Cooking Ground Beef in a Crockpot

Suntydt
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February 12, 20110 found this helpful

By all means, yes. Put raw hamburger in a crock with some water and let it go. Then you can just drain it and add sauce and beans for chili. Or just add some brown sugar and mustard with some ketchup for sloppy Joes. OR... you can take it out of the pot and drain it for some other recipe like tacos or SOS.

Slow cookers are a great way to do chicken for chicken salad or Fajitas.

Cindy

February 13, 20110 found this helpful

Hi Alan. I cook ground beef in the crock pot a lot! The only thing I wouldn't recommend ground beef in the crock pot for is a dish that needs the beef to stand alone and look skillet browned. (It can look a little gray from the crock pot if not smothered in sauce or gravy or broth, but it does get cooked fully, regardless.)

I often cook up 3 - 5 pounds of raw ground beef in the crock pot with a small amount (just enough to cover) of beef broth. When fully cooked I strain it and divide it into 1 pound portions to freeze for later menus like spaghetti, Sloppy Joes, skillet meals, soups, etc. It's a great time saver and there is no loss of flavor.

If the grayish color bothers you (and you don't mind washing an extra skillet :-) lightly brown the raw ground beef on the stove top before tossing it into the crock pot and all will be well. Happy Eats!