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 deeply satisfying dinner.
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Picadillo
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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.
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Beef and Cheese Red Chile Enchiladas
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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.
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Classic Beef Chili
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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.
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Mini Potato, Steak, and Chorizo Pies
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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.
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Patty Melts with Charred Scallion-Chipotle Mayo
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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.
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Crispy Comté Frico Cheeseburgers
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Salty, buttery, and slightly sharp, Comté cheese crisps similarly to Parmesan, adding an irresistibly crunchy frico layer to these ground chuck cheeseburgers.
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Ground Beef Lasagna
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This lasagna includes ground beef in the sauce and layers of ricotta and mozzarella to make each bite extra hearty.
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Lamb and Beef Burek
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Coils of flaky phyllo pastry are wrapped around a lightly seasoned filling of ground beef and lamb in these Bosnian pastries.
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Beef-and-Fonio Meatballs with Sweet Potato Stew
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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.
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Soboro Donburi (Gingery Ground Beef with Peas over Rice)
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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.
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Beef and Vegetable Pot Pie with Cheddar Biscuits
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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.
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Beef Keema
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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.
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Grilled Meatballs with Mint and Za'atar
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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.
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Meat-Stuffed Poblanos with Cilantro-Lime Sauce
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Stuffing poblano peppers with ground beef turns them into a satiating meal. These peppers make for a perfectly spicy, bright dinner that comes together in only 30 minutes.
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Barbecue Sloppy Joes
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Barbecue sauce, ketchup, and cider vinegar spice up the ground beef in these retro Sloppy Joes. Chef Christopher Tunnell uses a mixture of ground sirloin and chuck for this sandwich and melts cheddar cheese on the bun to make it extra gooey.
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Thai-Style Beef Salad Over Angel Hair Pasta
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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.
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Macaroni and Beef Casserole
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This casserole from F&W culinary director at large Justin Chapple 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 satisfying, hearty dish that's ready in under an hour.
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Classic Meatloaf
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"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."
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Hungarian Beef and Potato Soup
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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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