How to Cook Ground Beef (Restaurant-Style)

Have you ever wondered how Tex-Mex restaurants get their ground beef so soft, tender, and finely-textured? Boil it! I'll show you how.

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Have you ever cut into a beef enchilada at your go-to Mexican spot, dug into a taco salad from your favorite diner, or bit into a loose-meat sandwich from Maid Rite (tell me you’re from the Midwest without telling me) and thought to yourself:

“How do they get the beef so soft and finely-textured?”

Because when I brown ground beef in a skillet at home the result is fine, but the beef isn’t extremely tender nor does it have a super fine, almost creamy texture.

Anyway, I figured out how to cook ground beef so it turns out like a restaurant’s — boil it!

Browned then Boiled Ground Beef

Although the method for boiling ground beef is new to me, I’m not claiming to have invented it! Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants boil raw ground beef with water and seasonings until cooked through to achieve a super fine texture, and the aforementioned Maid Rite sandwiches (aka Loose Meat Sandwiches, which are NOT Sloppy Joe’s!) use steam to keep the cooked ground beef soft after cooking.

What Iamsuggesting you do is combine the more common method of browning ground beef in a skillet with simmering it afterwards. This allows us to drain excess fat from the skillet after browning the beef, then achieve a fine crumble by boiling it afterwards.

Use the ground beef for tacos, enchiladas, nachos, meat sauce — any dish you need cooked ground beef for, you can use this method to cook it!

Ingredients Needed

Ground beef: I prefer fattier 85/15 or 80/20 ground beef for this method instead of leaner 90/10 or 97/3. Much of the fat will be drained off after it’s browned, but the little bit that remains will keep the ground beef tender and flavorful. This recipe works just as well with 1lb of ground beef as it does 2 or 3lbs.
Broth or water: water or low-sodium beef broth is used to simmer the browned ground beef in.
Seasonings: depending on how the simmered ground beef will be utilized will determine how to season it. See below!

How to Season the Ground Beef

After browning then draining the ground beef, you’ll return it to the skillet with beef broth or water plus seasonings. This recipe works really well with Tex-Mex-flavored dishes, or more general ground beef dishes like meat sauce for spaghetti.

Here’s how to season the meat for either option:

For Tex-Mex recipes: add 1-1/2 — 2 Tablespoons Homemade Taco Seasoning per pound of ground beef.
For general beef recipes: add 1/2 teaspoon each onion and garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, and salt and pepper to taste per pound of ground beef.

Keep in mind that even low-sodium beef broth contains a little bit of salt which will reduce and concentrate in flavor as the meat simmers. That said, if you’re sensitive to salt, choose no-salt-added beef broth, use water instead of broth, and/or omit salt in the seasoning.

Ways to Use Boiled Ground Beef

As I mentioned, you can pretty much use this method for browning then boiling ground beef in any recipe that calls for cooked ground beef. Here are some ideas!

Tacos
Burritos
Cheeseburger Quesadillas
Beef Nachos
Big Mac Salad
Quesadillas
Taco Bowls
American Goulash
Loose-Meat Sandwiches
Taco Salads
Cheeseburger Fries
Spaghetti Sauce

Alrighty — ready to give this restaurant-style method for cooking ground beef a try?

How to Cook Ground Beef like a Restaurant

Step 1: Brown then drain the ground beef.

Start by adding a pound or more of ground beef to a large skillet with high sides and a lid over medium-high heat. Brown the beef until it is cooked through then drain and return it to the pan.

Tip: Anytime I brown ground beef I let it sit undisturbed in the hot skillet until ~3/4 of the way cooked through andthenI begin to break it up finely. The brown crust that forms on the bottom imparts a ton of flavor to the beef.

Step 2: Add liquid and seasonings then boil.

Add enough water or low-sodium beef broth to the skillet to cover the beef. This 12″ skillet requires ~2 cups liquid to submerge 1lb of browned ground beef. Add your seasonings then stir to combine.

Bring the liquid to a boil then place a lid on top and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 1 hour, breaking the beef up finely with a spatula every 10 minutes or so. I love that you don’t have to babysit nor over-think this recipe. Just chop it up anytime you remember!

As the hour passes, add more liquid as needed to keep the beef about halfway submerged. If it gets to a point where you can pull the beef back with a spatula and no liquid fills the gap, add more liquid.

When there’s 10 minutes left, remove the lid then continue to simmer until the liquid is concentrated and saucy. You can either drain out any excess liquid, or use a slotted spoon to remove the beef and use it in whatever recipe you have planned.

Voila — restaurant-style, super-tender cooked ground beef with a fine crumble!

How to Store and Freeze

To store: If you don’t plan on using the ground beef right away, cool it to room temperature then scoop into an airtight container with a lid and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
To freeze:Cool the beef down to room temperature then scoop into a gallon-size Ziplock freezer bag or freezer safe container and freeze flat. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

While browned ground beef is delicious on its own — if you’ve got a little extra time, this method for tender, restaurant-style ground beef is totally worth the extra effort.

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