Must Try Cheap and Easy Recipes With Ground Beef

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.

Are you looking for some warm and satisfying meals to make this fall? These recipes with ground beef are easy, frugal and delicious!

Are you looking for some warm and satisfying meals to make this fall? These recipes with ground beef are easy, frugal and delicious!  #groundbeefrecipes #frugalrecipes #cheapgroundbeefrecipes #hamburgerrecipes 

Recipes With Ground Beef

Enjoy today’s contributed post from Heather!

Isn’t this fall weather just the absolute best? The smells of apples and cinnamon and pumpkin are in the air. I can’t walk through the grocery store without at least *thinking* about picking up a bag of candy corn. Do you know what else is great about fall? It’s time to break out those lovely hot-dish recipes that you packed away with the Easter décor. The family is happy to sit down to a warm meal each evening.

These cheap recipes with ground beef are warm, delicious and perfect for these fall evenings. So, without further ado, here are a few of my favorite leaves-crunching-underfoot, mug-of-apple-cider-in-hand, it’s-the-best-season-of-the-year recipes.

Meatballs with Peppers and Pineapple

IMG_3294

Here’s what you need…mostly. Use your imagination to add a bit of honey into this picture, and you’ve got it about right.

Start out with a couple pounds of ground beef. Put it in a bowl and add some diced onion, a couple eggs, some bread crumbs (I like Italian style), salt and pepper. Mix it up. Come on, get your hands dirty. Then you want to shape it all into small balls. I like to use a cookie scoop. Place all those balls on a big cookie sheet and pop ‘em in the freezer to firm up.

IMG_3298-ed

Meanwhile, mix beef broth (I use beef base mixed with water but go right ahead and use the real deal if you have it!), soy sauce, white wine (or just plain water, if you prefer), honey, and a dab of cornstarch in a small bowl.

Once the meatballs are relatively firm, heat some oil in a frying pan. After it’s hot, grab the meatballs and roll them in flour, then fry them in the oil until they are browned. You will need to do these in batches. Once they are browned, remove them from the pan and set them aside on paper towels.

IMG_3300-ed

After all the meatballs are browned, pour off the oil and return the pan to heat. Cook the green peppers for a minute or two, then add the pineapple and cook for another couple minutes. Add the broth mixture and the meatballs. Simmer until the sauce is thickened and the meatballs are cooked through.

I like to serve this over rice.

–This recipe would be great to put in the freezer as Make Ahead Meatballs

Confession. I even like to top it with a few sweetened, dried coconut flakes. Leave those out if you can’t stand the goodness.

IMG_3306-ed

Add this to your Recipe Binder, print the cheap meatballs, pepper and pineapple recipe below:

4 from 1 vote
Print

Meatballs with Pepper and Pineapple

Ingredients

  • 2 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 to 3/4 whole onion diced finely
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 c. bread crumbs
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 1/2 - 2 green peppers diced roughly
  • 1 1/2 c. pineapple chunks
  • 2 c. beef broth
  • 2 T. soy sauce
  • 1/2 c. white wine
  • 1/3 c. honey
  • 1 T. cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Combine ground beef, onion, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Roll into small balls. Place in the freezer until firm.
  2. Mix broth, soy sauce, wine, honey, and cornstarch and set aside.
  3. Once firm, roll meatballs in flour and fry in oil in a frying pan until nicely browned. Remove the meatballs to a paper-towel-lined plate.
  4. Pour off oil, and return the frying pan to heat. Add green peppers and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add pineapple, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add broth mixture and meatballs. Allow to cook until sauce is thickened and meatballs are cooked through.
  5. Serve over rice.

Korean Beef

IMG_3247-ed

With my blond hair and greenish eyes, I’m about as far from being Korean as anyone can be, save a Swedish milkmaid. But this recipe. Wow. My sister sent it to me and told me I had, had, had to try it. So, like the good sister I am, I did.

This one’s easy. I mean, eeaasssy. Like peasy.

In a small bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, sesame oil (don’t leave this one out, my friend!), minced garlic, and ground ginger. Set aside.

Brown hamburger in a skillet. Drain off the grease, and pour in that yummy-smelling sauce you just whipped up. Allow the meat/sauce mixture to simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Serve this over rice. Top with a few chopped green onions if that makes your heart flutter.

Easy, huh? Told ya.

–Use leftover pot roast to make this Chinese Shredded beef recipe.

IMG_3274-ed

Need to print this to add to your Recipe Binder? Get the Korean Beef recipe below:

4 from 1 vote
Print

Korean Beef Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. ground beef
  • 2/3 c. honey
  • 1/2 c. soy sauce
  • 2 T. sesame oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced.
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Instructions

  1. Whisk together honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger. Set aside.
  2. Brown hamburger in a skillet. Drain off the grease, and add the sauce. Allow it to simmer until most of the liquid is gone.
  3. Serve over rice. Top with green onions, if desired.

