
- Then we’re going to fry the steak in a hot frying pan (skillet) until caramelized.
- Remove the steak from the pan and allow it to rest.
- Whilst the steak is resting fry the peppers and spring onions.
- Now it’s time to build up the sandwich, add the fried peppers, steak, cheese and other toppings to one of the slices of bread that have been buttered on the outside.
- Top with the other slice of buttered bread and transfer to the frying pan (or sandwich press < affiliate link)
- Fry for 2-3 minutes each side until the bread is toasted and golden
Pro Tip
Place the steaks in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up a little. This will make it easier to slice nice and thinly.
Sweet, savoury, and smoky bulgogi beef melts into crispy, buttery toasted bread, with a punch of gochujang, sesame, and a hint of spice and sweetness in every bite.
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
Serve it with garlic mayo and sweet chilli sauce for a truly epic sarnie! Or why not try:
- some coleslaw
- homemade ranch dressing
- marinated onions
- simple Asian slaw
If you wanted to bulk this out to make a great dinner then why not serve it alongside some Air Fryer Chips or Sweet Potato Fries
Buttering the outside of the bread ensures you get a lovely golden, crisp crust when it’s toasted in the frying pan (skillet)
The strips of steak are fried until just starting to caramelise, before being piled onto bread with peppers, onions, jalapenos and cheese.
What could be better that a toasted sandwich, stuffed with spicy Korean steak, jalapenos, peppers, melty cheese and garlic mayo?
Nothing. Nothing is the answer.
🍲 More Korean inspired recipes
If like me, you love Korean flavours why not try one of these next.
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Korean Steak Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients
Steak and marinade
- 2 medium or one large ribeye steak (approximately 320g or 0.7lb in total)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp rice wine
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 grated sweet apple no need to peel
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
Sandwich and filling
- 1 tbsp oil
- ½ red bell pepper de-seeded and sliced
- ½ yellow bell pepper de-seeded and sliced
- 4 thick slices of bread from a large loaf I used tiger bread (approx 65-75g per slice)
- 2 tbsp salted butter melted
- ¼ tsp sesame seeds
- 75 g (2/3 cup) mature cheddar cheese grated
- ½ small red onion peeled and sliced
- 2 small jalapenos sliced
- 3 spring onions (scallions) sliced into thin strips
Sauce
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 small garlic clove peeled and minced
- 2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
Instructions
- Place the steak in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up (this will make it easier to slice thinly).2 medium or one large ribeye steak
- After 30 minutes, remove from the freezer and carefully slice into thin (2mm) strips.
- Place the steak slices in bowl and add the soy sauce, gochujang, ginger, sugar, rice wine, minced garlic, black pepper, grated apple and sesame oil. Mix together, cover and allow to marinate for 30 minutes (place in the fridge if marinating for longer than that).2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp gochujang paste, 1 tsp minced ginger, 2 tbsp light brown sugar, 2 tbsp rice wine, ½ tsp black pepper, 1 grated sweet apple, 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, 2 garlic cloves
- Once the steak has finished marinating, heat the oil on a high heat in a large frying pan. Add the steak, and fry for 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally until cooked and just starting to caramelise (if you find that a lot of liquid is released during frying, carefully drain it off and continue to fry the steak).1 tbsp oil
- Remove the steak from the pan and place on a plate to rest for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sliced peppers to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Remove from the pan.1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 yellow bell pepper
- Take the four slices of bread and brush the melted butter onto one side of each piece.4 thick slices of bread from a large loaf, 2 tbsp salted butter
- Place two of the pieces of bread, butter-side-down onto a chopping board or plate. Top with the cooked peppers, steak slices, sesame seeds and grated cheese. Sprinkle on the red onion, jalapenos and spring onions, then top with the other two bread slices. Make sure the butter-side is facing out.1/4 tsp sesame seeds, 75 g (2/3 cup) mature cheddar cheese, 1/2 small red onion, 2 small jalapenos, 3 spring onions
- Place both of the sandwiches in a frying pan over a low to medium heat and cook for 2-3 minutes each side until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted (you can do this part with a sandwich press if you have one).
- Mix together the mayonnaise and minced garlic. Open the tops of the toasted sandwiches and drizzle on the garlic mayo and the sweet chilli sauce. Replace the tops of the toasted sandwiches, and serve immediately.3 tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tsp sweet chilli sauce, 1 small garlic clove
Notes
Nutritional information is approximate
***These sandwiches are big and filling, so we’ve worked the nutritional information out based on half a sandwich. For a whole sandwich, you’d need to double this info (1332 calories eeek!)***Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This Korean Steak (Bulgogi) Sandwich recipe was first published in May 2017, updated in March 2025 with some new photos and with additional information.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
New favorite recipe. We followed as instructed but we also added cabbage on top. We didn’t have a panini press so had to cook bread with meat cheese and grilled veg then top fresh veg and with grilled bread. Going to try with tofu also for when beef is too expensive.
This was SO Messy but oh so good!!!!!