How to Cook Ground Beef The Quick And Easy Way
Learning how to cook ground beef was a turning point in my life. Yes, I knew how to do some other stuff like bake chicken until it was super dry. I also knew how to make banana bread at one point.
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The great thing about ground beef, though, is that it can work with a ton of other different other foods. You can make burgers, casserole, hot dish, tacos, taco salad, and probably 200 other taco variations.
If you ever plan to live on your own without a meal plan at a dining hall or constantly eating out, you’ll need to learn to cook. You might not be that interested in learning how to cook ground beef, but why else would ya click on this article if you weren’t?
Look, it’s cool if you’re contemplating becoming a vegetarian or one of the sub-denominations like being a vegan. I think that’s how it works, I dunno.
All of us can go meatless once in a while or even forever if you have the willpower.
Even so, it’s important to know how to do this. That’s in case you ever have to entertain someone in the 85% of the population that eats meat and they get to choose what’s for dinner.
But I digest. Let’s get to the cookin’.
How to Cook Ground Beef: What You Need
You will need a few things to get started with this recipe.
- Skillet or Non-stick Pan
- Salt
- Steak/beef seasoning
- Wooden or rubber spatula for non-stick pans
- Metal utensil will work for cast iron skillets, I mean so will the other ones but metal and skillets together rule
- Butter, Coconut Oil or Olive Oil (If using Skillet)
- Mixing Bowl
- Any percentage of fat up to 20% of your ground beef (I’m using 93% lean/7% fat)
First Steps
Look, if you have to, you can put the ground beef into a mixing bowl and stir it around while you season it if you really want to. What I like to do is just cut out the amount that I want from the packaging and toss it into the hot pan.
You’ll want your pan or skillet to be medium-high heat before putting in your meat.
Your ground beef might not be in a nice square like mine was, but you can probably guestimate whatever amount you need. I usually cook up 8 oz’s at a time.
Some other people telling you how to cook ground beef might poo-poo this strategy of throwing a full hunk in there. I say boo to them.
Step 2
Break up your meat with whatever your stirring utensil is. I went with a wooden spoon. It worked surprisingly well!
Let that simmer in there while occasionally stirring it around. By now it should already smell good.
You can throw a little seasoning in at this point. I actually cheated and used poultry seasoning in my recipe, but whateva, I do what I want.
As you move the meat around, it should start to turn brown a bit. That’s good! It means you’ve almost learned how to cook ground beef all the way through.
When I’m getting toward the end of cooking my beef, I’ll jump over to the sink quick and wash off my cooking utensil a little bit. This is just because it was handling the raw meat earlier and I don’t want to be touching the final product at all with raw meat juice by accident.
Once the meat is fully browned, you can get ready to dump it on to your plate/into pasta/tacos wherever.
I swear it’s the lighting in that picture that makes it look like it’s not all completely browned. Look, I know how to cook ground beef. Been doin’ it for a while and I’m still alive. Never had that electrical-coli poisoning or salmonella ‘neither!
How to Cook Ground Beef: Final Thoughts
Yay! Now you know how to cook ground beef. I hope this was a helpful recipe for ya. If you do what I did, you should be able to go from start to finish in less than 10 minutes. Ground beef goes with so much stuff that there’s almost an endless list of things you can make with it! For dessert, check out some of our other recipes like banana bread or s’mores dip!