Healthy Ground Beef Recipes

Find healthy, delicious ground beef recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

American Goulash

Rating: Unrated
7
American goulash, also known as old-fashioned goulash, is the perfect economical family meal. The pasta cooks right in the sauce, so this satisfying dish can cook in just one pot.
By Carolyn Casner

Spaghetti with Quick Meat Sauce

Rating: Unrated
9
Instead of opening a jar of sauce, try this easy spaghetti with meat sauce on a weeknight. Serve with steamed broccoli and garlic bread. The recipe makes enough for 8 servings. If you're serving only four for dinner, cook 8 ounces of spaghetti and freeze the leftover sauce.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Old-Fashioned Meatloaf

Rating: Unrated
1
Mushrooms, garlic and oats sneak some extra nutrients into this hearty and easy meatloaf. Serve with sweet potatoes and your favorite green vegetables for a super-satisfying comfort food dinner.
By Andrea Kirkland M.S., RD

Sweet & Sour Beef-Cabbage Soup

Rating: Unrated
10
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.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Nonna's Spaghetti & Meatballs

Rating: Unrated
5
The meatballs and sauce are cooked in the slow cooker for this traditional Italian spaghetti and meatballs recipe. You could also serve the meatballs over creamy polenta or on a sandwich with melted provolone.
By Carolyn Malcoun

Mini Meatloaves with Green Beans & Potatoes

Rating: Unrated
8
This healthy meatloaf recipe and side dishes are all made in the oven on two sheet pans so that everything's ready for the dinner table at the same time. The potatoes go into the oven first to start roasting while the mini meatloaves and green beans are prepped and added to the oven partway through.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Baked Beans with Ground Beef

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.
By Hilary Meyer

Taco-Stuffed Zucchini

Rating: Unrated
1
These stuffed zucchini boats are filled with all your favorite taco ingredients like seasoned meat, cheese and avocado. They're perfect for a a low-carb alternative on taco night or a great kid-friendly way to sneak in more vegetables.
By Carolyn Casner

Chili-Cheese Nachos

Rating: Unrated
1
Make nachos a healthy dinner when you top them with an easy 30-minute chili. Serve this healthy recipe with sliced scallions, avocado, fresh tomatoes and sour cream, if desired.
By Carolyn Malcoun

Taco Lettuce Wraps

Rating: Unrated
1
Don't limit yourself to lettuce for this low-carb, gluten-free taco lettuce wrap recipe--any fresh green sturdy enough to wrap around 1/2 cup of filling works.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Mom's Chili

Rating: Unrated
2
This healthy basic beef chili recipe is well worth doubling so you can throw a batch in the freezer. Serve topped with diced red onion, sliced scallions, shredded cheese and your favorite hot sauce.
By Robb Walsh

Meat Loaf with Sour Cream-Mushroom Sauce

Rating: Unrated
2
This made-over classic boasts whole-grains and plenty of veggies for a really satisfying comfort-food dinner.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Inspiration and Ideas

25 Comfort Food Dinners with Ground Beef

25 Comfort Food Dinners with Ground Beef

Ground beef is a quick-cooking, budget-friendly protein that works in a variety of dishes including pasta, chili and more.
26 High-Protein Dinners with Ground Beef

26 High-Protein Dinners with Ground Beef

Ground beef cooks quickly and is a budget-friendly protein that can be used with a variety of spices and flavors.
20 Ground Beef Recipes in 30 Minutes

20 Ground Beef Recipes in 30 Minutes

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

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

22 Healthy Recipes to Make with a Pound of Ground Beef

22 Healthy Recipes to Make with a Pound of Ground Beef

22 Budget-Friendly Ground Beef Recipes

22 Budget-Friendly Ground Beef Recipes

Cuban Beef Picadillo over Plantain Mash

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.

All Healthy Ground Beef Recipes

EatingWell Meat Pie

Rating: Unrated
2
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.
By Carolyn Malcoun

Turkish Beef Patties with Eggplant, Pepper & Tomato

Rating: Unrated
4
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.
By Bruce Aidells

Quick Pasta Bolognese

Rating: Unrated
5
Who doesn't love pasta with a quick meat sauce? This crowd-pleasing healthy spaghetti Bolognese recipe is a boon for busy cooks--it's ready and on the table in just 40 minutes.
By David Bonom

Southern Beefy Skillet

Rating: Unrated
1
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.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Italian-Style Beef & Pork Meatballs

This foolproof meatball recipe makes enough to stash away for another day. They’re great to have on hand for easy dinners (see 3 ways to use them, below), but also make good impromptu appetizers.
By Hilary Meyer

Chili Cornbread Casserole

Rating: Unrated
9
Here's a fun way to serve chili and cornbread together. Don't let the ingredient list intimidate you--this casserole is easy to make and a real crowd pleaser.
By Jessie Price

