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Best Loco Moco and Loco Moco Gravy

This Loco Moco recipe is a flavor-packed, inexpensive, hearty, Hawaiian comfort food that your entire family will LOVE!   Each bite is a symphony of juicy beef, textural fragrant rice, warm, umami rich gravy, and runny buttery egg yolk. The magic of slicing into the runny egg yolk and it gushing over and mingling with the gravy and rice is everything! This Moco Loco recipe is extremely flexible and can be made with or without mushrooms and with beef or turkey.  Best of all, you can prep the hamburger patties, gravy and rice ahead of time. Now just fry up some eggs serve the Loco Moco with a side of pina colada fruit salad for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Course Breakfast, Lunch, Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine American, hawaiian
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

Hamburger Patties:

  • 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp EACH garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, salt
  • 1/2 tsp EACH pepper, paprika
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

MUSHROOM GRAVY

EGGS

FOR SERVING

  • 5 cups cooked white rice (I recommend jasmine)
  • sliced green onions

Instructions

  • Make Hamburger Patties: Whisk the Worcestershire sauce and seasonings together in a bowl. Add the ground beef, and gently combine. Form into 4 equal patties (about 1 inch thick) then make a 1/2″ indentation in the middle of each patty with your thumb or measuring spoon (this will help the burgers cook evenly). Time permitting, pop the patties the freezer or refrigerator for 15 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
  • Cook burgers: Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the patties and cook until brown and slightly charred on one side, about 3-5 minutes, flip, reduce heat to medium and cover. Cook an additional 2-5 minutes, depending on how rare you like your burger. Remove and keep warm.
  • Make Gravy: To the drippings left in the skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir the mushrooms and onions into the butter. Cook until the mushrooms are deeply golden brown, about 7-10 minutes, only stirring occasionally, pressing into an even layer in between stirring.
  • Reduce heat to medium; add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 30 seconds. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and slowly whisk in the broth followed by the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a simmer until thickened to desired consistency; remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the gravy thickens too much by the time you're ready to serve, whisk in additional broth or water.
  • Fry Eggs: Crack the eggs in separate bowls or ramekins. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. Working in batches as needed, add eggs to the pan on opposite sides. Cook sunny-side up, 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites are cooked and the yolks are loose. Transfer to a plate.
  • To serve: Divide the rice between 4 plates. Top each mound of rice with one burger patty, a generous ladle of gravy and one cooked egg. Garnish with green onions.

Video

Notes

Ground turkey:  I suggest adding 1 1/2 teaspoons beef bouillon to the seasonings to infuse the turkey with beefy goodness. You can use granulated bouillon or two crushed bouillon cubes. If using, reduce the salt, otherwise the hamburger patties will be too salty. 

Prep Ahead

  • Rice: can be cooked up to 3 days in advance, refrigerated and reheated on the stovetop or microwave. 
  • Chopping:  the garlic, onions, green onions and mushrooms can be chopped 24 hours in advance and stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
  • Gravy: can be prepared up to 5 days in advance and refrigerated until ready to use. Reheat over medium-low on the stove. The gravy will have thickened in the refrigerator, so you’ll likely need to whisk in a little broth to loosen it up again. 
  • Burgers: the patties can be shaped up to 48 hours in advance, covered and refrigerated or frozen. Cooked burgers will last up to 5 days in the fridge.

How to Store and Reheat

  • Storage: I recommend making the fried eggs fresh, but the rest of the ingredients store and reheat like a dream.  Store the elements of the Moco Loco recipe separately in airtight containers, or assemble each dish in its own airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.  Fry the eggs fresh before serving.
  • To reheat in the microwave: You may want to break up your burger patty before microwaving so it heats more evenly.  Heat for 90 seconds, then at 30-second intervals until warmed through.
  • To reheat on the stove:Transfer the gravy and patties to a skillet and heat over medium-low heat, covered, flipping the patties and stirring the gravy around them occasionally.  Heat just until warmed through, adding additional, water/broth as needed.
  • To reheat in the oven: Combine the patties and gravy in an oven proof skillet or baking dish.  Cover, and bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until warmed through. Stir in additional broth/water as needed.