Request: killer recipes featuring ground beef

I maintain a small herd (7 at the moment) of cattle, and when we get a bull, he becomes a steer ... and then becomes dinner.

I'm currently saddled with >50 pounds of frozen ground beef, waiting for me to come up with something more interesting than burgers, chili, or stroganoff.

Can some of yinz share a favorite recipe featuring ground beef?  

Replies that begin with 'You're gonna LOVE this!' are encouraged!

Thanks everyone.

G

Homemade Beef Rice-a-Roni is a hit in my family. This recipe is similar to mine, but I don't really measure the veggies. I do measure the pasta, rice, and water to maintain the right ratio.

https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-beef-rice-roni/

We also do a ground beef with hash brown skillet thing...not really a recipe so much as it is you make hash browns according to your preference and dump in some good ground beef, peppers, onions, whatever.

Tacos, spaghetti, gravy biscuits.  Not my thing but some people like to make ground meat "snack sticks".  You could also add some pork fat and make sausages.

If you have trouble using all the ground, try getting more stew meat next time.  I've been pressure cooking stew meat to make various stews and curries.  I really like it as an alternative to ground.

Tacos, spaghetti, gravy biscuits.

Oh yeah, anything Mexican is a hit in my family! Enchiladas, picadillo, burritos, etc.

Here's a recipe for picadillo, but I'd omit the Sazon seasoning as it's loaded with MSG:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/220164/classic-cuban-style-picadillo/

Hot Stuffed Grape Leaves
(about 35)

For me, this is a zone 7 springtime ground beef favorite that I eagerly await in the months ahead. Late spring through June is the time to pick tender young grape leaves. Rolling those quick-boiled (just to soften) leaves with a stuffing of ground beef is a savory Mediterranean finger-food that “you’re going to love.” This is a springtime forager’s delight held together by ground beef. Try this celebration of spring; a medley of first wild greens, herbs and fruits of the season.

This edited recipe came from Claudia Roden’s amazing, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. I modify the herbs [see brackets below] depending on what I find on my morning walk.

Ingredients
8 oz grape leaves, about 40, softened a few seconds in boiling water

Stuffing:
8 oz ground beef
1/2 c long-grain rice, rinsed in boiling water then cold plunge [or 1 c cooked brown rice]
1 tomato chopped [or fresh wild plums or cherries chopped]
1 small onion chopped [or 1/2 c chopped green garlic]
3 to 6 T finely chopped flat-leafed parsley [or spring mint or wild greens]
1 t cinnamon or allspice
Salt & pepper
2 cloves chopped garlic [or 2 green garlic]

Cooking liquid:
Juice of 1 lemon [or your favorite natural vinegar] plus 2/3 c water

Mix the stuffing ingredients. Lay out blanched grape leaves on counter, vein side up. Put 1 round teaspoon in the middle of the grape leaf. Trim the stem then fold up the stem end toward the center. Fold in the sides. Roll loosely (stuffing will expand) from stem to tip and gently squeeze into a small cigar shape. Put the cigar on counter with the leaf tip on bottom.

Repeat until the stuffing is used up. Line the bottom of a small heavy stove-top pot or Dutch oven with extra leaves. Arrange your stuffed leaves in tight layers over the pot leaves.

Pour lemon water over top. Cover the stuffed grape leaves with a plate to prevent unrolling.  Close lid and simmer on very low heat for 1 hour until very tender. Add more water as needed to prevent scorching.

Enjoy these finger-food morsels with lemon or yogurt.

Oh, how I know your problem! We’ve been cooking our way through many many pounds of ground beef, and gifted quite a few, for a couple years now.

Here are some of my favorites, let me know if you want recipes for any of them:

Italian meatballs - I use these in sandwiches, with tomato sauce on spaghetti, or sometimes on pizza.

Swedish meatballs, we eat these on home made fettucine type pasta with a cream sauce

Romanian meatballs, we eat these warm or cold by themselves, or we sometimes cook them in a tomato sauce and over mashed potatoes

Spanish rice casserole ( not to be confused with Spanish rice dish)

Salisbury steaks, the gravy on these is to die for, we usually eat them over mashed potatoes

Meatloaf

My own Christmas cabbage rolls (hint: you need to like sauerkraut to enjouy these)

This is what comes to mind at the moment, I’ll chime in if I remember more.

