Batch cooking ground beef was a life altering event for me 🙂 I was expecting my first baby and someone commented off hand that they always cooked a ton of ground beef and froze it in the last weeks of their pregnancy, and it kept her sane because she could do something as simple as add it to Mac and Cheese and feel like she was at least feeding her family a semi decent meal.
I followed her advice and never looked back.
Taco Meat
We average having tacos at least a couple nights in a month, and there are a few other meals that we use taco meat in. I usually cook about a pound of meat per meal. So I usually batch cook 4-5 pounds of ground beef. I generally look for “family size” ground beef packages. This usually lasts us a month.
Just get out a big pan and make your favorite taco meat recipe in bulk. Then I put mine in tupperware containers and use a dry erase marker to label it. If you are going to be storing it longer than a month I would suggest putting some plastic wrap over the meat before putting on the lid, or storing in a freezer bag. It won’t go bad, I’ve just noticed some freezer burn taste if it is in the freezer longer without the extra layer. Generally though we eat ours within a month and have no problem.
Recipes for use with Taco Meat
Tacos (of course)
Taco Ring- One of my boys absolute favorites. I mean how can you go wrong with croissants and taco meat?
Taco Ring
This is a favorite meal at our house, so we eat it at least a couple times a month. I also always have taco meat already cooked and in the freezer so this is a fast weekday meal for us.
Ingredients
- 2 tubes Croissants
- 1/2 cup Salsa
- 1 can Tomato Sauce
- 1 lb Cooked Ground Turkey Drained you can use ground hamburger, but it tends to have more grease which makes the croissants wet, so I prefer the turkey
- 1 cup shredded Cheese
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add salsa and tomato sauce into ground turkey. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll and separate the croissants. Place the wide end of the croissant about three inches from the edge of the cookie sheet, the thin edge may hang off the side. Overlap the dough so that there are no open spots, pushing it together as need and form into a circle. Spoon meat mixture onto croissants. Put shredded cheese on top of meat. Bring the small point of the croissant up and place over the meat mixture. Bake until croissants are golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. (Makes two rings)
This taco pie recipe is great, but because we usually are using taco meat I don’t add the taco seasoning mix, onion or green chilies because it is already in there.
Loaded Nachos-this recipe for loaded nachos by the pioneer woman is my favorite hands down. This is a perfect meal for summer time too because if your meat is already done you don’t even have to turn on the oven. Win!
Taco Mac and Cheese
Taco Salad (lettuce topped with taco meat, corn chips, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream)
Plain Ground Beef
I keep 4-5 pounds of already cooked ground beef in my freezer pretty consistently, it just makes getting a meal on the table so much faster. I brown the beef as usual and then drain it and store it in Tupperware just like the taco meat.
Some recipe ideas (there are so many recipes that use ground beef so this is definitely not an exhaustive list but it will give you a good place to start)
Nacho Cheese Soup
Nacho Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound Hamburger cooked and drained
- 1 Medium Green Pepper Chopped
- 1 Can Condensed Cheese Soup
- 2 Cups Milk
- 1 Cup Frozen Corn
- 1 Can Diced Tomatoes
Instructions
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Mix all ingredients in a large pan.
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Stir and bring to a boil.
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Let simmer 10 minutes.
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Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips and shredded cheese.
Chilli (everybody has their favorite and there are so many options so I won’t even try to list a recipe)
Sloppy Joes
Add ground beef to your favorite spaghetti sauce for a super quick meal. Put the sauce on ravioli, tortellini or spaghetti.
Shepherds Pie (I actually put this whole meal together and freeze it in batches. It freezes really well and cooks up great after freezing)
Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
- 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1 pound Cooked Hamburger
- 3 cups Mashed Potatoes
- 1 package Brown Gravy Mix
- 1 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
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Spread mashed potatoes in 9x13 pan.
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Make Brown Gravy according to package directions
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Mix gravy, cream of mushroom and ground beef.
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Pour meat mixture over potatoes and spread evenly.
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Top with shredded cheese and cook at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Baked Potatoes (fall favorite here)
Beef Taquitos-leftovers of these freeze great and make a quick and easy future lunch or dinner
Lasagna
