Easy Ground Beef and Bacon Skillet Recipe: Only One Pan (2024)

Sneak Peek: This easy Ground Beef and Bacon Skillet Recipe with potatoes and carrots is an idea to keep in your back pocket for a busy day when you are too tired to think about cooking, and the pantry is empty.

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After a hard day of work with a growling stomach providing background music, I find it hard to think clearly about what to fix for dinner. However, when the only vegetables in the fridge are carrots, wilted celery, and a month-old cabbage, this Ground Beef and Bacon recipe sounds pretty good.

We first came to love this recipe when camping. I know just about anything tastes better when you eat it in the woods, but whenever I’m in the mood for meatloaf and potatoes, this is an easy substitute that takes much less time to prepare.

Recipe Inspiration

Know what else makes food taste better? (Not cooking it yourself doesn’t count.)

Bacon! As I said in my recipe for Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Chicken Bites, bacon makes any food fly off the table.

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Don’t get me wrong.

I’m not trying to sell this particular recipe as some incredible gourmet delight that will make your dress fly up, your pants fall down, or your life turn out perfectly.

Nope. This easy one-skillet recipe is a kind of comfort food assembled with four ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Hopefully, you won’t have to make an extra trip to the grocery store. Such a trip just before dinner is an exercise in patience that I try to avoid.

Ingredients and Substitutions

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• BACON: Nothing substitutes for the smoky flavor of bacon. Thinly-sliced bacon fries up better than thick-sliced bacon. You want it to be crispy, not limp and greasy. You could leave the bacon out, but I wouldn’t. It’s what makes this dish.
• GROUND BEEF: Any ground beef (hamburger) will work. I like 85/15 ground beef because you won’t have to drain as much grease (although there will probably still be some from the bacon). Ground turkey is an acceptable substitute.
• POTATOES: Substitute sweet potatoes for white potatoes if you prefer. They cook a bit faster. However, since they are the same color as the carrots, the whole dish is not as pretty as it is with white or buttery yellow potatoes.
• CARROTS: Not much to say about carrots other than they need to be sliced. Use baby carrots if you like, but I would still cut them into half-inch slices. If you still have carrots left after making this recipe, I recommend this Easy Carrot Casserole Recipe or these Smoked Carrots (made in the oven).

📌Kitchen Secrets📌 for Success With This Recipe

1. The correct setting and timing for cooking this dish will be affected by the type of pan you use (the heavier, the better) and your particular stove. I start out using medium-high heat. As soon as the bacon starts to brown, I turn the heat down to allow the vegetables to cook through.
2. The thinner you slice the vegetables, the faster this dish will cook. I use a mandolin to get thin slices quickly, but a knife or slicing with a food processor is good, too.
3. If you slice the potatoes ahead of time, be sure to let them sit in a bowl of water so they won’t discolor.
4. This makes a good camping recipe. Cook it in an electric skillet or an iron skillet.

How To Layerthis Skillet Recipe

• FIRST LAYER: Bacon
• SECOND LAYER: Lean ground beef
• THIRD LAYER: Sliced potatoes (russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes)
• FOURTH LAYER: Sliced carrots

Optional additions

• Add chopped onions to the hamburger layer.
• Sprinkle a few drops of Worcestershire sauce over the beef before adding the vegetable layers.
• Scatter garlic powder over the potato layer.
• Drop some smoked paprika on top of the carrot layer. (I got the idea from this recipe for smoked carrots.)

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FAQ About Ground Beef and Bacon Skillet

Random Thoughts: Would you like to see more easy recipes for ground beef? Take a look at this Best Baked Beans with Ground Beef and Sausage, Easy Chile Relleno Casserole with Ground Beef, or Easy Beef Goulash with Ketchup: Only One Pot To Clean.