20 Easy Ground Beef Dinners for Every Night of the Week

Side view of meatballs — Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Even as a culinary professional, I get stumped sometimes staring at the ground beef in the butcher's case. Sure, it's on special, but what the heck do I want to do with it? Do I go with the tried-and-true burger or meatloaf? Maybe something I've never tried making at home before, like Jamaican beef patties? I know I'm not alone in my quandary. We've delved into our vast Serious Eats library to bring you a collection of recipes to inspire you to rethink how you cook your favorites or try something new, such as grilled Korean-style bulgogi burgers, skillet tamale pie, seekh kebabs, and Cuban picadillo. Whatever the mood or occasion, there is a perfect ground beef recipe for you.

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Taco Soup

Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

Here, we’ve spun the nostalgic Taco Tuesday–style taco on its head with our easy recipe for a deeply comforting, savory taco soup that hits all the notes of the classic. It features ground beef, corn, and pinto beans swimming in a flavorful purée of canned fire-roasted tomatoes, charred onion, garlic, jalapeño, and cubanelle peppers.

Taco Soup
Sloppy Joes

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

In this improved version of the cafeteria classic, browning just half the meat builds browned, roasted flavors, while cooking the other half briefly keeps it tender. A mixture of ketchup, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar gives the sauce its characteristic tang and sweetness.

Sloppy Joes
Okinawan Taco Rice

Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

Step inside any Okinawan restaurant, and you’ll find taco rice: steaming Japanese short-grain rice topped with ground beef spiced with cumin and chile powder, then layered with a confetti of cheddar cheese, shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes, chunky salsa, and sometimes even crushed tortilla chips.

Okinawan Taco Rice
Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Bean Chili

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Classic beef-and-bean chili done right normally requires plenty of time to simmer to fully tenderize the meat—not ideal for the impatient cook. But Daniel's pressure cooker method reduces the cooking time considerably without compromising on flavor, and is bolstered with a little coffee, dark chocolate, and fish sauce to add subtle toasty and savory notes.

Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Bean Chili

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Iowa Loose Meat Sandwich

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

A sloppy Joe without the slop, the Iowa loose meat sandwich is a mid-century Midwestern classic, bringing beef crumbles (ideally, but not always, well seasoned), onion, pickles, and mustard together on a bun. It’s a squishy, snackable sandwich and an undeniable combination of all-American flavors.

Iowa Loose Meat Sandwich
Easy Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

No frills, no tricks, no complicated steps—just solid technique for easy and delicious Italian-American meatballs in tomato sauce.

Easy Weeknight Meatballs
Steak Haché

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

A popular French bistro menu item, steak haché is simple ground or minced beef that's cooked like a steak, then served as one might serve a steak in a bistro—with salad, fries, or both, and usually with some kind of classic sauce, whether it be peppercorn, béarnaise, a red wine sauce, or something else.

Steak Haché
Macarona Bil Laban (Pasta With Garlic Yogurt Sauce)

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Hot pasta, cool yogurt, spiced meat, and toasty nuts—this 30-minute weeknight staple hits every note.

Macarona Bil Laban (Pasta With Garlic Yogurt Sauce)

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Classic Meatloaf (The Food Lab)

Serious Eats / Mariel De La Cruz

Leave it to Kenji to improve on an American classic, coming up with a version that's deeply moist and meaty with a firm tender texture that holds its shape so each slice stays intact. It's perfect as is served up with a side of ultra-fluffy mashed potatoes, or layered in a sandwich.

Classic Meatloaf (The Food Lab)
Grilled Korean-Style Bulgogi Burgers With Kimchi Mayo and Pickled Daikon

Serious Eats / Emily and Matt Clifton

Bold flavors of Korean bulgogi married with proper burger grilling technique equals the best kind of fusion cooking. Layering in colorful crunchy vegetables and piquant kimchi mayo turns this burger into a visual feast.

