Tender, savory beef simmers with a medley of herbs and earthy veggies under a golden, flaky pie crust in this simple Beef Pot Pie.

Beef Pot Pie

Isn’t pot pie just the epitome of cozy comfort food? Rich, savory gravy hugging every chunk of meat, nestled beneath a flaky crust. The vegetables are wonderful, too, but that’s not why I’m making this easy beef pot pie recipe.

The boys at my table don’t think about the vegetables too much when it comes to beef pot pies. They want steak in their pot pie nearly as much as they want it in their chili. It makes the meal, let me tell you.

Ground Beef Pot Pie

This recipe uses steak, but you could easily swap it out and make a ground beef pot pie. The flavors would be very similar.

That said, I highly recommend making it as written with steak. The texture of tender steak that has been properly seared is something incredible to experience in a pot pie.

Read more

Cheesy Ground Beef and Potato Casserole [+Video]

Casseroles are such a great dinner option! This cheesy ground beef and potato casserole is creamy, comforting and perfect for a busy day.

We had received so many messages about our readers making our mega viral busy day casserole with potatoes instead of rice that I just had to try it for myself. This casserole is full of creamy potatoes, seasoned ground beef and melted cheese for days.

We are giving you two versions of this recipe…a quick version with cream of mushroom soup and a totally made from scratch version where you make the creamy sauce yourself. You can choose whatever you have time for!

Now if you force me to choose between the rice version and the potato version of this casserole, I will have to give the slightest edge to the original rice version. It’s probably nostalgia for me, but I just like it a little better. This potato version is pure comfort food and it reminded me of camping and eating a tinfoil dinner. It tastes so similar!

What Ingredients Go in Cheesy Hamburger Potato Casserole?

For the quick version, you’ll only need 7 simple ingredients. For the homemade version, you’ll need a few more ingredients to make the cream of mushroom soup from scratch, but all the ingredients are easy to find. Here is what you will need for both versions:

Quick Version

• Cream of Mushroom Soup, Russet Potatoes, Milk, Carrots, Ground Beef, Onion, and Cheese (Cheddar or Colby Jack)

From Scratch Version

• Sauce: Butter, Onion, Garlic, Mushrooms, Flour, Cream, Chicken Broth, Pepper, Salt, and Milk
• Casserole: Ground Beef, Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion, Carrots, Cheese (Cheddar or Colby Jack), and Russet Potatoes

PRO TIP: You can also make this recipe with frozen hash browns to make it even easier!

The measurements of all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Keep scrolling to see all the details!

What Potato is Best to Use?

We prefer Russet potatoes in this recipe. They are starchy and soak up a lot of the flavors of the ground beef, carrots and creamy sauce. You could honestly use any p

Crock Pot or Instant Pot Cheesy Meatball Soup [+Video]

A creamy soup is turned into a crock pot or instant pot cheesy meatball soup with just a few pantry staple ingredients like carrots, potatoes, garlic, and corn, then add the cheese!

This year we are making sure we are on top of slow cooker and instant pot meals in case you’re freezing and not feeling like slaving over a stove like we are.

I’m going to include instructions for cooking this meatball soup recipe on the stove top as well.

Ingredients for Creamy Meatball Soup

I love a good hearty soup full of veggies, meatballs and cheese! This easy soup recipe checks all the boxes. Here is what you will need…

• Meatballs: We just buy a package at the store to keep it easy, but you can make meatballs at home if you want.
• Butter: used to sauté the veggies
• Vegetables: garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes and corn
• Soup Base: beef broth, whole milk, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco
• Salt: adds flavor
• Cornstarch: thickens the soup
• Cheeses: sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. You can also save and print the recipe there.

How to Make Cheesy Meatball Soup – Slow Cooker

While you can totally just dump this all in a crock pot and wait 8 hours to build the right texture and flavor it’s not the way I do it.

I know, you don’t want to dirty another pan, but it’s quick and easy and the flavor will be worth it.

1. Heat a dutch oven or large skillet over medium high heat and add the butter. Once it’s melted add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, celery and garlic and cook for another 3 minutes.
3. Throw in your frozen meatballs (unless you really want to go through the work of cooking homemade) just to get all of that flavor browning on them.
4. Dump everything but the cornstarch and cheese into a slow cooker and put it on low for 6 hours or high for 3.
5. Right before serving, combine the cheese and cornstarch in a separate bowl and then mix to combine.
6. Add the cheese mixture to the soup and stir until the cheese is melted and the soup has thickened.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley for garnish and a good hearty bread!

