A ground beef and rice bowl is a great template for a weeknight dinner. It can easily scale up and down, and you get incredible versatility in terms of seasoning.
Korean Ground Beef Bowls with Zucchini
Grated pear is a classic Korean technique for tenderizing meat. The addition of a quick-pickled radish on the side completes the dish, and feel free to use daikon instead for a more authentic touch.
Korean Ground Beef Bowls with Zucchini
Grated pear melts into the beef juices and gives this bowl a gentle sweetness without a sticky red chile sauce. Sear the zucchini separately so it keeps its shape instead of releasing water into the meat while the beef is trying to brown. Short-grain rice makes a soft, slightly clingy base, while quickly pickled radishes bring the crunch that would otherwise be missing from a bowl of warm food. This is a mild dinner, so it's a useful choice when you want ginger and sesame flavor without a hot spoonful of gochujang. Spoon the beef over the rice just before eating and keep the radish pickling liquid out of the bowl.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover, turn heat to low and cook for 18 minutes; remove from heat and rest covered for 10 minutes.
- Heat half the neutral oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook zucchini for 6 to 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned and tender; transfer to a plate.
- Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Press beef into a thin layer, sear for 3 minutes and break into small crumbles; cook for 3 to 4 minutes more, until no pink remains and the beef reaches 160°F.
- Stir the pear mixture into the beef and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes until its excess liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil.
- Fluff rice and divide among four bowls. Add beef, zucchini and drained radishes, then scatter the measured sesame seeds over the beef.
Ground Beef Dirty Rice
Liver is a turnoff for a lot of people, but dirty rice might be the ideal gateway dish. Rather than tasting like liver, it just tastes umami and rich, with aromatic vegetables and herbs.
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Ground Beef Dirty Rice
Chicken liver belongs in the ingredient list here because its finely chopped richness is what distinguishes this dirty rice from a simple beef-and-pepper skillet. If you're hesitant about the texture, chop it almost to a paste and cook it into the vegetables rather than leaving separate liver pieces in the finished rice. The rice cooks in its own saucepan, then gets folded through the browned meat and reduced pan juices, which makes the final moisture much easier to judge. Let the last spoonful of broth absorb before serving; a wet puddle underneath would soften the grains and wash away the browned flavor you built in the skillet.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and 2 1/2 cups broth to a boil in a covered saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cook for 18 minutes and rest off heat, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking it into small crumbles and cooking to 160°F; leave about 1 tablespoon fat in the pan.
- Add liver, onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring and breaking up the liver until the vegetables soften and the liver reaches 165°F.
- Stir in garlic, thyme, sage, white pepper, cayenne and salt for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1/2 cup broth and water and scrape up browned bits.
- Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes until only a little moist liquid remains between the meat and vegetables. Fluff the cooked rice and fold it gently into the skillet.
- Cook over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, folding once or twice, until the grains absorb the pan juices. Stir in scallions and serve hot.
Kimchi Ground Beef Fried Rice
Kimchi fried rice is the ultimate lazy dinner in Korea, and the addition of beef makes it into a full meal. This is a dish where the old, extra-stanky kimchi works so, so much better.
Kimchi Ground Beef Fried Rice
Use mature, pleasantly sour kimchi for this skillet; very fresh kimchi won't give the rice the same tang, even with the measured spoonfuls of its juice. Cooking the chopped cabbage until its moisture evaporates lets the cold rice fry against the pan instead of steaming, and a fried egg on each serving gives you a soft topping to break into the spicy grains without scrambling egg through the whole batch.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes, then rest covered off heat for 10 minutes. Spread rice no more than 1 inch deep on a clean tray and refrigerate promptly, uncovered, for at least 1 hour until cold; include this chilling time in preparation.
- Heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking it into small crumbles and cooking to 160°F; transfer to a bowl.
- Heat another tablespoon oil in the skillet. Add kimchi and garlic and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the cabbage softens and visible liquid evaporates.
- Mix kimchi juice, gochujang and soy sauce. Add cold rice and the sauce to the skillet, separate clumps with a spatula and fry for 5 to 6 minutes, turning every minute.
- Return beef to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes until rice and beef are steaming throughout. Stir in sesame oil and scallions.
