12 Make This & That Ground Beef Recipes | Fun ideas to mix up dinner! (2024)

ByDavidMarch 30, 2020June 23, 2021

This 12 Make This & That Ground Beef Recipes post is sponsored by the New York Beef Council, but the opinions are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Spiced!

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I’ve always been a stats and figures kinda guy. Don’t get me wrong. You won’t find me running multiple regression analyses just for fun. Those days are over. But you will find me looking up fun stats and figures. Today’s topic: retail food sales and the recent craziness. Did you know that packaged cookie sales are up 20.3% compared to the same time period in 2019? Alternatively, celery sales have dropped off 18.7% this year. Shocking, I know.

Another retail fact: beef sales are up 8% with ground beef and ribeyes leading the way. American beef ranks among the safest in the world, and the United States exports quite a bit of beef. Fun trivia fact: which 4 countries top the list for exporting the most beef? Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the answer. (But before you scroll to the bottom, put some thought into this question!)

With ground beef flying off of supermarket shelves, I thought it might be fun to highlight some different ground beef recipes. We’re doing our part to flatten the curve by self-quarantining. Laura and I are both working from home, and Robbie hasn’t gone to preschool in 3 weeks. One of the things we’ve done to mix things up is find new recipes to cook together.

I decided to take a fun approach to this post and pair ground beef recipes together. One of the recipes is a favorite from the Spiced archives while the other recipe is a fun one from the Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner archives. I’m calling this a “Make This & That” post as you can use that ground beef to put different spins on similar recipes. Take a look and let me know what you think. And stay sane…Getting into the kitchen to cook tasty and different recipes has really helped me!

If you’re looking for some fun (and tasty) recipes using different cuts of beef (non-ground), check out this post from last week. (The Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese is a tried-and-true favorite in our house!)

1. Shepherd’s Pie

Indian Beef Shepherd’s Pie: This classic dish gets a fun twist using ground beef combined with warming Indian spices like garam masala, turmeric, and ginger. The mixture is then topped with mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes.

Typically Shepherd’s Pie is topped with mashed potatoes. This recipe flips things around and puts the mashed potatoes on the bottom. These Shepherd’s Pie Mashed Potatoes are a delicious comfort meal!

2. Beefy Breakfast Recipes

Who says pizza is only for dinner? This tastySouthwestern Beef Breakfast Pizzais perfect for weekend brunch!

Beef Breakfast Burritos: Ground beef gets sautéed with peppers and onions and then wrapped up with scrambled eggs. Serve with lime-cilantro cream and salsa for a southwestern kick!

3. Beef in Italian Pasta Recipes

Easy Homemade Beef Pasta Sauce: A good ground beef pasta sauce is a staple recipe to keep on hand! This batch of this sauce starts with tomatoes, onions and ground beef along with a bit of crushed red pepper, basil and shredded cheese for an easy and tasty pasta topping.

Because sometimes you just needClassic Spaghetti and Meatballsfor dinner!

4. Cheeseburgers…2 ways!

Mix up burger night…by turning ’em intoCheeseburger Quesadillas!

Classic Beef Cheeseburgers: Summer weekends in the backyard are hard to beat! This classic burger recipe will earn you the title of king (or queen) of the grill!

5. Burgers…with a Twist!

Carolina Barbecue Burgers: Carolina BBQ Sauce is a unique and tasty sauce. These fun burgers get topped with a tangy slaw inspired by Carolina BBQ Sauce. Yum!

Turn a classic western New York dish into burger form with these Garbage Plate Burgers! Talk about grilled comfort food at its finest!

6. Beef & Mushrooms: A Tasty Combination

Fire up the grill! TheseGrilled Mushroom Swiss Burgersare a great way to celebrate warm summer evenings in the backyard!

Greek-Style Beef Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms: Flip that burger inside out! Start with a large Portobello mushroom and stuff it with Greek-seasoned ground beef. Top it with tzatziki sauce, diced cucumbers and more feta cheese for a fun dinner idea.

I hope this 12 Make This & That Ground Beef post inspires you to cook up something new and fun for dinner! If you try one of these recipes out, let me know. Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). Happy Cooking!

Trivia answer: The world’s largest exporters of beef are: (1) Brazil – Brazilian steakhouses, anyone? (2) India – This one is tricky. Beef isn’t typically consumed in India, but India is still the 2nd largest exporter thanks to carabeef, or water buffalo meat. (3) Australia – Beef is the largest agricultural sector in Australia, thus making it a key component of the Australian economy. (4) United States – As noted above, the United States exports quite a bit of beef to countries. The largest consumers of U.S. beef are Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Canada.