Ready to use

Raw ground beef: bright red exterior, loose minced texture, ready for the pan.

Shows the buyer exactly what raw ground beef looks like at point of purchase — color, texture, and form.

Proteins

Ground Beef

Versatile minced beef for burgers, ragù, tacos, and meatballs

The weeknight standby — browns fast and carries bold seasoning, from a smoky chili to a slow Bolognese. Keep it cold and cook within a day or two of buying.

Ground beef is beef minced from trim and tougher cuts, sold by fat ratio — and that ratio is the single biggest flavor-and-texture lever. Leaner grinds (90/10) make tidy, drier results; fattier grinds (80/20 or coarser chuck) give juicier, more flavorful burgers and ragùs. It's the most versatile everyday protein: burgers, bolognese, tacos, meatballs, chili, and meatloaf all start here. Because grinding spreads any surface bacteria throughout the meat, ground beef must be cooked through to a safe internal temperature — unlike a whole steak, you can't serve it rare safely unless it's ground to order from a trusted source.

Measured in: g
Storage: Refrigerate
Shelf life: 2 days

Find it in

Meat Counter

Types & varieties

80/20 (chuck)

The burger gold standard — juicy and full-flavored.

85/15

Balanced all-rounder for tacos, chili, and sauces.

90/10 (lean)

Leaner and drier; good for dishes with added moisture.

Ground chuck / sirloin / round

Named by source cut — chuck is fattiest and most flavorful.

Coarse-ground / brisket blend

Specialty grinds for premium, loose-textured burgers.

How to choose

Pick the fat ratio for the dish — 80/20 for juicy burgers, leaner for dishes where you'll drain fat or add liquid. Color ranges from bright red (freshly cut, oxygenated) to purplish-red (vacuum-packed) — both are fine; brown-gray throughout with an off smell is not. Buy it cold and well within date.

How to store / food safety

Ground beef is more perishable than whole cuts because grinding exposes more surface area to bacteria. Keep it at or below 4°C on the bottom shelf, use within a day or two, or freeze. Critically, cook it all the way to 71°C (160°F) — pink ground beef can harbor E. coli and Salmonella that searing a whole steak would kill on the surface. Never serve undercooked/pink ground beef or rare burgers to young children, pregnant people, the elderly, or the immunocompromised — E. coli O157:H7 can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (kidney failure) in these groups. Use a separate board and wash up thoroughly.

How to cook

For burgers, handle the meat as little as possible and don't compact it — overworking makes them dense — then season the outside and cook to 71°C: because grinding mixes surface bacteria all through the meat, ground beef must be cooked through, unlike a whole steak, which is safe seared rare because bacteria stay on the surface. For browning in sauces, spread it in a hot pan and let it sear before stirring to build flavor (the Maillard fond), and drain excess fat from very fatty grinds. A panade (bread soaked in milk) keeps meatballs and meatloaf tender.