Beef, it’s what’s for dinner! Beef is a type of protein that people may or may not include in their diets, in many cases due to health reasons. No problem if you eat no or very little beef – you can skip this entry (or read it and still gain lots of tips!) We choose to focus on primarily eating grass fed beef and/or locally raised beef. If you are not able to access local sources of this type of beef, you can order through online companies, such as ButcherBox. They provide grass-fed, grass-finished beef.
There are many different cuts of beef as with chicken, but I tend to feel they are not as interchangeable. With beef, you will have some cuts that are more likely to require marinating to help tenderize them, they may lend themselves better to longer lower temperature cooking to create tender meat, while others can be prepared quickly over higher heat and have delicious flavor! Beef can also be cooked to a range of ‘doneness’ — rare, medium-rare, well done — these variations are typically something that is a personal preference. We won’t go in depth into these differences here, but I encourage you to read up and pay attention when recipes refer to different cuts. Feel free to ask (or google) what substitutions may be available.
Following a similar thought process to how I approach chicken, you can start your week by preparing a beef roast. This can be roasted with salt, pepper, and perhaps some rosemary. Serve with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans or salad… A delicious complete Sunday meal. Before storing your meat, consider how you will be using your leftovers and cut it up in preparation of that.
You can plan to have your leftover roast beef for hot roast beef sandwiches (slice the meat), as fajitas or tacos (slice the meat into thin stripes), and cooked in gravy and served over pasta (cut the meat into larger dice). You can also use the meat for sandwiches for lunch (sliced).
If you have a recipe that isn’t a roast beef, but a larger cut, you may use your crock pot or instant pot to cook it. This is often how meat is prepared for a recipe like a pot roast or shredded beef. These types or recipes are often well flavored in their original cooking, so it may seem trickier to use them in different ways for leftovers. If you have a roast type, you can follow the suggestions above – the meat may have some residual flavors, but it will still work! You can also freeze the leftovers for future use if you don’t want to repurpose them. I recommend freezing items in “dinner size” containers — this may be single serving in case family members are eating at different times and need something individual or multiple servings. If you have shredded beef, it can be used in various Mexican style recipes such as tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, quesadillas, and nachos. You can mix it with a tomato based sauce for Italian style recipes served with pasta. You can also serve shredded beef on a salad or make a grilled sandwich (panini). Depending on the flavors, you can add some additional sauce (such as BBQ) to adjust the flavor.
You may be preparing a steak. Steak is a good option for a quicker dinner — it can be grilled, pan fried, or baked. Whichever way you prepare, remember to make some extra for leftovers later in the week! Leftovers can be used for sandwiches, on salads, or fajitas. Depending on the cut of steak you will be using, you may need to marinate the steak, while other cuts can be used “as is”. Be sure to check as this can make a difference in planning and taste!
Then of course we also have ground beef! Ground beef is hugely versatile… I’m sure you have many ways you love to prepare it. You can make burgers (consider making double and freezing them uncooked for future use), you can sauté meat to be used for tacos, pasta sauce, mixed with vegetables, for sloppy Joe’s, served over salads…. (prepare extra, use simple seasoning like salt, pepper, and garlic powder for more versatile use — you can freeze the cooked meat in smaller servings for future use).
Don’t be afraid to get creative in using your leftover beef — you can use it to top a pizza, you can add it to a soup or stew, or even as a fancy finger food style picnic dinner! One thing to keep in mind when using leftover beef cuts is that depending on how you prepare them and the type of meat, be careful not to overcook them or they may be tougher and not as palatable.
I hope this was helpful! What questions do you have or challenges you face when using beef in your diet? I can’t wait to hear what beef recipes are your favorite and on rotation in your meals. Happy cooking!
xoxo, Gretchen