• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Image Map
  • Home
  • Podcast
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Contact
      • Blogger DIY Project Submission
      • Contact Us
      • Guest Post Submission
      • PR, Advertising and Partnerships
      • Brands and Media That We Have Worked With
      • Speaking Events
  • Frugal Living
    • All Things Frugal
    • Homemade Products Gallery
    • Garden
    • Family Life
    • Travel
      • Travel Tips & Resources
      • Travel Deals & Coupons
    • Savings
      • Find Your Store Deals
      • Freebies
      • Deals
  • DIY
  • