Beef

crowdsource Community Insights

This sauce really benefits from time and a splash of red wine. People who let it simmer gently for two to three hours ended up with deeper, smoother flavor and fewer texture issues. Likewise, cooks who added red wine early said it brought real depth, so it's worth doing if you have some. One serving quirk to note: piling the sauce on top of the pasta tends to separate it from the noodles, while the ones who mixed the pasta into the sauce before serving got a more cohesive plate. Those three things made the biggest difference for people.

grocery Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Bacon
• Onion
• Carrot
• Celery
• Garlic
• Rosemary
• Minced beef
• Plum tomatoes, whole
• Oregano
• Basil
• Bay leaf
• Chili
• Tomato puree
• Stock cube, to taste
• Cherry tomatoes, whole
• Red wine, to taste
• Spaghetti
• Parmesan, grated
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add a bit of olive oil.
2. Add the bacon and fry until golden and crispy, about 10 minutes, reducing the heat slightly as it cooks.
3. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and rosemary and cook on a gentle heat, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes.
4. Increase the heat to medium-high and brown the minced beef, stirring until well browned.
5. Add the plum tomatoes, oregano, basil, bay leaf, chili (optional), tomato puree, stock cube, cherry tomatoes and red wine; crush the plum tomatoes with a spoon as you stir.
6. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid and simmer for about 1 hour 15 minutes until the sauce is rich.
7. If the sauce is still watery after this time, uncover and vigorously simmer for about 15 minutes until thick.
8. While the Bolognese finishes, cook the spaghetti, drain it and return it to the pan.
9. Add the Bolognese sauce to the spaghetti, toss with tongs until evenly coated, and stir through the Parmesan.
10. Season with extra salt and pepper if desired.
11. Plate the spaghetti and garnish with grated Parmesan, basil and a little black pepper.

crowdsource Community Insights

Most people found the sauce comes together from a good base and careful timing. Start with a proper soffritto, people who cooked the pancetta first and built the vegetables before the meat got a deeper, cleaner flavor than those who tossed veg into already-browned meat. Also, browning the meat matters: constant stirring or adding vegetables too early prevents a proper brown, and those batches tasted flatter. And about milk, people who added milk early ran into issues; if milk is used at all, cooks who stirred it in at the very end had better results than those who put it in up front.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Ground beef, 80/20
• Onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery
• Salt, to taste
• 2 clove garlic
• 1 can San Marzano tomatoes, hand crushed
• 1/4 cup tomato paste, double concentrated
• Whole milk
• 1 cup red wine
• Bay leaf, dried
• 1/2 Parmesan rind
• 2 bunch fresh tagliatelle (or pappardelle, any thicker flat noodle)
• 1/4 cup pasta water
• Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add enough olive oil so it moves freely and leaves ribbons in the pan.
2. Add ground beef and begin to brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon so the meat is fine and clings to pasta; do not fully cook the beef because it will continue cooking with the vegetables.
3. Add the chopped onion, finely chopped carrot, and rib of celery; season with salt and cook until the meat starts to brown and the vegetables soften, about 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Add the garlic (about 2 cloves) after the vegetables have sweated and the meat has started to brown, and scrape up any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan; cook a couple minutes more.
5. Hand-crush one can of San Marzano tomatoes and set aside any nubbins discovered while crushing.
6. Clear a small area in the pot and add about 1/4 cup double-concentrated tomato paste to the oil; toast the paste in the oil until its color deepens and it becomes caramelized, then mix it into the meat so the fond redistributes.
7. Deglaze with whole milk and cook, stirring the bottom frequently to prevent burning, until the milk is practically completely evaporated and reduced, about 20 minutes; the mixture will look almost separated and silkier—this is the cue to proceed.
8. Add about 1 cup red wine and let it reduce, about 10 to 12 minutes, until a clean space appears in the bottom of the pan and the mixture remains silky.
9. Pour in the hand-crushed tomatoes over the back of a spoon to avoid splashing; nestle in a dried bay leaf and about half of a Parmesan rind.
10. Taste and add a little salt (remember the sauce will reduce further), then simmer the sauce gently for about 2 hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to prevent burning at the bottom.
11. Generously season a large pot of pasta water with salt and bring to a boil; drop in the fresh tagliatelle (two bunches) and cook until al dente.
12. While the pasta cooks, warm the sauce on a burner and add about 1/4 cup reserved pasta water to loosen and warm it through; add more pasta water as needed and a little olive oil to help the sauce coat the pasta.
13. Drain or lift the pasta directly into the sauce and toss (with tongs or by flipping) until every strand is coated and the sauce clings to the pasta.
14. Turn off the heat, add grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and toss once more; plate and finish with an additional showering of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

