Butternut squash and ground beef skillet
Sweet golden butternut squash, savory beef and tender kale in one skillet, a cozy fall dinner that packs beautifully for lunches.
- 40 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.22 a serving
- 370 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb 4 oz cubed butternut squash
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups kale, stems removed, chopped
- ¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 370 calories, 24 g protein, 23 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $3.22 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No cubed butternut squash? Butternut squash works.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No kale? Baby spinach works.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut any large squash cubes in half so they’re all about ¾ inch. the onion and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large with a lid over medium. Add the squash and water, cover, and cook 8 minutes, until nearly tender.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Uncover, turn the heat to medium-high, and cook 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the water is gone and the squash is browned in spots. Scoop it onto a plate.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Leave it alone between stirs so it gets those caramelized edges.Add the beef and onion to the empty pan and cook 7 to 8 minutes, breaking up the beef, until no pink is left. Spoon off the fat.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min 30 sec
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Stir in the garlic, paprika, thyme, cinnamon, salt and pepper for 1 minute.
Medium heat
Add the kale and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until it .
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Return the squash and stir gently to warm it through. Serve with parmesan on top if you like.
Medium heat
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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