A one-pan ground beef and potato skillet that’s ready in under half an hour? That’s right, this cheesy dish is the perfect weeknight comfort food.
This skillet dish is kind of like a beef and potato hash and is wonderful as dinner or as breakfast. The recipe is fabulous as written, and is even better with a fried egg on top of each serving.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: Making A Ground Beef Potato Skillet Meal
Cooking Beef And Potatoes In One Pan Together
For this recipe, I really wanted the beef and potatoes to be cooking together in one skillet, and at the same time. The idea was to (1) only have to use one skillet, and (2) not have to take the time needed to cook things in stages. It took a bit of trial and error, but I found a solution that gets you nicely browned potatoes AND perfectly cooked beef. Here’s how!
The key to cooking all of this in one skillet is to get the potatoes browning first. Make sure these are cut as uniform as possible so they cook evenly, just like I do with my Lemon Chicken and Potato Skillet. Then move them over to one side of the pan where they continue to soften while the ground beef cooks on the other side.
You’ll see that the potatoes get some good browning on them from that initial step and then retain it throughout the cooking, even when the pan gets more crowded.
Similarly, note that when you add the ground beef, you press it down lightly to get it into good contact with the skillet. Then you let it cook undisturbed for awhile. This is the technique that I tested for cooking ground beef perfectly on its own as well. Pressing it down a bit and then leaving it alone lets it get nice and brown, which gives you that nice beef crust and some caramelization flavor. And in this case, it browns so well that later when the vegetables are added and everything is mixed together and the beef isn’t getting as much contact with the skillet, that initial browning remains, retaining that good color and flavor.
How To Make This Ground Beef And Potatoes Skillet
Pull out your large skillet so that you have plenty of room for this one-pan recipe and start by warming up the oil. Get your potato cubes in a single layer and let them cook undisturbed for two minutes, then stir and let them cook for another two minutes. Move the potatoes over to one side of the skillet.
Add in your ground beef to the other side of the skillet and sprinkle in salt and pepper over both the beef and the potatoes. Break up the ground beef with your wooden spoon or spatula, then spread it out onto its half of the pan and let it cook for several minutes undisturbed. I’ve called for lean ground beef here so you shouldn’t get too much grease from the beef. But, if desired you can scoop some of the fat and liquid away just before adding the onions and peppers.
Then it’s time to add in the onion and peppers, along with garlic and paprika. You can dump them all in on top of the ground beef and potatoes because at this point it all gets stirred together. This is where you’ll see that the time taken to brown the potatoes and the beef really pays off. After you add everything else in, things are a bit steamier, but the potatoes and beef stay nicely browned.
Continue to cook and stir occasionally until the beef is fully cooked, the veggies have softened, and the potatoes are tender. You can test the potatoes by spearing a cube with a fork, the potato should slide onto the fork easily if it’s cooked and tender. Any resistance means it’s not quite cooked through.
Turn off the heat, sprinkle the shredded cheese all over and allow it to melt. Finally, garnish with some sliced green onion. And while it’s not in the below recipe, I will say again that topping each serving with a sunny-side-up egg is one of my favorite Breakfast-For-Dinner meals!
Note: If you don’t want to cook the ground beef and potatoes in the same skillet, you can use two of them, and then combine everything at the end, or near the end when you add the veggies. Alternatively, you can cook the potatoes in a skillet and cook the ground beef in the air fryer like this.
More Ground Beef Recipes
Browse my collection of one-dish dinners or bookmark these favorite ground beef recipes for next time.
Podcast Episode About Making Ground Beef and Potato Skillet
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this skillet dinner, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintGround Beef and Potato Skillet Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
A one-pan ground beef and potato skillet that’s ready in under half an hour? That’s right, this cheesy dish is the perfect weeknight comfort food. Note that the recipe is simple tasty as written, but if you want to add some heat, a pinch of cayenne or 1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce is a great addition (add it when you add the paprika). And, my favorite thing to do is to top each portion with a fried egg, or a good dollop of sour cream, or both!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- 1 lb. potatoes (about 2 medium) in 1/2 inch dice
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 2 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the potatoes in a single layer and cook undisturbed until lightly browned underneath, about 2 minutes. Stir and then cook undisturbed to brown them some more for another 2 minutes.
