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This dinner recipe is quick, easy, and cheap, passed down from my grandma to my mom and now served to my own kids. I’ve been eating this simple but deliciously savory and filling meal my entire life, and this Depression-era recipe is surprisingly good, despite how easy and affordable it is to make!
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Ground beef with gravy (or maybe you know it as hamburger gravy?) is one of those childhood-throwback, ultimate-comfort-food, transports-me-instantly kind of recipes. It was passed down from my grandmother to my mom, from my mom to me, and now I’m making it for my own kids. I mean, a giant bowl of meat-and-potatoes smothered with a rich, savory gravy? How could the whole family not like it?
- Not only is this recipe easy, satisfying, and delicious, it’s also super budget-friendly. With a couple of simple swaps, you can make it even easier and even more budget-friendly, too! Just use instant mashed potatoes instead of making your own, and use a can or two of store-bought beef gravy instead of making gravy from scratch. In fact, my mom pretty much always used canned gravy!
- Because ground beef and gravy is so basic and versatile, you can serve it with pretty much anything. A bed of creamy, fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes is a non-negotiable in my opinion, but you can replace them with rice, noodles, or mashed cauliflower if you want. Need a little green on your plate, too? Asparagus, broccoli, green beans, even Brussels sprouts will all compliment this dish really well.
Chef’s Tips
- Mushrooms would be a great addition to this ground beef and gravy dish, making it almost like a beef stroganoff of sorts. Just add the mushrooms, halved or diced, to the skillet when you add the onions and beef broth.
- If you keep your ground beef in the freezer and forget to take it out early enough to defrost, don’t worry. It can go in the skillet frozen and it’ll turn out just fine! Just flip the frozen ground beef over periodically and break it up as it thaws.
- Gravy’s pretty forgiving. Too thick? Add a little more broth. Not thick enough? Simmer a few minutes longer or add a touch more cornstarch. Make too much? Oh, who am I kidding. You can never make too much gravy.
Check Out These Delicious Dinners, Too
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Recipe By: Cheryl Malik
4.91 from 20 votes
Ground Beef and Gravy Over Mashed Potatoes
Prep 15 minutes minutes
Cook 30 minutes minutes
Total 45 minutes minutes
Quick, easy, and super budget-friendly, this satisfying recipe has been passed down through generations of my family. It's the epitome of comfort food!
4 servings
Equipment
medium pot
Small saucepan or small microwaveable bowl
2 whisks
Potato masher or fork
Small bowl
Large skillet
Large wooden spoon
Ingredients
For the Mashed Potatoes
- water
- ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- 2 pounds russet or Yukon gold potatoes peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
For the Ground Beef and Gravy
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 cups beef broth divided
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼-½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
For the Mashed Potatoes
Fill medium pot with water and salt well. Heat pot over medium-high heat until water boils rapidly, then add cut potatoes. Boil potatoes 7 to 8 minutes or until potatoes can be easily pierced with tines of fork.
While potatoes boil, add butter and milk to small saucepan. Heat saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until butter is completely melted. Alternately, add butter and milk to microwave-safe bowl. Microwave ingredients in 30-second bursts, whisking well between each, until butter is fully melted.
When potatoes are fork-tender, carefully drain all liquid from pot. Return pot to stovetop to rest on unused burner.
Use potato masher or fork to mash potatoes to desired consistency. Gradually stir in butter-milk mixture, making sure to incorporate all liquid into mashed potatoes. Once combined, season potatoes with garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Stir well to incorporate, then taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Set potatoes aside until ready to serve.
For the Ground Beef and Gravy
Add cornstarch and ¼ cup beef broth to small bowl. Whisk ingredients together until smooth and fully combined. Set aside.
Heat large skillet over medium heat. When pan is warm, add ground beef. Cook and crumble beef until no longer pink, then drain any liquid from pan and discard.
Add 1 ½ cups beef broth, chopped onion, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper to skillet with ground beef. Stir gently to incorporate ingredients, then simmer uncovered 5 to 10 minutes or until onion is tender.
When onion has softened, slowly add cornstarch mixture to skillet, whisking gently until fully incorporated. Increase heat under skillet and bring mixture to boil. Once boiling, cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until liquid has thickened to form gravy.
To Serve
Divide mashed potatoes evenly between serving bowls. Top bed of mashed potatoes with ground beef and gravy. Serve warm with extra gravy if desired.
- Ground Beef: For a lighter dish, use lean ground beef or even ground turkey or ground chicken. Turkey and chicken won’t have as much flavor but you can offset that with the broth and seasonings, or even add bouillon cubes.
- Mashed Potatoes: To make this recipe even easier, use instant mashed potatoes instead of homemade.
- Gravy:You can use 1-2 cans of beef gravy rather than making your own. That’s usually what my mom did!
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 595calProtein: 27gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 107mgSodium: 1487mgPotassium: 1406mgTotal Carbs: 49gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gNet Carbs: 46gVitamin A: 315IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 103mgIron: 4mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Cheryl Malik
In addition to being a certified health coach, certified yoga instructor, and mom of 3, Cheryl is also the recipe developer, editor-in-chief, food photographer, and passionate foodie behind 40 Aprons. Having spent the last 10+ years as a food blogger, she's become known for her flavorful recipes, detailed instructions, gorgeous photography, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking in general.
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Hands down, the worst recipe I’ve ever made. The weird liquidy sludge this made was so bizarre. Not at all gravy texture. I’m so confused how this has so many positive reviews.
Reply
Oh no! It definitely shouldn’t have made a “weird liquidy sludge”. I’m so sorry that was your experience, KW! I’d love to help troubleshoot this recipe if I can, but without more information (and without having been there with you) it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where things went wrong. Did you follow the recipe just as it’s written? Was everything else alright up until the point you made the gravy? Did you have any problems getting the cornstarch to fully incorporate into the beef broth in the bowl? After adding the cornstarch slurry to the skillet, how long did you let it boil?
Reply
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Meet Cheryl
Passionate foodie, certified health coach, serial entrepreneur, and mom of 3.
I've been developing and sharing delicious, approachable recipes on 40 Aprons for more than a decade. My goal is simple: take the chore out of mealtime by creating recipes that anyone can cook and that never skimp on flavor.
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