This comforting ground beef and potatoes dinner features beef gravy loaded with mushrooms and onions, generously slathered on top of fluffy mashed potatoes.
Beef and potatoes are as classicly Midwestern as Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox. It is the ultimate comfort food combination, and there are a million ways it can be prepared, though I suspect this easy recipe using simple ingredients may soon become your favorite.
Ground Beef and Potatoes
My ground beef and potatoes is an easy dinner recipe that is sure to satisfy the whole family. A savory gravy loaded with ground beef, mushrooms, and onion is served atop a fluffy pile of mashed potatoes as a complete meal. Mashed potatoes are a perfect companion for this dish because they are well suited to soak up all of the delicious liquid from the gravy. However, this delicious meal would also taste great served with crispy roasted potatoes instead.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Ground beef - I use fairly lean ground beef so the meat mixture doesn't have too much excess grease.
- Yellow onion - Yellow onions and sweet onions are best.
- Fresh Mushrooms - I recommend buying sliced mushrooms to save on prep time.
- Fresh garlic cloves - You can substituted ½ teaspoon of garlic powder if needed.
- Tomato paste - Tomato sauce can be substituted, but it has more liquid, so it may need to simmer longer to thicken.
- All purpose Flour
- Beef broth - Beef stock also works well. Chicken broth can be used in a pinch, but it lacks the richness of beef, which obviously pairs better with the ground beef in this recipe.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Fresh thyme - You can substitute other fresh herbs such as rosemary or sage.
- Baking potatoes - Also known as Russet potatoes. Waxy potatoes, such as Yukon gold, don't make great mashed potatoes.
- Heavy cream - Milk can be substituted.
- Butter
How to Make Beef Gravy
The heart of this ground beef and potatoes recipe is the ground beef gravy that is served over the potatoes. It is a simple dinner to prepare. You will cook the ground beef, onions, and mushrooms together in a saute pan (or large skillet), then add the liquids and flavorings.
The mixture will start out very soupy, but as it simmers water will evaporate and the mixture will thicken up. Rather than worrying about how long it is simmering, I recommend just cooking it until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture thickens like a gravy. For me, that is about 15-20 minutes, but the cooking time can vary depending on the heat of your burner.
Tips for Making Mashed Potatoes
You can get fluffier mashed potatoes by not mashing them. Instead, boil your potatoes, rinse them under warm water, then run them through a food mill. Finally, gently fold the heavy cream and butter in with a spatula. This method yields the best mashed potatoes, but admittedly even I get lazy and just mash them up half the time.
My potato recipe below goes through the basics of making mashed potatoes, but if you really want an in-depth look at how to make outrageously fluffy mashed potatoes, check out my detailed mashed potato tutorial.
More Beef and Potato Recipes
If you are craving more ways to pair beef and potatoes, check out my insanely popular Beef Tips and Gravy recipe, or create a comforting Guinness Shepherds Pie, Beef Strew, Hungarian Beef Goulash, or even the classic Corned Beef Hash!
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Ground Beef and Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
Mashed Potatoes
- 4 baking potatoes (peeled and chopped)
- ½ cup heavy cream (can substitute milk)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add ground beef, onions, mushrooms, salt, and pepper to a saute pan set over medium heat. Cook beef until well browned and onions and mushrooms are tender. Add garlic and cook an additional two minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste and flour, then add beef broth, Worcestershire, and fresh thyme. Scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to allow any burnt on bits to incorporate into the liquid.
- Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. It is done when the liquid has reduced to a gravy. (if it is still watery, cook longer)
Mashed Potatoes
- Begin to prepare the mashed potatoes when browning the beef.
- Boil the chopped potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes, or until tender, then remove from water.
- Add heavy cream, butter, salt, and pepper and mash to combine. (alternatively, running the potatoes through a food mill then gently blending butter and cream with a spatula will yield fluffier mashed potatoes)
- Serve mashed potatoes on a plate with a generous helping of beef gravy over the top.
Notes
Nutritional Information
This recipe was originally published on FoxValleyFoodie.com August 19, 2019.
imsen
Love this recipe! This was very tasty!
Quick and Easy Family Recipes
MvrwVis
I was trying to find something different to make with beef instead of spaghetti and came across this. I added sauteed carrots, and it was so good! Thanks for sharing!
Vaunda Myrick
Best meal I have had since I don’t remember when. Purchased the ingredients along with what ever else we thought we might need after having been quarantined for 45 days because of the virus. My husband and I are in our 80’s and finally got up early and took advantage of a time where only seniors were only allowed in the grocery store. Found this recipe after googling what ingredients I needed to use soon. I googled potatoes, mushrooms and ground beef. Found this recipe. Used about twice as many mushrooms and glad I did. It was delicious. Also enjoyed your mashed potato tips etc. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I loved the experience.
vin
thank you for this recipe. ive cooked this many times. i do add more garlic (1 bulb), more pepper, and just a pinch of cayenne pepper. to the potatoes i add green onions before mashing them. simple and delicious.
Tracey
I made this last night! ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! ALL of my favorites rolled in to one! I love mushrooms so I used 16 oz (not 8 oz) and tossed in an extra teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, because, well, I just LOVE that too! My 14 year old son had 3 LARGE servings-I had a normal size portion and hid the rest from my kid (I know-“bad mommy”! so I could sneak in another dish later on after he went to bed!🤣 )Thank you for such a simple and out of this world DELICIOUS DISH!
Dave
Put jacket potato whole in microwave. When ready put in ricer mix in butter and milk season to taste.
That's how you make mashed potatoes
Jules
Awesome simple recipe, Flavor was great, will definitely put this in my favorite list.