PS: some of these taste better when half of the mixture is ground pork.

A tomato-meat sauces:
Ground beef, sausage, diced pepperoni, onion, pepper, garlic, tomatoes, Italian herbs. Good on pasta, even better in a lasagna (or three, freeze the extras to heat and eat later).
American chop suey. ground beef, onions, peppers, canned tomatoes, served mixed with pasta (traditionally elbows, but I prefer radiatore, or rotini, to grab more sauce.)

Mexican casserole. 1 lb. Ground beef, browned with onion, add can of tomato with chili peppers, a can of black beans (drained), 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup corn, chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper. cover and cook 16-20 minutes until rice is done. remove from heat, top with 2 cups shredded cheese, recover 3-5 minutes until melted.

Tacos. 50 pounds will take you all year if you stick to just Tuesdays! good thing they're so good you can do Thursdays too! We cook up extra and freeze taco-meat for a heat and eat taco night later, or to put on nachos.

Finally, they're no "killer recipes" just comfort foods and variety; stuffed peppers or cabbage, beef hash, meatloaf, and stewed hamburger.

Hi,  I make pizza crust. 1lb ground beef, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 egg, mix together, flatten in baking pan like pizza crust, bake 350 for 15-20min, add sauce and topping bake till cheese melts and turns brown. Let sit for 2 min before cutting. Don't burn your mouth like i did right out of the oven. :)

Asian style lettuce cups

Fry beef, add ginger, garlic, sweetchilli sauce and sweet soy sauce, if you don't have sweet soy use soy and add honey at a ratio of 1 tbs honey to 3 tbs sauce. simmer it all together until the beef breaks up a bit, you may need to add some water. when it's done add  some finely chopped up crunchy vegetable, water-chestnuts are traditional but yacon, Jerusalem artichokes or even carrots work, and warm them through, serve in a large bowl and provide a big bowl of lettuce leaves on the side, everyone can roll their own, you can also serve other things with it, like noodles, chopped peanuts, chilli etc for everyone to mix in as they like.

Cottage pie.

Boil some potatoes for mash
Brown some onions, brown mince add finely diced carrots and peas, add a bit of flour and water to make a fairly thick gravy, season with salt and pepper (Worcestershire sauce or mushroom ketchup is a good addition to if you have them)
Pour the meat mixture into a ovenproof casserole and top with the mash
bake until the mash is brown on top.

Mince meat pie (not the Christmas type)
Brown mince and onions, add flour and water plus salt and pepper, add any cooked vegetables you want, carrots and potato do well
line a dish with pastry fill with the filling and top with pastry again, bake until golden brown
serve with potatoes and veg.

Lasagna, bolognase, Day one is bolognase, day two lasagna and you can then turn it into chili for day 3 if you want.

Lots of mince based curry recipes.

Arthur, that pizza crust sounds really yummy!

I have lettuce this week so I am having taco salad.  I have been making it at home as often as I can since I tasted the very first one at a restaurant across from where I worked.

I also like sloppy joe's. Dear hubby doesn't like them and I have had a craving for them.

I also like fried hamburger patties with mashed potatoes and cream gravy.

I make a homemade version of Wendy's Chili.

1 lb ground beef
diced onion
can of ranch style beans
can of diced tomatoes
can or two of tomato sauce
salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste.

Brown the meat with the diced onion, add everything else then heat until hot.

It is great for using up the food storage items that need to be rotated.

I could pretty much live on beef stew made from ground beef. Just brown some beef, and add potatoes, carrots, peas, and whatever other vegetables you like, with some tomato puree (or juice), seasonings, and bouillon in the broth.

Ground beef can be used to make beef jerky which would be one way to transform some into a tasty alternative.

If you know someone who fishes trade some ground beef for some fish. Or trade for lamb or pork or venison or turkey, mushrooms, eggs, goat milk, veggies, fruit, etc.