20 Delicious Beef Recipes You Need To Start Making
Americans love their beef. According to Statista, it was the second most consumed meat in the U.S. in 2022, behind chicken, with an average of 58.8 pounds consumed per person annually. That's a lot of meaty goodness, and it's no surprise since there are so many delicious ways to prepare beef.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that consuming a moderate amount of beef can be good for you too. Not only is it rife with vitamins and minerals, like iron and zinc, but it is also a robust source of protein, containing all the essential amino acids necessary for building muscle and enhancing athletic performance.
What's more, beef can be a cost-effective ingredient to feed a big family, especially when purchased in bulk and when using budget-friendly cuts like the brisket and the chuck roast. Knowing how to use these cuts to create recipes your family will love is the key. Fortunately, there are plenty of delectable beef-centered recipes in our archives to help you bolster your culinary repertoire.
1. Easy Beef Stew
Beef stew is one of the most classic comfort foods out there. This recipe is the perfect place to showcase inexpensive cuts of beef. By slowly cooking this dish in the oven, these tough cuts have time to tenderize. This yields a luscious, rich result. And the best part is that leftovers are often better the next day after having a chance to marinate.
We recommend serving this dish with roasted or mashed potatoes to absorb those luxurious sauces. For an elegant side dish, a simple green beans almondine would be ideal.
Recipe: Easy Beef Stew
2. Sunday Beef Pot Roast
This is a one-pot meal with side dishes built-in, making it ideal for those days when you don't feel like spending hours in the kitchen. The key to building flavor is to dry your meat before searing it. This will enable a caramelized crust to form, sealing in the juices and leaving behind lovely browned bits that will infuse rich flavor into your vegetables.
Take care not to overcook your beef. Test your roast regularly using a meat thermometer until it registers 125 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit. And do not skip resting the roast before carving it. This will ensure your beef remains juicy and moist.
Recipe: Sunday Beef Pot Roast
3. Korean-Style Beef Stir Fry
The key to this stir fry is tenderizing your skirt steak, which is chock full of flavor but can be chewy when improperly handled. Step one to tenderizing this cut is to slice it against the grain, which means you are cutting through the dense muscle fibers, making it easier to bite. Step two is marinating in an acid. In this case, the grated apple is the acidic ingredient that will take this steak from tough to melt in your mouth.
We recommend serving this dish over rice. For an extra hint of spicy umami flavor, try adding a teaspoon of gochujang to the recipe.
Recipe: Korean-Style Beef Stir Fry
4. Slow-Cooker Beef Stroganoff
While this recipe does require a touch of advanced preparation, once you have browned the meat and sautéed the mushrooms, the rest of the ingredients get placed into a slow cooker, where they spend the rest of the day bubbling away. Try using a variety of mushrooms, like porcini, cremini, and chanterelle. These will add a depth of flavor and sophistication.
We recommend serving this dish with a nice green salad to round out the meal. If you are planning on eating the leftovers, don't toss the pasta with the meat, as the noodles will absorb all of that luscious sauce.
Recipe: Slow-Cooker Beef Stroganoff
5. Beef And Cheddar Stuffed Peppers
The key to this recipe is to roast the peppers before stuffing them to ensure they are soft and fully cooked. By doing so, not only are they imparted with a deep, smoky, and sweeter flavor, they are somewhat easier to digest. While removing the skins improves digestibility even further, you will want to avoid doing so in this recipe, or the peppers will not hold their shape well enough to be stuffed.
To round out this meal, we suggest serving it with a vegetable side dish. Mexican elotes or a corn succotash would be a dynamite accompaniment.
Recipe: Beef And Cheddar Stuffed Peppers
6. Takeout-Inspired Beef And Broccoli
This recipe for Beef and Broccoli is fresher and much less expensive than takeout while still having that rich flavor. The key is the complex, umami-rich sauce that has the perfect balance between sweet, savory, salty, sour, and the funky fermented flavor of gochujang. If you do not have gochujang on hand, you can use sriracha combined with a hint of miso to capture a similar flavor.
