Hawaiian Loco Moco Recipe

A loco moco is the perfect weeknight 30-minute meal with a tasty cooked hamburger patty stacked high over rice with a delicious mushroom sauce and a fried egg.  This Hawaiian comfort food will be a sure-fire family favorite!

We’re huge fans of quick weeknight meals and since my daughter loves beef, we make Sloppy Joes, Meatloaf, and Chopped Steaks pretty regularly.

Loco Moco

Right out of the gate the name of this recipe seems crazy, I know, and the story behind it is pretty funny.  Legend has it that a group of kids from a local gym and their parents went into a diner in Hawaii and asked for something different than a sandwich and with a bowl of rice, hence this recipe.

The loco part of the name obviously in Spanish, allegedly came from one of the kids from the gym who they called “Crazy George,” for the way he played sports.  Not sure where moco came from, but this word translates from Spanish to English as snot, gross I know.  My guess is the sunny-side egg that is placed on top would be the reason.

This simple Hawaiian staple consists of a seasoned hamburger patty that is cooked to the desired temperature and served with white rice, mushroom gravy, and a fried egg over top with a garnish of sliced green onions.

The Key to Perfect Fluffy Rice

While personal preference, I’m a fan of fluffy rice.  Often times when cooking rice on the stovetop it becomes soggy and overcooked.  It’s my professional opinion that most package recipes for rice overcompensates for the amount of water causing this overcooked result.

Since most long-grain rice recipes have a standard ratio of 1 ½ part water to 1-part rice, I counter that by doing a 1 ¼ parts water to 1-part rice.  Stick with this proportion for delicious fluffy rice.

How to Make a Loco Moco

Follow these brief procedures to make this loco moco recipe:

Combine the ground beef with onions, garlic, soy, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper and form into patties.

Brown the patties in a large frying pan in a small amount of oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes side or until browned.

Set the meat aside and brown the mushrooms in the pan over medium heat.

Stir in the flour until combined into the mushrooms to make a roux.

Add the beef stock and cook for 3-4 more minutes or until it becomes thick like a gravy.

Place the cooked patties back into the mushroom gravy and keep warm.

Fry the egg in oil in a sauté pan over medium heat to the desired doneness

Making Perfect Gravy

Gravy can always be tricky because too much flour can result in it being clumpy, not enough sometimes makes it too thin.  There are a number of things to consider when making it.

Here are common issues and remedies.

• If it’s clumpy – The only way around this is to strain it to get rid of the clumps. This is a result of too much flour and not enough fat when stirring it into the mushrooms.  A roux is equal parts weight of flour to fat, so consider that when you are adding the oil to the pan at the beginning.
• Thin Gravy – This means there was not enough flour added to mushrooms. The way to fix this is to make a roux separately and whisk it into the gravy.
• Too Thick – Often times this will occur if there is too much total roux and not enough liquid. The easiest way to counter this is by adding in more liquid.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 2 hours ahead of time, simply keep the hamburger patties into the gravy while covered in very low simmering heat.  Likewise, keep the rice warm.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of beef and gravy to a saucepan and heat over low heat until hot.

How to Store: Keep the meat and gravy separate from the rice, and cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Do the same and keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Chef notes + tips

• If the sauce is not to your desired thickness before adding in the cooked patties, simply add in a little slurry (2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water).
• Since there was a lot of oil in the pan after cooking the hamburger patties, I drained half of it into a small skillet and used it to fry the egg.
• The meat patties do not need to be fully cooked through when browning them before removing them from the pan to make the gravy.
• Cook the fried egg to your desired amount of doneness.  It is recommended that the yolk be runny.

More Amazing Meat Recipes

• Steak Frites
• Beef Wellington
• Boeuf Bourguignon
• Beef Stroganoff
• Easy Beef Stir Fry

Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and Pinterest, and if you’ve had a chance to make this, then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below!

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Hawaiian Loco Moco Recipe

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5 from 10 votes

Try this traditional Hawaiian 30-minute meal loaded with hamburger patties, rice, delicious mushroom gravy, and a fried egg.

Servings: 5

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

• 1/2 peeled small diced sweet onion
• 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 8 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups beef stock
• 5 eggs
• 5 cups cooked jasmine rice
• ¼ cups sliced green onions
• sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

• Add the onion, garlic, beef, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to a large bowl and mix until completely combined. Form into 5 patties and season on both sides with salt and pepper and set on a plate.
• Add the oil to a very large frying pan over medium heat and once it begins to lightly smoke add the hamburger patties in and cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until well browned on each side. See doneness note.
• Set the hamburger aside and drain off ½ of the oil used to cook the ground beef into a small frying pan and set the small pan aside.
• In the large frying pan over medium heat add in the mushrooms and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Add in the flour and stir it in until it is completely combined,
• Pour in the beef stock, remaining 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and cook for 3-4 more minutes over medium heat until it becomes thick like gravy.
• Add back in the cooked meat patties and simmer over low heat.
• Fry the eggs 1 at a time in the small frying pan in the rendered meat fat over medium heat for 30 seconds for a sunny-side-up egg.
• Serve the beef patties and mushroom sauce over top of the cooked jasmine rice and top off with the fried egg and garnish with sliced green onions.

Notes

Chef Notes:

• Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 2 hours ahead of time, simply keep the hamburger patties into the gravy while covered in very low simmering heat. Likewise, keep the rice warm.

 

• How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of beef and gravy to a saucepan and heat over low heat until hot.

 

• How to Store: Keep the meat and gravy separate from the rice, and cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Do the same and keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.

 

• If the sauce is not to your desired thickness before adding in the cooked patties, simply add in a little slurry (2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water).

 

• Since there was a lot of oil in the pan after cooking the hamburger patties, I drained half of it into a small skillet and used it to fry the egg.

 

• The meat patties do not need to be fully cooked through when browning them before removing them from the pan to make the gravy.

 

• Cook the fried egg to your desired amount of doneness. It is recommended that the yolk be runny.

Nutrition

Calories: 838kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 46gFat: 47gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 293mgSodium: 808mgPotassium: 1074mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 287IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 104mgIron: 6mg

Course: Main

Cuisine: American, Hawaiian

Author: Chef Billy Parisi