- Use a wooden spoon to move potatoes to one side of the skillet. Add ground beef to other side of skillet. Sprinkle the potatoes and the beef evenly with the salt and pepper.
- Use wooden spoon to break up ground beef and then to spread it to cover the half of the skillet that is not taken by potatoes. Press down on the beef with the spoon. Cook the beef for 4 minutes undisturbed while stirring the potatoes occasionally.
- If desired, use a spoon to scoop off any excess fat that has come from the beef.
- On top of the potatoes and beef, add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and paprika. Flip and stir until everything is evenly mixed together.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, beef is no longer pink anywhere, and potatoes are fork-tender, 3-4 minutes.
- Turn off heat. Sprinkle with the cheese and allow the steam to melt it. Top with the green onions and serve.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Yummy! I used a bit of Cajun seasoning instead of paprika. I also added a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I will use it again.
Oh, that sounds great, Pam! Thanks for sharing your adjustments with us. If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!
Yummy and easy! I used 2 pans (cooked the potatoes in one, and cooked the beef, onion, and pepper together in the other). I also sprinkled chili powder on top of it all which gave it a little spicier flavor.
That sounds wonderful, Sarah! Thanks for coming back to share your adjustments with us.
Wonderful recipe! Despite not being able to use any onion in my cooking and being out of paprika my family loved this! I added a little soy sauce instead and although it was not quite the same it came out with quite a pleasant flavor!
Thank you for sharing that adjustment! I’m so glad you enjoyed.
This was phenomenal, thank you! It was a big hit with the wife and kids and I will be making this dish regularly going forward.
I made a few changes:
1. I used a whole bulb of garlic instead of just 2 cloves, and then I cut up half a white onion (instead of whole)
2. I used Mexican style shredded cheese mix instead of cheddar only
3. I also substituted the Kirkland Organic No Salt Seasoning (from Costco) instead of paprika
Thank you for sharing your adjustments with us. I’m so glad the whole family loved it!
I make something similar to this, but I use mini red potatoes as they cook faster (the skin does not come off) and the red of the skin adds colour. These recipes are great for using what you have on hand and still turning out well.
Also, when adding chopped onion to these types of recipes, if you cook to soften the onions before you add the meat and potatoes, that process releases the aromatics from the onions and they are absorbed into the other ingredients so much easier. Don’t completely cook the onion, but soften it up so the juices are coming out, then add the rest. It’s also a good opportunity to add the spices and stir in with the onions because when you add the meat and vegetable, they blend in so well.
Great ideas, Hilary! I agree and I often do the onions first. In the case of this kind of recipe, I like to get the meat cooking and spend that time prepping the veggies. It speeds things up. But the other way is how I do it if I’m not worrying about time.
This was the perfect weeknight meal when I didn’t have a lot of time to cook! My son and husband both told me several times how much they loved it. My son says it is a keeper!
Thank you so much, Dawn, I love to hear that!
I made this and it was fantastic. I used ground turkey instead of beef because that’s what I had at home. I added broccoli and a few tiny cherry tomatoes. I’ll definitely make this again!
That sounds delicious, Lauren, thanks for sharing your tweaks! If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!
This recipe is so delicious! This was the first time making it and I’m sure this will be on the regular rotation.
That’s wonderful, Fivi! Thanks so much for coming back to comment.
I have made this recipie several times. I didn’t add the salt as I watch my sodium. It was delicious. Easy to prepare. Easy weekday meal when you don’t want to spend time in the kitchen. Just add a salad or vegetables and you are set. A real winner of a recipie
Thank you, Lori! I’m so glad you love it enough to make over and over.
Thank you for creating and posting this recipe. I made it for my wife. She wanted a meat and potatoes kind of meal on a night that we had instant noodle time.
I’m grateful that this was one of the first recipes that I found and it was a hit!
Thank you so much! I’m glad this meal hit the spot. If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!