25+ Ground Beef Crock Pot Recipes

These Ground Beef Crock Pot recipes are a great way to spice up your weekday meals! Easy slow cooker recipes to use up that ground beef you’ve got lying around 😉

At this point, we all know how much I love my crock pot.

My Crock Pot and my Instant Pot are my two go-to’s this fall and will be through the winter as well. They just make my life so much easier!

I always stock up on ground beef when the large warehouse packs are on sale, and I will often batch cook and prep a whole bunch of beef at one time.

I will cook some of it and store it in 1lb freezer bags to throw in any of these recipes when I need something quick, or I’ll make a large batch of spaghetti sauce, chili or lasagna as they freeze perfectly and are always a hit around here!

Around here, ground beef and chicken breast are two things we see a lot of on the dinner table. They’re lean, high protein, they’re easy, there’s no bones to worry about, not a lot of chopping up for the kids plates. As a mom of 3 very busy little girls, easy dinners like these are my gift to myself!

If you’re a little short on time, or sanity, or you just enjoy simple, hearty, slow cooked meals, check my list of ground beef crock pot recipes and let me know which ones you try and love! (The Chili Macaroni Soup is next on my list!).

ground beef crock pot recipes collage with multiple images and title

Tips for making these Ground Beef Crock Pot Recipes:

  • Save yourself some prep time by batch cooking your beef for these ground beef crock pot recipes and storing in 1lb portions in freezer bags. Your future self will thank you!
  • If you use regular ground beef, you will definitely want to drain it well. I always spend a little more for lean or extra lean ground beef (not because fat is bad, I just try to keep it to a reasonable amount and save steps), and there is often not a lot of fat left in the pan to drain.
  • You can easily bump up the veggie content in any ground beef recipe by cooking your beef with extra shredded, finely chopped or pureed vegetables: mushrooms, onions, peppers, carrots, and zucchini are some of my favorites to add in!
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Can you cook ground beef in a Crock Pot?

The short answer? Yes.

The long answer? Not well. The crock pot doesn’t get hot enough to brown ground beef quickly enough that it makes sense to do so. It’s much more time efficient to brown ground beef in a pan over medium-high heat. Because it’s covered, it also keeps the steam in which prevents browning.

I do not recommend adding raw beef to a ground beef crock pot recipe because all of the fat and juices will leak out into the sauce and you’ll end up with a bland, possibly greasy meal that isn’t nearly as appetizing as the ones below.

If you are really insistent that you want to cook your ground beef in the slow cooker, you can crumble the ground beef into the bottom, and set to high. Open to release the steam and stir every hour until completely cooked through.

More Crock Pot recipes:

If you love the idea of crock pot cooking but don’t want to stick to ground beef, check out my list of Easy Crockpot Meals.

If you love crock pot cooking but want to skip all the prep work, check out my list of Dump ‘n’ Go Slow Cooker Recipes (no pre-cooking!).

If you’re more of a chicken fan, check out my Crockpot Chicken Recipes.

Healthier Slow Cooker Hamburger Helper

slow cooker hamburger helper on grey plate close up with shredded cheese on top

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

slow cooker spaghetti sauce in crockpot with metal scoop scooping some sauce

Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs

slow cooker cranberry meatballs on rice on light blue plate with crockpot in the background

 Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

ground beef crock pot pizza casserole in two white bowls with striped towel in the background

Slow Cooker Roasted Red Pepper Chili

slow cooker roasted red pepper chili in black crockpot

Crockpot Goulash

ground beef crock pot goulash very close up with shells pasta

Slow Cooker Enchilada Stack

slow cooker ground beef enchilada stack in small black crockpot with wooden spoon stuck in

Slow Cooker Pineapple Brown Sugar Meatballs

slow cooker pineapple brown sugar meatballs in a white bowl with fancy toothpicks stuck in the meatballs

Crock Pot Beef Queso Dip

ground beef crock pot queso in black slow cooker with black serving spoon stuck in

Healthier Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

healthier ground beef crock pot spaghetti in black slow cooker with meal tongs pulling some out

Slow Cooker Italian Style Beef Bolognese

ground beef crock pot bolognese close up in bowl with spaghetti and fork stuck into pasta

Slow Cooker Beef Macaroni Stuffed Peppers

ground beef crock pot stuffed peppers in black crockpot with lots of melted cheese on top

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

ground beef crock pot sloppy joes close up on white bun with melted cheese and pickles on the side

Slow Cooker Meatball Subs

ground beef crock pot meatball subs on white buns with melted white cheese and meatballs in the background

Slow Cooker Three Bean Beef Chili

crockpot chili in bowl sitting on grey plate with tortilla chips on the side and sour cream on top

Slow Cooker Baked Ziti

crock pot baked ziti on grey and white plate on white marble background with fork stuck into pasta

Crockpot Lasagna Tortellini Soup

ground beef crock pot lasagna soup in black bowl with spoon stuck into soup

Bacon Cheeseburger Crock Pot Tater Tot Casserole

ground beef crock pot tater tot casserole on dark blue plates with fork stuck into casserole

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

slow cooker ground beef taco soup close up shot of scoop filled with soup

Slow Cooker Beef & Lentil BBQ Sloppy Joes

ground beef crock pot lentil sloppy joes topped with shredded cheddar cheese and pickles on the side

Crock Pot Paleo Hamburger Soup

ground beef crock pot hamburger soup close up overhead shot of bowl with spoon stuck into soup

Slow Cooker Meatloaf

ground beef crock pot meat loaf on white plate with 3 slices cut

Crock Pot Cheesy Chili Macaroni Soup

ground beef crock pot chili macaroni soup very close up image with metal spoon stuck into soup

Crock Pot Cincinnati Chili

ground beef crock pot cincinnati chili over plain spaghetti with shredded cheddar cheese and raw diced onion

Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs

ground beef crock pot swedish meatballs close up on plain noodles on white plate

Slow Cooker Hearty Ground Beef Stew

ground beef crock pot stew close up overhead shot in white bowl

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

ground beef slow cooker taco soup two bowls topped with tortilla chips sour cream and lime slice
ground beef crock pot recipes collage square with four images and title

Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!

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