10 Great Ideas for Ground Beef!

Fall is upon us and often with it comes a hectic schedule, especially for those families with children. In our house we are knee-deep in football, school, homework cheer leading, girl scouts and not to mention our own adult lives of work and such. Many families find it tough to put together a gourmet meal or perhaps just a "complete meal" on a daily basis due to the time crunch imposed upon us by our busy schedules. That said, we still want to eat well…right?

This month we thought we’d bring you 10 great ideas for ground beef. After all it cooks quickly, is easy to get and is relatively inexpensive! Dishes with ground beef can be the perfect meal solution to our busy lives. But just because it’s ground beef does not mean it has to be just a plain ol’ hamburger patty!

The Gouda Burger

10 Great Recipes for Ground Beef!

#1 Albondigas Soup
#2 Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables
#3 Meatballs with Almond & Garlic Sauce
#4 Hamburger Steaks with Mushroom Sauce
#5 Hurricane Chili
#6 Gouda Burger
#7 Spaghetti with Meatballs
#8 Chicken & Meatball Fricassee
#9 Ground Beef Soup with Ginger & Cilantro
#10 Hamburger Noodle Casserole

We’ve included 5 recipes in this article below for our subscribers & guests. The remaining 5 are available in our archives.

#1 Albondigas Soup — A delicious Mexican soup! A perfect, relatively quick soup for fall.

Ingredients:

For Meatballs:

• 3/4 pound hamburger
• 1/4 cup white rice
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup gf salsa, or pico de gallo
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• non-aerosol cooking spray

For Soup:

• 2 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4 inch strips
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped seeded poblano chile or 1 4.5 ounce can chopped green chiles
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup pico de gallo
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 16 ounces gf chicken broth
• 1 14.5 ounce diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup diced, peeled avocado
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
To prepare meatballs, combine first 5 ingredients. Shape mixture into 32 meatballs, set aside.

To prepare soup, Place tortilla strips in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes or until lightly browned, set aside. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 cup onion, poblano, and garlic, cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/2 cup pico de gallo and the next 4 ingredients, through tomatoes, reduce heat and add the meatballs, cook for 30 minutes. Serve soup in individual soup bowls and top with the tortilla strips, diced avocado and chopped cilantro.

Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables

#2 Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables — A great meatloaf that also comes with the added side dish of roasted vegetables…two dishes in one. Whip up some mashed potatoes and you’ve got yourself a fabulous meal! Make this one ahead of time and reheat for those busy nights.

Ingredients:

• 3 small zucchini, diced
• 3 red bell peppers, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped, divided
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped, divided
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 8 oz.)
• 1-1/2 cups gf bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of hot red pepper flakes
• 1 cup ketchup, divided
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup dry red wine

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.

In a large bowl, toss the zucchini, peppers and onions with the olive oil, 1 tablespoon rosemary, 1 teaspoon thyme and unpeeled garlic cloves. Spread the vegetables evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast the vegetables for about 25 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Peel the roasted garlic and mash with a fork. In a large bowl mix the ground beef, roasted garlic, mozzarella, gf bread crumbs, basil, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, freshly ground black pepper, hot red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon rosemary, 1 teaspoon thyme and 1 cup roasted vegetables.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup ketchup, eggs, and wine. Add to the beef mixture and stir with a large wooden spoon until incorporated. Spoon mixture into a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

Spoon the remaining 1/2 cup ketchup over the loaf. Bake the meatloaf until cooked through, juices run clear and top is browned, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Re-warm the remaining roasted vegetables in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cut the meatloaf into 1 inch thick slices and top each slice with roasted vegetables.

Meatballs with Almond & Garlic Sauce

#3 Meatballs with Almond & Garlic Sauce — This is a great appetizer or you could make the meatballs and serve them over rice or pasta if you like. It’s easy to make and has great flavor. Don’t let the list of ingredients scare you off — most of it you will find you already have on hand.

Ingredients:

For meatballs:

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 Tablespoon parsley, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons prosciutto, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

For sauce:

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons onion, minced
• 2 Tablespoons tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup gf Chicken Stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper

For almond paste:

• 1 Tablespoon parsley, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• A few strands of saffron
• 1 Tablespoon blanched almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 Tablespoons frozen peas

Directions:

For meatballs:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and form into 1-1/2" balls.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet, over medium-high heat; brown meatballs on all sides. Lower heat and add onion and tomato; cook for 1 minute. Add wine, broth and bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place parsley, garlic,
1/8 teaspoon salt, saffron, almonds and paprika into a food processor and process until mixture forms a paste.

Add almond paste and peas to meatballs and cook for 10 more minutes. Pour entire contents of pan into a small soufflé type dish and serve immediately.

Hamburger Steaks with Mushroom Sauce

#4 Hamburger Steaks with Mushroom Sauce — Jazz up your hamburger patty with a wonderful mushroom sauce!

Ingredients:

For steaks:

• 1 pound ground round
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

For sauce:

• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients for steaks together in a large bowl. Shape into 4 large patties.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add patties and brown well on both sides. Transfer to a warm plate, cover and keep warm.
Heat skillet to medium heat and scrape up any browned bits. Add mushrooms, onion, garlic and butter and cook for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and celery salt. Spoon sauce over steaks, serve immediately.

#5 Hurricane Chili — One of my favorite chili’s, created during Hurricane Isabel! Make ahead and freeze or refrigerate for this week’s dinner!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped bacon, about 4 slices
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 pound dried red beans, pre-soaked
• 2 cans (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes
• 1 dried ancho chile
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• Dash of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups gf Chicken Stock
• 3 cups water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a deep, heavy stock pot or Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until fat is rendered but bacon remains pliable. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but about 2 teaspoons of bacon fat.

Add onions to pan and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to sauté for 1 minute. Remove onions and garlic from pan and set aside.

Add ground beef to pan and brown.

Return onions and garlic to pan; adding pre-soaked red beans, bacon, stewed tomatoes, ancho chile, tomato paste, chile powder, thyme, chipotle powder, cinnamon, cumin, bay leaf, chicken stock and water. Stir to blend ingredients.

Bring chili to a boil. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for 5-6 hours or until beans are tender. Throughout cooking process adjust seasonings to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Enjoy!

- Chef Jessica

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