Classic Smash Burger

• 3 1/2 oz (99g) ground chuck, formed into balls
• Lawry's seasoned salt, to taste
• American cheese
• Martin potato roll
• Mustard
• 1 dill pickle
• 1 onion

Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger

• 3 1/2 oz (99g) ground chuck, formed into balls
• Salt, to taste
• Sweet onion, paper-thin sliced
• 1 dill pickle
• 1 onion

The Chester

• 3 1/2 oz (99g) ground chuck, formed into balls
• Salt, to taste
• White bread
• Butter, rendered
• American cheese

book_ribbon Instructions

Classic Smash Burger

1. Heat a flat top griddle to about 360°F (or use a cast iron pan if cooking at home).
2. Portion 3½-ounce balls of 75/25 ground chuck using an ice cream scoop (salad disher).
3. Place a beef ball on the hot griddle and press straight down with a spatula to form a thin patty; press only once and do not continue pressing.
4. Cook until a cooked patch appears on the exposed side, about 20 seconds, and watch for bubbles and rendered fat; keep some pink before flipping—if fully gray you have overcooked it.
5. Flip the patty when ready, place a slice of American cheese on top, and cover with a melter or an inverted bowl or pot cover until the cheese melts.
6. Toast Martin potato rolls in a bun toaster.
7. Assemble: spread a little mustard on the bottom bun, add the patty with melted cheese, add one dill pickle and one onion, and top with the other bun.

Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger

1. Portion the same size 3½-ounce ball of 75/25 ground chuck.
2. Salt the beef ball and the surrounding griddle surface before smashing.
3. Pile paper-thin sweet onions onto the ball as you press it so the onions are pressed into the patty.
4. Sear the side you pressed down, then flip the patty so the onions are underneath and cook slowly in the rendered beef fat until the onions caramelize and 'give up' (no more white visible).
5. Do not toast the bun; place the bun directly on the finished patty.
6. Remove the burger using the 'pinch and pull' technique (pinch the heel and pull the burger off), and serve with two pickles on the side (pickles are not placed on the burger).

The Chester

1. Salt the 3½-ounce ball of 75/25 ground chuck and smash and cook the patty on the flat top.
2. Butter and grill slices of white bread on the flat top in rendered butter to make a grilled cheese layer; keep this lower-temperature than the smash patty environment.
3. Once the patty is cooked, place it inside the grilled cheese (patty between cheese and toasted bread), use a melter or cover to melt the cheese, and finish quickly to avoid burning.
4. Keep the grilled cheese cooking environment separate from the high-temperature patty cooking to prevent overcooking the bread or patty.

crowdsource Community Insights

This chili comes together when you get a couple of basics right. Most people who browned and caramelized the meat (brown the beef and bacon before adding any water) got a deeper, more satisfying base; those who skipped that step said it fell flat. Soak the beans overnight so they cook properly and don’t turn out mealy. One more thing: people who tried kidney beans weren’t happy with the result, so most avoid them. Follow those three points and you’ll dodge the common traps folks ran into with this recipe.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 1/2 lb (227g) ground beef
• 4 cup water
• 2 slice bacon, cut into big pieces
• 1 1/2 cup kidney beans, rinsed
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 cup red salsa (or tomato)
• 3/4 cup celery
• 1 1/2 cup onion, large
• 4-5 clove garlic, coarsely cut
• 3-4 tbsp jalapeño pepper
• 1/4 cup cilantro stems, frozen
• Cheddar cheese, strong
• Cilantro
• Tortilla
• Iceberg lettuce

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Cut the bacon into big pieces.
2. Rinse the beans under cold water.
3. In a pot combine the ground beef, 4 cups water (start with cold water), the bacon pieces, the rinsed beans, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Prepare the vegetables and garnish: measure about 1/2 cup red salsa (or tomato), 3/4 cup celery, about 1 1/2 cups onion (or 1 large, ~10 ounces), 4–5 cloves garlic (cut very coarsely), about 3–4 tablespoons jalapeño, and about 1/4 cup frozen cilantro stems (cut while frozen).
6. After 1 1/2 hours add the salsa (or tomato), celery, onion, garlic, jalapeño, and cilantro stems to the pot.
7. Bring the pot to a boil again, then reduce to low heat and cook for another hour, adjusting time as needed until the beans are tender.
8. Optional/further notes: you can soak the beans overnight to shorten cooking, or cook the beans in a pressure cooker to go faster.
9. Serve the chili in tortillas or in iceberg lettuce leaves and top with strong cheddar cheese, minced onion, and a little cilantro if desired.

