Ground meat: 25 meal ideas, from quick dishes to slow-cooked meals

What to do with ground meat? Far more than a steak or bolognese: it is the most versatile of meats, it can be simmered, stuffed, rolled, au gratin, or taken on the go. This guide ranks 25 ideas by craving and available time, from a fifteen-minute dinner to a Sunday dish, with the right portion sizes.

One rule applies to all these recipes: the fresher the meat is ground, the better the dish will be. For a dish to share at aperitif, the ground meat puff pastry is prepared with the same ground meat.

What to do with ground meat: the table of 25 ideas

The 25 ideas are divided into five families, according to your current craving and the time you have. First, find the row that corresponds to your evening, then choose the dish.

The first instinct is to choose the dish according to the desired texture: slow-cooked dishes forgive everything, while steaks and meatballs require meat with 15 or 20% fat to stay tender. This is where homemade grinding takes the lead: you choose the cut and the fat content instead of having to accept them, with one of the devices from our collection of meat grinders.

Beef, lamb, veal or poultry: what ground meat for which dish?

Each ground meat has its favorite dishes.

Beef is for steaks, chilis, and bolognese. Lamb, alone or mixed with beef, makes more flavorful keftas and stuffings. Veal softens children's dishes, and poultry lightens everyday curries and meatballs. Beef with 15% fat remains the most versatile in home cooking.

Express dishes: 20 minutes flat with ground meat

Slow-cooked and stuffed dishes: Sunday ground meat

Slow-cooked dishes are the real playground of ground meat: bolognese, chili, meatballs in tomato sauce, mild curry. The meat cooks for a long time, absorbs the sauce, and freezes perfectly in portions, making it the ideal base for Sunday cooking sessions. Count 80 to 100 grams per person, with the sauce and side dish doing the rest. Three gestures are worth the whole family of slow-cooked dishes:

• melted onion before the meat;
• crushed garlic at the end of cooking;
• simmering uncovered to concentrate the sauce.

Stuffed dishes, on the other hand, transform three vegetables from the produce section into a complete dish: zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, or butternut squash are stuffed with the same mixture, ground meat mixed with onion, garlic, herbs, and a binder. As for gratins, from shepherd's pie to lasagna, they absorb the previous day's leftovers without flinching. For the exact proportions according to the package size, our article what to do with 500 g of ground meat provides recipes that come out just right. The ground meat stuffed cabbage and the ground meat stuffed butternut squash each have their own step-by-step recipe.

Regarding quantities, count 80 to 100 grams per adult in a slow-cooked or stuffed dish, and 130 to 150 grams when the meat is the centerpiece. The detail dish by dish is in our table: how much ground meat per person.

Grinding yourself: the ground meat that changes recipes

All these ideas gain a category when the meat comes out of the grinder instead of the tray. Freshly ground meat has clean strands that hold up during cooking, releases almost no water, and its flavor hasn't had time to oxidize. You also measure the exact amount: 400 grams for the evening's bolognese, the rest of the cut stored whole in the refrigerator, much better than a started tray of ground meat.

It also ensures knowing exactly what is on the plate, an argument that counts for families. Topside, shoulder, or chuck make a much tastier ground meat than standardized mixtures. Our 750 W electric meat grinder processes about 1.6 kg of meat per minute, with a reverse function to unblock tough pieces: the motorized models are gathered in our collection of electric meat grinders.

Can you cook ground meat from the day before?

The question often arises when the tray was opened the day before.

Yes if it has been stored in the refrigerator at less than 4 degrees and still has a normal color and smell. Ground meat oxidizes quickly: cook it within 24 hours after purchase or grinding, and always well done inside for sensitive groups.