Try serving this dish atop ramen or lo mein noodles. And don't forget to garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions to give it an authentic restaurant feel.
7. Red Wine Beef Short Ribs
Short ribs are high in fat and abundant in connective tissues, requiring them to undergo slow cooking methods to become tender. Braising in red wine is ideal. The acid in the wine will help to break down those dense fibers while imparting rich flavor to the cooking liquid. The key is to choose the right wine. A cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir that is low in tannins and not overly oaky is ideal.
Serve this dish over a piping-hot bowl of creamy polenta. The polenta will soak up all those rich juices and balance well with the unctuous short ribs.
Recipe: Red Wine Beef Short Ribs
8. 1-Skillet Salisbury Steak
The term steak may be a bit of a misnomer for this dish. Ground beef is combined with bread crumbs and onions to form patties before getting pan-fried. The result is a satisfying and hearty one-dish meal that will stick to your ribs on a cold night.
The key to success with this dish is to select the proper lean-to-fat ratio of ground beef. You will want something with enough fat to keep the patties moist while not leaving too much grease behind. We recommend an 80/20 mix for the best results. Mashed potatoes and roast asparagus will round out this throwback recipe.
Recipe: 1-Skillet Salisbury Steak
9. Bean, Beef, And Cheese Enchiladas
These enchiladas are an easy and cheesy recipe you can throw together in a pinch on a busy weeknight. For added color, try substituting spinach tortillas for the plain flour ones. Amplify the flavor and heat with shredded pepper jack instead of the Mexican cheese blend. And for a different texture, use black beans instead of pinto.
While these enchiladas are filling, we recommend serving them with guacamole and a combination of roasted or grilled vegetables. A favorite combination of mine includes zucchini, peppers, and onions seasoned with smoked paprika and cumin and drizzled with chili-infused olive oil.
10. Simple Bolognese Sauce
Contrary to popular belief, a classic Bolognese sauce is not a tomato-based sauce with meat. It should be a rich, creamy meat-based sauce rife with the slow-simmered flavors of a sofrito of carrots, celery, and onions, with whole peeled tomatoes added and finished with milk. This recipe remains true to its origins, using all ground beef instead of a mixture of different meats for a more affordable preparation.
The ideal pasta for a Bolognese is a tube-shaped noodle, like rigatoni, or something with a cup-like shape, such as conchiglie or orecchiette. Sauté some broccolini for the perfect side dish to round out this menu.
Recipe: Simple Bolognese Sauce
11. One-Pot Goulash
This recipe makes a conscious effort to distinguish itself from an authentic Hungarian goulash. It hones in on the American iteration of the term, an inexpensive meal made from noodles, ground beef, and tomatoes. That said, if you want to pay homage to the classic while infusing a hint of heat, adding a teaspoon of smoked hot paprika is always a good idea.
Hungarians have eight distinct types of paprika ranging in color from burnt orange to deep crimson. These different paprika varieties vary in heat from sweet to hot. Smoked paprika can be made from both sweet and hot peppers.
Recipe: One-Pot Goulash
12. Beef Sukiyaki
Sukiyaki is the ultimate one-pot meal. While it is typically cooked table-side in Japan, this variation is assembled in the kitchen. Once the beef, vegetables, and noodles are cooked in a sweet and savory sauce made from rice wine, it is delivered to the table for diners to finish. For best results, use a cut of beef with a healthy amount of marbling.
Each bowl is served filled with some beaten raw eggs. As the hot beef and vegetables are added to the eggs, they cook, turning them into a luxurious sauce that coats all the ingredients. It is fun and comes together quickly.
Recipe: Beef Sukiyaki
13. Southwestern Taco Bake
This dish is designed to be a Tex-Mex play on a classic lasagna. The main difference is that this recipe comes together in a fraction of the time it takes to make lasagna. The key is the reliance on predominantly bold-flavored canned ingredients that provide complex layers, textures, and colors for something festive and delicious that you can get onto the table in just over 30 minutes.
To serve, pair this with a simple side salad, guacamole, and pico de gallo. You could also whip up a simple slaw with cilantro and lime juice for a hint of crunch to juxtapose the rich, cheesy bake.
