25 Best Ground Beef Recipes (2024)

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Are you wondering what to make for dinner tonight using ground beef? Then you have come to the right place. There are so many ways to cook something delicious with ground beef! So let me inspire you with our round up of 25 of the best and most popular ground beef recipes that we have shared over the years including all the meatballs, delicious juicy hamburgers, meaty pastas and lasagnas, hearty soups, comforting meat pies, beefy Mexican dishes, better than takeout Asian dishes, and more!

25 Best Ground Beef Recipes (1)

Best Ground Beef Recipes

Italian Meatballs

Meatballs are probably my favorite of all ground beef recipes. These quick, easy homemade Italian meatballs are juicy, flavourful, and delicious, simmered in a rich and savoury tomato sauce. Make them in just 30 minutes.

Easy Meat Lasagna

Classic easy meat lasagna is the ultimate Italian comfort food with layers of tender lasagna, meaty tomato sauce, cheese filling and melted cheese on top.

Mexican Ground Beef Tacos

Ground beef tacos are delicious, authentic, and so easy to make. They're savory, spicy, creamy, and fresh. The perfect recipe for a Mexican fiesta.

Ground Beef Stuffed Peppers

Ground beef stuffed peppers are delicious, healthy, and filling. Stuffed with beef rice and veggies, they're easy to make ahead and freezer-friendly.

Swedish Meatballs

Delicious, comforting homemade Swedish meatballs are seared and smothered in a creamy gravy sauce and taste so much better than IKEA meatballs.

Beef Taco Soup

Beef taco soup is a delicious take on tacos, transforming it into a hearty, wholesome, filling soup topped with all the taco fixings. Ready in 30 minutes.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Homemade hamburger helper is a family favorite but you can make a cheaper, healthier, and way tastier version at home, ready in just 30 minutes.

Ground Beef Meat Pie

Ground beef meat pie with a flaky puff pastry double crust pie is filled with ground beef cooked with vegetables and seasonings. The ultimate comfort food.

Classic Juicy Hamburgers

Better than the steakhouse, these classic juicy hamburgers are perfectly seasoned, so flavourful and delicious. Make them on the grill or on the stove. This just wouldn't be a complete round up of ground beef recipes without burgers.

Sticky Honey Garlic Meatballs

Sticky honey garlic meatballs are a delicious and flavourful 30-minute meal to add to your weekly dinner rotation. A total crowd pleaser.

Homemade Taquitos

Homemade Taquitos are crispy, delicious and flavorful. These rolled tacos are filled with seasoned ground beef and melty cheese — and can be fried or baked!

Hamburger Soup with Macaroni

Hamburger soup with macaroni is a quick and easy weeknight dinner that‘s wholesome, filling, comforting and nutritious. Prep, cook and serve under an hour.

Beef Taco Salad

Beef taco salad is a simple, filling, and delicious meal loaded with your favorite taco fillings, and a creamy lime dressing. Make it in 20 minutes.

Tater Tot Casserole

Tater Tot Casserole is classic comfort food that incorporates delicious layers of crispy tater tots, melted cheese and a creamy beef and vegetables mixture.

Lasagna Roll Ups

Lasagna roll ups are a twist on traditional lasagna. Lasagna noodles are filled with cheese and meat sauce and rolled up. Make ahead and freezer-friendly!

Classic Meatloaf

This hearty classic meatloaf with a caramelized glaze will nourish your body and soul. Feed the whole family with a simple yet flavourful classic.

Skillet Shepherd's Pie

Skillet shepherd's pie is a savoury and hearty traditional comfort food. With flavourful beef and fluffy potatoes, this cozy meal it will warm you up.

Slow Cooker Beef Chili

Hearty slow cooker beef chili is an easy, comforting, low-maintenance dinner in fall and winter months. It's a family favourite crockpot chili.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Sweet and sour meatballs are quick, easy, delicious, and flavorful, tossed in a vegetable and pineapple stir fry with homemade sweet and sour sauce.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Mexican stuffed peppers are a delicious, wholesome, healthy meal loaded with fun Mexican flavors. It freezes well and is perfect for meal prep.

Beef Potstickers (Dumplings)

Homemade Chinese beef potstickers (dumplings) are crispy on the outside and tender and juicy inside packed with a delicious beef filling.

Greek Meatballs

Baked Greek meatballs are juicy, tender, flavorful, and delicious. They are quick and easy to make in 30 minutes, and freezer-friendly. Serve with tzatziki.

