Creamy Ground Beef and Potato Skillet Dinner

This easy skillet meal is classic comfort food. It's cheesy, creamy, and made with budget-friendly ingredients you know your family will love.

Table of Contents

• 🗝️ Key takeaways
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 📖 Variations
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 How to store leftovers
• 💭 Things to know
• 👩‍🍳 FAQs
• 📚 Related recipes
• 🍽️ Serve with...
• 🫶 Restless Chipotle recommends
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🗝️ Key takeaways

• This creamy and comforting dinner is done with just 1 pan so clean-up is easy.
• Since this takes just 30 minutes it's perfect for busy weeknights. I especially love this hearty recipe during colder months.
• Use convenience foods to make this recipe even quicker.

There's just something about a ground beef skillet dinner that makes us smile! Maybe it's the easy cleanup.

This is one of those family friendly recipes that is simple to make, with uncomplicated flavors. It's not going to win prizes at the county fair but it will be a favorite family meal for years to come.

You might also like the easy smoked sausage Alfredo recipe!

🧾 Ingredients

Six simple ingredients plus the usual suspects: salt, pepper, and a little oil!

• Lean ground beef - since this is cooked all in one large skillet I don't want to have to deal with a lot of grease. I use 90/10 but you can use whatever blend you like. If you use something with a lot of fat be sure to cook the meat first and pour off the fat before adding the potatoes and onions
• Potatoes - peeled or not. If I use Yukon Gold sometimes I just wash them really well and leave the peel on. If you want to save a lot of time buy the chopped hash browns from the dairy section of your store.

📖 Variations

This is an easy meal to stretch when there is more month than paycheck.

• Add chopped chiles, poblano peppers, or jalapenos for a little kick.
• I've used leftover sloppy joes instead of ground beef and it's delicious!
• Substitute different cheeses for the Cheddar.
• Use cauliflower for the potatoes to save on calories and carbs.
• Add a pinch of garlic powder.
• Leftover pot roast works well in this recipe as a substitute for the ground beef in this recipe.
• You can use non-dairy milk products like coconut, oat, or cashew milk. Just make sure it's not the sweetened kind.
• Add some diced carrots or green beans in with the potatoes and ground beef.
• Use canned or frozen potatoes to cut down on cooking time even more.
• No potatoes? Use cauliflower or rice.
• Cut back on the meat and use more potatoes or rice to fill it out.
• Add cooked pinto, kidney, or black beans.
• Use Pepper Jack or any easily melted cheese in place of the Cheddar.
• Use any creamy soup in place of the cream of mushroom.
• I like to use diced potatoes but shredded or sliced work fine, too.

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in an iron skillet (or any heavy skillet).
2. Add the potatoes and onions.
3. Saute until the potatoes begin to get golden but aren't mushy.
4. Add the meat and brown ground beef until it is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Drain off any excess grease that has collected in the pan..
5. Mix the milk and soup.
6. Add half the cheese.
7. Spoon into the skillet, mixing in the ground beef and potatoes. Top with remaining cheese.
8. Cover, turn heat off and let the skillet stand, covered, for 5 minutes so the cheese melts.
9. Serve.

🥫 How to store leftovers

This easy dinner recipe is just as good warmed up as it was the first time it was served!

Refrigerate

If you have leftovers cover them with plastic wrap or spoon into an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Freeze

It doesn't freeze well because of the potatoes - they sometimes get rubbery.

💭 Things to know

This is such a simple dinner but here are some tips to make it even easier.

Expert Tip: Try to get the potatoes all the same size - they'll cook quicker and more evenly.

• I use a large oven-safe skillet for this recipe. If you don't have one you can follow the steps through #5. Add to a casserole dish and bake at 375F for 20 minutes.
• It doesn't matter what type of potatoes you use. I like to use thin skinned Yukon gold or red potatoes so I don't have to peel them.
• Make it super fast by using pre-cooked hashbrown potatoes. They're usually available near the eggs in the dairy section.
• Use a bag of frozen onion and pepper mix to cut down on prep time.
• This does not freeze well.
• Serve with a salad for a quick meal. If you happen to have some dinner rolls in the freezer all the better.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.

📚 Related recipes

Love this creamy ground beef and potato skillet dinner? Me, too! Here are some more of our favorites -

• Bourbon Chicken has a crispy coating and a sweet-spicy-tangy sauce clings to it, creating a symphony of flavor!
• Burrito Casserole is an easy make-ahead recipe with lots of Tex-Mex flavor - gooey cheese and seasoned beef. 
• King Ranch Chicken  is super quick and easy. Chicken, Ro*Tel, and onion are mixed with a creamy sauce and layered with corn tortillas and cheese.

🍽️ Serve with...

Serve this one-pan ground beef dinner with a salad or try one of these delicious side dishes.

• Chewy, crusty baguettes go with almost everything and they are especially nice with this cozy comfort food. Best of all they're easy to make in just 30 minutes.
• Take it old school with maple glazed carrots on the side!

Here are over 35 more great ideas for sides that will work well with hamburger hash.

🫶 Restless Chipotle recommends

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You're definitely going to want a large cast iron skillet to make this.

📞 The last word

A hearty, one pan meal is one of those recipes I keep on speed dial! This easy recipe is one you'll make again and again.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars!

📖 Recipe

First published March 10, 2021. Last updated October 14, 2023, for better instructions and readability