Easy Recipes for Ground Beef

When looking for something quick, cheap, and tasty to make many choose to start with ground beef as a base. The following use a minimal amount of ingredients, require only a beginner’s level of kitchen skills, and can be made using ground turkey as a substitute.

1. Easy Meat Loaf

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. ground beef (or turkey)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 packet dried onion soup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
3. Shape into meatloaf pan.
4. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

2. Quick and Easy Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

• 1-1.5 lbs. ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 4 cups instant mashed potatoes (prepared)
• 1 cup part skim shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 small diced onion
• 1 cup frozen peas or 1 can peas (rinsed and drained)
• olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook diced onions in olive oil over medium high heat until transparent and set aside.
3. Brown ground meat and drain.
4. Add soup, onions, and peas to meat and cook over low/medium heat until mixture is heated throughout.
5. Transfer mixture to baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes and shredded cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

3. Hamburger Stew

Ingredients

• 1-1.5 lbs. ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 package dry taco seasoning mix
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 can sliced carrots (rinsed and drained) or 1 cup frozen sliced carrots
• 1 can peas (rinsed and drained) or 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 cans small whole potatoes
• 3 cups water
• 1 onion (diced)
• olive oil
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Cook diced onion in olive oil over medium-high heat until transparent
2. Transfer to large pot
3. Brown ground beef and transfer to large pot (with onions)
4. Add taco seasoning, water, and soup
5. Stir and heat on medium for 3-4 minutes
6. Add additional ingredients and stir
7. Cover and reduce heat to low
8. Cook for 30 (or until frozen vegetables and potatoes are tender)

4. Macaroni and Beef

Ingredients

• 1-1.5 lbs. ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 med onion (chopped)
• 1 jar tomato sauce
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 8 oz. shredded low fat cheddar or other cheese
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
• olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Prepare macaroni as directed on box and set aside
3. Heat olive oil over medium high heat and cook onions until transparent
4. Add ground beef and cook until browned
5. Drain excess liquid
6. In large casserole dish mix macaroni, ground beef, onion, and tomato sauce
7. Top with shredded cheese
8. Add salt and pepper (to taste)
9. Bake at 300 for 45 minutes

None of the above recipes take very long to prepare, and most can be made with ingredients already found in the cupboard. Buy extra ground beef the next time it’s on sale and freeze so you always have a quick, substantial supper on hand.