Grilled Korean-Style Bulgogi Burgers With Kimchi Mayo and Pickled
Curried Jamaican Beef Patties

Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

These brightly hued flaky pastries—loaded with deeply seasoned ground beef, onions, garlic, and Scotch bonnet peppers—are ubiquitous throughout Jamaica. They're found in ramshackle roadside stands, neighborhood restaurants, and even resorts. One bite can magically transport you to a warm sunny beach!

Curried Jamaican Beef Patties
Cuban Picadillo

Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

This easy-to-make Cuban comfort food classic is deceptively simple but big on flavor. The layers of flavor begin with a sofrito and finish with briny green olives, capers, and raisins that add brightness and texture. Serve it with white rice and black beans.

Cuban Picadillo

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Easy Skillet Tamale Pie With Cornbread Crust

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Although it's hard to say whether this savory skillet pie of beef chili topped with a buttery, tender, crisp-edged cornbread crust was actually inspired by the Mexican tamale, it's definitely part of the great lexicon of Americanized dishes. Browned butter gives the cornbread a rich, nutty aroma.

Easy Skillet Tamale Pie With Cornbread Crust
Salisbury Steak With Mushroom Brown Gravy

Serious Eats/ Vicky Wasik

Like Daniel, Salisbury steak was one of my favorite TV dinners as a kid (and the only school cafeteria offering I actually wanted to eat). His rendition features a juicy and tender steak-like patty smothered in a rich mushroom gravy accentuated with sweet, complex onion flavor.

Salisbury Steak With Mushroom Brown Gravy
American Chop Suey (Macaroni, Beef, and Cheese Skillet Casserole)

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Despite its origins, calling this "choy suey" is perhaps a bit of a misnomer. Nevertheless, you can't argue that the combination of tender macaroni, tomato sauce, and ground beef (seasoned with Worcestershire sauce) baked with lots of melty pockets of mozzarella cheese isn't deeply satisfying. This one-skillet wonder is almost as easy as cracking open a box of Beefaroni mix.

American Chop Suey (Macaroni, Beef, and Cheese Skillet Casserole)
Kotlet (Persian Ground Meat and Potato Patties)

Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari

Popular throughout Iran and the Persian diaspora, these ground meat and potato patties are incredibly versatile and easy to make. Serve them hot or cold, as a main dish, side, snack, or even a sandwich filling.

Kotlet (Persian Ground Meat and Potato Patties)

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Seekh Kebabs (Pakistani Spicy Grilled Ground Meat Skewers)

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Getting the right flavor profile is certainly key to making what Kenji calls the "meat-on-a-stick of your dreams." The other is properly salting, chilling, and grilling the meat to achieve seekh kebab nirvana.

Seekh Kebabs (Pakistani Spicy Grilled Ground Meat Skewers)
Moroccan Kefta and Bell Pepper Briouats (Ground Meat and Bell Pepper Pastries)

Serious Eats / Greg DuPree

These triangular-shaped pastries filled with ground beef, caramelized onion, and bell pepper and flavored with garlic, sweet paprika, cumin, and coriander make for an excellent finger food or starter. Although they're traditionally made with a Moroccan pastry called warqua, the more readily available phyllo is a fine substitute.

Moroccan Kefta and Bell Pepper Briouats (Ground Meat and Bell Pepper Pastries)
Brown Rice Congee With Beef, Shiitake, and Garlic Chips

Serious Eats / Shao Z.

Rice porridge is a classic breakfast staple throughout Asia, and brown rice turns this "blank canvas" into a heartier, healthier base for a variety of accompaniments—such as marinated ground beef, dried shiitake mushrooms, and garlic chips. Reducing the water-to-rice ratio ensures that the brown rice congee will be just as creamy and silky as the white rice version.

Brown Rice Congee With Beef, Shiitake, and Garlic Chips
Basic Ragù Bolognese

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Ragù bolognese is a foundational component for several classic pasta dishes, including lasagna alla bolognese. We suggest making a batch and stashing it in your freezer.

Basic Ragù Bolognese