8 of the best dishes you can make with ground beef

James Kim, co-owner of Sons of Thunder, believes chili is a versatile and easy dish to make with ground beef.

"I love making chili ... Our chili uses grass-fed ground beef and three different kinds of whole-dried chilies, cooked down to capture a complex and sweet heat that warms you up during the winter."

Kim recommends eating it on its own, over rice or fries, or even on a hot dog.

Nicolas Caicedo, the executive chef at The Williamsburg Hotel, recommends using ground beef to make burgers.

"Simply add a pinch of salt and black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, and parsley to the ground-beef patty and put it straight on the grill."

"I like to make a fatty with the ground beef," said Rick Gresh, executive chef at Flight Club.

"A fatty is a stuffed-ground beef loaf, usually wrapped in bacon and cooked on the smoker," he explained.

"Recently I made a pulled pork, roasted poblano, queso-fresco stuffed fatty, wrapped it in bacon, and as it smoked I basted it with a pineapple-serrano glaze."

"I like to make Asian-lettuce wraps with ground beef," said Brandon Thordarson, executive chef at Moxie's Grill & Bar.

Thordarson sautés lean ground beef with diced onions, celery, ginger, and garlic in oil.

"Then I add a little chopped cilantro and two tablespoons of soy sauce," he said. "I thicken it with a cornstarch and water slurry. This helps to make the sauce thick so it sticks to the lettuce."

You can never go wrong with "schmommy"-styled tacos, according to Dan Jacobs, executive chef and owner of DanDan, EsterEv, and Fauntleroy.

He said nothing beats the hearty tacos your mother used to make, which inspired the name.

"Drain the fat and add onions, garlic, and poblanos diced small after caramelizing the beef," Jacobs said. "Then, serve 'schmommy' style with sour cream, lettuce, tomato, onion, and hot sauce."

Joshua Dalton, the chef at Veritas, says you can never go wrong with pastitsio.

"It's a delicious Greek-lasagna dish with pasta and ground beef, topped with cheese and nutmeg."

Spicing up your classic meatball with the best ingredients is always a great idea, according to Andy Pastore, executive chef of Meat on Ocean.

The secret to Pastore's meatballs is Sambal Oelek — a garlic-chili sauce commonly used in Asian cooking. "We add the sauce to our onions while they are sweating to give the meatballs an earthy-umami flavor profile."

"Our meatballs are a tribute to the classic dish Beef Stroganoff," he said. "Once the meatballs are formed, they are slow-cooked in a gravy similar to Stroganoff that contains chicken stock, sour cream, fresh dill, and parsley."

The meatballs are then topped with gouda right before serving.

"Most people associate ground beef with American dishes like meatballs and burgers, but it's delicious with Japanese food too," said Tomo Takahashi, CEO and founder JINYA Ramen Bar.

"Adding meatballs is a great way to upgrade a classic bowl of ramen and create a next-level comfort-food dish," he said. "Ground beef is also an easy, affordable way to transform instant ramen into a standalone dinner at home."

Takahashi recommends cooking the ramen with sake, soy sauce, sugar, and Chinese-chile bean sauce.