How to Make Ground Beef Crispy (Every Time)

To make ground beef crispy, cook it in a hot pan with a little oil, break it up, then leave it alone so the bits can brown before you stir again. It takes about 10 minutes, and those crispy edges make every ground beef dinner taste like takeout.

Most ground beef is gray, steamed and sad. Crispy ground beef is the opposite: browned, a little crunchy, and it grabs onto every drop of sauce. It is the secret behind my crispy beef rice bowl and my ramen noodles with ground beef.

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What you need

Ground beef. This will work with lean or extra lean ground beef.
Avocado oil. Just enough to coat the pan.
A large skillet or wok. Big enough that the beef can spread out in one layer.
Salt it while browning. It will draw out the juices.

How do you make ground beef crispy?

Heat the pan first. Add the oil to a large skillet or wok and let it get hot before the beef goes in. In medium high heat, add the beef.
Spread it out. Do not overcrowd the pan. Crumble the beef in one layer. A crowded pan steams the meat instead of browning it, so cook in two batches if you need to.
Break it up, then leave it alone. Break the beef into small pieces with a spatula, then stop touching it and let it sit so the bottom can brown.
Flip and repeat. Once the bottom is browned, flip the pieces, break them up a little more and let them sit again. All in, this takes about 10 minutes.
Add the sauce last. Only pour in the sauce once the beef is browned, crispy and cooked through. Sauce too early and the crispy bits go soft.

Why is my ground beef not getting crispy?

The pan is too crowded. The beef steams in its own juices. Use a bigger pan or cook it in batches.
You keep stirring. Every stir knocks the beef off the hot pan. Leave it alone.
The sauce went in too early. Get the beef crispy first, then add the sauce.
The pan was not hot enough. Let it heat up before the beef goes in.