Watch How This Cheesy Meatball Soup is Made…

Smoked Brisket Chili – 5 Different Ways

Our chili recipes are some of the most popular out there, so it was time to share our mega tasty Traeger smoked brisket chili! And we are sharing 5 different ways to make it – stove top, oven braised, smoker, slow cooker or Instant Pot.

The smoky flavor of the brisket with those bold chili flavors ands spices makes for an outrageously good bowl of chili. I love to top my bowl with shredded cheddar cheese and some sour cream.

I mean, where do I even start? This smoked brisket chili recipe has been living in my brain for probably the past 5-6 years and it has taken me all this time to get it down on “paper”. How weird that we rarely use paper anymore. Remember all those calendars on walls and sticky notes of reminders?

5 Different Ways

Anyway, I always have leftover brisket, those things are huge and my children are small. Therefore, brisket chili. And you don’t need a ton for this recipe…just 1.5 lbs.

I want to help you out so there will be five different versions explained. Please don’t get bugged! I will get questions about making it different ways so I’m just trying to anticipate that and help. The five different ways are stove top, oven braised, smoked, slow cooker and Instant Pot. Then there will be instructions for both uncooked brisket and leftover brisket for each method. Make sense? Sheesh, I hope so! Here we go…

First, I will start by explaining how to brown uncooked brisket if you’re going to go that route…

How to Brown Brisket for Chili

1. Cube the pieces of raw brisket meat – Trim any hard fat as that will not melt away in the cooking process. Remember, the size of the meat is what you’ll be eating so we want no bigger than 2″ pieces (these will break down so you can smash them a bit, creating smaller pieces once cooked).
2. Season the brisket with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven or large pot until shimmering. Cook the brisket in batches, never at once or it will end up cooking in liquid, aka boiled meat. Remove to a plate and proceed with the recipe of your choice, oven braised, smoked, or stove top. 

 Using Leftover Brisket for Chili

If you have leftover brisket either from our smoked brisket recipe or our slow cooker brisket, your steps will be fewer…

1. Because your meat is already prepared, start by cooking the veggies and seasonings first. 
2. Add cubed
   Read more

The Easiest Korean Ground Beef Recipe

This easy Korean ground beef recipe is a tasty dinner idea that is light on the budget but heavy on the bold Korean flavors! You’re family is going to love it!

So, you need an idea for ground beef that isn’t casserole, taco, or soup? Yeah, me too, so I set out to make something wonderful and delicious and then couldn’t help myself and made it a budget friendly dinner idea too!

I grew up with the same plate my entire life:

• Meat
• Veggie
• Carb

And then I grew up and did the exact same thing with a few twists to our staple dinners that Mom had made:

• Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole
• Pork Chops and Rice
• Stew
• Potato Soup
• Idaho Tacos (don’t knock it until you try it)

But then I got to thinking, just because it isn’t 1999 doesn’t mean that mom’s don’t want quick, easy and cheap dinner ideas. It just means they need them with a modern twist! So, Korean Ground Beef was born. It’s a cheaper version of bulgogi, and we love bulgogi!!

I’ve made it with mushrooms, peas, peppers, and all sorts of additions but the truth is, it doesn’t need anything but ground beef, sauce and rice. It’s easy to make, even easier to freeze (both pre and post cooking) and all you have to serve is a little steamed veggie next to it.

Recommended Equipment

• Meat Chopper
• Cast Iron Pan

Before You Begin…

If you’re planning to serve this Korean ground beef over rice, then the first thing you will want to do is get your rice cooking. That way the rice will be ready when the beef is finished.

Ingredients for Korean Ground Beef

I mentioned that this recipe is budget-friendly so let me prove it now by listing out the ingredients you will need. Everything is easy to find at the grocery and might even be in your pantry already. Here is your shopping list:

• Canola or Vegetable Oil: used to cook the ground beef and garlic
• Ground Beef: You can also use ground chuck.
• Garlic: adds flavor to the meat
• Soy Sauce: adds Asian flavor and saltiness
• Orange Juice: adds flavor and acidity
• Brown Sugar: adds depth of flavor and sweetness
• Sweet Chili Sauce: adds a little heat and sweetness