Caleb’s BBQ Meatballs

IMG_3347-ed

My brother is into rock climbing, mountain biking, sky diving, hiking, and all manner of outdoorsy things. But somewhere along the line (probably because he hadn’t yet met his beautiful wife), he decided he also needed to learn how to cook. He gave me this recipe, and I’ve never looked back.

This is my go-to recipe for a delicious home-cooked meal. It just can’t be beaten, folks. Really.

Start with ground beef in a bowl. Add a lightly beaten egg, some quick oats, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and chopped onion. Mix it all up and shape it into large-ish meatballs. Place these in a 9×13 pan.

Next, mix up the sauce. You’re going to need ketchup, minced garlic, brown sugar, chopped onion, and liquid smoke. Give it a good stir.

Pour that crazy stuff all over the meatballs.

Stick it in the oven and bake away, my friends. You’ll hardly be able to stand the wait. The smell will fill your house and make your kids come running every ten minutes to ask when supper will be done.

IMG_3393-ed

Go straight away to gather ingredients and make this recipe. Now.

Need to print this to add to your Recipe Binder? Get the BBQ Meatballs recipe below:

4 from 1 vote
Print

Caleb's BBQ Meatballs: 

Ingredients

Meatballs:

  • 2 lb ground beef
  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 1 1/3 c. quick-cook oatmeal
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 1/3 tsp. salt
  • 1/3 tsp. salt
  • 2/3 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 1/3 T. chili powder
  • 2/3 c. chopped onion

Sauce:

  • 1 1/3 c. ketchup
  • 1/3 c. minced garlic
  • 1 c. brown sugar
  • 1/3 c. chopped onion
  • 1 1/3 T. liquid smoke

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. In a bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients. Form the meat into balls, and arrange in a single layer in a 9x13 baking dish.
  3. In a second bowl, mix sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over meatballs.
  4. Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 160°.

Thanks for joining me on this yummy little journey into the land of ground-beef-goodness with these cheap ground beef recipes. May the wind not blow the fall foliage off your trees and may your apple cider not grow tepid. And may candy-corn pumpkins always be within reach.

You also might enjoy these recipes made with ground beef:

Looking to save money on buying beef? Take a look at this article on Buying Meat in Bulk.

What is your favorite frugal meal to make with ground beef?

Heather Bork is wife to a kind and supportive hubby and stay-at-home mommy to three precious little girls. She has a passion for family, books, homeschooling, Sunday School, hospitality, and – most of all – Jesus Christ. If she’s not memorizing nursery rhymes with her littles or trying to figure out what to make for supper or tackling the never-ending laundry pile, she can probably be found in some out-of-the-way thrift store perusing the book shelves.

This post on Ground Beef Recipes was originally published on Little House Living in November 2015. It has been updated as of November 2019.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Support Little House Living by Sharing This

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




16 Comments

  1. Oh thank you! I’m always looking for recipes for what can I do with this ground beef (or grilled chicken). I’m looking forward to trying the Korean Beef recipe.

  2. These recipes look great. I’m working on budgeting a bit better and any tips are helpful. I also took a look at your you tube vids which look good and I will be especially double checking the canning and food preserving ones. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Are you sure that’s 1/3 cup of minced garlic for the barbecue sauce made from ketchup above? Seems like a lot. Am looking forward to trying that recipe!!! Thanks.

  4. I’m looking forward to trying these recipes. I’m not very successful cooking with meat so stick to hamburger mostly. These recipes are perfect for me. THANKS.

  5. I was glad to see other people use oatmeal in the meat balls or meat loaf. I was given such a bad time when I first made meat balls with oatmeal. Everyone here uses bread crumbs ! I still make it that way if were not taking it someplace ! Enjoy this nice fall weather !!

    1. I put the end of my bags of potato chips in a bag in the freezer, you know the last of the small chips and crumbs. I crush these and use them for my meatloaf. They add a great flavor and no more waste of chips.
      I always have a bag of chips, one of crackers and one of tostado and taco shells. These are all great to use as breading for fish or chicken or to top a casserole. YUMMY!

  6. Thanks for posting, I want to try a couple of them. I make the Korean beef as well, also beef and broccoli, not much different in the ingredients. Chili, spaghetti, I like to cook (loose) hamburger ahead of time and freeze them, that makes for really fast dinners. Also grilled chicken breasts.

  7. I prefer making huge batches of turkey meatballs with little seasoning. I freeze vacuum sealed bags and they last all winter for many dishes. I don’t think the flavoring in the meatball is necessary when there will be lot’s of seasonings in the dish you are making. I do like some of the recipes you posted.

  8. Excited to try these, thank you for the re-post Merissa. Merry Christmas to you and your family and Gods blessings in 2020.

  9. 4 stars
    Thank you this type of recipes were just what I needed for someone who needs to eat soft foods at Christmas dinner.

  10. We do a similar recipe to the first one but add chopped celery as well, and some vinegar. My mom called it Hawaiian meatballs.