The 20-Minute Ground Beef Dinner I Make All the Time

My go-to dinner on any given weeknight is almost always pasta. I rely on my back pocket recipes because they’re easy and quick, can use up whatever I have in my fridge or pantry, and are always satisfying. And while I love nothing more than a big bowl of pasta, the urge to switch things up swoops in every once in a while.

This urge struck me recently, so I scoured the bookmarked archive of my favorite quick recipes and remembered this keema curry that a former colleague made a few years back. It relies on many staple ingredients I tend to have around and fits the “switch things up” bill perfectly.

This dish is heavily inspired by keema chole, which originates in the Indian subcontinent and is particularly popular in Pakistan, North India, and Bangladesh. Keema chole is a mix of ground meat and chickpeas, often with onion, tomato, garlic, ginger, and spices. 

After some experimenting, I came up with this 20-minute version that I (and hopefully you) can return to time and time again when one of your go-to weeknight pastas just won’t cut it.

My Favorite Way To Serve This Dish

My favorite way to serve this dish is with steamed basmati or jasmine rice. If you start the rice first, everything will be ready at the same time; a definite win for any weeknight. You can also use a more convenient, even quicker rice—like frozen, bagged, or microwave—if you really want time and effort to be minimized.

If you don’t want to serve this with rice at all, have some warm flatbread, like roti or paratha, on the side instead. If I have it on hand, I’ll also add a little spoonful of yogurt, some pickled red onions, lime wedges, and fresh cilantro to my plate to round everything out.

Easy Recipe Variations

This dish is stripped back and simple, keeping things as quick as possible without sacrificing flavor. However, that means you have plenty of options for making some adjustments if you want to. Here are some of my favorite options:

• Get your greens in by tossing in a few handfuls of frozen peas or frozen spinach
• Use ground turkey, chicken, or lamb
• Swap in cooked brown or green lentils instead of chickpeas
• Use beef broth instead of water; add a full cup (or even more) to make it more stew-like
• Add a sliced chili or red chili flakes for some heat

More 20-Minute Recipes to Try

• Thai-Style Chicken Fried Rice
• Tomato Egg Stir Fry
• Copycat Ronto Wraps
• Quick Stovetop Mac and Cheese
• Egg Drop Soup
  

Cook the beef and chickpeas:

Add the oil to a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Use your hands to gently form the beef into 4 even-ish patties, pressing just enough to keep the meat together. Add to the skillet and let cook undisturbed until deeply browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. 

Flip the beef patties, then add the canned, drained chickpeas to the pan and let cook until the chickpeas are turning brown and starting to burst, about 7 minutes. Use a spatula or spoon to break up the beef patties into small pieces and mix in with the chickpeas; it’s okay if you accidentally break up some of the chickpeas in the process.

Add seasonings:

Add the grated garlic, ginger, onion powder, cumin, garam masala, salt, and pepper and let cook for about a minute, stirring the spices into the ground beef and chickpeas. 

Add the tomato paste and mix in, using your spatula to scrape up any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pan.

Finish and serve:

Keep the heat at medium-high and add the water. Mix everything well, taste, and season with more salt and pepper as desired, then remove from the heat. Serve immediately.

Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, add to a warm frying pan or pot with a little bit of water to loosen and bring to a simmer before serving. You can also reheat this in a microwave. Add to a microwave-safe dish with a little water, cover, and heat on high in 45-second increments, stirring in between, until hot all the way through.

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