- Heat the last tablespoon neutral oil in a separate nonstick skillet. Fry eggs for 3 to 4 minutes until the whites are set, covering briefly if needed; cook yolks firm if preferred. Divide rice among four bowls and put one egg on each.
Cheeseburger Rice Skillet
Think of this as a Cheddar cheese risotto with meatballs on top, but really, at its heart, it is a fun experiment. It's basically a cheeseburger rethought, complete with ketchup and mustard.
Cheeseburger Rice Skillet
Tiny burger patties sit on creamy cheddar rice here, so you get a browned meat edge in each portion instead of beef disappearing into a casserole. Arborio rice needs gradual additions of hot broth and occasional stirring, but it doesn't need you to stand over it beating the grains nonstop. Hold the patties on a plate while the rice cooks and return them only at the end to warm through. A little ketchup and mustard season the rice without turning the skillet into a tomato sauce, and the cheddar goes in off heat so it melts smoothly. Choose this one when you're in the mood for a spoonable cheeseburger dinner and don't mind giving the rice a few minutes of attention.
Ingredients
Method
- Season beef with salt and pepper and shape into eight patties about 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Heat broth and water together in a saucepan and keep at a bare simmer.
- Heat oil in a 12-inch deep skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties for 3 to 4 minutes per side until browned and 160°F in the centers; transfer to a plate.
- Leave 1 tablespoon fat in the skillet, lower heat to medium and cook onion for 4 minutes. Stir in dry arborio rice for 1 minute.
- Add 1 cup hot broth and stir, scraping the browned bits from the skillet. Simmer gently, adding more broth about 1/2 cup at a time as the previous addition is nearly absorbed and stirring every minute or two.
- Continue for 22 to 28 minutes until rice is tender with a slight bite and flows slowly when stirred; use as much hot broth as needed. Stir in ketchup and mustard.
- Return patties and their juices to the rice for 2 minutes to warm. Remove from heat, gently stir butter and cheddar through the rice around the patties and rest for 2 minutes before serving two patties per person.
Cajun Beef Meatballs and Okra Rice
I'm not a huge okra fan, and I'm hardly alone in this. However, by cooking the okra together with rice, you get the thickening qualities without any sliminess.
Cajun Beef Meatballs and Okra Rice
Brown the meatballs before the rice goes into the pan, then let them finish gently above the tomato broth while the grains absorb it. That order gives the beef a crust without asking you to stir a skillet full of raw rice and fragile meatballs at the same time. Okra makes the rice slightly silky, which is welcome here, but slice it while it's still frozen if you want cleaner pieces and less sticky preparation. This is a tomato-and-okra dinner with whole meatballs, so its texture and flavor stay separate from the liver-seasoned dirty rice even though both use the familiar onion, celery and pepper combination.
Ingredients
Method
- Mix beef, egg, breadcrumbs, paprika, oregano, thyme, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Shape into sixteen even meatballs.
- Heat oil in a deep 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Brown meatballs for 5 to 6 minutes, turning twice; transfer to a plate, keeping their raw centers for the covered cooking step.
- Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, celery and pepper in the skillet for 5 minutes. Add garlic and rice and stir for 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes with their juices, broth, okra and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a steady simmer, then arrange the meatballs over the rice.
- Cover tightly, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 to 23 minutes without stirring, until rice is tender and meatballs reach 160°F at their centers. Add 2 tablespoons water and cook covered for another 3 minutes if the rice is still firm and the pan is dry.
- Remove from heat and rest covered for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice around the meatballs and serve four meatballs with each portion.
Greek Ground Beef Bowls with Eggplant
It might not be an authentic dish from a rustic Greek taverna, but it is tasty. Cinnamon and oregano elevate the beef, and the homemade tzatziki is a game-changer.
Greek Ground Beef Bowls with Eggplant
Roasting the eggplant gives this bowl a soft vegetable layer with browned edges, which plays well against warm oregano beef and cool cucumber yogurt. Don't bury the eggplant under the sauce while you're portioning the bowls; leave some pieces uncovered so their roasted surface survives the trip to the table. The rice stays plain and separate, letting the lemony yogurt do the brightening instead of cooking lemon juice into every grain or covering the dinner with feta.
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oven to 425°F. Toss eggplant with 2 tablespoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper on a sheet pan and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, turning once, until browned and soft.
- Bring rice, water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes; rest off heat, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Mix yogurt, squeezed cucumber, lemon juice, dill and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Refrigerate until serving.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef and onion for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking the beef into small crumbles, until browned and 160°F.
- Add garlic, oregano and cinnamon and stir for 1 minute. Fold half the roasted eggplant into the beef, leaving the rest for the bowls.
- Divide rice among four bowls and add beef, the remaining eggplant and cherry tomatoes. Spoon cucumber yogurt over part of each portion and serve.
Teriyaki Beef Meatball Bowls
Teriyaki is rice's best friend, and this dish uses meatballs made light and soft with grated onion rather than chicken or beef. Be sure to keep a careful eye on the sauce, as it can go from syrupy delicious to burnt black awfully quickly.
Teriyaki Beef Meatball Bowls
A little grated onion keeps these baked beef meatballs tender, while the teriyaki sauce reduces separately so it can glaze their surfaces instead of soaking into the breadcrumbs. Use drinking sake and mirin as measured, since seasoned cooking wine can add enough salt to upset the balance of the sauce. Carrot ribbons and snow peas cook quickly in a covered pan and give the bowl a lighter vegetable side than another thick sauce would. The meatballs are small enough to divide neatly between four lunches, but keep the rice, vegetables and glaze in separate parts of the container if you're packing them ahead. Add the last spoonful of glaze after reheating so it still looks glossy.
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with parchment. Mix beef, grated onion, egg, panko and salt and shape into twenty even meatballs; arrange on the pan.
- Bring rice and 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes, then rest off heat, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Bake meatballs for 14 to 17 minutes until browned and 160°F at their centers.
- Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and ginger in a small saucepan. Simmer uncovered for 8 to 12 minutes until reduced to about 1/2 cup and lightly syrupy, watching closely near the end.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots, snow peas and 3 tablespoons water, cover for 2 minutes, then uncover and cook for 1 minute until the water evaporates.
- Toss the cooked meatballs with the teriyaki sauce. Divide rice and vegetables among four bowls and add five meatballs to each, spooning the remaining glaze over them.
Mongolian Ground Beef and Rice
With flank steak getting astronomically expensive in the United States, ground beef provides a helpful alternative for a Mongolian beef rice bowl. Quick-pickled cucumber provides a nice contrast.
Mongolian Ground Beef and Rice
Let the beef sit against the hot pan before breaking it apart; those broad browned crumbles give this bowl a different bite from finely stirred taco meat. The brown-sugar sauce should bubble briefly around the beef, then cling to it rather than collect as a thick layer beneath the rice. Long scallion pieces go in near the end so their white sections soften but their greens don't dissolve into the glaze. Because this version is sweet and savory, a small portion of quick vinegar-dressed cucumber alongside it makes the whole bowl easier to keep eating without adding another cooked component.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes; rest off heat, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Toss cucumber with vinegar and salt and set aside. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch and the remaining 1/4 cup water until smooth.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Press beef into a thin layer and sear undisturbed for 3 minutes. Turn in broad pieces and cook for another 3 minutes, then break into coarse crumbles and cook to 160°F.
- Drain excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon. Add ginger, garlic and scallion whites and stir for 1 minute.
- Stir the sauce again and pour it over the beef. Bubble for 1 to 2 minutes until glossy and lightly thickened, then fold in scallion greens for 30 seconds.
- Fluff rice and divide among four bowls. Spoon beef over the rice and add drained cucumber alongside it.
Crisp Rice Bowls with Beef and Broccoli
At a Korean restaurant, I order the bibimbap dolsot style because, as everyone knows, the crispy rice is the best part. This recipe pairs the crispy rice with beef and broccoli, finished with a miso, butter, and honey sauce.
Crisp Rice Bowls with Beef and Broccoli
Cold rice pressed into a shallow layer fries into crisp-bottomed pieces that can hold up to the beef and broccoli without turning into a soft stir-fry bowl. Don't rush the first side by lifting it repeatedly; give the rice time to form a crust, then turn it in broad sections with a thin spatula. White miso and butter season the finely crumbled beef, while the broccoli chars separately, so this dinner has browned edges and a savory coating instead of the familiar thick oyster-soy sauce.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes, then rest covered off heat for 10 minutes. Spread no more than 1 inch deep on a clean tray and refrigerate promptly for at least 1 hour until cold.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Press cold rice into an even layer about 1/2 inch thick and cook undisturbed for 9 to 11 minutes until golden underneath.
- Turn rice in broad sections and cook for 5 to 7 minutes more until crisp in patches. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon oil in a separate large skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and cook for 4 minutes to brown several surfaces, then add 1/4 cup water, cover for 2 minutes and uncover to evaporate any liquid; transfer to a bowl.
- Brown beef in the broccoli skillet for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking it into fine crumbles and cooking to 160°F. Stir in garlic for 30 seconds.
- Whisk miso, vinegar, honey and 3 tablespoons warm water until smooth. Stir into beef with butter and cook for 1 minute, then fold in broccoli. Divide crisp rice into four bowls and spoon the beef mixture over part of each portion.
Beef Egg Roll in a Bowl with Wonton Strips
I absolutely stink at rolling egg rolls, spring rolls, and anything of the like, which is a shame because I could eat them daily. This deconstructed version helps the roll-challenged among us.
Beef Egg Roll in a Bowl with Wonton Strips
Napa cabbage cooks down quickly, so the thick white ribs go into the skillet before the leafy pieces. Shiitakes and water chestnuts make this bowl feel like a generous egg-roll filling, with something chewy and something crunchy tucked into the beef. Frying a few wonton strips takes an extra small pan, but they give the serving the crisp wrapper texture that's usually missing from an egg-roll bowl. Keep those strips out of the sauce until the very last moment, and drizzle the chili mayonnaise lightly rather than stirring it through the hot filling. The recipe makes enough rice to turn the vegetables and beef into four full dinners.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes; rest off heat, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Heat 1/2 cup oil in a small skillet over medium heat to 350°F. Fry wonton strips in three batches for 30 to 60 seconds each until lightly golden; lift onto a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a separate large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking it into crumbles and cooking to 160°F; transfer to a bowl.
- Add mushrooms and cabbage ribs to the beef skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger, cabbage leaves and water chestnuts and cook for 3 minutes until the leaves wilt.
- Return beef to the skillet and add soy sauce, hoisin and vinegar. Toss over high heat for 2 minutes until the filling is hot and excess moisture has evaporated.
- Mix mayonnaise with sriracha. Divide rice and filling among four bowls, drizzle lightly with chili mayonnaise and add crisp wonton strips just before serving.
Ground Beef Taco Rice Bowls
Everywhere you go in Okinawa, you will see signs for "taco rice," a creative repurposing of MRE taco meat from the American bases around the island. This taco rice bowl uses tomato rice, charred pineapple, and cabbage slaw for textural contrast.
Ground Beef Taco Rice Bowls
Charred pineapple brings a juicy, sweet edge to these taco bowls without going into the skillet with the beef, where it would make the meat harder to brown. The red rice cooks in a smooth tomato-onion puree, and raw cabbage dressed with lime stays crisp enough to balance both warm components. Set the pineapple beside the beef when serving, then let each forkful pick up a little fruit and slaw rather than mixing the entire bowl into one wet filling.
Ingredients
Method
- Blend tomatoes, onion, garlic and broth until smooth. Measure 2 cups puree, adding water if needed or reserving any excess for another use.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook rice for 3 minutes, stirring, then carefully add the measured puree, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon cumin. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes; rest covered off heat for 10 minutes.
- Heat a large dry skillet over medium-high heat. Pat pineapple rings dry and sear for 2 to 3 minutes per side until browned in patches; transfer to a board and cut into bite-size pieces.
- Add the remaining tablespoon oil to the skillet and brown beef for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking it into crumbles and cooking to 160°F. Add ancho chile, garlic powder, oregano, the remaining teaspoon cumin and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Stir for 30 seconds, add 1/4 cup water and simmer for 2 minutes until the spices coat the beef. Toss cabbage with lime juice in a separate bowl.
