The use of mushrooms and a simple technique seamlessly adds nutrients and flavor to regular ground beef, making it an ideal way to incorporate more plant-based eating into our diets, even if we still enjoy meat.
Ground beef that tastes “meatier” and is healthier, too? This kitchen hack tastes great and, at the same time, stretches a pound of ground beef through the addition of a simple box of mushrooms.
When mushrooms are sautéed for several minutes beyond the point at which their liquid is released, they develop a meaty, umami-rich quality that adds an extra layer of flavor along with an added dose of fiber and nutrients.
To make the mushrooms seamlessly meld into the meat, they just need to be chopped very finely. Although not required, a food processor makes quick work of this step. Minced onion and a few seasonings add the finishing touch.
While I don’t always use this trick when I cook ground beef, it’s a great card to hold in your hand, ready to play when you’d like an option that’s a little healthier or offers a more complex flavor–or when you simply need to stretch a pound of meat.
This recipe may be scaled up or down as needed. Simply plan on 8 ounces of mushrooms and half an onion to each pound of ground beef. This amount will give you the equivalent of 1½ pounds of cooked ground beef.
The funny thing is that my younger son, who isn’t a fan of mushrooms, always thinks recipes that incorporate this clever hack taste especially good!
Although not required, a food processor makes quick work of this step.
Finely chopping the mushrooms and onion allows them to blend seamlessly into the ground beef. Cooking the veggies down before adding the meat is a must in order to bring out their meaty texture and umami-rich flavor.
Once the mushrooms and onions are sautéed until golden brown, the meat is added and cooked as you normally cook ground beef.
People are hard-pressed to tell there are vegetables lurking in this delicious meat mixture!
Freezer English Muffins Pizzas offer one of many ways to put this twist on the usual ground beef to use.
Yield: The equivalent of 1½ pounds cooked ground beef (To apply this concept to a variety of recipes, figure 2 parts ground beef to 1 part mushrooms.)
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ pound button, baby bella, or cremini mushrooms, cleaned*
- ½ a large onion
- Olive oil for pan
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, optional
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Quarter the mushrooms and roughly chop the onion, and then pulse in a food processor until the mixture resembles large crumbs. Optionally, you may mince the mushrooms and onions by hand. The food processor just makes quick work of this job.
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Over medium heat sauté the onion and the mushrooms in a skillet coated with couple of teaspoons of olive oil, stirring occasionally, until the moisture has cooked out of the mushrooms and the mixture is starting to caramelize, about 10 minutes. At this point, add the ground beef and sauté, stirring and breaking up the meat, for another 5 minutes or until the meat is browned. While the beef is cooking, sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
*Even though conventional wisdom says not to wash mushrooms, I do. They are often quite dirty and sautéing them will cook out all the moisture anyway.
Recipe first published March 9, 2016
Hi! I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and figured I should give you a shout out from Dallas Texas! Keep up the fantastic job!
Thanks so much for saying hello. I’m glad you’re a regular reader!
Great idea! Can’t wait to try it!!
It’s really good, Katherine. Enjoy!
I did this to my wife, she burns water so I cook. She is convinced she hates mushrooms. I made a meat dish she loves, Ground beef, Onion, two cans of Rotel diced tomatoes, I can of black beans and a can of pinto beans and a package of taco seasoning. So just to make a joke and laugh about it later I chopped up 12 ounces Of mushrooms and mixed it in with the beef and she said it was the best ever. She was not happy at the reveal. But said I should keep doing it. Ha ha
This is great, Sean! Your meal sounds delicious and I love that you and your wife had a good laugh out of it. Mushrooms for the win!
I was looking for a vegetarian substitute for ground beef that have close texture. Do you think this can be done without out adding the meat?? I will give that a try, will make a meatless mousaka.
You could absolutely try–just cut the pieces very finely and cook until nicely caramelized. I think adding a little soy sauce might add to the “meaty” flavor, too.
I too am interested in more generally substituting mushroom & onion mince for beef mince – either partially or in full?
Does anyone have any thoughts on the substitution ratios?
Like if I wanted to replace 1/2 pound of mince – what quantities of Mushrooms & Onions would I need?
I’ll probably experiment, but if anyone has any ideas that would be helpful.
You could absolutely incrementally increase the ratio of mushrooms to beef to your liking. I’d probably eliminate 1/4 pound of beef at a time, increasing the minced mushrooms by a similar amount. I welcome any feedback as you experiment with this!
This tasted fabulous! Thanks for sharing! Finally got my toddler to eat mushrooms!
Yay! So glad to read this, Maryam!
This was extremely good. We thought it actually had a better, more savory flavor than plain ground beef yet it didn’t taste mushroomy. Will be doing this often!
I’m glad you liked, and I agree with your flavor description. My son who despises mushrooms loves this. Go figure!
love this idea of chopping the mushrooms and onions, another great recipe, thank you xoxo
Thanks, Beverley!