Ground meat recipes?

This is one area of the kitchen I need help. I'm sick of burgers, tacos, and beefy cheesy mac(whatever you want to call that), as those seem to have been weekly meals since the beginning of time. Usually two if not all 3, every week. 

Even pouring through yummly, it's all meatballs and tacos.

There's got to be something different that can be done with it. 

So what do you do to keep things different?

I've made some strange concoctions trying to find something better or not boring to do, including stuffed meatballs, a thousand kinds of meat loaf, paleo popcorn, spices and flavorings from all around the world, but it seems no matter how it's cooked it's just a funny shaped burger. 

I have a recipe that calls for ground beast, cabbage, red pepper, and pine nuts. It's a slaw of sorts. 

If your interested, I'll post it. 

For the record, it sounds terrible to me, but we love it. 

If you have a rotisserie you can make gyro meat. I've got a rotisserie but haven't tried the Gyro. It's high on the to do list.

"It's not hamburger, it's a spice matrix" <- our mantra in university.

I used to make a lot of pasta sauce during those days. Eat it with a different shape of pasta every day, because everyone knows that rotini is totally different than spaghetti.

These days, if I have an excess of hamburger (can't make steak out of the whole cow) I'll often make it into jerky.

Chili?

perfect weather for it

Keith Tanner said:

 

I used to make a lot of pasta sauce during those days. Eat it with a different shape of pasta every day, because everyone knows that rotini is totally different than spaghetti.

 

 

I'm not sure if you are serious, but I totally agree if you are.  I ate my last bit of long skinny pasta the day my ex moved out.  Rotini or shells carry the good stuff far better.

smokindav said:

If you have a rotisserie you can make gyro meat. I've got a rotisserie but haven't tried the Gyro. It's high on the to do list.

Hmm.I need to finish assembly, but I do have one.that's an interesting idea. 

Im going to step back a second and say that while I was originally looking for ground beef, well, I don't discriminate. Ground lamb, pork, even turkey could fall into this category. 

Streetwiseguy said:

Keith Tanner said:

 

I used to make a lot of pasta sauce during those days. Eat it with a different shape of pasta every day, because everyone knows that rotini is totally different than spaghetti.

 

 

I'm not sure if you are serious, but I totally agree if you are.  I ate my last bit of long skinny pasta the day my ex moved out.  Rotini or shells carry the good stuff far better.

Totally serious. Make a big thing of high meat content pasta sauce on the weekend, eat it with different shapes of pasta all week. Repeat. Beats Kraft Dinner.

I don't see how anyone could ever get tired of tacos or burgers, but here's a couple more ground beef ideas.

Stuffed peppers with ground beef & rice filling. 

Lasagne with thick, meaty sauce

Enchiladas

Last night we did nachos.

There are about a million ways to make various Mexican dishes with ground meat.    Just take a picture of the menus at your local ethnic restaurant and copy as you see fit.

Brown two pounds of ground meat and spread in bottom of casserole dish.

Pour a large can of Cream-o-mushroom soup on top of the meat

Spread tater tots on top of that.

Bake till tots are brown.

My wife asks me to cook it at least weekly.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

Last night we did nachos.

There are about a million ways to make various Mexican dishes with ground meat.    Just take a picture of the menus at your local ethnic restaurant and copy as you see fit.

Mexican food is just the same few ingredients assembled differently. This is not a criticism. Sometimes the cheese goes inside the tortilla. Sometimes it's on top. Sometimes the rice and beans goes beside, sometimes it goes inside. Sometimes the tortilla is crunchy, sometimes it is not.

Except for mole. That's the real test of a Mexican restaurant.

Also, if you're tired of burgers you need to learn to make better burgers. It is impossible to be tired of burgers. And Mexican food.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

And don’t forget the garlic bread!

Cousin_Eddie said:

Brown two pounds of ground meat and spread in bottom of casserole dish.

Pour a large can of Cream-o-mushroom soup on top of the meat

Spread tater tots on top of that.

Bake till tots are brown.

 

My wife asks me to cook it at least weekly.

This actually came up, I have a version printed out ready to try. Gotta make sure my kid will like it first, which means trying it when she isn't here. 

Maybe not "sick" of burgers and Mexican. I'm very spoiled when it comes to Mexican food though, and even after working under Mexican chefs, I can't quite replicate the proper taste of the ground beef(despite my abilities with chicken, steak, and seafood Mexican style). But burgers, man, I am getting tired of them.

Whether they're thin patties cooked in cast iron with bacon fat and onions served on a brioche bun, thick juicy pink in the middle cooked over charcoal and served on fresh yeast rolls, half beef half pork spiced to Asia and back on grilled garlic bread, plain burger on a bun or half a buffet cart shoved between two pieces of bread, I'm just growing tired of them. It's gotten better since I quit getting them for lunch every single day, but I don't know, maybe just boredom from routine. 

