There are many methods for cooking ground beef. You can brown ground beef on the stove or in the oven, but have you ever cooked ground beef in a cooking pot? See how easy it is to prepare several pounds of ground beef at once here:
Because we know it takes a lot to keep families moving, MOMables always shares ways to simplify things on the “feed your family” front. Just as you’ll find advance prep tips in weekly plans, today we’re sharing an advance prep tip on how you can cook ground beef in a clay pot, for all your meals for the week, at once.
How to cook ground beef in the slow cooker
Cook once and eliminate one step later in the week when you’re preparing meals. If you can eliminate one of the most time-consuming steps like this, your dinner preparation moves much faster, which puts dinner on the table faster and leaves you more time to cross other things off that endless list of moms.
Don’t have a slow cooker yet or need a new one? Here’s the one I use to cook ground beef.
All you do is add up to 3 pounds of ground beef to your clay pot (I’ve made up to 5 pounds at a time). Break the meat and add 1/4 cup of water (per pound of beef). Light your clay pot and cook in HIGH for 2-3 hours or LOW for 4-6 hours. Cooking time will vary depending on how many pounds of meat you are cooking.
During the cooking process, I stir the meat mixture from time to time to help the meat cook evenly. Once the meat has been cooked thoroughly, drain the fat. Then I divide the meat and store it in plastic bags in the refrigerator. Then later in the week, when I need to add it to a casserole, sauce, etc., I just take it out of the refrigerator and add it along with the other ingredients. It’s a huge time saver. Not to mention, it means to dirty one less pan that night!
Draping
fat from ground beef is simple when talking about a
small skillet, but when it comes
to a cooking pot filled with 5 pounds of meat it’s a little more daunting. Pour the liquid from the top of your
cooker and, if necessary, you can use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the slow cooker without getting excess fat in your freezer containers
.
What
to do with ground beef
There are so many delicious ideas for lunch and dinner to make with ground beef.
Some of our family’s favorites:
- Healthy Nachos Pepper Meat
- Cheese Goulash
- Taco Pizza
- Homemade NachosLooking
with
for more? Check out this post for kids’ dinner ideas.
How to Freeze Ground Beef After Cooking
I don’t know exactly what makes the onset of colder weather feel compelled to start filling my freezer with meals, but it happens every year around this time. If this happens to you too, this method of cooking ground beef in a slow cooker is also great to make, and instead of using beef right away, you can stock your freezer with the cooked meat.
I use this method to cook a bunch of ground beef and then freeze the cooked beef in a freezer-safe plastic bag. Then, on days when I need a quick meal, I can take out the meat, let it thaw, and add it to any dish (spaghetti sauce, taco meat, etc.).
A quick and easy way to cook ground beef that requires very little work… Count on me!
Impression
