19 Deeply Satisfying Ground Beef Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to ground beef to make it taste better? ›

Season ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin for added flavor. Is it better to freeze ground beef raw or cooked? It is better to freeze ground beef raw for better texture and safety when thawing and cooking later.

The biggest impact with minimal effort, flavor-wise, will come from basic spices you probably already have stocked in your pantry. Adding some ground spices like cumin, ground fennel, garlic powder, or even mushroom powder will amplify the savory taste of the beef and add a new flavor profile.

The trick to cooking ground beef well is to not move it around a lot until it's finished cooking and nicely browned. This helps create a crust on the meat which is delicious. I sauté it in cooking oil.

80% lean ground chuck (shoulder) will be the juiciest and most flavorful. It's also the grind I recommend for making burgers for the grill. It has the perfect fat-to-meat ratio. These burgers will still be juicy when grilled to the recommended internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants boil raw ground beef with water and seasonings until cooked through to achieve a super fine texture, and the aforementioned Maid Rite sandwiches (aka Loose Meat Sandwiches, which are NOT Sloppy Joe's!) use steam to keep the cooked ground beef soft after cooking.

The calcium-rich properties of milk react with enzymes in the meat to gently soften the proteins. Whole milk (not reduced fat), buttermilk, and yogurt all get the job done – with a special nod to buttermilk and yogurt for their optimal tenderizing acidity levels.

- Black pepper: Brings out the robust flavors of beef. - Cumin: Provides an earthy and slightly nutty taste to beef dishes. - Oregano: Works well with ground beef and adds a Mediterranean touch. - Mustard seeds: Adds a mild tang and complements the richness of beef.

Sear the meat first (probably in batches)

Searing it over high heat gives the meat a deeper, richer flavor thanks to the Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction that browns and caramelizes the exterior of the meat.

According to America's Test Kitchen, mixing raw ground beef with a little baking soda changes its pH, which in turn makes it harder for its proteins to form a bond as the meat cooks. Without the help of baking soda, proteins in meat are attracted to one another and squeeze out juices as the meat cooks.

To bring this hack to your home kitchen, start with this basic ratio: use a quarter to a half teaspoon of baking soda with a tablespoon of water for every pound of ground beef. Try to sprinkle this as evenly as you can over the beef so that it doesn't accumulate in one area.

How do you make ground beef more juicy? ›

Increase the fat content of the ground meat. 80%meat with 20% fat is the most juicy and also the most tasty as fat gives flavor. Higher fat also helps hold the meat together. 90% meat with only 10% fat will be more dry, less tasty.

When it comes to making hamburgers, the best kind of beef to use is ground chuck. Ground chuck is a cut of beef that comes from the shoulder area of the cow. It is a mixture of lean meat and fat, which gives it the perfect balance of flavor and juiciness.

I added 16 ounces of ground beef into a bowl — enough to make four burgers — along with two egg yolks. I then sprinkled salt and freshly ground black pepper on top, along with one grated frozen chili. I used my hands to mix everything together and made four patties that were each around 1-inch thick.

What's the difference between "hamburger" and "ground beef"? Beef fat may be added to "hamburger," but not "ground beef." A maximum of 30% fat is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef. Both hamburger and ground beef can have seasonings, but no water, phosphates, extenders or binders added.

Garlic, onion, black pepper, and salt are staple spices when flavoring beef. Garlic and onion are potent, pungent aromatics that play well against beef's deep, meaty umami.

Beef tastes great when seasoned with oregano, rosemary, sage, garlic or a combination of these seasonings. Poultry gets an added burst of flavor with spices like paprika, lemongrass and saffron. Fish can be made more flavorful with dry mustard powder, thyme and turmeric.

Seasonings for Ground Beef

If you're using the ground beef in tacos or chili, chili powder, ground cumin or even smoked paprika are great options. Garlic powder and onion powder are two other versatile seasonings that work well with ground beef no matter how you plan to use it.