Make It Monday Week 8: Saute Meat and Potatoes for a Quick Flavor-Infused Dinner

If you have ground beef and potatoes, you’re in luck.

You’ll have the tastiest and most filling home cooked dinner on the block. It may not look like a gourmet meal, but the flavor knocked the socks off my picky family. And all you need is beef, potatoes and salt. Seriously. (Note: Definitely NOT the most beautiful dish in the world, but it’s the most delicious!)

Oh, and if you have hungry teens, like I do, this is a real stick-to-your-ribs kinda meal.

I found this recipe on one of the online recipe sites (unsure which one) and had to make it a few times before getting it right. I wanted to share this with you because it’s not only one of the easiest recipes in the world, it tastes out of this world, but there are some tricks to making the dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (I found 85% lean works best with no draining necessary)
• 3 medium-sized potatoes (I used Russet) to create 2-3 cups diced potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt (or less depending on preference)

Directions:

It’s simple — just dice potatoes, saute them together with meat and add salt. But there are some nuances (in italics) to the recipe that I wanted to add:

• Wash and peel potatoes, then rewash.
• Dice potatoes on a cutting board. Make large-ish chunks. (DO NOT put the potatoes in the food processor, don’t over dice, don’t shred. Doing that will create excess starch and will muck up the recipe–I know from experience 🙂
• Heat a large non-stick frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil. (A 12-inch or larger pan works best.)
• Fry potato chunks for about 10 minutes on medium high heat until they start browning. Stir occasionally. (Frequent stirring delays the browning process.)
• Keep potatoes in the pan and add raw beef. (You MUST cook potatoes and beef together for that certain flavoring.)
• Toss mixture on medium high heat to thoroughly brown meat until it is not pink. (If you think it’s browned, keep browning for a few more minutes–you need to make sure there’s no more pink left.)
• Once the meat is completely browned, you can drain the mixture. (Draining does dry out the mixture a bit, so I opt not to drain it.) 
• Drained or not drained, add up to a teaspoon of table salt into the pan. Mix until the salt is thoroughly combined with meat and potatoes. (Don’t over salt, so you may need to start with 1/2 teaspoon and work up from there.)
• Serve hot with a lovely green vegetable (I like spinach).

Enjoy!

p.s. There have been comments about adding vegetables and seasonings into this recipe. I have read that random additions throw off the pure taste of the potatoes, beef and salt. I haven’t tried it with other seasonings, and probably won’t because we love the taste as is. But if you do, let us know how it goes!!

~Marilyn, TFF

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