Phyllo Meat Pie (Egyptian Goulash)

Phyllo meat pie (Egyptian goulash) is a savory pie made of well-seasoned ground beef that lies between layers of flaky, crispy, golden phyllo pastry dough.

Beef and Bean Burritos

Hearty and filling beef and bean burritos are easy to make ahead, freezer-friendly, and take just 30 minutes for restaurant-quality Mexican food at home.

Teriyaki Meatballs

Teriyaki meatballs are our latest go to weeknight dinner — quick and easy to cook in the air fryer or oven, saucy and flavorful, and freezer-friendly.

Beef Cabbage Barley Soup

Hearty beef cabbage barley soup is wholesome, filling and flavourful. This one pot meal can be made ahead and is freezer-friendly. Prep it in 10 minutes. One of the most comforting ground beef recipes.

Spicy Dan Dan Noodles

Toss thin wheat noodles in a spicy chili oil sauce and top with seasoned ground beef to make numbing, spicy Sichuan Dan Dan noodles in under 15 minutes.

Rosemary Thyme Burgers

Super juicy and flavourful rosemary thyme quarter pound burgers made with fresh herbs add such an incredible depth of flavour. Just 10 minutes of prep work.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Quick easy spaghetti bolognese with a rich, thick, delicious and flavourful meat sauce is a family favourite ready in 30 minutes. Best weeknight dinner.

Sheet Pan Nachos

Oven-baked loaded sheet pan nachos are a crowd pleaser for an easy weeknight dinner or a crave-worthy appetizer to serve on Cinco de Mayo.

Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu with ground beef (or pork) is quick, easy, delicious, flavorful, spicy, and numbing that is ready in just 20 minutes. Serve it with steamed rice on busy weeknights.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Quick and easy spaghetti and meatballs is delicious, rich, comforting with tender beef meatballs simmered in a savoury tomato sauce. Make it in 30 minutes.

How to Store Ground Beef

Store leftover ground beef from any of these easy ground beef recipes in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Most of these recipes are also freezer-friendly and can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Depending on the recipe, you can reheat in the air fryer at 300F for 5-10 minutes, in the oven at 300F for 10 minutes, or on the stove over medium heat until fully warmed through. To reheat from frozen, let it thaw first overnight in the refrigerator or for a few hours at room temperature, and then reheat.

Did You Make Any of These Ground Beef Recipes?

Please leave a comment and rating below, and let me know what you thought of this round up of the best ground beef recipes. Be sure to snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @aheadofthyme or share it on the Pinterest pin so that I can follow along.

HUNGRY FOR MORE? Don't forget to sign up for my email newsletter so that you don't miss any recipes. You can also follow along on Instagram and Pinterest for more recipe updates.

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25 Best Ground Beef Recipes (34)

25 Best Ground Beef Recipes

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  • Author: Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings
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Description

Browse through 25 best and most popular ground beef recipes for dinner including meatballs, juicy hamburgers, meaty pastas, hearty soups, and more!

Ingredients

  • ground beef

Instructions

  1. How to store: Store leftover ground beef from any of these easy ground beef recipes in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Most of these recipes are also freezer-friendly and can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
  2. How to reheat: Depending on the recipe, you can reheat in the air fryer at 300F for 5-10 minutes, in the oven at 300F for 10 minutes, or on the stove over medium heat until fully warmed through. To reheat from frozen, let it thaw first overnight in the refrigerator or for a few hours at room temperature, and then reheat.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Beef
  • Method: Various
  • Cuisine: Various

Nutrition

  • Calories: 300

25 Best Ground Beef Recipes (35)

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25 Best Ground Beef Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to ground beef to make it better? ›

How Baking Soda Improves Ground Beef. Baking soda acts as a tenderizer for ground beef, keeps it moist during cooking, and encourages deep browning by raising the acidity level of the surface of the meat. Simply add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to 1 pound of ground beef for more tender meat with better browning.

What to make with 73 27 ground beef? ›

Ground Beef that is not less than 70% lean (usually a 73/27 or 75/25 lean-to-fat ratio) is used for burgers and in recipes calling for browning (crumbles) and pouring off drippings, such as chili, tacos and spaghetti sauce. When properly cooked, it is moist and juicy.

What is the secret to best ground beef? ›

The trick to cooking ground beef well is to not move it around a lot until it's finished cooking and nicely browned. This helps create a crust on the meat which is delicious. I sauté it in cooking oil. I usually use olive oil because that's my go-to, but your favorite cooking oil will work too.

