Mediterranean Beef And Rice Recipe | Gluten-Free Meal Prep

Here’s an idea: Next time you have some ground beef at home, make this Mediterranean Beef and Rice. It’s an easy healthy dinner that needs only one pan, some good vegetables and, well beef and rice. This ground beef recipe will be done in around 30 minutes and makes 3 servings, which means if you’re on your own: meal prep for 3 days is done. Serve with some salad, tzatziki and olives to make yourself feel like you’ve ended up somewhere in the Mediterranean (well, in Greece!).

I am not a huge fan of ground beef or ground meat in general (ahem, makes these Greek meatball bowls and ground beef dinner skillet), but thanks to my husband, I again ended up with some ground beef at home and was completely lost.

But I remembered that A LOOONG time ago, when I was a student and found out I had iron deficiency like almost every young woman out there, I started cooking ground beef once a week. My doctor recommended it and I obeyed like a sheep following the leader.

I started creating different dishes, but the one I really loved was one with bulgur (for extra iron), eggplant and ground beef. It was so good, I would eat it even without the iron deficiency.

Somehow that dish flew out of my mind and my dinner rotation over the years, but now I’ve started cooking it again and am sharing it with you.

How To Make Mediterranean Ground Beef & Rice

Step 1: Prepare

• Wash your rice until water runs clear
• Chop the onions and other vegetables of your choice

Step 2: Cook

• Use a non-stick pan or skillet to cook the ground beef at medium heat
• Add in spices, onions garlic and cook, add some water if needed
• Add in the rice and salt and 1/3 water
• Stir in some green beans
• Cook until rice is done

Step 3: Serve

This dish is delicious on its own, but when you add a garlic sauce and some salad it gets even better. I served mine with tzatziki (that’s Greek yogurt with minced garlic, some thinly chopped cucumber and salt), an easy tomato cucumber salad and olives.

Options

• Change the rice: Instead of rice you could easily use bulgur (not gluten-free) or quinoa. This dish might work with cauliflower rice for a low-carb version, but I haven’t tried it.
• Change the meat: Instead of ground beef you could use any type of ground meat – turkey or chicken would work as well.
• Use stock instead of water: I don’t usually make or buy stock, so I always use water for cooking and then add salt to taste. If you do use stock in your kitchen – you can definitely do it here when cooking the rice – it will probably add even more flavor.
• Vegetables: You can add any type of vegetables you like in this dish. Some eggplant (make sure to cook through), zucchini, spinach, some broccoli, a carrot would all be a good choice.

Meal Prep

This recipe makes around 3 servings, so if you want to meal prep it for the week simply store in an airtight container and warm it up when it’s time to eat.

Serve with salad, olives and tzatziki (which you could also make ahead).

Now, here’s the recipe.