22 Ground Beef Dinners That Aren’t Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

February 22, 2021

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Get creative in the kitchen with these dinners using ground beef. Ground beef is a super versatile and budget-friendly protein that can be used in numerous dishes besides typical recipes like spaghetti and meat sauce or tacos. Recipes like Cheesy Tex-Mex Taco Stuffed Peppers and Beef Kofta with Bulgur & Kale Salad are flavorful, healthy and fun.

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Cauliflower Rice-Stuffed Peppers

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Slash the calories and carbs of traditional stuffed peppers by swapping white rice for cauliflower "rice." The riced cauliflower is hearty and won't turn to mush during baking. Use an assortment of red, yellow, orange and green peppers to make an appealing presentation.

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Skillet Beef Potpie with Buttermilk Biscuits

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Using an oven-safe skillet (like cast iron) allows you to take this healthy homemade potpie from stovetop to oven without dirtying extra pans. A quick drop-biscuit topping made with white whole-wheat flour adds 2g fiber per serving and cuts the sodium in half compared to using refrigerated biscuit dough.

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Mexican Beef Bake with Cilantro-Lime Cream

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This hearty casserole features ground beef, beans, and pasta baked in a flavorful Mexican-inspired sauce and topped with cheese and sour cream. Kids will love it!

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Southern Beefy Skillet

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Make this entire meal in one skillet! The beef soaks up the flavor from the vegetables and herbs, making it juicy and full of flavor.

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Beef & Bean Sloppy Joes

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This healthy copycat recipe of the comfort food classic trades beans for some of the meat to bump up fiber by 7 grams. We also cut back on the sugar and ketchup in this Sloppy Joe recipe makeover to save you 12 grams of added sugar.

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Cheesy Tex-Mex Taco Stuffed Peppers

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Tender, juicy bell peppers hold a Tex-Mex inspired filling of ground beef, taco seasoning and veggies finished with melted cheese on top in this easy stuffed peppers recipe. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with your favorite taco fixings.

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Chickpea & Beef Burgers with Whipped Feta

Credit: Johnny & Charlotte Autry

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Chickpeas add fiber to this blended burger, but the real joy here is the light and fluffy feta sauce that tops the whole shebang.

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Turkish Beef Patties with Eggplant, Pepper & Tomato

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In this healthy ground beef recipe, ground beef patties seasoned with Turkish spices are cooked with eggplant, pepper, tomatoes and herbs to create a delectable stew. Serve the beef patties and vegetables over bulgur or brown rice to soak up all of the sauce.

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Mexican Skillet Lasagna

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This easy Mexican-inspired lasagna recipe replaces the noodles with tortilla strips that become like tender ribbons in the cayenne- and cumin-spiked tomato sauce. Topped with Cheddar and cream cheese, the lasagna is just as soulful as its Italian cousin and can be made on a busy weeknight in about 30 minutes using a single skillet. Excerpted from The Dinner Plan by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion, published by ABRAMS © 2017.

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Chunky Cheeseburger Soup

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A spoonful of this tomatoey cheeseburger soup delivers the experience of a perfect burger bite--savory beef and onions, sweet and tangy condiments and, of course, Cheddar and American cheese! This kid-friendly and easy soup is sure to appeal to everyone in your household.

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Baked Beans with Ground Beef

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Upgrade baked beans from classic side dish to a meaty main meal by adding lean ground beef. The final result, a superfast hearty casserole, is an easy and fast dinner option. Ground turkey or even sausage would work nicely in this dish. Just watch the sodium.

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Beef Pad Thai

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We've bulked up the serving size of beef pad thai by adding in lots of healthy veggies like matchstick carrots, snap peas and scallions. Look for whole-grain brown-rice pad thai noodles to add an additional 3 grams fiber to each serving.

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Beef Kofta with Bulgur & Kale Salad

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Whole grains take too long to cook, you say? Well, say hello to bulgur, which can be ready in less than 15 minutes. Try this Middle Eastern-inspired healthy dinner recipe topped with plain yogurt or store-bought tzatziki for an extra hit of creamy flavor.

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Broccoli, Beef & Tater Tot Hotdish

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Hotdish may be a Minnesota tradition but everyone, everywhere, should add this cheesy casserole to their fall dinner rotation.

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Greek Burgers with Herb-Feta Sauce

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These healthy burgers get a Mediterranean twist with a yogurt sauce seasoned with oregano, lemon and feta cheese. If you can't find ground lamb, ask the butcher to grind some for you.

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Moroccan-Style Stuffed Peppers

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Aromatic savory-and-sweet stuffed peppers are a satisfying supper, thanks to lean beef, brown rice and bell pepper in each bite. Serve with rainbow chard sautéed with olive oil, garlic and parsley.

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Hand Pies with Curried Beef & Peas

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These samosa-inspired savory hand pies call for curry powder and garam masala, spice blends that allow you to add the power of 10 spices in just two ingredients.

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Mexican Beef and Corn Skillet Peppers

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Sweet bell peppers are simmered to tenderness with ground beef, corn, and Mexican-style seasonings, stuffed, then topped with goat cheese for a hearty dinner that doesn't need an oven.

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Cheeseburger Stuffed Baked Potatoes

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Skip the bun and serve all of your favorite cheeseburger ingredients--beef, cheese, tomatoes, red onions and lettuce--with baked potatoes for a hearty and easy dinner recipe that kids and adults will love. Feel free to swap out the ground beef for ground turkey or tofu crumbles.

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EatingWell Meat Pie

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Traditionally meat pie recipes are made with mostly ground pork. This recipe for French-Canadian meat pie, or tourtiere, is lightened up by using lean ground beef with a little ground pork for flavor and bulked up with plenty of shredded vegetables. You can make it even easier by using a store-bought crust.

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Cuban Beef Picadillo over Plantain Mash

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Ground beef cooked with tomatoes and briny olives can be found all over Latin America. This is a favorite Cuban variation served over plantains, starchy vegetables that look like giant bananas. You can also serve the picadillo over rice or potatoes, so this easy dinner recipe is versatile too.

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Sweet & Sour Beef-Cabbage Soup

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This wholesome sweet-and-sour soup combines beef, caraway seeds, sweet paprika and cabbage--ingredients that star in a number of German dishes. It is particularly nice served with crusty rye bread. For an even heartier soup, add diced cooked potatoes along with the cabbage. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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