Cheap and Easy Beef Recipes You Can Make for Dinner

Beef comes in so many forms — ground, roast, shank, steak, and so on — and is an ingredient that many have in our freezers a lot of the time. But finding inspiration for how to prepare it can be tough. With that in mind, we scoured the internet for reader-loved beef-centric recipes that can help you put dinner on the table. From stews and stroganoffs to chilis, chuck roasts, and — of course — meatloaf, here are some beef meals that you're destined to come back to again and again. 

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Looking for a pot roast alternative to Sunday dinner? When it comes to stewing beef, there's no need to spend lots of money on pricier cuts. Using a moderately priced cut of meat— such as the chuck roast used in this recipe — yields a flavorful and tender beef stew when cooked low and slow. 

Recipe: Serious Eats

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Forgo the short ribs and use shank. The latter is similar but costs less and generally comes with the bone in. Separate the bone for a quick and easy recipe like the one below, which packs in additional flavor with brown sugar, Hungarian paprika, garlic powder, thyme, and more. You can use the bone later to make a hearty homemade beef stock.

Recipe: Sunny Anderson

Inexpensive vegetables bring down the overall cost of this dish, which includes onion, mushrooms, and plenty of herbs. Use leftover wine — even from various bottles — to avoid one of the bigger expenses in the recipe.

Recipe: Serious Eats

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This recipe combines taco flavor — via a homemade seasoning mix using chili powder, cumin, garlic, and paprika — with a simple meatloaf recipe. The spices give the dish a robust Tex-Mex flavor, while jarred salsa makes an easy sauce. Serve it with your preferred taco toppings like sour cream, avocado, and lime.

Recipe: The Real Simple Good Life

Many meatloaf recipes use a ketchup-based glaze, but you can amp up the flavor using bottled steak sauce. By mixing it into the ground beef and brushing it on top as it bakes, you're sure to get a robustly flavored loaf. 

Recipe: Dessert Now Dinner Later

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This stick-to-the-ribs dinner is at least half cheap and healthy vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Ingredients such as fresh seasonings and herbs creates complex flavors without relying on expensive store-bought sauce.

Recipe: Food.

Flap steak — which is sourced from a bottom sirloin butt cut — is a thin and cheap cut of beef. It can be tough, though. Cooking it medium rare and cutting against the grain helps achieve a tenderness ideal for topping salads. If you can't find flap steak, skirt or flank steak can be substituted in this recipe. 

Recipe: Shockingly Delicious

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Most authentic beef chili recipes call for chunks of beef that can add considerable cost. This highly rated recipe, however, uses ground beef, which fits any budget.

Recipe: Food.

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This comfort-food casserole recipe includes ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and French onion dip mixed with curly egg noodles. A fried onion topping gives it crunch and an extra pop of flavor.

Recipe: Life in the Lofthouse

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When combined with other cheap fillings, such as beans and spices many already likely have on hand, ground beef goes a long way in this Tex-Mex staple. Consider making a large batch and freezing some for another meal.

Recipe: The Pioneer Woman

This classic layered casserole combines ground beef with crisp vegetables and fluffy mashed potatoes. Herbs and other ingredients help develop a flavor complexity that makes for a hearty meal.

Recipe: Serious Eats

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Southwestern flavors lend themselves to all kinds of meals, including meatloaf. Crushed bread crumbs act as filler in this recipe, while a bottle of taco sauce adds heat along with jalapeños. 

Recipe: My Recipes

Black beans add low-cost nutritional bulk to this recipe with cubed beef and a variety of hot and smoky chili powders, onion, and garlic. The simmering sauce contains beer, tomatoes, and chicken stock, with  squeeze of lime to finish things off. The crowning jewel of this recipe, according to its many fans, is a dollop of cumin cream and avocado relish.

Recipe: Bobby Flay

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This iconic Chinese takeout dish is easy to create at home  for less money. Making it from scratch also allows those with dietary restrictions to customize the amount of salt and spices. 

Recipe: Tasty

For the culinarily adventurous, beef tongue is inexpensive and authentic as can be in Mexican cooking. These tacos, which include vegetables and peppers and use corn tortillas, are flavorful and tender in texture.

Recipe: Allrecipes

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Even traditional beef meatballs include cheap ingredients such as eggs, veggies, and bread, making them an affordable choice. This classic family dinner is especially low-cost because half the plate is filled with inexpensive pasta.

Recipe: Natasha's Kitchen

Mixing marinated beef with veggies is a smart and nutritious way to maximize portions from one piece of meat — and it can feel as indulgent as an entire steak. This recipe maximizes flavor with unexpected spices like nutmeg, green cardamom, and allspice. 

Recipe: The Mediterranean Dish

Skirt steak is a less expensive cut of beef, and it can be paired with an also-inexpensive flavorful homemade sauce such as chimichurri that uses healthy ingredients such as garlic and herbs. This Argentinian-inspired recipe gets great reviews from those who have made it. 

