The Lazy Cook's Secret To Perfectly Browned Ground Beef Every Time

Whether we like it or not, a big part of cooking anything in the kitchen is babysitting. Whether it's checking on a cake in the oven constantly to ensure that it's rising or crossing your fingers that a pot of water won't boil over on the stove, you have to be pretty attentive to almost everything in the kitchen. So why not look for ways to make it easier and to take one less babysitting task off your plate (err ... stovetop)?

For example, instead of cooking ground beef in a pan on your stovetop, where you constantly have to stir and mix it to prevent it from burning, try cooking it on a sheet pan. All you need to do is spread your ground beef out on a pan and bake it until it's cooked through (and reaches 160 F). Once the meat is finished, you can pull it from the oven and prepare it as intended. There's no stirring or watching needed. For 2 pounds of ground beef, plan on baking it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

This hack is particularly useful for burgers, so it's not surprising that it's why it went viral in the first place. You can easily slice a pack of slider buns or Hawaiian rolls in half, transfer the ground beef "mega burger" onto it, add your cheese slices, and finish off the tray of with the top half of the buns for a simple sheet pan slider recipe. 

However, burgers aren't the only application where it would shine. You could also use it for sheet pan nachos. Sure, it won't crisp up the chips like it would in an easy baked nachos recipe, but what it does allow you to do is bake the ground beef, add the cheese toward the end of the cooking time, then flop the meat and your favorite nacho toppings on. The chips don't get burnt or lose their limey luster, and it makes serving nachos to a crowd super easy.