Ground Beef

ShannonJohnson

I am looking to get some recipe ideas for low cal dinners with lean ground beef. We have alot of it and I'm looking for something different than tacos and something lower cal than spaghetti.

Let me know if anyone has some good recipe ideas!

mfpchar

Funny but I use it for tacos and spagetti, and can't think of anything else BUT you might be interested in this:

http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/oamc-homecanning-freezing-preserving/34772-now-easy-humble-crumble-how-recipes.html

Turns out you can de-fat your ground beef!

Bambie

Ground chicken is way lower in calories than ground beef and for spaghetti you can use spaghettti squash!

oats4breakfast

meatballs are always quick, easy and delicious. Almost impossible to mess up too.
Finely dice or grate some onion. (you can leave raw, but I've been told that pre-cooking makes them sweeter. I've tried but never noticed any different)
Grate some carrot, zuchinni. (any veg, just a couple).
Thick cut up a couple of pickles. (the big chunks are good ... if you like pickles that is)
Black Pepper (and salt if desired).
Other herbs as desired, I often use mixed italian.
Throw it all into a pot and mix it up by hand. (keep hands wet and clean)
You can also add ketchup, mustard. relish or worchester etc at this point too ... just whatever takes your fancy. Experiment .... as I said, they're almost impossible to mess up.

You can throw an egg in there as a bonding agent, but I don't really see the need to. Now, if the mixture is far too wet, get a few bread crumbs and mix in. You could also add some cheese.

Now, roll them up into little balls, drizzle a little olive oil over them, and bake @350F for about 20 minutes. I like to sprinkle a few bread crumbs over the top of the raw meatballs as well as olive oil. Just crisps the tops up.
(you can use a muffin tray and or one of those tin trays, just make sure there's somewhere for the juices to run off too).

StarryEyedGirl

sparkrecipes is great. www.sparkrecipes.com

if you have an iphone or ipod touch or even a blackberry there is a great app for it. nice when your in the store getting the ingredients.

ShannonJohnson

Yes I would use chicken but we just have alot of already bought ground beef that I am looking to use up but want healthier recipes than spaghetti.

Chenoachem

I make baked stuffed peppers:

Ground beef
Brown rice
Diced tomatoes
tomatoe paste
seasoning to taste

Cook ground beef in seasoning. Make rice per rice package. Mix rice, tomatoes, paste, beef and water and allow to simmer until a thick mixture. Cut open a bell pepper and clean out the inside. Fill the inside with the mixture and put in a baking dish. Heat in the oven at 350 deg for 30 minutes. Add cheese on top for fun.

Eat.

Edit: Sometimes I cook the beef with onion and some of the tops from the peppers.

kcdrake

I love to make hamburgers! I dice up some onion so it's pretty small, add some garlic powder, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and maybe a dab of ketchup. I don't use egg as a binder because I cook my burgers on my George Foreman and they stay together pretty well. I like to eat it on a whole wheat burger bun, but obviously you can do whatever you like.

Homemade burgers made with lean ground beef are infinitely better for you than fast food burgers, and you still get to eat a VERY yummy burger. I think mine average out to be about 180 calories (without the bun). I haven't made them in a while so I don't have the info easily accessible.

sweetcin

Quesadillas - With your choice of low calorie tortillas, homemade pico de gallo, ground beef cooked with taco sauce, veggie cheese OR lowfat/2% cheese of your choice.

Taco Salad - All ingredients in a taco just in a salad. Can add slight sprinkle of tortilla chips crushed but NO DRESSING. Unless low-cal. Add your preferences...pico de gallo, hot sauce...etc...

There is always meatloaf and you can use healthy spices and implement as much veggie action you can think of. I put one layer in then add sliced tomatoes, fresh spinach, basil, veggie cheese, some S & P..then put the top layer of meat on top of that then put it in the oven. Its yummy and not too high on calories.

cdavis1126

You could substitute the chicken with the ground beef.

Spicy Chicken Stuffed Potatoes Ingredients:
• 4 baking potatoes (about 1-1/2 pounds)
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons 100% whole wheat or soy flour
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 tablespoon Smart Balance butter substitute or grape seed oil
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 1 (8-ounce) package pre-sliced mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley


Method:
Pierce potatoes with a fork; arrange in a circle on paper towels in mi¬crowave oven. Microwave at high 16 minutes or until done, rearranging potatoes after 8 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Potatoes can be baked if preferred.
Combine chicken, flour, paprika, salt, and pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake to coat. Melt smart balance or heat grape seed oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture, onion, mushrooms, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Add broth; bring to a boil. Cook 6 minutes or until chicken is done and the sauce thickens, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
Split potatoes open with fork; fluff pulp. Divide chicken mixture evenly over potatoes; sprinkle with parsley.
Serves: four (serving size: 1 potato and 1/2 cup chicken mixture).
Approximate nutritional values per serving: 311 calories, 36.3 grams of carbohydrates, 22.9 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat and 3.4 grams of fiber.

10-Alarm Turkey Chili - again, substitute the turkey for ground meat. This is from hungrygirl.com

PER SERVING (about 1 cup): 172 calories, 3.5g fat, 790mg sodium, 22.5g carbs, 5.5g fiber, 6.5g sugars, 13g protein -- POINTS® value 3*

HG Heads Up! This recipe is crazy-spicy (in a very good way!). But if you like a little less heat, only use 2 chipotle peppers...

Ingredients:
1 lb. raw lean ground turkey
One 29-oz. can tomato sauce
One 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
One 15-oz. can chili beans (pinto beans in chili sauce), undrained
One 15-oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup canned sweet corn, drained
4 - 5 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, sauce reserved
2 bell peppers (in different colors), chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 oz. VERY dark chocolate (70%+ cacao), broken into small pieces
salt, to taste
Optional topping: fat-free sour cream

Directions:
Bring a large pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Add turkey and spread it around in the pan to break it up a bit. Cook and crumble until meat is brown and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Drain any fat or liquid, and then transfer turkey to the crock pot.

Add all other ingredients except for the chocolate to the crock pot. Add 1 tbsp. adobo sauce (from the canned chipotles). Mix well to combine.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, and then reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 3 hours. (OR cover and cook on low for 6 - 7 hours straight.)

Add chocolate and stir until pieces melt and disappear into chili. Cover and cook for 1 hour longer on low. Add salt to taste. If you like, top each serving with a little sour cream. Mmmmm!!!

MAKES 12 SERVINGS

If you like cabbage, this is a great recipe....

Lazy Cabbage Rolls

1 large head of cabbage shredded or chopped
1 onion, diced
1 lb ground turkey
1 cup Basmati brown rice
2 cups Del Monte No Salt diced tomatoes, pureed (2 cans)
2 cups of water
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp dill

Chop up the cabbage and onion, put in the crock pot. It will seem like a lot but it cooks down. Crumble up the ground turkey, place on top of the cabbage. Add in the 1 cup of brown rice, tomatoes, 2 cups of water, lemon juice and dill.

Put on low for 6 hours, stirring occasionally to incorporate the rice with the liquid.

This makes 6 - 2 cup servings.

calories - 223.4
total fat - 6.2
Sat. fat - 1.7
poly fat - .3
Mono fat - 0
cholesterol - 53.3
Sodium - 130.2
Potassium - 568.8
carbs - 26.1
fiber - 6.9
sugar - 2.9
Protein - 19.4