How to Boil Ground Beef in Under 20 Minutes

Have you ever tried boiling ground beef? If not, no worries! While the whole idea was a bit odd to me at first, I’m 100% sold, and I will take you step by step through the process! With pics 🙂

Learning how to boil ground beef is about as easy as it gets, surprisingly delicious, and works great in recipes like tacos or spaghetti sauce.

I love boiling ground beef and will always prepare enough for a few meals, so I can quickly put together tacos or sloppy joes for those busy weeknights.

It’s perfect because the ground beef will last in the fridge for about 4 days — and much longer if you freeze it!

The boiled ground beef is then ready for whatever delicious meal you have planned. So let’s get meal prepping some beef!

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How to boil ground beef

Assemble your ingredients and supplies

• 2 pounds of ground beef or ground chuck
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt & pepper to taste
• water
• seasonings to suit your recipe (optional)

Note: If you already know what you will do with meat, you can add those seasonings in while boiling. Otherwise, it’s hard to go wrong with garlic, salt, and pepper.

• a dutch oven
• a wooden spoon
• a metal strainer and pot to collect the water
• a garlic press

Place the ground beef into your dutch oven.

First, place the ground beef into the dutch oven and break it into small pieces with a wooden spatula.

Cover with water

Next, carefully pour water over the meat until it’s completely submerged.

Add the salt and pepper.

Then add the salt and pepper — I like using about a teaspoon each. But, of course, you can always add more once it’s done too!

Mince and add the garlic

Next, add the three cloves of garlic, minced. You can either chop the garlic yourself or use the pre-minced kind.

I prefer to use fresh when I have it on hand because it smells so delicious and adds so much more flavor.

Bring to a boil, cooking just until browned.

Place the dutch oven on the stovetop over high heat until it comes to a boil. Once it’s at a boil, reduce the heat to medium, stirring often until browned. Make sure to break up all the chunks as it cooks.

It takes just another 5 minutes of cooking time after you reduce the heat. Maybe less. Cook just until all the meat is browned, without any pink. Don’t overcook!

Strain carefully

You need to strain off all the water before enjoying the meat in a recipe. I place a strainer over a large pot to collect the grease and water. Then I dump it outside to prevent my drains from clogging up.

Remember, don’t pour this fatty water down the drain!

Season to suit the meal plan

Now that you have a heaping plate of boiled hamburger beef, you can spice it up any way you like — with taco seasonings for tacos or Italian seasonings for spaghetti — whatever suits your tastes and plans!

Or add it to your favorite dish! I like to hearty up my onion soup recipe with this beef!

Tips for boiling ground beef

• Use a large enough pot so that the water will completely cover the meat while not boiling over.
• Be sure to break the meat into small pieces to ensure even cooking. I like to have it all broken up before it reaches a boil, so all I have to do is stir it every minute or so.
• Don’t overcook! Keep a close eye on it. Things move rather quickly, and the last thing we want is dry overcooked ground beef.
• Season the meat after straining with spices or herbs for added flavor

FAQs

Can you boil ground beef? Absolutely! Boiling the ground beef ahead of time allows you to quickly assemble a hearty, beefy meal for your family.

Why would you boil ground beef? Boiling your ground beef removes the fat and gives you nicely cooked ground beef to use in recipes. This is especially useful when you are using regular or medium ground beef, so your meat doesn’t add too much fat to a dish like spaghetti sauce.

How long does it take to boil ground beef? After I get the pot nicely boiling, I find it takes just another 5 minutes to thoroughly cook the meat. Go by color. When it is all browned without any pink, you’re done!

Is boiling meat healthy? Boiling meat is a great option to minimize using cooking oils or just to cook off fat. I share several boiled recipes, including boiled pork chops, boiled chicken thighs and boiled okra.

What next? Let me suggest …

Now that you have a dish of cooked ground beef, how are you going to serve it?

I have lots of ideas in this recipe blog, so let me suggest a few of my family’s favorites:

• Cheesy 7 Layer Taco Skillet — To adapt this recipe for pre-cooked ground beef, just warm the beef in a cast iron skillet along with the taco seasonings. This recipe is super fast to assemble with pre-cooked beef and is so tasty!
• Beef Enchilada Dip Recipe — When making this recipe with boiled ground beef, start with frying the onion, garlic, and spices in a skillet. Then add the cooked ground beef to warm it through. This cheesy beef and bean enchilada dip recipe is a crowd-pleaser!
• Hearty Ground Venison Stroganoff — It’s easy to swap out the lean venison with the cooked and drained ground beef you have ready. In step 3, you just heat the ground beef instead of browning the venison. The flavors will work perfectly with the beef!

I’d love to hear what you made with your ground beef! Drop me a note below to share your victories in the kitchen — or oopsies! Every oopsie is a learning opportunity.

That brings to mind the time I exploded an eggplant in my oven! That messy cleanup taught me why you must, must, must poke holes before you bake a vegetable whole.

And I’ve never made the same mistake again!

Wrapping up

I hope you feel ready to boil ground beef. It truly is a quick and easy cooking method that can produce delicious and tender meat.

So the next time you’re in a rush or don’t have access to a stove, consider boiling your ground beef for a delicious and easy meal.

What to read next:

• Stovetop meatballs with marinara sauce
• Ground lamb dumplings
• Skillet stovetop burgers
• Hearty lasagna
• Boiled and seared scallops