Maybe I need to buy the meat grinder for my kitchenaid, and start custom grinding cuts and blends. 

Maybe don't mention it to anyone local, but after spending most of the winter working on my pizza dough recipe, I'm even sick of pizza right now. 

Ok, this is a general showing.

Ground beef and season *salt, pepper, thyme, chilli powder, garlic, and onion*  Cook in a pan like you would taco meat.  When browned, drain and add a cup of rice and water to match.  If you want a little kick, put in a can of rotel.  Cover and simmer till rice is done.  Ill add about 3-4 tbsp of your favorite bbq sauce on top.

I asked my ever talented wife who cooks for our family of five. Her answers: beef stroganoff, spaghetti, meatloaf, porcupines, meatballs, meat pies, and shepherd's pie.

I'll second the stuffed peppers, those are tasty.

Thinkkker said:

Ok, this is a general showing.

Ground beef and season *salt, pepper, thyme, chilli powder, garlic, and onion*  Cook in a pan like you would taco meat.  When browned, drain and add a cup of rice and water to match.  If you want a little kick, put in a can of rotel.  Cover and simmer till rice is done.  Ill add about 3-4 tbsp of your favorite bbq sauce on top.

I used to do something similar too this with beef rice because it was handy. Between pasta, tacos, nachos, and hamburgers I could eat beef everyday. 

RevRico said:

So what do you do to keep things different?

Not use the same main ingredient for multiple meals per week, and simply take a break from any ingredient that is getting repetitive.

Driven5 said:

RevRico said:

So what do you do to keep things different?

Not use the same main ingredient for multiple meals per week, and simply take a break from any ingredient that is getting repetitive.

Solid advice. Gotta mix it up. Chicken, fish, pork chops, breakfast for dinner, roasts, I've even been known to eat just a salad for dinner when cooking doesn't sound great. I was really into PBandJs for awhile too.

Recently made an Italian Meatloaf, this thing I came up with a few years ago, for my dad and I to have.  He was a big fan and he's kind of picky about new stuff.  Basically it's 1/2 ground turkey, 1/2 Italian sausage.  Mix in an egg and a lot of bread crumbs for binder like most any meatloaf, a small amount of tomato sauce (like 4oz), oregano, basil, garlic, and about 1/3rd of a white onion through the course side of a grater.  Bake like a usual 2lb meatloaf, I think 350 for 45 minutes, but use a meat thermometer to be sure.  When it's cool enough to handle I took it out of the bread pan I used and wrapped it in tin foil.  There will be a lot of grease left behind but the meatloaf itself isn't greasy, if that makes sense.

First night I served slices with pasta Alfredo and broccoli.  After that, it's nice to put in a hamburger bun with a slice of provolone and heated in the microwave.  

I've found these recipes on a similar quest and I really like them: 

https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2009/04/ground-beef-stir-fry.html

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/kheema-indian-ground-beef-with-peas-recipe-1925367

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/kofta-kebab-recipe/

Cousin_Eddie said:

Brown two pounds of ground meat and spread in bottom of casserole dish.

Pour a large can of Cream-o-mushroom soup on top of the meat

Spread tater tots on top of that.

Bake till tots are brown.

 

My wife asks me to cook it at least weekly.

On multiple occasions we’ve done something similar, but substituted refried beans for the cream of mushroom soup. It’s delicious, but there are confirmed consequences. 

We refer to that dish as the casserole of pain. 

Karacticus said:

Cousin_Eddie said:

Brown two pounds of ground meat and spread in bottom of casserole dish.

Pour a large can of Cream-o-mushroom soup on top of the meat

Spread tater tots on top of that.

Bake till tots are brown.

 

My wife asks me to cook it at least weekly.

On multiple occasions we’ve done something similar, but substituted refried beans for the cream of mushroom soup. It’s delicious, but there are confirmed consequences. 

We refer to that dish as the casserole of pain. 

I might need to make that at work tomorrow. A station full of firemen all hopped up on refried beans should be pure mayhem.

If your meatloaf doesn't also have ground pork (I like to do ground chuck, ground pork, ground veal) you're doing it wrong. 

Sorry.

Keith Tanner said:

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

Last night we did nachos.

There are about a million ways to make various Mexican dishes with ground meat.    Just take a picture of the menus at your local ethnic restaurant and copy as you see fit.

Mexican food is just the same few ingredients assembled differently. This is not a criticism. Sometimes the cheese goes inside the tortilla. Sometimes it's on top. Sometimes the rice and beans goes beside, sometimes it goes inside. Sometimes the tortilla is crunchy, sometimes it is not.

Except for mole. That's the real test of a Mexican restaurant.

Also, if you're tired of burgers you need to learn to make better burgers. It is impossible to be tired of burgers. And Mexican food.

Mole........mmmmmmmmmmm.....I may now have to go get Mexican food for lunch.