What to do with 75% lean ground beef

RhapsodyWinters

Long story short, this month was strict on the budget, so I got 75% lean ground beef. A LOT of it. I need ideas to work those into meals for the rest of the month.

I saw that crockpot cheeseburger thread, and I like the idea. It'll be higher calorie, and I'll have to compensate for that, but I like it.

What else do you have?

_______________

I do plan on doing 90%+ ground turkey next month. Or better yet, I saw some ground chicken at the store the other day. I might try that as well. It's just that, when the budget is tight, I can't afford the leaner foods.

louann_jude

Taco salad's, meat loaf, manwhich, hamburgers, veggie beef soup.

SciWhiz

Tacos
Hamburgers
Shepard's Pie
Sloppy Joes
Meatloaf
Pasta with Meat sauce

Evamutt

I make a dish....cook ground beef & strain the fat, then you saute onions & garlic in a little olive oil, add sliced cabbage, i add caraway seeds, add chicken broth but not enough to cover(it's not soup) close lid & cook till cabbage is almost done, then add rice,(you can add a little more chicken broth at this point) put the lid on & cook till rice is done. If your not good with judging how much rice to put in, you can cook the rice separate & mix in. If you don't want to eat rice, leave it out but it's better with rice. when done, i like to put sour cream on top. You can look up recipies on line too. Personally I like to eat plain ground beef patties grilled with a baked potato & veggies

LizPalen412

Check out www.skinnytaste.com - tons of recipes, and I believe you can sort/search by ingredient, i.e. "ground beef." Good luck.

Jnhfrady

If you brown the hamburger and strain it, you can then remove additional fat by running it under hot water. This does remove some of the flavor, but the if you use the meat in things like light versions of chili, taco meat, etc., it really doesn't matter much.

teetertatertango

The only thing I would do differently with 75% ground beef is that I would not use it in recipes where I could not drain the fat (I find meatloaf floating in grease unappealing, for example). Other than that, just about everything.

Browned and drained hamburger is good in casseroles of various types--Basic recipe: some kind of cooked starch like noodles/rice/potatoes + hamburger + some kind of sauce like salsa, cream of mushroom, or tomato + frozen veggies + topping like cheese, bake at 350F until hot and bubbly, 30 minutes or so

bebeisfit

Try adding beans or lentils to help make that meat stretch and lower the calories. Black beans to the taco meat, lentils for the meatloaf.

Alatariel75

My Dad's speciality when I was growing up was charmingly called "*kitten* on a Shingle". Ground feed cooked off and mixed with a bag of cheap frozen vegetables (you know the ones all cut into little cubes) with some gravy mix stirred through. Serve on toast (hence the 'Shingle").

It's still a go-to comfort food for me, and a batch made with 1lb of ground beef and a 2lb bag of veggies would last me for days.

mjbnj0001

louann_jude wrote: »

Taco salad's, meat loaf, manwhich, hamburgers, veggie beef soup.

anything like this that you brown the meat first so you can discard the excess fat before moving on to whatever final product. or soup-like stuff that you can skim off the fat before serving. at 75%, you'll have some fat you can really get rid of and still have some taste.

some of the cuts that go into 75% also might use long, moist cooking (stew-style) to break down the connective tissue not already chopped up by the grounding process. thank goodness for alton brown explanations, LOL.

Francl27

Lasagna, taco, shepherd's pie, stuffed peppers...

Sabine_Stroehm

Shepherd's pie, hamburger steak, stuffed bell peppers....

mix with pinto beans and chile for a nice filling meal.

Lounmoun

Brown the meat, drain the fat, use in recipes. You can freeze it after it is cooked if you want to do it all at once and divide it into portions you would use for a recipe.
Soup or stew is a good dollar stretcher.
Try using half the meat and add cooked beans or lentils to recipes. Stretch your dollar and add some more fiber. I always mix my taco meat with beans for example.

niallcavanagh

Try beef mousakka. Or make a nice curry by adding chickpeas and lots of spices and veggies... cauliflower or green beans go well with it.

mmgood010469

Grab a can of your favorite tomatoes- stewed/with garlic/with green chilies. Season the beef with salt and pepper, then brown the beef and drain any excess fat. Save just enough to saute some garlic and onion. Add the beef back to the pot, pour in the tomatoes, add sliced zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, whatever you like. Season the veggies as well, then cover and let simmer until the veggies are cooked to your liking. I really like the beefiness of beef, so I add a little beef base too. Tasty as is, or with a bit of cheese sprinkled over the top.

racheladkins2002

Fake beef stroganoff is a hit at our house

2snakeswoman

Brown it like you would for tacos, then place on a double or triple layer of paper towels to drain off as much of the fat as you can. You can do this on fresh paper towels 2 or 3 times if needed. Then use as you would any other ground beef.

TeaBea

Stuffed Pepper Soup (Cooking Light)

1/2 pound ground round
2 cups chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14-ounce) can less-sodium beef broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can tomato soup, undiluted
1 1/2 cups hot cooked white rice

Heat a small Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add chopped green bell pepper and onion; cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in black pepper, less-sodium beef broth, diced tomatoes, and tomato soup; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes.
Spoon 1/4 cup hot cooked white rice into each of 6 bowls; top with 1 cup soup.

*Variations: for tomato soup I use Amy's or Progresso - Campbell's too sweet (IMO). I also like to add some basil. You can use brown rice. Red & green pepper combo is nice.

ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken

I like to just brown a wad of ground beef maybe toss in some onions. Then I put it in a bowl and stir in cheese, mustard and ketchup. Hamburger salad basically.

Monisha4005

Chili is always great and spaghetti to offset calories load both dishes with veggies and eat with no rice or pasta but use veggie options like cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles. Best dish I make with ground meat is Taco salad

divcara

I use lean ground turkey on the foreman grill and make turkey burgers. I'll add in chopped up broccoli, mushrooms, onions, etc. Sweet potatos or oats if I want to add in a carb.

Or even without a foreman grill, here's a really good, easy way -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrru1VlFjj4

rankinsect

Here's one of my favorite recipes, courtesy of my mom:

Sloppy Joe Sauce

---

46 fl oz tomato juice
2 cups ketchup
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped (including leaves)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon mustard

Add tomato sauce and ketchup to a pot, and put over medium heat. Chop vegetables (I use a food processor) and add to the sauce. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

This makes a very large amount of sauce. I portion the recipe into fourths and freeze them. I thaw the sauce in the fridge the day before I make the sloppy joes (although in a pinch, just microwaving them to break up the ice a bit is fine).

When I want to make the sloppy joes, I brown one pound of ground beef, and when it's fully browned, add one of the sauce portions (that is, 1/4 of the original recipe) and heat until the sauce is simmering. I let the meat and sauce simmer for a few minutes. I prefer to serve by slicing open a fresh kaiser roll from a local deli and adding heaping portions of meat. You'll get four to eight sloppy joes per pound of beef, depending on just how much meat you like to pack on each one.

This makes a sloppy joe with a lot of sauce and flavor, and a good mixture of meat and veggies. You could really easily stretch the sauce over five or six pounds of meat instead of four if you want it to be meatier.

KetoneKaren

Stuffed peppers, cabbage rolls, chili, burgers.