Stumped on what to make for dinner with that pound of ground beef in the fridge? Try one of these nourishing ground beef recipes!
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From babies to teens…
I started this blogging space in 2014. I had a 5 year old, 3, year old, and a newborn. Life was a beautiful chaos. That is about the only way to accurately describe it! Over the last 12 years, I’ve shared so many of our staple, real life dinner recipes. Those recipes were some of my girls’ first introductions to certain foods, recipes that got us through growth spurts, first days of school, teenage hormones…
…and graduating that first kid.
That little 5 year old is now a Senior in high school, and this space has been a place to share some of the realistic, weekday dinners that have gotten us through those school years.
Ground beef staples
Because ground beef is a classic weeknight go-to protein, I wanted to put together a list of some of our favorite school-night dinner ideas using it. With 3 teenagers in the house these days, you’ll find me using at least 2 pounds of beef for these recipes. Feel free to double up if you have bigs in the house too! From classic spaghetti and tacos to new favorites like beef ramen and mini meatloaves, you’re sure to find something that the kids will love.
My tips for a big nutrient dense punch using organ meat!
I started feeding the girls liver when they were babies, but even if you have kids that have never tasted organ meat, I promise these tips will help you get it into your kiddos.
- Using a dried organ meat powder is a super fast and easy way to add the nutrients of the organ meat without changing the flavor or texture. THIS is my favorite brand. (You can use that link and the code GENERATION10 at checkout for 10% off!)
- If you are using fresh organ meat from your farmer, co-op, or health food store, freeze it up and shred it into the ground beef. It practically disappears and makes it really easy to add into dishes they already love.
- Try not to make a big deal out of it. If you have older kids, you’re sure to get push back if you make a big deal out of adding the organ meat. Just add it without drawing big attention to it.
- That said, I am NOT a huge fan of “hiding” food into meals. So go ahead and let the kids know what is in there if they ask. Or, invite them into the kitchen to help you, adding the organ meat into the beef like a seasoning. You can talk to your teens about how it helps with performance in their sport, being able to function well in school – whatever it is that they love. For little ones, you can tell them about how organ meat is like nature’s big multivitamin and will help them grow strong and well!
How to add organ meat powder into your ground beef
If you sprinkle the organ meat powder onto the ground beef when it goes into the pan before browning, it truly disappears into the beef. You can mix it into meatballs, brown it into taco meat, and cook it into spaghetti sauce. Start with a couple of tablespoons per pound of beef. These days I add about 1/4 cup of powdered organ meat per pound.
ONE PAN WONDER GROUND BEEF DINNERS
Fast and Easy Baked Ziti
One Pan Hamburger Helper
Simple Sloppy Joe’s
Weeknight Fast Stuffed Pepper Skillet
Yummy Meatballs & Gnocchi Dinner
SHEET PAN GROUND BEEF DINNERS
Taco Night Leftovers Turned Tostadas
Fast Mini Meatloaf Dinner
Sheet Pan Teryaki Meatball Dinner
Sheet Pan BBQ Meatball Dinner & Green Goddess Sauce
CLASSIC GROUND BEEF DINNERS
Nutrient Dense Spaghetti Sauce
Shepherd’s Pie Loaded Baked Potatoes
Quick Nourishing Beef Ramen
Nutrient Loaded Taco Meat
GROUND BEEF TURNED INTO GROUND SAUSAGE DINNERS!
So here are the extras and bonus! Especially if you get great bulk prices on ground beef, using my sausage seasoning blend to season the beef magically turns that meat into ground sausage! We get a grassfed cow each year, so using this affordable cut of beef as sausage is a big budget saver. And tastes amazing!
One Skillet Sausage Pepper Pasta
Zuppa Toscana Copycat
Sausage & Potato Casserole
Sausage & Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
