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Ground beef has always been an unsung hero in my weekly kitchen. But I’ve been watching the price climb ever higher, which means the recipes I turn to are the ones that make beef go extra far.
Fortunately, with beef a little can go a long, long way. It can add bulk and protein to a meal, along with flavour, without having to use massive quantities. The trick is to pair it with cheaper ingredients like vegetables or pasta to add bulk to the meal while keeping the cost down.
Over the years I’ve built up a roster of ground beef recipes that my family love and I know I can make without blowing the weekly budget. No compromise on taste here. Just great recipes that make the most of beef!
Ground Beef Stir Fry
Hoisin, sesame, and ground beef are a trio I will defend with my life. The beef crisps up beautifully in a hot wok, soaking up that slick, glossy sauce while colourful vegetables keep everything crunchy and fresh. It's on our table very often, and honestly, nobody's complaining.
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Harissa Beef Stuffed Eggplant
Late summer eggplants meet the warmth of North African spice in this one, and the result is something genuinely special. A small amount of ground beef goes a long way when it's packed with harissa and tucked inside a tender eggplant. Vegetable-forward, deeply flavourful, and a total showstopper on the table.
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Beef Tomato Pasta Sauce with ‘Nduja
This is my cheat's ragú, and I'm not even slightly sorry. Fiery 'nduja melts into the ground beef and tomato sauce, turning it volcano-red and deeply, smokily delicious in just 20 minutes flat. It tastes like it's been simmering since breakfast. It hasn't. And when mixed with pasta, a little goes a very long way.
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Beef Cabbage Soup
Cabbage is criminally underrated, and paired with ground beef in a hearty, nourishing broth, it becomes something you'll genuinely crave on a cold evening. One pot, under 40 minutes, and it costs next to nothing. That's a hat-trick.
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Smoky Sloppy Joe
Tuck in your napkin because this one's gloriously messy and worth every bit of it. Ground beef simmers in a tangy, smoky tomato sauce and gets piled high onto a bun for the ultimate loose meat sandwich. Part hamburger, part Bolognese, ready in 25 minutes, and an absolute crowd-pleaser.
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Shepherd’s Pie (Cottage Pie)
The ultimate British comfort food, and proof that ground beef can be genuinely elegant. A rich, aromatic gravy, a generous lid of cheesy mashed potato whipped into peaks. This is the kind of meal that makes everyone pull their chair a little closer to the table. One hour ten minutes, start to finish, and mixed with plenty of cheap, tasty ingredients.
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Spanish Meatballs (Albondigas)
These albondigas are a full-on throwback to summer holidays on the costas. A mix of ground beef and pork keeps them incredibly moist, while the smoky paprika, tomato, and briny olive sauce does all the heavy lifting on flavour. Midweek dinner sorted, no packing necessary.
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Tuscan Ragu
Rich, magnificently meaty, and deeply rooted in the rolling hills of Tuscany, this ragu is proof you don't need an expensive cut to create something truly beautiful. Ground beef and tomato, slow in spirit but quick in practice, clinging to every strand of pasta. A masterpiece on a mince budget.
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Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Bacon Cheeseburger Soup is exactly the kind of recipe that makes you do a double-take and then immediately add it to your shopping list. Every classic burger component is here: ground beef, melted cheese, crispy bacon, and even pickles if you're feeling bold, all swimming together in one gloriously comforting bowl. No bun required, and barely any effort either.
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Greek Moussaka
Moussaka always makes my family go quiet at the table in the best possible way. This recipe layers richly spiced ground beef and tomato sauce with olive oil-drenched potatoes, silky eggplant, and a cloud of béchamel on top, and it feeds a crowd of twelve without breaking the bank. It's the definition of a showstopper that punches well above its price tag.
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Easy Lasagna Soup
Lasagna Soup is the answer to every time you've craved the real thing but couldn't face the meat sauce, the béchamel, the layering, the washing up. You know exactly what I mean. This one-pot wonder delivers all that deep, meaty Bolognese flavour and pasta satisfaction in a single bowl, without the Herculean effort. Weeknight lasagna cravings, officially solved.
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Spaghetti Bolognese
You'll see that pasta is a trend for when I want meat to go as far as possible. Spaghetti Bolognese is the recipe I'd cook if I had to prove that cheap ingredients can produce something genuinely magnificent, and this version does exactly that. It makes the whole house smell incredible!
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Loaded Burger in a Bowl
All the joy of a burger without the bun getting in the way. This Burger In A Bowl is my answer to those evenings when I want something that feels indulgent but still leaves me feeling good about myself. Load it up with whatever you love and call it dinner, and use extra veg to make it for further.
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Spaghetti Squash Bolognese
Spaghetti Squash Bolognese has all the comfort of a proper Bolognese, but is served inside a golden squash boat with melty mozzarella on top. The squash strands do a brilliant impression of pasta, and the whole thing is packed with protein and veg without feeling remotely virtuous or worthy.
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Baked Penne alla Vodka with Meatballs
Another meatball recipe, and this is one that makes a Tuesday feel like a proper occasion. That luscious, creamy vodka sauce gets tucked under a blanket of melted cheese and baked until golden, and with only 15 minutes of hands-on time, the oven does the heavy lifting while you get on with your evening.
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Italian Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed peppers have always felt like a bit of a love letter to summer produce. We're talking cheesy beef risotto packed inside tender peppers, finished with melted mozzarella, and every bit as impressive as it sounds. A proper dinner-party centrepiece that just happens to be built around humble ground beef.
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Baked Gnocchi in Meat Sauce with Mozzarella Recipe
Pillowy potato gnocchi, a meaty tomato and basil sauce, and a bubbling blanket of mozzarella and Parmesan, this gnocchi recipe is Southern Italian comfort food at its absolute finest. It's inspired by a trip to Campania, and that sense of place comes through in every mouthful. Ground beef has never looked quite so elegant, and because we're looking to gnocchi for bulk, the meat goes further too.
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Baked Ziti
Baked Ziti makes everyone at the table go quiet in the right kind of way. Ziti pasta buried in a meaty, garlic-and-basil tomato sauce, then blanketed in molten mozzarella and baked until golden, it's Italian-American comfort food at its very best. If baked pasta consistently trumps regular pasta in my house too, I have a feeling it's doing the same in yours.
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