Recipe: Food & Wine

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This simple beef stroganoff is inspired by a similar dish made on Viking Cruises. A popular choice for family dinners, this stroganoff is made with fresh ingredients like stewing beef, scallions, mushrooms, and white wine. 

Recipe: Food Fun & Faraway Places

The beef marinade in this recipe is full of umami-packed ingredients like oyster sauce and fish sauce, making the beef taste even beefier. Tenderloin is great, but flank steak or skirt steak are less-expensive substitutes, and all of the fresh herbs and vegetables are a great foil to the rich meat.

Recipe: Half-Baked Harvest

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This recipe features ground beef and hash brown potatoes seasoned with a Moroccan-inspired spice blend. Add a homemade pie crust for a dinner your family will demand again and again.

Recipe: Scotch & Scones

Talk about scrumptious and comforting — this biscuit bake combines the warmth and richness of biscuits and gravy while sticking to lean beef and veggies to keep things healthy and cheap.

Recipe: BHG

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There's not a meal more comforting than meatloaf and mashed potatoes. This recipe uses bottled barbecue sauce to add flavor and, as the glaze on top, it cuts down on the ingredients you need to prep, too.

Recipe: Jo Cooks

Take a (virtual) trip to Africa with this stovetop beef recipe that's gluten-free to boot. It features flavor-packed ingredients like paprika, cinnamon, and curry powder along with bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Coconut milk adds a creamy finish.

Recipe: Only Gluten-Free Recipes

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Slow cookers allow typically tough and cheaper cuts of beef to become tender. Braised with spices and vegetables, deeply flavorful ragu is a complete meal when paired with creamy and cheesy polenta, which tastes much more expensive than it is.

Recipe: Living Sweet Moments

Americans' love for tacos is always strong, and understandably so. This recipe piles all the ingredients and flavors of a taco into an easy one-pot dish that feeds a large crowd.

Recipe: Pillsbury

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This twist on beef stroganoff has all the flavor of the original in a simple recipe that people of all ages can love. Frozen meatballs and canned mushroom soup are real time-savers in this option.

Recipe: The Seasoned Mom

Need a way to get kids to eat vegetables without complaint? This well-reviewed recipe combines mixed vegetables, tomatoes, and green onions with ground beef, cornbread mix, cheese, and a punch of flavor from Cajun seasoning.

Recipe: Taste of Home

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This hearty soup — also known as kharcho — slow-simmers beef and add in plenty of herbs, plus a tomato-chili mixture for depth. The one specialty ingredient is tkemali, a sour plum sauce, that can be found for a few dollars per bottle at specialty shops or online, or substituted with tamarind paste.

Recipe: Food.

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Sweet, savory, and spicy all rolled into one, this slow-cooker flank steak recipe is actually very simple, requiring around 10 minutes of prep time. 

Recipe: The Recipe Critic

No need to pour a soda when eating this dinner — it's an ingredient in the straightforward recipe. A blogger's grandmother got it from her younger sister, and the family's been enjoying this not-your-everyday meatloaf ever since. 

Recipe: Just a Pinch

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Beef stew meat, split peas, and savory spices combine to create this meal that's billed as "like beef stew's exotic, spicy cousin — spiked with lots of yummy spices like cumin, cinnamon, saffron, and turmeric." 

Recipe: Platings & Pairings

The foundation of this dish is ground beef, black beans, white rice, fire-roasted tomatoes, and a few spices, all joined by a hearty helping of shredded cheddar and Monterey cheeses. Note: Some reviews note this dishes spiciness, so it might not be great for the heat-afflicted. 

Recipe: Delish 

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Extra virgin olive oil, six garlic cloves, a hefty can of peeled tomatoes, and a pound of mushrooms — white or cremini — are the telltale signs that this recipe has its roots in the heart of the Mediterranean region. An easy prep yields a hearty, rustic meal ideal for a chilly night in. 

Recipe: The Mediterranean Dish

For those who love chili with beefy chunks, this recipe offers a flavorful meal. Its creator notes it features "tender chunks of beef enveloped in a deep, spicy and smoky sauce." Did we mention it also includes bacon? 

Recipe: Once Upon a Chef with Jenn Segal

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This recipe uses ground beef, rice, and canned ingredients and then heaps on the flavor with seasonings and cheese. Especially good if you're needing to get dinner done quickly, this one requires just 10 minutes or so of prep. 

Recipe: The Seasoned Mom

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It's hard to beat a good Thai peanut sauce, which can easily be made at home with peanut butter, soy sauce, sriracha, brown sugar, and water. Add in flank steak and noodles or rice drizzled with said peanut sauce and mixed veggies and voila — a home-cooked meal at a fraction of the price of takeout.

Recipe: Damn Delicious

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