Jeff LOVES this meal and says he could eat it every fast Sunday after 24 hours of eating nothing. Jeff’s family used to have hamburger gravy pretty often when they were growing up. And they usually used 1 lb. of beef for their 8+ member family. But we like it very beefy and Jeff loves the leftovers, so we usually do 2 lbs. of beef and use a 5 lb. bag of potatoes to make mashed potatoes. It’s also very easy if you have pot roast gravy in your freezer, which we usually do. I just microwave it for several minutes to thaw before adding it to the beef.
If you’re making it gluten free, just make sure that your gravy is gluten free. I usually make gravy from pot roast broth or beef broth and thicken it with cornstarch.
Easy and hearty–serve with mashed potatoes and corn.
Ingredients
2 lb. Ground Beef
Salt and Pepper to taste
1-2 jars Beef Gravy (like this) or 1 container thawed homemade pot roast gravy from freezer (size can vary based on how much liquid you want–we often freeze a Cool Whip container full)
(Serve with mashed potatoes and corn)
Directions
In a large deep skillet, brown the beef and add salt and pepper to taste. Add gravy and warm through. Serve with mashed potatoes and corn.
When the pandemic hit and people couldn’t go to Ikea for their Swedish meatball fix, Ikea generously posted their recipe for everyone. Granted, it’s not 100% the same, and the sauce is secret–so they posted a similar sauce. But it’s great. I generally ended up doubling the sauce and making a few other slight adjustments, so here’s the final recipe. Of course you should serve with lingonberries if you can find any (it’s hard unless you buy some at Ikea), but I have served it with cranberry sauce or I think even raspberry jam once.
Every time I make it, I forget the stipulation that you should refrigerate it for 2 hours. I usually just refrigerate it like 20 minutes to an hour. I don’t mind if my meatballs are a little flatter, because they hold together well enough. Last time I made it, I doubled the meatball recipe, which almost filled up a whole cookie sheet. And I made 1 1/2 times the sauce in the recipe below, and it was a good amount of sauce. If I’d doubled the sauce, it would’ve been tons. Also, I’m not sure it needs so much cream. I think next time I might use half cream, half milk. Haha, or just use all half and half. And frankly, one time I made it dairy free with coconut and almond milk, and Jeff didn’t notice.
If you’re making this gluten free, I did try it once using crushed tortilla chips instead of breadcrumbs. Haha, I’ll never do that again. It ended up tasting like oily chips. So you could use gluten free breadcrumbs or ground up Rice Chex, cornstarch instead of flour, and gluten free soy sauce, which is what I did last time (it’s the one in the picture)–and it was delicious.
In a large bowl, combine beef and pork, and break up any lumps with your hands. Add onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, and egg, then mix well. Add milk and season well with salt and pepper. Shape mixture into small balls, and place on a cookie sheet in the fridge for 2 hours (this will help them hold their shape while cooking). In a frying pan, heat oil on medium heat, then add meatballs and brown on all sides. When browned, add back to the cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
For cream sauce: Melt butter and whisk in flour or cornstarch, stirring for 2 minutes. Add stock and continue to stir. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer, allowing sauce to thicken. Add meatballs (not with the grease from the pan) and stir. Serve over mashed potatoes with lingonberry (or other berry) sauce.
My sister-in-law Stephanie makes a great chili, and she shared the recipe with us. I love hominy and bell peppers, so we add those in. We’ve also made this with a pound of cubed, cooked pork chops for an extra meaty chili–haha, we called it “Meaty Meat Meat Chili”. You can make this in a pot or let it simmer in the crock pot.
It’s got a fair amount of spice, but you can add even more chili powder to up the heat.
Ingredients
1 lb. lean Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
1 lb. Sausage
1 lb. Pork Chops, cubed (optional)
1 Onion, diced
2-3 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 heaping Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Tbsp. Paprika
2 Tbsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. dried Oregano
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
2 tsp. Garlic Powder (or fresh garlic)
2 c. Beef Broth
1 (15 oz.) can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 can Rotel
2 Bell Peppers
1 can Kidney Beans, drained
1 large can (25 oz.) Hominy, drained
Directions
Cook the meat, then add the onion (and fresh garlic if using). Add the spices (chili powder to garlic powder) and stir. Then add remaining ingredients and heat through.
We often make stroganoff when my Dad visits because he enjoys it so much. It’s a good use of ground beef, but you can also use nicer beef like sirloin (just cube and brown it before adding the ingredients for the gravy). We’ve even made this with cubed, leftover prime rib from Christmas Eve if we bought too big of a roast (haha, I know leftover prime rib seems impossible).
If you’re making this gluten free, make sure to use gluten free cream of mushroom soup (the best option is from Walmart) and gluten free noodles.
Brown the ground beef, adding onion and garlic to cook until soft. Sprinkle with paprika, salt, and pepper. Add soup and milk. Add sour cream at last minute to heat through. Serve on noodles (or rice or potatoes)–FYI, sometimes it makes a lot and you’ll need more than one package of pasta.
