I am always looking for time saving tips when it comes to making dinner! This tip on How to Make Ground Beef in the Crock Pot is one of my favorites!
This can be done if you need a lot of ground beef for one recipe, or if you want to make enough to last the week or longer. Just take a look at your menu plan and see how many pounds of ground beef you need in total, and add it to your crock pot. Obviously, the size of your crock pot may limit to how much you can do at one time, but I use my larger crock pot and have no issues doing 5 pounds and could likely do more.
To get started, place the ground beef into the crock pot. Then break up the ground beef a little bit and add about 1/4 cup of water for every pound of meat. You generally do not need more than 1 cup total.
You can cook the ground beef on HIGH for 2-3 hours or use the LOW setting for 4-6 hours. Cooking time may vary slightly depending on how many pounds of beef you are cooking, but this is a good guideline.
I tend to check in about every hour or two and stir up the meat to help it cook more evenly, but as long as you break it up well to begin with, it should be fine.
Once the meat is fully cooked, you don’t see any more red, you need to drain the grease and any excess moisture. Then depending on what you are using it for, let it cool a little bit and then divide it up into storage bags or containers. It’s super easy to separate up into the sizes you need and the store in the fridge for use later that week. If you are doing it for longer than a week, it’s just as easy to put in the freezer in freezer safe containers or bags.
This huge cooking time saver is a great way to make meat ahead of time to use in your Quick and Easy Spaghetti, 7 Layer Taco Pie or whatever meal you have planned. Cooking your ground beef ahead of time in the crock pot makes you quick week night meals even quicker. Plus less pans to clean up each night!
Be sure to check out my 2-Week Meal Plan and find 2 weeks of kid-friendly meals for under $85! This plan calls for 5 lbs of ground beef so the perfect way to incorporate this tip into your weekly menu!
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