Make busy nights easy with beef!
Right now is an incredibly busy season for us on the farm with harvest, so quick + easy dinners are a must. I don’t know about you (jk I know you feel the same), but when I get home from a long + busy day the last thing I want to do is spend hours making dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook and I love to eat good meals, but I simply don’t have the energy after a long day. That’s where meal prep with ground beef comes in handy! You can also use these quick recipes as meal preps for lunches to go.
To start – let’s get right to the obvious. Brown a pound (or two depending on your needs + plans for the week), let it cool and put in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble your meals.
I also keep a few other things on hand at basically all times, like peppers, a bag of lettuce, cheese and such, but again – you can plan what you have on hand based on your needs for the week and add ‘em to the grocery list.
Okayyyy, time to get into it! Here are some different meal options for ya:
BBQ Sweet Potato Skillet
I usually prefer to make a large skillet of this (I’ll share that recipe soon) and just reheat leftovers throughout the week aka it becomes my hyper-fixation meal and it’s all I eat. But to spare myself from only eating that for a week straight, I made it into a one-serving meal prep version and it’s almost the same thing.
Ingredients:
- ⅓ pound ground beef
- One small sweet potato, or half a large one
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Dash of:
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- Red onion if you have it on hand
- 2 (ish) tablespoons of BBQ sauce
- Shredded cheese
Directions:
- Dice your sweet potato and toss it in the olive oil with a dash of chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder. Throw it in a pan at medium heat and cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until they’re softened, add the minced garlic to the pan as well. If I have a purple onion on hand I usually dice up a bit of this and throw it in the pan to soften at this stage.
- Once the potatoes are basically done, I put in a my ground beef and BBQ sauce and mix until combined and warm.
- Once I put it in a bowl I usually top it with a little cheese (I’m a Wisconsin girl ya know) and enjoy!
Veggie Power Bowl
This is another recipe that I have a planned ahead, serves 4ish, takes more time type recipe, as well as this quick throw it together with whatcha got version of it. The quick + dirty (okay it’s not actually dirty) version of it uses frozen veg, your ground beef and some quick sauce. It’s really that simple.
Ingredients:
- ⅓ pound browned ground beef
- Dash of salt, pepper and Montreal steak seasoning
- One bage of frozen Birds Eye Steamfresh Cauliflower, Broccoli and Carrots
- Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- Dash of hot sauce
- Dash of garlic powder, onion powder and salt
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
Directions:
- Steam your bag of frozen veggies in the microwave.
- Heat up your prepped ground beef in the microwave by adding a bit of water, salt, pepper and Montreal steak seasoning.
- Mix together your sauce ingredients
- Assemble your bowl with your frozen veggies, warmed ground beef and sauce. Enjoy!
Stuffed Pepper for One
Stuffed peppers are one of my favorite foods during the winter so you can bet your buttons I’ll be making these soon.
Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup ground beef
- One bell pepper with the top cut off and the innards removed (it’s super easy to do, but you can watch this video if you’re not sure how!)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 5 – 10 diced cherry tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- BONUS HACK: ya know how you get a can of tomato paste for one recipe, use what you need and then let the can sit in your fridge until it molds cause ya never use the rest? No, maybe it’s just me.. Regardless, an easy way to keep this from happening is to take a can of tomato paste and split it into different measurements you may need. Since I don’t feed a lot of people at once I actually save it in 1 teaspoons worth and just know how much I need to use to equivilate to different amounts I’d need. Put the sizes you’d like saved on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and pop in your freezer until they’re solid. Then, you can put them in a freezer safe container and save them for future use! Obviously, thaw the paste you need before adding it to your recipe.
- 1 serving of instant rice, cooked per directions on the box
- A dash of salt and pepper
- Shredded cheese
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit
- Combine all of your ingredients (besides the shredded cheese and bell pepper) in a bowl.
- Put your pepper in a small baking dish and add a little bit of olive oil to the inside. Spoon your beef mixture into your pepper and then top with as much shredded cheese as you want. The more the better (or should I say cheddar HAHHHAH).
- Bake covered with tin foil for 35 minutes and then remove the cover and bake for an additional 10 minutes (when the cheese is all bubbly).
- Enjoy!
Veggie Loaded Pasta
This is so easy and obvious on how to do I shouldn’t even call it a recipe, but here we go.
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup browned ground beef
- One serving of our favorite pasta, cooked according to the directions on the box. I like to use Banza pasta because of the added protein, but another option could be frozen spaghetti squash
- Pasta sauce
- Added veggies (if you want): I like to use spinach, bell peppers, fresh tomatoes and/or zucchini
- Shredded cheese of your choice (cheddar, parmesan, etc)
Directions:
- Cook your pasta per the directions
- Mix your ground beef with your pasta sauce and warm it up in the microwave or on the stovetop – depending on how many dishes you want to do 😉 add your veggies during this step too.
- Top your noodles with the meat sauce, add some cheese (duh) and enjoy. It’s seriously so easy!
Beef Burrito Bowls
This is probably my favorite meal prep bowls simply because I love tacos/burritos/anything else that tastes similar to this.
Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup browned ground beef
- Instant rice (I use Minute Brown Rice)
- Seasonings you likely already have in your cabinet (but if you don’t you can substitute with others you have)
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Dash of onion powder
- Dash of garlic powder
- Your other favorite burrito toppings! Suggestions include: roasted corn, shredded cheese, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, diced peppers, salsa and sour cream (or Greek yogurt depending on your protein needs!)
Directions:
- Cook your instant rice per the directions on the box
- Mix your ground beef with the seasonings and a splash of water. Warm it up in the microwave at 30 second intervals and continue to mix between each to make sure the spices are well mixed throughout
- Once the ground beef is heated up, top your bowl of rice with the beef and now it’s time to get to making. Top with whatever burrito toppings you have on hand.
- Eat up buttercup!
The Best Burger Bowls
Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely love a good burger, but this is a great substitute for an easy weeknight dinner that I can already have meal prepped. I will also preface this by saying I despise pickles with a passion, so you will not catch me including those in this (or any) recipe, but know they do have a place here even if I don’t want to admit it.
Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup browned ground beef
- Dash of Kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder
- Fry Sauce: equal parts mayo and ketchup
- Burger toppings you have on hand. I like to use lettuce, cherry tomatoes, bacon bits, purple onions, fry sauce, etc
Directions:
- Make your fry sauce by mixing your mayo and ketchup to your liking – I measure this with my heart
- Heat up your ground beef in the microwave with a little bit of water and your seasonings.
- Once it’s warm it’s time to prep the bowl. Add lettuce of your choosing, the seasoned ground beef, cherry tomatoes, bacon bits, any other toppings you may desire, the fry sauce and enjoy!