What is 70 30 ground beef good for? ›

You can find ground beef blends with a range of lean points, but 70/30 is very common. The high fat content makes this ground beef the ideal product for juicy burgers that require a lot of napkins. Just be aware that the meat will shrink considerably as the fat melts.

Why put baking soda in ground beef? ›

However, by gently tossing a baking soda solution with the meat (about ¾ teaspoon baking soda to 2 tablespoons water for 2lbs of grind) and letting sit for 15 to 20 minutes before cooking, beef loses less liquid, browns faster and tastes better.

Why add baking soda to ground beef before cooking? ›

Baking Soda is an Easy Meat Tenderizer

Baking soda helps prevent ground beef from drying out, allowing those burger patties to keep their moisture and brown quicker for the most flavorful cookout.

What does 93 7 mean on ground beef? ›

the percentage of fat. For example, “93/7” means 93 percent lean meat and 7 percent fat. The lower the fat content, the less saturated fat you'll consume. To help reduce consuming extra fat from both ground turkey and ground beef, Hueschen recommends these options: Drain grease from the pan.

Is 80/20 better than 73/27? ›

While 80/20 may be 'superior' in a sense, because it is widely viewed as the standard for the optimal lean-to-fat content of a burger, you shouldn't sleep on 73/27 just because of the 7% higher fat content.

How many pounds of ground beef do I need for 10 people? ›

When Meat Is a Component of a Dish. If the meat is part of a bigger dish, like pasta or curry, plan for 1/4 to 1/3 pound (four to six ounces) per person. That means you'll want at least 2 1/2 pounds of meat if you're planning to have 10 people over to dinner, and 5 or more pounds of meat if you're cooking for 20 guests ...

What does adding vinegar to ground beef do? ›

The answer is yes—to an extent. When collagen and muscle fibers, the connective tissues in meat that make it tough, are tenderized and broken down, it helps the meat retain all of its juices. Acidic ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt and wine weaken collagen and protein in meat.

What is the most flavorful ground beef? ›

80% lean ground chuck (shoulder) will be the juiciest and most flavorful. It's also the grind I recommend for making burgers for the grill. It has the perfect fat-to-meat ratio. These burgers will still be juicy when grilled to the recommended internal temperature of 160 degrees.

What makes beef taste better? ›

Diet is one of the most influential factors that impacts beef flavor and aroma. This is because the dietary nutrients cattle consume directly impact the fatty acid profile and nutrient profile of their fat. One of the most-common mantras in the meat industry is that fat is flavor.

What is the best meat to make hamburgers out of? ›

Some of the best beef cuts for burgers include:
  • Ground Round — As stated above, this cut does well on its own as a reliable option for creating delicious burgers. ...
  • Brisket — Brisket has incredibly high fat content and great beef flavor. ...
  • Boneless short rib — This one has excellent fat content and flavor.
Jul 5, 2022

What ground beef is best for spaghetti? ›

Generally, the best ground beef for a spaghetti sauce is ground chuck because it contains more fat than ground sirloin and ground round. More fat means more flavor, and you can always drain excess fat. It is also important to slowly brown the meet at medium-high heat so that it does not loses its moisture too quickly.

What kind of ground beef is best for tacos? ›

What's the best ground beef for tacos? Ground round or ground sirloin—these are leaner versions of ground beef, so they don't have as much flavor on their own. That makes them perfect for cooking with lots of herbs and spices, as you do when making taco filling.

What can I add to beef for flavor? ›

Garlic, onion, black pepper, and salt are staple spices when flavoring beef. Garlic and onion are potent, pungent aromatics that play well against beef's deep, meaty umami.

How can I enhance the taste of beef? ›

Beef tastes great when seasoned with oregano, rosemary, sage, garlic or a combination of these seasonings. Poultry gets an added burst of flavor with spices like paprika, lemongrass and saffron. Fish can be made more flavorful with dry mustard powder, thyme and turmeric.

How to make hamburger meat tastier? ›

Cooked ground beef really doesn't have any real taste so it is necessary to season it up. You can use just salt and pepper or you can add virtually anything to it like jalapenos, peppers, onions, etc. Try using fresh onion rather than powder.

How do Mexican restaurants get their ground beef so fine? ›

Put the ground chuck in a large pot or Dutch oven and add seasonings. Add just enough water to cover the meat, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about an hour. Every 15 minutes or so break up the meat with a large spoon or a potato masher so that it isn't lumpy.

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