45 Ground Meat Recipes for Simple, Comforting Dinners

Ground meat can provide a ton of flavor to quick dinners and slow-cooked meals alike. Whether you're in the mood for a longer project like lasagna bolognese or just want to make some quick meatballs, these recipes for ground beef, pork, lamb, and chicken have all the bases covered.
Yossy Arefi1/45Ginger-Chicken Meatballs with Chinese Broccoli
Ground chicken is leaner than other meats, but less fat doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor—these meatballs are loaded with aromatics like scallions, ginger and garlic.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, food styling by Anna Billingskog2/45The Basically Burger
It's all about that special sauce.
Alex Lau3/45Garlic-Chile Ground Pork
This savory, larb-esque pork mixture makes for the ultimate all-purpose grain bowl topper.
Alex Lau4/45Stir-Fried Udon Noodles With Pork and Scallions
With chewy noodles, crispy ground pork, and crunchy cabbage, there’s no need to serve anything alongside this quick-fire udon noodle recipe.
Alex Lau5/45Oven-Baked Beef Meatballs
Berbere, a warming Ethiopian spice blend, punches up these incredibly easy meatballs.
Alex Lau6/45Lamb-Bacon Burgers With Spicy Aioli
At Rioja, in Denver, half of the bacon is replaced with ground fatback, a step that makes this excellent burger even better.
Alex Lau7/45BA’s Best Beef-and-Bacon Meatloaf
Seasoned stock keeps this meatloaf juicy and flavorful. A doctored ketchup delivers just the right amount of tang, spice, and sweetness. And the bacon? We think it speaks for itself. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Photo by Heidi's Bridge, styling by Anna Billingskog8/45Sloppy Joes
The chips and pickles? Nonnegotiable.
Marcus Nilsson9/45Albóndigas in Red Chile Sauce
In case you were wondering, albóndigas is the Spanish word for meatball. These prove that the Italians aren’t the only players in the game.
Photo by Marcus Nilsson10/45Classic Ragù Bolognese
A certain magic happens as the beef and aromatic vegetables slowly cook down with wine, tomato paste, and broth.
Heidi's Bridge11/45BA's Best Stuffed Cabbage
Stuffed cabbage is great for a crowd, but if you find yourself with a lot of leftovers, it freezes well too.
Alex Lau12/45Argentinian Beef Empanadas
For these baked empanadas, Gaby Melian says the addition of green olives and raisins in the filling is essential.
Alex Lau13/45Spiced Lamb Meatballs with Walnut Romesco
The smoky sauce and mix of spices in this meatball recipe complement lamb perfectly. It would be great with ground beef too, if that’s more your thing.
Danielle Walsh14/45Crispy Thai Pork with Cucumber Salad
The crispy bits are the key to this pork’s deliciousness. Use a wide, flat spatula for the best effect.
Alex Lau15/45Beef, Onion, and Cheddar Pierogies
These are ideally made with ground shortrib, but using chuck will give you an equally savory filling.
Alex Lau16/45Weeknight Mapo Tofu with Ground Pork
Spicy, mouth-tingling, porky: Those are the words you’ll be using to describe this tofu recipe.
Alex Lau17/45Diner Burger
The cooks at Diner, in Brooklyn, change up burger toppings according to the season: lettuce and pickled onions in winter months; sliced tomato and housemade bread-and-butter pickles in the summer.
Ditte Isager18/45Spicy Pork and Mustard Green Soup
It might look like a lot when the greens are raw, but add them all anyway. They’ll quickly wilt down to a silky texture.
Alex Lau19/45Beef, Black Bean, and Corn Tacos
Separate compartments are key to packing this lunch. Switch up the fixings to keep it fresh: Salsa, guac, and sour cream are all good options.

Matt Duckor21/45Lahmacun
This thin, crisp Turkish flatbread is typically rolled into a cone before eating.
Marcus Nilsson22/45Lasagna Bolognese
This version of the Italian classic tastes as though it's been perfected over generations. Click here for a step-by-step video.
Matt Duckor23/45Sloppy Tacos
The only thing better than Sloppy Joes for dinner is taco night. This hybrid is the best of both worlds.

