do your future self a favor try our make ahead ground beef
This post may contain paid links. If you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Do you like ground beef recipes, but dread the extra browning step? Do your future self a favor and try our make ahead ground beef. One batch of our freezer browned ground beef makes enough pre-cooked hamburger for up to four recipes!
Imagine how quick it would to be to throw together your favorite casseroles and soups if you could skip the “brown the ground beef”…
Our Crock Pot Make Ahead Ground Beef recipe lets you toss raw ingredients into your slow cooker and then you let the slow cooker do the work! Once it is done, you can divide up the browned ground beef and put into bags for the freezer or refrigerator for that week’s (or month’s) recipes.
Save Time with Make Ahead Ground Beef
Ground Beef Recipes for Quick and Easy Dinners
The other great thing about this recipe is it makes throwing together tacos, spaghetti or loose meat sandwiches a super easy way to get dinner on the table in minutes. Here are some ideas for dinner:
- Crock Pot Beefy Tex Mex Tacos
- Stove Top Loose Meat Cheeseburgers
- Crock Pot Hamburger Soup
- Hamburger Casserole (Oven Recipe)
- Crock Pot Sloppy Joe Cheeseburgers
- Easy Crock Pot Taco Soup
We also LOVE this recipe as an ingredient in two of our recipe collections
- Must Have Recipes: The Ground Beef Collection Volume 1
- Must Have Recipes: The Casserole Crock Pot Collection Volume 1
NEW OPTION: Build Your Own Custom Cookbook
Recipe Binderย Printable of Crock Pot Make Ahead Ground Beef in Large Print:
Grab thisย large print fully designed printableย of THIS RECIPE for your recipe binder. Pay what you want. (suggested amount $1.50)
What Home Cooks are Saying About Make Ahead Ground Beef
Amanda says: “I use this all the time! Fantastic for meal prep. I suggest using a crock pot liner to help with clean up.”
Shannon M. says: “We use this a lot to make freezer breakfast burritos; they’re YUMMY!!”
Kathy says: “Thanks for the make ahead ground beef! I’ve always wondered if this was possible! I hate to have to fry up hamburger before every crock pot recipe!”
LOVE THIS SITE?
If Recipes That Crock has helped you and you would like to give us a small tip of gratitude, here is our tip jar.
Your financial support is never expected but always appreciated! Folks like you help us keep doing what we do!
Crock Pot Make Ahead Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Lean Ground Beef
- 1.5 cup Onion Chopped
- 4 Cloves Garlic minced
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 10.5 oz Can Beef Consomme
Instructions
- Place 4 lbs Lean Ground Beef in a 6-quart slow cooker and top with 1.5 cup Onion (chopped), 4 Cloves Garlic (minced), Salt and Pepper to Taste and 10.5 oz Can Beef Consomme.
- Cook for 2 hours on low and then chop to crumble.
- Cook for 2-3 more hours until meat is fully cooked.
- Drain and sprinkle on cookie sheets to cool.
- Divide into four freezer bags and push all air out before freezing.
Video
Notes
- We loved using ourย 6 Qt Crock Potย for this recipe as it gave us enough room for everything.
- We also used ourย Chopstir Nylon Chopperย halfway through to break up the beef very easily.
- At the end, we sprinkled our beef out on a coupleย Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker’s Half Sheetsย to cool.
- If you don’t like clean up with the crock pot, you can also consider usingย this slow cookerย with a non-stick surface OR the very popularย Slow Cooker Liners
- All slow cookers cook differently, so cooking times are always a basic guideline. Recipes shouldย always be tested first in your own slow cooker and time adjusted as needed.
Nutrition
Need Dinner Ideas?
Our 10 Must Have Ground Beef Recipes are a great way to use Make Ahead Ground Beef to make dinner a snap! We now have this tried and true recipe Ground Beef Collection available in an all in one digital download!
Additional Ways to Make Ground Beef Ahead of Time
If you love the idea of making ground beef up ahead of time, you might be interested in these recipes:
- Make Ahead Ground Beef – Electric Pressure Cooker/ Instant Pot
- Make Ahead Taco Meat- Electric Pressure Cooker/ Instant Pot
- Crockpot Taco Chili - February 22, 2026
- Easiest Crockpot Chicken Tacos Ever - February 21, 2026
- Crockpot Cornbread Chili: The Ultimate Easy Comfort Food Dinner - February 21, 2026
We love hearing from you, it totally makes our day! Please remember, our comment section is much like our dinner table... You dont have to like everything we serve up, but you do have to use your manners.
Note: If you cannot find the comment form on this post, comments are closed. Unfortunately due to the amount of spam we receive, we have to close comments after an initial commenting period. However, if you have any questions or feedback, you can always email us at Cris@RecipesThatCrock.com. Psst... If you want to send us a photo of a dish you created from the site, we would love to see it any maybe even feature it on Instagram!
One Comment