crowdsource Community Insights

This recipe comes together quickly, and people who made it noticed a few small things that actually mattered. The main trouble was overworking the patties, people who packed or squeezed the meat too hard ended up with dense burgers, so lightly pack each patty and avoid squeezing the air out. Also, people who put butter in the pan while cooking found it helped. If you want a firmer, crunchier bun instead of a steamy soft one, some cooks toasted their buns instead of steaming them and liked how that finished the sandwich.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• Ground beef, shaped into balls
• Potato bun
• Pickles, thinly sliced and minced
• Mayonnaise
• Honey
• Dijon mustard (or any mustard)
• Ketchup
• Smoked paprika
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Salt, to taste
• Fresh cracked black pepper, freshly cracked
• Lemon, squeezed (or pickle juice)
• Oil
• American cheese, sliced
• Cheddar cheese, sliced

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Form portions of ground beef into balls about the size of between a golf ball and a mandarin orange; wear gloves if desired and toss the balls between your hands to remove air bubbles, then place them on a sheet pan and refrigerate while you prep other ingredients.
2. Thinly slice some pickles for topping and mince the remaining pickles finely into a relish for the sauce.
3. In a bowl, combine the minced pickles, mayonnaise, honey, Dijon mustard, ketchup, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and freshly cracked black pepper; finish with a squeeze of lemon (pickle juice may be used instead if desired) and transfer the sauce to a squeeze bottle if you like.
4. Preheat cast iron pans.
5. Place the potato buns in the preheating pans to toast while the patties cook so the inside of the top bun and the top side of the bottom bun steam during cooking.
6. Prepare three slices of cheese per burger (triple stack) using American cheese and cheddar, sliced and ready.
7. Have salt and freshly cracked pepper at the ready for seasoning the patties.
8. Oil the bottom of the burger smasher and oil the cooking surface as needed so the patties do not stick.
9. Place a beef ball on the hot pan, then press it down firmly with the oiled smasher to make a thin patty; push around the edges of the smasher as you smash to create laced, crispy edges. Repeat for the remaining patties.
10. Immediately season each smashed patty with a bit of freshly cracked black pepper and a sprinkle of salt.
11. Scrape under each patty to collect the laced crispy bits, then flip the patties.
12. Place cheese on the patties right after flipping so it melts and holds the layers together.
13. When the cheese has melted and held the patties together, stack three patties on the toasted bottom bun, draining off excess oil carefully.
14. Finish each stacked burger with thin pickle slices, a swirl of the special sauce, a swirl of mustard, and a bit of classic ketchup.
15. Serve the assembled burgers immediately.

crowdsource Community Insights

Most people who made this found the same two things made the biggest difference. Start by cooking the onions, carrot and celery before you add the mince, people who browned the meat first often ended up with undercooked veg or a tough texture. Then plan to cook the ragù low and slow, about 3–6 hours if you can; the flavor and texture really come together. Also, season as it cooks instead of salting only at the end, so you don't get unpleasant surprises with salt at the table.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

We couldn't confidently pull the full ingredient list and instructions from this video yet — watch it above for the complete recipe.

crowdsource Community Insights

People who made this found the biggest win is the order: start by cooking the sofrito and vegetables in the fat, then add the ground beef. Those who added uncooked vegetables to already-browned meat often said the veg didn't cook through or the texture was off. Also, finishing by stirring in milk at the end caused problems for a lot of cooks, many suggest skipping milk, especially if you're lactose-intolerant, or at least not adding much of it. Doing the veg first and skipping milk tends to help the final result.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

Bolognese

• Pancetta, diced (or prosciutto, bacon)
• Olive oil
• Onion, diced
• Celery, diced
• Carrot, peeled and diced
• Ground beef
• Ground pork
• Garlic, roughly chopped
• Salt, to taste
• Fresh cracked pepper, freshly cracked
• 1 cup wine
• Canned tomatoes
• Beef stock, liquid (or chicken stock)
• Milk
• Bouquet-garni, tied bundle
• Parmesan cheese