I love this sauce, and it has a special place in my heart. I feel that this sauce was a springboard to my love of cooking and learning how to taste and adjust flavors while cooking. When I was 14 and Mom would let me try to make the sauce on my own, I felt so grown up. My mom was patient and helped me learn how to taste and adjust, adding more sugar if the sauce was acidic or more basil if it needed more seasoning. She perfected this spaghetti sauce. It’s a little sweet, and it’s got so much more flavor than most pasta sauces. Even Olive Garden is disappointing after we’ve had such a nice sauce. Of course like most recipes that use dried spices, the flavor gets stronger as it sits.
We use this spaghetti sauce for so many Italian dishes, like your standard spaghetti, lasagna, and manicotti. We just leave out the Italian sausage pieces for the lasagna and manicotti. Growing up, Mom would always use a jar of homemade, home-jarred pureed tomatoes and add some tomato paste to thicken it. But nowadays we usually make it with a jar of commercial pasta sauce and add extra stuff, but you can make it using a jar of unflavored tomato sauce also. So you might as well get the cheap sauce if you’re going to be doctoring it up anyway.
And luckily this one is naturally gluten free, as long as you choose a gluten free sauce (which most are).
Flavorful and great to use in several Italian dishes.
Ingredients
1 lb. extra lean Hamburger
1 Onion, minced
2 heaping tsp. Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. Sweet Basil Leaf
1 qt. homemade Tomato Sauce, 32 oz. can crushed tomatoes, or jar of pasta sauce
1 (6 oz.) can Tomato Paste (optional, to make thicker)
2-2 ½ tsp. Salt (to taste)
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1-2 pkg. Mild Italian Sausage (optional), sliced
Directions
Brown hamburger and add onion and garlic to cook. Add a little salt and pepper, then mix in Italian seasoning and basil. Add sauce, tomato paste, salt, and sugar. Check for flavor and adjust seasonings as needed.
For Italian sausage, slice each sausage in about 5 pieces and boil in a separate pot for 5 minutes. Drain and add to sauce.
Why do they call them porcupine meatballs? I think it’s because the rice makes it like little porcupine quills. In any case, on a fall evening, I love when the house is full of the warm smells of porcupine meatballs, hot blueberry muffins, and green beans. This is also a great pantry meal that you can make without needing any fresh or refrigerated ingredients. It’s not a hard recipe, but it does take time to make, with rolling the meatballs and then needing time to simmer. Also, FYI, you can include ground turkey or chicken for one pound of the meat, but don’t do the entire 2 lb. as poultry. I’ve tried that before, and the meatballs just fall apart. Maybe it needs the higher fat content to hold together better or something.
If you’re making this gluten free, you’ll need to make the replacement for the canned tomato soup (since most condensed soups have wheat in them).
Perfect for fall evenings, especially with blueberry muffins.
Ingredients
Sauce
2 small cans Tomato Soup
For gluten free, use:
16 oz. Tomato Sauce
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1 tsp. Salt
2 cans Water (or about 22 oz. water)
2 Whole Cloves
¼ tsp. Chili Powder
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
¼ c. Minute Rice
Meatballs
2 lbs. Hamburger
1 c. Minute Rice
1 Egg
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. Dried Minced Onion
1 1/8 tsp. Salt
Pepper to taste
Directions
In a heavy pan, mix the sauce ingredients. Then in a large bowl, mix all the meatball ingredients with your hands. Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and drop into the sauce. Simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard cloves before serving if you can find them.
I think in the strictest sense, cowboy surprise basically meant whatever the cowboy had ended up in the pot. But we’ve standardized it a little more (although not with terribly exact measurements), occasionally adding some extra stuff from our fridge like leftover bell peppers or vegetables. It’s kind of like a fancy Hamburger Helper, haha. But it’s pretty cheap and makes lots of good leftovers.
If you’re making it gluten free, I find that gluten free rotini holds up the best. But any gluten free pasta does tend to fall apart eventually, especially with stirring or after microwaving as a leftover. And condensed tomato soup does have flour, so make sure to use the substitute.
Cook the pasta and drain. To save a pan, you can cook the rest in that same pan, then add back the macaroni. Cook hamburger and onion, then combine remaining ingredients in pot on stove and heat. Make sure it’s sweet enough. Add cheese at end. For gluten free, make sure to adjust flavors as much as possible before adding pasta because it will fall apart more easily with stirring.
Baked first then simmered in a sauce, these meatballs are a go-to every New Year’s Eve. They’re not the roundest meatballs, but you don’t notice once they’re covered in thick sauce. FYI, it does take a lot of ketchup, so make sure you buy a big enough container. One time, we also accidentally left the meatballs in the oven a little long and were afraid that they were too dark and dry to eat. But once they got in the sauce, you couldn’t even tell.
If you’re making this gluten free, just make sure to use gluten free oats. You can potentially pulse the rolled oats a few times in the blender to make them quick oats, but I didn’t bother last time, and the meatballs turned out fine.
For meatballs, combine ingredients and drop by spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. Bake meatballs at 350° for 30 minutes. For sauce, simply mix all ingredients in a pot. Add meatballs to sauce and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mitchell Meals 