Ground Beef

We would eat pretty much anything topped with mashed potatoes.

A legendary layered dip from Matt’s El Rancho in Austin, Texas, of taco meat, queso, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo.

Magical mini versions of Juicy Lucys, cheese-filled burgers that hail from Minnesota.

These are extra saucy and a little sweet like the original SpaghettiOs, but with grown-up flavors all around.

These are ideally made with ground shortrib, but using chuck will give you an equally savory filling.

Ras-el-hanout is a Moroccan spice blend that contains several warming spices (such as cinnamon and nutmeg) with a little ginger and chile for heat. If you can’t find it, use garam masala instead.

These are the beef enchiladas that the entire Bon Appétit Test Kitchen fought each other for. Let’s just say there won’t be leftovers with this recipe. 

Separate compartments are key to packing this lunch. Switch up the fixings to keep it fresh: Salsa, guac, and sour cream are all good options.

Basil is wilted like a leafy green in this thai beef stir fry recipe, then added raw at the end for a double dose of its aromatic flavor.

In case you were wondering, albóndigas is the Spanish word for meatball. These prove that the Italians aren’t the only players in the game.

Get a jump on party prep by making the patties ahead of time; they can be chilled for up to 8 hours.