Basic Cooked Ground Beef Recipes: Tacos, S’ghetti, Hobo Stew

In an earlier post I wrote about basic ground beef prep. The following three ground beef recipes start with cooked ground beef, so refer to that post if you need a refresher on cooking the ground beef. They are quick, easy meals you can pull together in minutes, especially if the ground beef is already cooked. If you are starting with frozen ground beef, you will need to defrost it in the microwave for about 4-5 minutes per pound.

These are not labor intensive versions of these meals, but are intended to be just good, easy food.

For all of these, you can use ground beef cooked with or without onions (or peppers or whatever else you may have been moved to add). You may add seasoning or other ingredients to any of these as you wish. This is just how I make them. Make them your own.

Tacos

Ingredients

• 1 pound (or about that) of cooked ground beef
• Taco Seasoning (I use 1/2 package, but you can use however much you want) (try to get one with the lowest salt content)
• Taco shells (1 pound ground beef makes about 10-12 tacos) (I like hard corn taco shells, but go with what you like or have)
• Chopped lettuce (we use Basic Salad Base in place of the lettuce and green onions)
• Green Onions- white part sliced (optional)
• Tomatoes – diced or chopped (or grape or cherry tomatoes sliced in two) (optional)
• Sliced black olives (can buy them already sliced or slice or chop them yourself)(optional)
• Shredded Cheese (We like Mexican Blend or Cheddar/Jack blend or just Cheddar depending on what is in the house)
• Taco Sauce

Preparation

1. Place the defrosted ground beef into a 10″ skillet and heat over medium heat until warm.
2. Add water and Taco Seasoning according to directions and simmer. (simmer means cook it over low so its not boiling. (If you use 1/2 packet, use 1/2 water recommended).
3. Meanwhile, heat the taco shells according to directions. I use a toaster oven. I turn it on 400 til warm, then turn it off and put the taco shells, on a toaster oven cookie sheet, in for 2-3 minutes
4. Place the taco shells into holders. (We use Taco Tenders)
5. Add a small amount of cheese (about 2 Tablespoons) in the bottom of each shell
6. When the meat is warmed and the liquid reduced, put about 2-3 Tablespoons of meat on top of the cheese, the length of the taco
7. Sprinkle another small amount of cheese (about 2 Tablespoons) across the meat
8. Add lettuce or lettuce mixture as desired (we heap it on)
9. Put on any other topping desired- tomatoes, olives, what you want
10. Carefully pour a fine line of taco sauce the length of the tacos (or pour a lot if you want)

Buen Provecho

S’ghetti with Meat Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 pound cooked ground beef (defrosted)
• 1 onion if ground beef does not have it and you want it (optional)
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce (24 oz)
• 1/2 pound spaghetti or angle hair pasta
• shredded or grated Parmesan, Romano or Parmesan/Romano Cheese (if you can, get the kind in the cheese section, not the dairy section or aisle. It tastes SO much better.)

Preparation

1. Cook the pasta according to directions on the package
2. While the water is getting to a boil,
   • if adding an onion:
   • Dice the onion.
   • Add a small amount of cooking oil (I use canola oil) to a 10″ skillet over medium heat.
   • Carefully add the diced onion
   • Heat until transparent, stirring occasionally.
   • Open the spaghetti sauce and place into a large saucepan and place over medium/low heat. Be careful. Spaghetti sauce like to spit as it gets hot.
   • If the ground beef is frozen, defrost it. Once defrosted, add it to the sauce
   • If adding onion, add that to the sauce when transparent.
3. When the pasta is done cooking, carefully drain (pouring away from yourself into a colander- looks like a bowl with holes).
4. You can let people serve themselves pasta then sauce, or mix the pasta and sauce together in a large casserole or dutch oven.
5. Top with the cheese or pass around at the table.

Leftovers can be mixed and put in the fridge, the reheated in the microwave (about 1 minute on high per serving) or oven (350 til cooked through).
We would serve this with a salad on the side, or a green veg.
Buon Appetito

Hobo Stew

Years ago I was given a recipe for this, which I keep misplacing. But, this is one of our favorite meals in the winter and its SO easy – and nutritious. Hungry? Ready in no time at all (especially if you prepped the ground beef with onion)!

Ingredients

• 1 pound cooked ground beef (defrosted)
• 1 chopped or diced onion (if ground beef does not have it) NOTE: If not with the ground beef, you may want to cook as above for the S’ghetti. If ground beef isn’t cooked either, you can brown the onion and the ground beef in a large (10-12″) skillet until cooked through.
  NOTE: Use what you have or like. This is the base recipe. Tomato is important as a base so use at least one can of tomato something. I get vegies with no or low salt. You can throw all the liquid from the vegies in too.
• 1 can (14-15 oz) each of:
  • cut green beans
  • sliced carrots
  • corn
  • sliced new potatoes
  • kidney or garbanzo beans (or both)
  • tomato sauce
  • 1 can (14-28 oz) diced tomatoes
• Seasoning to taste. I like about 1t basil or a bay leaf or two, and fresh ground black pepper. (If you add a bay leaf, remember to take it out before serving/eating).

Preparation

1. Throw everything into a large saucepan or soup pot
2. Cook over medium heat until warmed through
3. Serve with a nice french bread and butter.

Enjoy!