Wondering how to cook ground beef? Frying is a popular option, but boiling ground beef is easy, quick, and it creates leaner, finer meat! Cooking ground beef with this method creates the perfect crumbled ground meat for tacos, chili, spaghetti sauce, and more.
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This recipe will show you how to cook ground beef or chuck to use in other ground beef recipes. Boiling ground beef is the best way to cook it so that it comes out in small, fine crumbles. Trust me, this is the secret to all those amazing tacos and pasta sauces at your favorite restaurant! It’s also a healthier option, because the boiling process helps separate the fat from the meat, and it comes out quite lean.
What You’ll Need to Boil Ground Beef
Grab a pound of hamburger meat and a pot, and you’ll be on your way to cooking the perfect beef crumbles for any recipe you like.
- Ground Beef: I like to use lean beef for most recipes, but you can use 90/10, 80/20, or any other type. This recipe is made for 1 lb of ground meat, though it works for any amount.
- Water: You’ll need enough to fully submerge the beef in the pan. Place the ground meat in the pot first, then pour cold/tap water over it until it’s covered.
- Seasonings: Use any type of seasonings or spices you like. Check below for some ideas!
Pro Tip: You can cook ground chicken or ground turkey with this stovetop recipe as well!
How to Season Ground Beef
The wonderful thing about ground beef is that it’s easy to season any way you like. What works best really depends on what you’re making! Try a range of spices, herbs, and seasoning blends.
- If you’re cooking ground beef for taco meat, then a simple taco seasoning works beautifully.
- To make spaghetti, meat sauce, or another pasta recipe, add Italian seasoning.
- Use burger seasoning if you want to make some burger-inspired casseroles, dips, or others dishes.
- Salt and pepper is a great way to add simple flavor no matter what you’re using it for.
- Onion, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and thyme are some of my other favorites for a range of dishes.
If you’re cooking the beef to mix into sauces, stews, casseroles, or other recipes, you won’t have to worry too much about seasoning it on its own. I actually recommend boiling ground beef without seasoning (especially if you’re cooking it for meal prep), and mixing it in after draining, or as you cook it with other recipes.
Once the water has come to a boil, cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer. It should only take about 15 minutes for the beef to fully cook through. The meat will turn brown when it’s done, so keep an eye on it.
According to the USDA, ground beef, taco meat, hamburger meat, and other ground meats should be cooked to 160°F to be considered safe to eat. Use a meat thermometer to check internal meat temperatures, and check this Meat Temperature Chart for more information about the best temperatures for all types of meat.
A lot of people fry ground beef and brown it in a pan before using it in other recipes. While pan-frying works great, cooking anything in oil or butter is going to add more fat and calories. I like boiling ground beef because it comes out much leaner, and the boiling process is super easy. Cooking ground beef with this method also gives you the perfect ground meat crumbles, which is great for tacos and pasta sauces.
After you’ve finished boiling the ground beef, you’ll need to drain it. To avoid letting any fat or grease fall down the drain of your sink, set up a strainer inside of a large bowl. Pour the pot of boiled beef through the strainer, and the bowl will catch the grease. Then you can gently rinse the beef after draining if needed to help remove extra fat. Pour the grease into a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to dispose (or use it to cook with).
How long does cooked ground beef last?
If you’re cooking ground beef ahead of time, or you just have leftovers, you can store it in the refrigerator or the freezer. Let it cool to room temperature, then store it in an airtight container. Boiled ground beef will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It will last in the freezer for 2-3 months. Thaw it before using.
What can I make with this ground beef?
Once you learn how to cook ground beef, you’re going to want to start using it in everything. Use it to make ground beef tacos, stuffed peppers, tacos in a bag, spaghetti with meat sauce, beef nachos, Cincinnati chili, chili mac, beef bolognese, cheeseburger dip, and beef taquitos. For healthier meals, make these Mexican zucchini boats or this egg roll in a bowl (just sub beef for turkey).
So if you find you have some hamburger meat sitting in the refrigerator or freezer, grab it, boil it, and save it! This is such an easy meal prep idea. Keep it in your fridge for the week, and use it with other recipes as needed!
How to Cook Ground Beef (Boiled Ground Beef)
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- water
- 1 ounce taco seasoning optional, or use other seasoning
Instructions
- Place the ground beef in a deep stove-top pan.1 lb lean ground beef
- Add enough water to cover the meat.water
- If the meat stays in clumps, break it apart with a wooden spoon until it is in small crumbles.
- Slowly bring to a boil, stirring often so the meat stays separated.
- Lower the temperature, cover, and simmer until the meat is brown and cooked.
- Drain. Stir in taco seasoning (if using).1 ounce taco seasoning
Video
Becky’s Tips
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment!
Used this for tacos last night and it was delicious! THANK YOU!
So glad you liked it Pam!
I never thought to boil the ground beef, thanks for this recipe!
I had no idea you could boil ground beef. It worked perfectly, thanks!
i have boiled hamburger but i am trying to find a recipe with boiled hamburger red potatoes and cream of mushroom
i have boiled water but i am having trouble finding recipes i can do
if you refrigerate your pot of boiled beef overnight (if you are working that far in advance) the fat will solidify on top of the water and beef, and you can just pull it off and toss it in the trash.
Susie,
Hi, thanks for the instructions on how to boil ground beef. I’m interesting in setting a night aside to cook a bunch of ground beef (15-20 lbs). My goal is to cook a couple months’ worth of meat, so that I can portion them out, store them in the freezer, and have lunch/supper ready for dozens of meals.
I’m thinking boiling would be the easiest option to cook this amount (although I’m open to suggestions). My plan to buy a bunch of meat and then proceed by focusing on “sets” of meet: i.e. 3-4 lbs at once, throw it into freezer bags, and then repeat the process until I go through all of the ground beef that I buy. Do you think I’d have to swap out the water between sets of meat? Any suggestions (or alternatives) on how to approach this?
Thank you very much for any suggestions!
Hey Marina, that isn’t a silly question at all. This is how I strain the beef, but if you are concerned about pouring the hot, oil water down the drain, please do it the way you are comfortable with.
Here is how i do it: I place the colander in the sink, turn on the hot water and let it run until it is very hot, pour the beef/water mixture into the colander and rinse it thoroughly under the hot, running water. I then run the disposal with warm water and dish soap for a few seconds.
I have never had any problems with the sink clogging, but you could just strain the beef/water over a large bowl, let the water cool, after it cools skim off any solidified fat, then throw the fat into the trash.
Please let us know if you have any further questions and thanks for stopping by Cookie Rookie.
This may sound like a silly question but how do you drain this? In the sink? I try never to pour grease from my ground beef in the sink, I usually pour the grease in a mug, wait for it to cool & then into the garbage it goes so I’m confused as how this works. Thank you in advance :)
Could you give a guesstimate on how long you are simmering for? 30 min? less? more? Thanks
Hey, Susie here…It depends on how much ground beef you are cooking, but it generally takes 15 minutes or so. Thank you for stopping by Cookie Rookie and let us know if you have any further questions.