Classic Hamburger

Rating: Unrated
5
Slow-cooked onions add moisture and flavor to these lean beef burgers. A quick blend of mayonnaise, ketchup, relish and vinegar makes a perfect tangy, sweet and creamy “special sauce” for this burger. We love the dill relish here, but use sweet relish if you prefer it. Serve with sweet potato fries.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Classic Diner Meat Loaf

Rating: Unrated
4
Here's a traditional recipe for a family favorite. Buy the leanest ground beef you can find for this home-style meat loaf.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

Rating: Unrated
14
Potatoes are one of the great comfort foods, especially when stuffed with a satisfying mixture of lean ground beef and broccoli florets plus reduced-fat sour cream and Cheddar cheese. Add a tossed salad and you have a healthy and hearty meal that will leave you feeling good.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Cheddar-Stuffed Mini Meatloaves with Chipotle Glaze

Rating: Unrated
10
Individual meatloaves not only take the guesswork out of portion size, they cook quicker than a large loaf. Look for ground chipotle in the spice section of the market--it gives the glaze a hit of smoke and spice. Serve with roasted broccoli and brown rice tossed with cilantro.
By David Bonom

Kickin' Hot Chili

Rating: Unrated
1
If you like your chili seriously hot, this recipe is for you. For an even bigger kick, use the whole teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Mediterranean Meatballs

Save on meal prep time by making a double batch of these delicious meatballs. Freeze them to have on hand for lunches and dinners.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

20 Italian-Inspired Ground Beef Recipes

27 Sunday Dinners with Ground Beef

Make a hearty and filling dinner this Sunday with one of these ground beef recipes. Not only is ground beef a budget-friendly ingredient, but it pairs well with a wide range of vegetables and grains to make a balanced dinner. Feel free to swap in ground turkey or chicken if you prefer. Recipes like Skillet Chili Mac and Taco-Stuffed Zucchini are healthy, delicious and a perfect way to end your weekend.

Broccoli, Beef & Potato Hotdish

Rating: Unrated
18
This easy casserole, full of ground beef, roasted broccoli and topped with hash browns, was inspired by the classic Minnesota Tater Tot hotdish. Roasting the broccoli before adding it to the casserole gives the whole dish a much more complex and exciting flavor, but it's by no means necessary. If you want to keep it simple, skip roasting the broccoli (Step 2) and use 6 cups frozen broccoli, thawed, in its place (omit 1 tablespoon oil, as well).
By Jessie Price

Basic Meatloaf

Rating: Unrated
4
While meatloaf purists focus on the meat, we like to look at meatloaf as a way to pack extra veggies and whole grains into a meal, as we do in this healthy, classic meatloaf recipe.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Beef & Bean Chile Verde

Rating: Unrated
32
Chile Verde, usually a slow-cooked stew of pork, jalapeños and tomatillos, becomes an easy weeknight meal with quick-cooking ground beef and store-bought green salsa. Make it a Meal: Serve with fresh cilantro, red onion and Monterey Jack. Add cornbread on the side and your favorite hot sauce.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Looking for a pasta that's lower in carbohydrates? Look no further than spaghetti squash. Mix it with homemade meatballs and lower-sodium pasta sauce, and you will quickly love this healthy swap.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

The EatingWell Taco

Rating: Unrated
6
Building the perfect taco is a very personal task--cheese under meat, cheese on top, no cheese at all? This is just our recommendation.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Slow-Cooker Picadillo

Rating: Unrated
2
Picadillo, a Latin American-style hash, is usually made with ground beef. This one uses bison or lean beef and plenty of spices including chili powder, cumin, oregano and cinnamon.
By Jim Romanoff

Neapolitan Meatballs

Rating: Unrated
2
A touch of cinnamon distinguishes these delicious tomato-sauced meatballs. Adding whole-grain bulgur allows you to use less meat, resulting in meatballs with less than half the total fat and saturated fat of the original. Plus a vibrant-tasting combination of fresh and canned tomatoes in the sauce helps reduce the sodium by two-thirds. Serve with pasta, polenta or even on a whole-grain roll with a bit of melted part-skim mozzarella for a meatball sub.
By Patsy Jamieson

Lean & Spicy Taco Meat

Rating: Unrated
4
A combination of lean ground beef and ultra-lean ground turkey breast makes a less-greasy filling. Bypass taco-seasoning packets in favor of making your own full-flavored filling.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Meatballs with Roasted Green Beans & Potatoes

Meatballs, green beans and potatoes happily coexist while roasting together on a large sheet pan. Seasoned with fresh rosemary and Italian seasoning and served with pasta sauce and Parmesan, this one-dish meal is one you'll want to make again and again.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Stuffed Delicata Squash

Rating: Unrated
4
In this Tex-Mex-seasoned stuffed delicata squash recipe we swap out half of the ground beef you'd normally use for bulgur to reduce saturated fat without skimping on the amount of stuffing. Serve with a mixed green salad with cilantro vinaigrette.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen
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