This Classic Hamburger Stew will transport you right back to the dinner table of your childhood and be a simple go-to dinner the whole family will love!
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I have to hand it to my mom. She has always had a slew of the most simple and relatively cost-efficient meals up her sleeve. These served her so well for so many years!
They weren't fancy or even slightly exotic. But they were beyond comforting and still to this day, when she prepares these recipes (often for my girls) I can't help but eat some myself because they taste like my childhood.
So when I think of stew, I typically think of fall-apart-tender chunks of beefy stew meat in a savory gravy with veggies and served over potatoes or polenta (like this one!). Now don't get me wrong, I do love that type of stew. But there's something to be said for this much simpler and dare-I-say slightly more "low-brow" hamburger stew.
You won't find any special veggies outside of the simple peas or corn that are currently inhabiting your freezer. You also won't find any root vegetables, in fact we serve this over elbow macaroni to really up the kid-friendly factor. And we use ground beef, because ain't nobody got time for a lengthy cooking process.
The idea is to be able to source all the ingredients in your pantry, fridge or freezer and throw them into a pan into a quick savory meal that will comfort your family on the chilliest of nights. And though it's nothing overly fancy or particularly special, this Classic Hamburger Stew will transport you back to the dinner table of your childhood and provide any easy go-to meal for those busy nights that you don't want to be bothered putting in any extra effort.
Classic Hamburger Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1-1 ½ pound ground beef we prefer 80/20 so that we don't have to add oil to the pan
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning to taste
- ½ cup to 1 cup water depending on how much gravy you want + some for the slurry
- 2 Tablespoons flour or more if your slurry doesn't thicken it enough for you
- 1 cup Frozen corn or peas
- 2 cups Elbow macaroni cooked as per package directions
Instructions
- Saute hamburger meat over medium high heat until browned, breaking it up with the spoon, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add onions to the pan and saute until soft about 5 more minutes.
- season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste and add water and corn to the pan.
- Simmer stirring often for 10-15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine flour with a couple tablespoons of cold water to create a slurry.
- Mix this into the beef mixture and stir, the sauce will thicken.
- Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.
- Serve over elbow macaroni and enjoy!
Notes
Helpful tools:
Another recipe featuring hamburger meat that I love is:
I also love this recipe featuring hamburger meat:
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Melissa Griffiths says
Jessy says