My BIL is a rancher and now I have half a beef in my freezer. That means I have a lot of hamburger. Before my kids grew up, that was no problem because they loved hamburgers. Now that they’ve moved out, I’m long on hamburger and short on ideas.
So, if you have a favorite recipe that involves ground beef, please let me have it.
In short, they’re hamburgers with Fritos and roasted jalapenos in them. I really like them. I’ve also found out that if I’m making them for myself and someone unexpectedly shows up and I offer one to them and just say 'here, yeah, it’s like a burger…with Fritos. They tend to get annoyed when they’re face is on fire. 'Course, the last time that happened it was someone that thinks salt is too spicy (honest, I forget about the peppers, I wouldn’t have even given them to her otherwise, but seeing her go in for a second bite and wondering why her face was turning red, priceless).
My favorite, which I believe I’ve shared with the board before, is cheeseburger gravy over mashed potato. A fanciful take on my old grade-school lunches. I brown the beef with onions, celery, bell pepper, sift in a handful of flour and rouxify it, add milk, tons of cheese (whatever you have on hand), garlic powder, a little mustard, maybe some chopped tomato, salt and pepper, till it makes a nice chunky gravy. Serve over plain mashed potatoes. Yum!
Salisbury steak is always good if you have plenty of mushrooms for the sauce.
Meatballs or meatloaf–you can go many directions with this.
Stuffed peppers, cabbage or zucchini (see above)
Midwestern chili. Lasagna. (add oregano, fennel seed, garlic, cayenne to make it like italian sausage)
Sometimes I’ll cook ground beef with asparagus, seasoned with garlic salt and pepper. Add your favourite sauce (mayo, teriyaki, whatever). It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s tasty.
Or mix it into mac’n’cheese.
Or Tommy’s chili sauce, which can be used on burgers and hot dogs.
Or meatballs, meatloaf, chili, stuffed peppers, as mentioned above. But mostly I’ll do cheeseburgers. Unless I have rye bread and onions, in which case I’ll make patty melts. Actually, now that I’m typing, tacos dorados or burritos probably happen more often than burgers.
Once it’s hamburger, it will always be hamburger.
Alton Brown’s recipe for gyro meat works well with ground beef. You can even skip the food processor steps if you don’t mind a coarser texture,
Creamed Beef - I make it a couple times a month. I use 2 cups milk instead of 1 1/2. Otherwise it comes out too thick. I dissolve the bullion in a little boiling water before adding to the pan.
Homemade hamburger helper from scratch. This is so easy and tastes wonderful. I will never buy the box stuff again.
Unstuffed cabbage rolls:
Sauté in a Dutch oven until brown
1-2 lbs ground beef
Add:
1 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced
15 ounce can tomato sauce
2 15 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 onion chopped
2-4 cloves garlic minced
0.5 c dry rice
1 cup water
1-2 T brown sugar
1 T sweet paprika (I sometimes do half smoked paprika)
1/8 c apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
Bring to a boil. Simmer until cabbage is tender and rice is cooked 30-45 minutes.
I use converted rice for this recipe. You can add up to 1 c rice, just increase the water a bit.
It makes a ton, lasts in the fridge (I portion it out for lunches) and gets better as it sits.
Meant to add that my recipe is adapted from this: Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Recipe
Also, when I say the cabbage is “thinly sliced” I don’t mean like slaw or shredded. It’s thicker than that. You want a good bite of cabbage.
If you want something less heavy and like Thai flavors/spicy food- this is an especially addicting dish: Thai Beef with Basil over Coconut Rice
We often have it with jalapenos instead and over plain jasmine rice but either way it’s really, really good.
Simmer some browned ground beef with some cut up potatoes in equal parts beef stock and cream of mushroom soup.
When the potatoes are soft enough to your liking, throw in a heavy dose of sour cream.
Tacos!
Lasagna!
Loose meat sandwiches!
Sloppy Joes!
Better yet, follow the Serious Eats recipe. You can use beef instead of lamb, but I do recommend using the food processor, if you have that option. More important, though, is the technique of salting well in advance and, if you are using the food processor, keeping the meat cold. (I actually just pulled one out of the oven, half-lamb, half-pork, about ten minutes ago. This is my go-to homemade gyros recipe, and you can see in the pictures how much difference following certain steps does.)
Also, shepherd’s pie/cottage pie!
My mother-in-law also makes these beef taco skillets as quick-and-easy-to-put-together food, and they actually are surprisingly tasty for a Midwestern style hot dish.
Curried beef:
Cabbage stir fry, also known as egg roll in a bowl, I make extra sauce:
Joe’s Special - beef, eggs, and spinach - so much better than it sounds, many recipes online
taco salad, nachos, beef and vegetable soup, beef and barley soup, taco soup
Mexican Lasagna
Brown 1lb ground beef and chopped onion. Drain the fat.
In a large bowl, combine the hamburger meat with:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can chopped green chiles
1 can Ranch Style beans
1 small jar picante sauce
Cover the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish with flour tortillas. Add a layer of the mixture and a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat twice.
Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, add one more layer of tortillas and cheese. Bake another 10 minutes. Let it cool about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Tamale pie.
Brown a pound of ground round. Drain the grease, and add a packet of taco seasoning (or make your own), a can of corn (drained), and ¾ cup water. Simmer until sauce is thickened. Put into a baking dish. Cover with cornbread batter, and bake in a 425ºF oven for about 20 minutes.
I do a version of this too. It’s really good and so much easier than rolling the cabbage.
Chili. Now and forever.
How about just a pasta bake? Make a meat sauce and do lasagna, baked ziti or whatever kind of pasta you have on hand mixed with the sauce and some cheese. Sometimes just for a different flavor I do a pizza sauce instead of a pasta sauce.