Name: 30-Minute Ground Beef and Mushroom Skillet
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 Tbsp avocado oil; 1 medium-sized yellow onion (diced); 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms (chopped); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 1 lb ground beef; 2 tsp dried oregano; 5 ounces 2 big handfuls baby spinach; 1/2 tsp sea salt (to taste)

30-Minute Ground Beef and Mushroom Skillet with 7 basic ingredients is easy to throw together any night of the week and goes big on nutrients! Change up the flavors to your heart’s delight for a healthy dinner that will always satisfy.

Anytime I ask what types of recipes you all are looking for, a response I get in bulk every single time is easy one-skillet or one-pot meals.

Just my style! This is how I cook for myself and my partner when I’m not developing recipes for the blog, so one-pot meals are always welcome by me!

We all lead busy lives and many of us intend to support our bodies with nourishing food but whether or not we have time or energy to do so is another story.

Enter: recipes like this.

Few ingredients, easy to make, plenty of flavor, easy to pair with a large variety of side dishes.

My Ground Beef Sweet Potato Skillet with Brussel Sprouts, 30-Minute Mexican Chicken and Zucchini Skillet, and 30-Minute Ground Turkey Skillet with Vegetables have all been well-received meals, and I’m betting this one will nestle its way into your heart and home as well.

The combination of mushrooms and beef just jives!

My Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Beef Stroganoff is a lovely example of just how peacefully beef and mushrooms marry in a dish.

And my Ground Beef & Feta Stuffed Mushrooms? A two-bite delight!

So what we have here is the easiest weeknight meal to toss together to keep your life goals steering full speed ahead.

Let’s discuss the ingredients for this simple meal!

Ingredients for Ground Beef and Mushroom Skillet:

Avocado Oil: Used for sautéing the onion and garlic and cooking everything together, avocado oil is a high-temperature cooking oil with neutral flavor, ideal for cooking at high heat in a skillet.

Onion & Garlic: Adding immense depth of flavor to the meal, onion and garlic are strong team players in what they bring to every dish.

Mushrooms: Bringing rustic, earthy, nutty flavor, mushrooms pair very well with beef! I choose baby bella mushrooms, but you can go with white mushrooms if you’d like.

Ground Beef: The star of the show! Grass-fed ground beef shines in this recipe as it has that slight gamey flavor, which really meshes with this rustic dish. I use 80/20 ground beef (beef with 20% fat content) because I love the flavor it produces, but you can go with a leaner beef if you’d like.

Note that if you choose a leaner ground meat like turkey, chicken, or elk, you will want to boost the flavor of the dish in some way, as the lack of fat also equates to a deficit of flavor. You can either add more avocado oil or stir in 2 tablespoons of liquid aminos, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc. Just something to give it a boost.

Spinach: Bringing fiber, vitamins and antioxidants to the dish, spinach is a high-impact food that is easy to incorporate into any skillet meal like this! Feel free to replace it with chopped kale or rainbow chard or omit it altogether.

Dried Oregano & Sea Salt: Dried oregano brings herby earthiness to round out the flavor profile, and sea salt enhances all of the flavors in the dish. You can replace the dried oregano with any dried herb you like – Italian seasoning, dried parsley or thyme are all great.

Optional Addition: Fresh ginger! Peel and grate a 1-inch nob of fresh ginger and stir it on in. Ginger not only adds a natural anti-inflammatory property to the meal, but it boosts the flavor immensely! If you love ginger, go deep!

Let’s make it!

How to Make Ground Beef and Mushroom Skillet:

Add the avocado oil to a large skillet and heat to medium-high. Add the chopped onion and sprinkle liberally with sea salt. Cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to turn brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. We’re trying to get the onion to a near-caramelized state quickly in order to maximize its flavor potential.

Stir in the chopped mushrooms and garlic and continue cooking until the mushrooms have softened and turn brown, about another 5 minutes.

Move the veggies off to the side and add the ground beef. Allow it to brown for 2 to 3 minutes per side, then use a spatula to break it into smaller chunks and mix well. Continue cooking and stirring until the ground beef has cooked through and no pink is left.

Add the oregano, spinach, and sea salt and stir well. Cover the skillet and cook until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes. Taste the mixture for flavor and add more sea salt or a splash of liquid aminos or soy sauce to taste.

Serve with your choice of side dishes, and enjoy!

Serving Suggestions:

You can absolutely eat this Ground Beef and Mushroom Skillet as a standalone meal, or you can serve it up with sides.

If you’re looking to keep it low-carb, cauliflower rice, Roasted Garlic Mashed Cauliflower, Roasted Vegetables or Sautéed Vegetables are great options.

For those who aim for balanced meals, steamed brown rice is a great accompaniment and it’s what I go with. My Caramelized Onion & Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes would bring the fancy level up 100-fold 😉

Enjoy this one-skillet wonder!