Pasta

• Flour
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• Pappardelle, freshly rolled (or dry pasta)

book_ribbon Instructions

Bolognese

1. Preheat the oven (no temperature specified).
2. Slice the pancetta in half, cut into even sticks, then slice into even cubes.
3. Heat a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over the burner, add a splash of olive oil, then add the pancetta and cook until crispy and golden brown, allowing fat to render and stick to the bottom of the pot.
4. Remove the crispy pancetta to a bowl, leaving as much fat in the pot as possible.
5. Add ground beef to the hot pancetta fat, then add ground pork; increase heat to medium-high and break the meat apart while scraping the bottom of the pot to lift the browned bits.
6. When the meat is cooked through or nearly so, add the garlic and the diced carrots, diced celery, and diced onions.
7. Season the vegetables and meat with a generous pinch of salt and some fresh cracked pepper.
8. Keep over medium to medium-high heat and sweat the vegetables until the onions become a little translucent.
9. Prepare a bouquet garni (a tied bundle of herbs) and set it aside.
10. Measure out 1 cup of wine and pour it into the pot, scraping the bottom to deglaze and sweep up the browned bits; continue cooking until you can drag a spoon through the pot without liquid immediately closing the gap.
11. Open the can of tomatoes and add the tomatoes to the pot (stand back when adding).
12. Pour beef stock into the emptied tomato can to wash out remaining tomato, add that to the pot, and then add the rest of the beef stock.
13. Add the milk to the pot.
14. Return the reserved crispy pancetta to the pot.
15. Add the bouquet garni on top of the sauce.
16. Bring the sauce up to a gentle simmer, place the lid on with a small crack open, then transfer the pot to the oven and braise for 3-4 hours.
17. Check the sauce about once an hour while in the oven and give it a quick stir.

Fresh pasta and assembly

1. Make a well of flour on a cutting board large enough to hold the eggs.
2. Crack 2 whole eggs into the well, then add 4 egg yolks.
3. Whisk the yolks inside the well without breaking the flour barrier, then gradually pull in flour from the outside to incorporate until the mixture thickens.
4. Use a bench scraper to bring the dough together, then begin kneading using the heel of your hand to push down and folding the dough back over itself; continue kneading for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth.
5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and let it rest for 30-60 minutes.
6. Lightly flour the rested dough, cut it in half, and roll each half out with a bottle or similar until thin enough to pass through a pasta machine.
7. Feed the pasta sheets through the pasta machine, tightening and rolling progressively thinner until reaching setting Number 6.
8. Dust the sheets with flour, then cut the pasta by hand into pappardelle-width strips; lay pieces out floured to rest briefly.
9. Bring a pot of well-salted hot pasta water to a boil and add the fresh pasta; cook briefly until nearly done.
10. In a separate pan over medium heat, add some Bolognese and enough liquid so the pasta can finish cooking in the sauce.
11. Transfer the nearly cooked pasta to the pan with the Bolognese and toss to finish cooking and allow the pasta to absorb sauce flavor.
12. Serve the pasta with the meat and vegetables from the sauce and finish with a shower of parmesan cheese.

crowdsource Community Insights

This one makes a tasty burger, but people who made it ran into two practical choices. First, most found the griddle needs to be hot, about 450°F, so the patties get that quick crust. Second, smashing the burgers is what gives the texture people liked. The only real split was onions: some cooks smashed the meat down onto the onions (or smashed the onion on top of the patty) for more melded flavor, while others cooked the onions separately or put them beside the burgers so the patties don't steam. Both approaches worked for different reasons.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 1 lb (454g) ground beef, 80/20
• Onion, razor thin, mandolined
• Cooking oil
• Cooking spray
• Meat Church Gourmet Seasoned Salt, to taste (or Holy Cow seasoning, salt and pepper)
• 3 brioche buns
• 2 stick butter, melted
• Sharp cheddar cheese
• Mayonnaise (or mustard, ketchup)

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Preheat the Loco Griddle to 350 degrees.
2. Mandoline-slice the onions very thin (razor thin).
3. Put a little cooking oil on the griddle and lay the sliced onions on the griddle.
4. Form the 1 pound tube of 80/20 ground beef into balls.
5. Place the beef balls on the griddle on top of the onions, spray the burger smasher with cooking spray, and immediately smash each ball into a thin patty.
6. Season the top of each smashed patty with Meat Church Gourmet Seasoned Salt.
7. Cook the patties until ready to flip; when ready, flip the patties and place sharp cheddar cheese over each patty, allowing the cheese to melt.
8. While flipping the patties, brush or spread melted butter on the brioche buns and griddle the cut sides until toasted.
9. Pull the burgers and buns from the griddle and let the burgers cool briefly.
10. Spread mayonnaise on the buns, assemble the burgers with the melted cheese and griddled onions, and serve.

