With a package of ground beef in hand, you know dinner can be quickly within reach. But if you’ve found yourself stuck in a rut of preparing the same burgers, tacos or pots of spaghetti you always make, here are some ideas from our archives to send you off in a deliciously new direction.
Beef and Mushroom Sloppy Joes, above. Chopped mushrooms are added to the ground beef as the filling in a healthful twist on the classic sandwich.
Picadillo. This dish, popular throughout Latin America, features “ground meat sauteed and simmered in a deep red tomato-based sauce, well-seasoned and savory with onions, garlic, cumin and olives,” staff writer Daniela Galarza wrote of the recipe she used to kick off her Eat Voraciously newsletter.
Instant Pot American-Style Cheesy Beef Goulash and Macaroni. “I whipped up a batch in my Instant Pot, took a bite and — you guessed it — it brought back that same comforting feeling that those cans of [Chef Boyardee Pasta Beefaroni] did back in the day,” recipes editor Ann Maloney wrote. “And it was almost as easy to make.”
Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps With Oyster Sauce. This dish from America’s Test Kitchen’s “The Ultimate Meal Prep Cookbook” earned a spot on Maloney’s repeat list. “It is one of those dishes that was so quick to make, it shocked me. I had it on the table in less than 20 minutes.”