If I Cook Ground Beef in a Crock Pot O
If I had a nickel for every time I forgot to thaw the pound of ground beef that I was planning to use for dinner, I'd be a rich woman! I forget to do it much more frequently than actually I remember to do it, which means I end up attempting to speed up the defrosting process in the microwave.
But that just makes it thaw unevenly, so I scrape the thawed part off and put it back in the microwave, then repeat the process 3 or 4 more times until it's finally thawed all the way through. And that's just to thaw to it—after that I still have to cook it!
But I've figured out an alternative that helps me avoid this ordeal—I cook several pounds of ground beef at once, then freeze it in one-pound portions. That way, it's no big deal if I forget to thaw the beef before dinnertime because it's already cooked. Plus, I discovered not one, but two time-saving ways to cook all that ground beef at once.
Learn how to cook big batches of ground beef in your slow cooker or Instant Pot below.
How To Cook Ground Beef In A Slow Cooker
Put a few pounds of ground beef into your slow cooker, then use clean hands or a spoon to break it up a bit.
Put the lid on the slow cooker, then cook the beef on High for 2 to 4 hours. The actual cook time will vary based on the temperature of your crockpot and the amount of meat you're cooking. (For reference, we cooked 3 pounds of meat here and it was done in about 2 hours.)
Halfway through the cooking time, use a potato masher or a large spoon to break the meat up more and give it a good stir. Replace the lid and continue cooking.
When the meat is fully cooked, give it another stir and transfer it to a colander to drain off the fat. (To reduce the fat content even more, you can always rinse the cooked beef under warm water.)
Once the meat has cooled a bit, divide the meat into equal portions. Put the portions into freezer bags, date them, and store them in your freezer to use later.
How To Cook Ground Beef In An Instant Pot
Put a few pounds of ground beef into the bottom of the inner pot, then use a spoon or potato masher to break it up a bit. Put the lid on and turn the pressure release handle so that it points to Sealing.
Select "Pressure Cook," then cook the beef on high pressure for 5 minutes. (You won't need to add any additional liquid if you're cooking a least a couple of pounds of beef at once, as the liquid and fat content in the meat will be enough for the pot to pressurize.)
When the timer goes off, use quick release to depressurize the pot and use a spoon to break up and stir the ground beef. If the beef is nearly cooked through, press "Sauté" and stir the beef until the cooking process is finished. If the beef is only partly cooked, replace the lid and pressure cook for another 5 minutes.
After cooking, drain the meat and put it into a baking sheet or into a casserole pan until it's cool enough to handle, then divide into portions and freeze.
This is such a great time-saver, especially on busy weeknights when you need to get something on the table ASAP. For ideas of quick and easy ways to use your pre-cooked ground beef, check out my blog post at the link below!
Related: 40 Easy And Money-Saving Ground Beef Dinners
What's your favorite way to use ground beef?
Source: https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/ground-beef-in-the-crockpot/
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