crowdsource Community Insights

This sauce comes together well if you handle the start right. People who browned the vegetables before adding the meat avoided a dry finish, while the ones who added meat too early often said the sauce came out drier than they'd hoped. People who let the olive oil smoke ran into trouble, so watch the heat at the pan edge rather than letting it go up in smoke. And a heads-up about bacon: people who added it generally felt it didn’t belong with this version, so treat bacon as a change, not a harmless extra.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 2 sprig rosemary, chopped
• 100g smoked bacon, sliced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1kg minced beef (or lentils)
• 1kg minced pork (or lentils)
• 2 onion, cut to same size as mince
• 4 carrot, cut to same size as mince (or squash, zucchini, courgette)
• 4 stick celery
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 4 tin plum tomatoes

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Strip the leaves from 2 sprigs rosemary and chop them.
2. Slice 100 grams smoked bacon.
3. Heat a pan over very high heat, add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, then add the chopped rosemary and sliced smoked bacon.
4. Add 1 kilogram minced beef and 1 kilogram minced pork to the pan, break the meat up and stir.
5. Keep stirring the meat for about 10 minutes until liquid from the meat evaporates and the mince becomes lightly golden and starts to fry; watch so it does not burn.
6. Prepare vegetables: cut 4 carrots and 2 onions to the same size as the mince; have 4 sticks of celery ready.
7. Stir the carrots, onions, and celery into the browned mince.
8. Continue stirring the mixture every minute for the next 10 minutes.
9. Stir in 2 tablespoons tomato puree.
10. Add 4 tins of plum tomatoes and then fill those empty tins with water and add that water to the pan; stir to combine.
11. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook for about one and a half hours/two hours until the sauce has reduced and the plum tomatoes have broken up.
12. Let the ragu cool to room temperature, portion into freezer bags, squeeze the air out, label, and place bags on the freezer shelf until solid.
13. To reheat from frozen: run the bag under the tap to free the contents, then plop the ragu into a pan and heat until hot.

grocery Ingredients

• 2 tsp cumin seed, toasted and ground
• 1 tsp coriander seed, toasted and ground
• Mexican oregano, lightly broken (or Italian oregano)
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• Olive oil
• Onion
• Salt, to taste
• Garlic, minced
• Red bell pepper, diced
• Jalapeño, seeds removed and diced
• Tomato paste (or tomato sauce)
• Ground beef (or ground turkey, ground chicken, a few different types of beans)
• Red kidney beans
• Fire-roasted tomatoes
• Beef stock (or chicken stock, beer)
• Vegetable stock
• White wine
• Sour cream
• Cheddar cheese, shredded
• Fresh cilantro
• Scallions
• Tortilla chips
• Lime

book_ribbon Instructions

Make chili powder

1. Heat a dry skillet until hot, then lower to medium.
2. Add 2 teaspoons cumin seed and toast, stirring, until slightly darker and very aromatic; remove and let cool to room temperature.
3. Toast 1 teaspoon coriander seed in the same pan until aromatic and slightly caramelized; remove and let cool.
4. Grind the cooled toasted cumin and coriander in a mortar and pestle or in a clean, dry spice/coffee grinder until finely ground.
5. Break up the Mexican oregano leaves (skip this step if using Italian oregano) and add to the ground seeds.
6. Whisk in 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, a little less than 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper to finish the chili powder blend.

Cook chili

1. Preheat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium.
2. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to barely cover the bottom of the pot.
3. Add onion and salt and sweat, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes until softened.
4. Add minced garlic and cook about 1 minute until aromatic, being careful not to burn.
5. Add diced red bell pepper and the seeded, diced jalapeño and cook until the peppers are slightly tender, glossy, and heated through.
6. Add the homemade chili powder to the hot aromatics so the spices can bloom; cook briefly and stir to avoid burning. If there is caramelization on the bottom of the pan, deglaze with a little vegetable stock or white wine.
7. Add tomato paste and brown it, cooking until it deepens in color.
8. Add the ground beef and break it up; brown thoroughly to develop caramelization and flavor before adding any water or stock.
9. Add red kidney beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, and beef stock; give a gentle mix and bring to a low boil.
10. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
11. Taste and adjust for salt and heat before serving.
12. Plate and serve garnished with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, fresh cilantro, scallions, tortilla chips, and fresh lime wedges for squeezing.