25 Hearty Ground Beef Recipes That Are Sure to Become Weeknight Favorites
Our best ground beef recipes span chili, enchiladas, patty melts, and pot pie.
We know that on weeknights, time can be tight and it can be a challenge to come up with dinner ideas that are both delicious and easy to make. That's why we lean on our best ground beef recipes that have complex, deep flavors and can be on the table quickly. Turn ground beef into the best chili you’ll ever have, our rendition of Cuban picadillo, smoky-sweet enchiladas, comforting pot pie, and much more. Here are plenty of recipes to transform that package of ground beef into a supremely satisfying dinner.
Classic Meatloaf
Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Addelyn Evans
"This is a culmination of all the meatloaf I've ever eaten," says chef Andrew Curren. "My mom always made a good meatloaf — it never had the tomato goo on top of it. Then I tasted a meatloaf that had cheese in it; that was a good idea. In Italy, I was introduced to sofrito and realized the importance of cooking with carrots, onion, and celery."
Picadillo
Our version of this Cuban classic mixes ground beef with a highly seasoned tomato sauce, fried potatoes, raisins, and green olives — and an untraditional dash of hot sauce. The deeply satisfying dish can be served over rice, with corn tortillas, or stuffed into roasted peppers.
Classic Beef Chili
This is a great classic chili to keep in your back pocket for game day meals or anytime you want a hearty bowl to warm you up. Toasting the ground cumin and ancho chile powder in oil as they cook with the ground beef brings out their earthy flavors, adding savory undertones to the mix when combined with the fresh poblano, thyme, and oregano.
Patty Melts with Charred Scallion-Chipotle Mayo
Classic versions of the patty melt often include caramelized onions, but those take time, so here cookbook author Molly Stevens leans on quick-charred scallions instead. Chipotle-spiked mayonnaise adds an extra dose of lushness and a punch of smoky heat.
Beef and Cheese Red Chile Enchiladas
Dipping warm corn tortillas in freshly made red chile sauce infuses each rolled enchilada with the smoky-sweet flavor of New Mexico chiles. The hearty cumin-tinged ground beef and cheese filling stands up well to the bold sauce.
Bolognese Meat Sauce
Cookbook author and Italian cuisine expert Marcella Hazan's classic ragù sauce recipe is pure, long-simmered comfort in a pot. Because it requires a few hours on the stove, it may not be ideal to cook on a weeknight — but it can easily be made ahead and frozen to have at the ready.
Mini Potato, Steak, and Chorizo Pies
These smallish "pies" are filled with a smart combination of fresh chorizo and lean grass-fed ground beef. Seasoned with onion and Worcestershire, they come together in a snap and can easily be made ahead.
Ground Beef Bulgogi Sloppy Joes with Fiery Napa Slaw
Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Ground beef gets the Korean barbecue flavor treatment with soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil, and a hint of gochujang so it becomes saucy, sweet, and salty in this amped-up version of the American classic. Meanwhile, the spicy, mayo-dressed slaw keeps the sandwiches from veering too sweet. They’re messy, yes, but so worth it.
Ground Beef Lasagna
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
This lasagna includes ground beef in the sauce and layers of ricotta and mozzarella to make each bite extra hearty. Made with no-boil noodles, it requires only about half an hour of active work time before it's baked.
Juicy Lucy Cheeseburger
Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Juicy beef, gooey cheese, tangy pickles, and silky caramelized onions come together for this unforgettable burger, created at Matt’s Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Beef-and-Fonio Meatballs with Sweet Potato Stew
Cooked until fluffy and dry like couscous, fonio, a West African staple grain, keeps the ground beef meatballs tender while imparting a mildly nutty, earthy flavor.
Arayes
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Caleb Clark
These Middle Eastern stuffed pitas are toasted and crunchy, and filled with a seasoned layer of spiced meat. We used a combination of ground beef and lamb here, but either cooks up nicely on its own if you aren't feeling the blend.
Lamb and Beef Burek
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Audrey Taylor
Coils of flaky phyllo pastry are wrapped around a lightly seasoned filling of ground beef and lamb in these Bosnian pastries.
Soboro Donburi (Gingery Ground Beef with Peas over Rice)
This hearty Japanese dish features soboro (finely ground meat simmered in soy sauce, dashi, and sake) served over rice for a satisfying meal. To simplify the recipe, Japanese cooking teacher Elizabeth Andoh suggests using water instead of dashi.
Beef and Vegetable Pot Pie with Cheddar Biscuits
This luscious pot pie — with its buttery cheddar crust and ground beef filling mixed with parsnips, carrots, and peas — is a perfect addition to your weeknight recipe repertoire. It comes together in just 45 minutes of active time before hitting the oven.
Grilled Meatballs with Mint and Za'atar
Pass crisp lettuce leaves and tangy yogurt with these cumin-spiced meat patties and assemble them at the table. Made in under half an hour, this is the perfect weeknight dish.
Poblanos Rellenos de Picadillo Dulce
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
There’s a lot to like in these smoky peppers, filled with a Picadillo Dulce of lean ground beef seasoned with briny pimiento-stuffed olives and sweet cinnamon, that sit atop a pool of vibrant red-orange caldillo de tomate, a simple, silky tomato sauce.
Thai-Style Beef Salad Over Angel Hair Pasta
© Iain Bagwell. Food styling by Simon Andrews.
Laab — ground beef seasoned with chiles, lime juice, fish sauce, and mint — is a traditional Thai meat salad eaten warm or at room temperature. We've added thin noodles to turn it into a pasta salad, and you can always eat the meat mixture by itself.
Frito Pie
Frito Pie is a glorious mess of corn chips, chili, cheese, and other toppings piled together — often right in the chip bag — for a uniquely pleasing meal. Our recipe relies on a homemade chili, which gets a bite and some bitterness from the inclusion of amber beer, and sweetness and acidity from tomatoes.
Gina Mae's Baked Beans
For this summer-perfect dish, scholar Regina Bradley dresses up store-bought barbecue sauce and canned baked beans with extra brown sugar; apple cider vinegar cuts through the smoky sweetness. You'll need a pound of 85% lean ground beef for the recipe.
Spiced Harissa Ragù with Tahini Yogurt
With warm spices, fiery harissa, and chopped pistachios, this meaty ragù from Tel Aviv chef Salah Kurdi is solidly Middle Eastern. Don't let that stop you from ladling it over gnocchi or layering it into baked pasta.
Beef Keema
Although this ground meat curry is often made with lamb, we've found that the distinctive combination of spices tastes just as good with ground beef. Serve the thick keema with warm naan or pita.
Taco Dip
This dip from former F&W culinary director at large Justin Chapple is a fun riff on seven-layer dip. Chapple takes the dip to another level by starting with a layer of super–flavorful ground beef that’s spiced with homemade taco seasoning. It's perfect for a gathering, but also works as the center of snack dinner.
Macaroni and Beef Casserole
© Alexandra Rowley
Justin Chapple's casserole is a homemade version of the boxed pasta meals he enjoyed (and still enjoys) when he was a kid. Fresh vegetables, ground beef, crushed tomatoes, pasta, melted cheese, and more come together for a hearty dish that's ready in under an hour.
Hungarian Beef and Potato Soup
Traditionally, this soup would be made with cubes of beef, but when you want a quick weeknight dinner, who can wait for meat to braise? We use ground beef instead.
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