How to Make Your Ground Beef Leaner
Tacos, Spaghetti, Sloppy Joes, chili, casseroles, soups – the ground beef recipe list really never ends. Ground beef is easy, quick and a lot of times you don’t even need a recipe. But, I bet I can surprise you with some little known facts about ground beef.
Did you know that 85% ground beef has fewer than 200 calories per serving? AND, 95% lean ground beef has fewer than 140 calories per serving.
When I first started learning more about nutritional benefits of beef I was kind of surprised by that. Lean beef is pretty low in calories – even ground beef. It was a welcomed surprise.
What if I told you that there was a creative way to buy that 80% ground beef – which is often more available at the grocery store and less expensive – and make it LEANER?
You can just rinse the fat off your ground beef to make it leaner.
WHAT? You read that right, and that was exactly my reaction. Keep reading.
Side Note #1: When it comes to choosing ground beef, you have a lot of options at the grocery store. There’s ground beef with 80/20 or 90/10 or any number of variations on the package. Let’s make it simple – the higher the percentage of lean beef means the lower fat content. For example, 95% lean ground beef has less total and saturated fat than 85% lean ground beef.
Side Note #2: There is also a price difference for leaner ground beef. 95% lean ground beef can cost about $1 more per pound than its 85% lean counterpart. For obvious reasons, ground beef that is 73 – 85% lean is less expensive than leaner options, but you don’t have to sacrifice your pocketbook to get lean, healthy ground beef! Woo Hoo!
There’s a simple and, in my opinion, quite profound way to reduce the fat content in ground beef by 50 percent! Just rinse the fat off. The other awesome thing – rinsing and draining ground beef washes away the fat without decreasing the vitamins and minerals or messing up the flavor.
Here are the steps:
- Brown ground beef in skillet over medium heat until beef is fully cooked.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove beef crumbles onto a plate lined with paper towels. Let sit one minute; blot top of beef with more paper towels.
- Place beef in a colander over a large bowl. Pour very hot water (not boiling) over beef to rinse fat. Drain for five minutes.
This easy tips will keep your ground beef extra lean, with fewer calories and awesome great taste! Healthy people eat beef!