Recipe: Southwestern Taco Bake
14. Slow Cooker Meatballs Marinara
The beauty of these slow cooker meatballs is that they do not require you to brown them. Assemble the meatballs, place them in your slow cooker, top them with sauce, and let them bubble away. They get their rich flavor from grated parmesan cheese and a garlic paste.
Whatever you do, never skip the step of soaking your breadcrumbs. Doing so will help keep them from absorbing as much moisture from the meat, producing lighter, juicier meatballs. If you'd like an even richer flavor, try substituting 2 tablespoons of lukewarm milk. Serve these with pasta or pop them onto a toasted baguette for the ultimate meatball sub.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Meatballs Marinara
15. Rendang-Inspired Beef Brisket
This exotic Malaysian-inspired dish uses an inexpensive beef brisket and slowly cooks until the meat pulls apart in a complex blend of spices and aromatics. The added step of toasting the spice paste helps to draw out the oils and full flavor of these ingredients, which will bolster the final dish with intensely sweet, spicy, and umami elements.
White rice is a great accompaniment to soak up the sauces of this dish. You could also supplement the meal with long beans in peanut sauce and a pineapple and cucumber salad marinated in sweet and savory dressing to help brighten things up.
Recipe: Rendang-Inspired Beef Brisket
16. Honey Mustard Corned Beef And Cabbage
While this dish is a classic St. Patrick's Day feast, it can also be a satiating weeknight meal any day. The key is the honey and brown sugar glaze that offsets the saltiness of corning spices. If you are having trouble finding a beef brisket with its seasoning packet included year-round, it may be helpful to stock up on a couple during March and put them in the freezer for a rainy day.
When selecting potatoes for this recipe, always opt for waxy potatoes, like red, new, or fingerling. These will not disintegrate into a starchy mess over the hours the recipe will spend cooking.
17. Classic Corned Beef Hash
If you have taken the time to make a corned beef dinner for St. Patrick's Day, repurpose the leftovers into this classic breakfast dish. While the recipe does call for adding salt, use a delicate hand when doing so. Corned beef is already salty, and depending on how much of the corning seasoning your meat absorbs, it may have enough salinity to infuse your eggs and potatoes as is.
This dish is best served with toast or Irish soda bread. You might also accompany it with sliced tomatoes, avocado, or sautéed spinach for something green.
Recipe: Classic Corned Beef Hash
18. Classic Cuban Picadillo
Picadillo is a rich, ragu-like Cuban sauce that simmers in white wine and tomato sauce before getting a salty kick from capers and olives. When choosing a white wine to cook with, pick a variety that is not overly sweet or oaky. My favorites are bright, acidic, and dry, like a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc.
While they are optional, raisins are a classic addition to this dish. They offset the saltiness of the olives and capers, giving the final result a more nuanced sweet and savory flavor profile. The dish can be served with rice, fried plantains, spicy black beans, and fresh avocado.
Recipe: Classic Cuban Picadillo
19. Classic Steak Diane
Steak Diane is the dish you want to save for a special occasion. It takes advantage of a fine cut of filet mignon, which can be costly. It also relies upon cognac to obtain its quintessential luxurious flavor. While you do not need to purchase the most expensive cognac, you will want to invest in a decent quality VS or VSOP with a slightly spicy and smoky flavor profile, like a Hennessy.
We usually serve this dish with buttery mashed potatoes to soak up the rich sauce. For a vegetable, braised carrots or roasted asparagus are always a welcome accompaniment.
Recipe: Classic Steak Diane
20. Comforting Caldo De Res
This delectable beef stew is steeped in Mexican heritage. It is the perfect comfort food for those days you might feel under the weather. It utilizes an inexpensive cut of beef known as the shank. This cut also benefits from slow cooking to help break up dense connective tissues and render out rich bone marrow.
Whatever you do, do not skip the lime juice at the end. That hint of acidity will provide just the brightness to balance out the heat and fat. Though this is a meal in a single pot, we enjoy serving this with crunchy bread to sop up those meaty juices.
Recipe: Comforting Caldo De Res