Romulo Yanes25/45The BA Burger Deluxe
Five ingredients and five steps will get you to burger heaven. Want to take this summer cook- out staple to the next level? Check out our recipe for the Butcher's Burger, which includes three different cuts of beef.
©Romulo Yanes26/45Hoisin-Glazed Meatloaf Sandwiches
Think of this as a classier preparation for meatloaf—still kid-friendly, but will some added complexity.
Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott29/45Pork Sausage with Coconut-Chile Sauce and Lychees
We know, this pork dish from Rose's Luxury sounds nuts. It’s meant to be mixed together so you get some garlicky pork, floral lychees, sweet coconut, sharp onions, and crisp salty accents in each bite.
30/45Spicy Pork Salad
This quick pork salad is ready in a half hour, and the pork mixture can even be made the day before.
Alex Lau31/45Cheesy Chicken Meatball Sliders
Leftovers are the key to packing lunches easily. All of these hot lunches freeze well, too; if you freeze in small portioned containers, all you have to do is reheat and go.
Gentl & Hyers32/45Spiced Lamb Hand Pies
If you’re not a lamb person, ground beef will also taste great.
Peden + Munk33/45Spiced Lamb Burger
As the lamb cooks inside the pita, the fat will render into the bread, creating a crunchy, compact, vibrantly flavored meat pie that’s unlike any burger you’ve ever had.
Gentl & Hyers34/45Lamb Larb
Larb is hailed as the national dish of Laos. Traditionally the salad starts with extremely finely chopped lean meat or fish and is seasoned with lime juice, chiles, fish sauce, and toasted ground rice. This recipe calls for ground lamb, a fattier protein than what’s usually used, and subs ground peanuts as a nod to the texture of the rice.
Brandon Harman35/45Pocho Taco
The nostalgic ground meat filling has obvious upgrades; the charred tomato salsa should be in heavy rotation.
Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott36/45Meatballs with Mint
Super easy meatballs in under 5 ingredients, phewph!
37/45Garganelli with Fennel and Pork Shoulder Ragù
Make a big batch of this ragù on Sunday, serve it with pasta and a big green salad that night, then send the family off with leftovers for lunch the next day.
Ditte Isager38/45Rigatoni with Spicy Calabrese-Style Pork Ragù
Any short, tubular pasta will work with this meaty ragù. We used sedanini ("little celery") on the cover, but easier-to-find rigatoni and penne are great, too.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Spencer Richards39/45BA’s Best Breakfast Sausage
These breakfast sausage patties are perfect for freezing, extra insurance toward future hangovers.
Romulo Yanes40/45Ricotta and Sage Fried Meatballs
That's right. Meatballs can be fried, and it's worth it.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon41/45Best-Ever Smash Burgers
With crisp edges and a juicy bite, this may be the ultimate burger.
Alex Lau42/45Grilled Lamb Kefta
Lamb and yogurt is a classic combination. You'll be scraping the plate with pita.
Peden + Munk43/45Soboro Beef
In Japanese, the word for food is the same as the one for rice. Without it, a meal is not a meal. The real genius of rice is revealed when you think about it in reverse: Add just about anything to a bowl of it and, voilà! you’ve got dinner. But don’t think of it as a throwaway fill-you-up starch. Properly cooked short-grain white rice is a craveable study in subtlety and texture, to be mixed and matched at will.
Nicole Franzen44/45Spicy Lamb and Lentils With Herbs
Fragrant bits of spicy ground lamb and heaps of fresh herbs in this recipe to transform ordinary lentils into the pantry party kid.
Matt Duckor45/45Turkey-Spinach Meatballs
Browning the meatballs under the broiler instead of in the pan? Plain genius. It’s faster, neater (no side-of-stove oil splatters) and big-batch friendly.

