Delicious Ground Beef Recipes

Where’s the beef? It’s all over these fun, fresh recipes. Don’t expect the basic tacos, burgers, chili, enchiladas … When you feel like you’ve overused the classics, turn to our smart, delicious ideas for utilizing one of the kitchen’s top workhorses: ground beef. Rather than a plain old cheeseburger, we’ve got a patty topped with Monterey jack, avocado and salsa. Expected meat sauce over spaghetti? Nope, our version boasts a chunky tomato-beef sauce ladled over parrapadelle noodles. And we don’t stop there.

If you’re buying ground beef in bulk, separate the meat into different baggies or containers to freeze each pound on its own, so you’ll only need to thaw one nights’ worth of protein at a time.

Pappardelle With Spicy Meat Sauce

We took the most straightforward use of ground beef (in a meat sauce served over spaghetti noodles) and gave it a tasty, sophisticated spin. The ground beef in this spicy sauce is mixed with garlic, crushed red peppers, and anchovies, for a salty, deep accompaniment to broad pappardelle noodles.

Broccoli Rabe and Beef Flat Bread

In the past, the only place you’d see ground beef on a pizza crust was on slices of high-calorie supreme, or even a less-than-appealing hamburger-themed pie. But this flat bread uses ground beef, in concert with broccoli rabe, for a delicious all-in-one meal. It’s an excellent way to get pickier eaters to say yes to vegetables

Cottage Pies

This is simple comfort food at its best. You’ve no doubt heard of a Shepherd’s Pie, a savory mince-meat pie with a ground-lamb filling. We opted to follow the Irish tradition of Cottage Pies for this satisfying, stick-to-your-ribs supper.

Mediterranean Beef Pitas

There are a million different takes on beef pitas—you could try a Thai-inspired wrap or a fajita-like treatment. For this recipe, we opted for a sandwich with distinctly Greek flavors. Like a protein-rich falafel sandwich,