- Fluff red rice and divide among four bowls. Add beef, charred pineapple, lime cabbage and avocado slices in separate portions and serve.
Spanish Rice with Ground Beef
Spanish rice is a natural pairing for ground beef. Cook the beef, rice, and veggies together for a perfect one-pot weeknight meal.
Spanish Rice with Ground Beef
Short-grain rice absorbs the tomato broth and beef drippings in this skillet, while roasted peppers and green olives add distinct bites instead of disappearing into the sauce. Bloom the small pinch of saffron in hot broth before adding it to the pan, because dry threads scattered straight over the rice can leave uneven pockets of flavor. The covered cooking time is mostly hands-off, but a wide skillet can lose moisture faster than a saucepan, so check the grains before deciding the dinner is ready. Rest it with the lid on after cooking, then fold gently from the edges rather than stirring vigorously and breaking the softened rice.
Ingredients
Method
- Crush saffron lightly between your fingers and steep in 1/4 cup hot broth for 10 minutes. Keep the remaining broth warm.
- Heat oil in a deep 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef and onion for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking the beef into crumbles and cooking to 160°F; drain excess fat if needed.
- Stir in garlic and smoked paprika for 30 seconds, then add rice and stir for 1 minute.
- Add tomato puree, all the broth including the saffron infusion, peppers, olives, black pepper and salt. Bring to a simmer and spread rice into an even layer.
- Cover tightly, reduce heat to low and cook for 22 to 25 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. If rice is firm and the skillet is dry, add 2 tablespoons water and cook covered for 3 minutes more.
- Remove from heat and rest covered for 8 minutes. Fold gently from the skillet edges to loosen the rice and divide among four bowls.
Ground Beef Bibimbap
Bibimbap is simple: a bowl of rice with stuff on top and some gochujang. However, the toppings are fairly customizable, and building your own bibimbap can be a fun concept for a family dinner.
Ground Beef Bibimbap
Cooking each vegetable separately takes a few extra minutes, but it's what keeps the spinach, carrots, bean sprouts and mushrooms from becoming one indistinct skillet mixture. Use the same pan in sequence and set the cooked portions on a large plate while the beef browns. The sauce gets mixed in at the table, so start with part of it and add more after you've tasted a forkful with rice and egg. A firm yolk works well if you don't enjoy a runny egg; the gochujang sauce still gives the bowl enough moisture to bring everything together. Don't leave the vegetables piled in the hot pan while waiting for the rice, or the tender ones will keep cooking.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes; rest covered off heat for 10 minutes. Mix gochujang, vinegar, honey, warm water and 1 teaspoon sesame oil in a small bowl.
- Heat 1 teaspoon neutral oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Wilt spinach for 1 to 2 minutes with a pinch of the measured salt and transfer to a plate.
- Add another teaspoon oil and cook carrots for 3 minutes with another pinch of salt; transfer to the plate. Add another teaspoon oil and cook bean sprouts for 4 minutes until steaming hot and softened, then transfer to the plate.
- Add 1 teaspoon oil and cook mushrooms for 4 to 5 minutes with the remaining salt, then transfer to the plate. Keep the vegetable portions separate.
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil in the skillet. Brown beef for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking it into fine crumbles and cooking to 160°F. Stir in garlic, soy sauce and sugar for 1 minute, then remove from heat and add the remaining teaspoon sesame oil.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon neutral oil in a separate nonstick skillet. Fry eggs for 3 to 4 minutes until whites are fully set, covering briefly as needed; cook yolks firm if preferred.
- Divide rice among four bowls, arrange beef and vegetables over it and put one egg on each. Add the sauce at the table and stir the components together before eating.
Ground Beef Hashweh Rice
Don't blame yourself if you've never heard of hashweh — it's not particularly well known outside of Lebanon and Syria. But as an easy one-pot rice dish with ground beef and mixed nuts, it should be better known.
Ground Beef Hashweh Rice
Toast the almonds and pine nuts first, then save them for the finished rice so they stay crisp instead of softening in the cooking broth. Cinnamon and allspice warm the beef without making it sweet, and the covered rest lets the basmati grains finish absorbing moisture before you fold them around the meat and scatter the buttery nuts over each portion.
Ingredients
Method
- Rinse rice until the water runs mostly clear and drain well. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and toast almonds and pine nuts for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until golden; transfer to a small plate.
- Add oil to the saucepan and cook beef and onion over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking the beef into small crumbles and cooking to 160°F.
- Stir in allspice, cinnamon, pepper and salt for 30 seconds. Add drained rice and stir gently for 1 minute.
- Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, reduce heat to low and cook for 16 to 18 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
- Remove from heat and rest covered for 10 minutes. Dot with the remaining tablespoon butter and fluff gently with a fork.
- Divide among four bowls and scatter the toasted almonds and pine nuts over the rice just before serving.
Japanese Dry Curry with Ground Beef
Japanese curry is something of a love it or hate it dish, but for fans of the uniquely Japanese curry mix, nothing else scratches that itch. This is pretty much a classic "kare-raisu" that you'd get at any diner in Japan.
Japanese Dry Curry with Ground Beef
Finely chopped vegetables help this dry curry sit neatly on the rice instead of eating like a chunky stew with the broth missing. Cook the tomato mixture until a spatula leaves a brief path across the skillet, then stop before the beef becomes dry and crumbly. Japanese curry powder has a different balance from a hot chile-heavy seasoning blend, so use the named ingredient for the intended mellow warmth. Grated apple, ketchup and Worcestershire give the meat a rounded sweet-savory flavor, while a halved boiled egg makes a simple topping that can be cooked while the rice rests.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring rice and water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes; rest covered off heat for 10 minutes.
- Place eggs in a separate saucepan and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, cover, remove from heat and stand for 11 minutes; transfer to ice water for 5 minutes, then peel and halve.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot and celery for 7 to 8 minutes until softened.
- Increase heat to medium-high, add beef and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, breaking into fine crumbles and cooking to 160°F. Stir in garlic, ginger and curry powder for 1 minute.
- Add apple, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce and broth. Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until thick enough that a spatula leaves a brief path across the pan.
- Divide rice among four bowls and spoon the curry over one side. Add two boiled egg halves to each portion and serve hot.
Ground Beef Lubia Polo
Iranian food deserves to be better known, and this Lubia Polo is Exhibit A. Ground beef, spices, tomato, and green beans are all sautéed together in butter, stirred into parboiled rice, and finished with a luxurious dash of saffron.
Ground Beef Lubia Polo
Green beans, tomato and warmly spiced beef cook into a concentrated filling before they meet the parboiled rice. Layering that mixture between the grains keeps the finished pot from becoming a uniformly stirred tomato skillet, and the buttered bottom has time to form a lightly crisp rice crust. Use a heavy nonstick pot with a tight lid and keep the final heat low, since a thin pan can scorch before the rice above it steams through. Scoop the soft upper layers into bowls first, then loosen the golden bottom in pieces and share those between the servings. You don't need to turn the whole pot upside down to enjoy the crisp part.
Ingredients
Method
- Rinse rice until the water runs mostly clear. Crush saffron into 3 tablespoons hot water and set aside. Bring 8 cups water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to a boil in a large saucepan.
- Add rice to the boiling water and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until the outside of each grain softens but the center remains firm. Drain thoroughly in a fine-mesh colander.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and beef for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking the beef into small crumbles and cooking to 160°F.
- Add green beans, tomato paste, turmeric, cinnamon, pepper and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir for 2 minutes, add broth, cover and simmer for 8 minutes; uncover and reduce for 3 to 4 minutes until the filling is moist but not soupy.
- Melt butter and the remaining tablespoon oil in a heavy 4-quart nonstick pot over medium heat. Spread one-third of the drained rice across the bottom, spoon half the beef mixture over it and repeat with another third of rice and the remaining beef. Cover with the last rice.
- Drizzle saffron water over the top and poke five narrow steam holes through the rice with a spoon handle. Cover tightly, cook over medium heat for 4 minutes, then reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook for 25 to 30 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Remove from heat and rest covered for 10 minutes. Scoop the layered rice into bowls, then loosen the lightly golden bottom crust with a flexible spatula and divide it among the portions.
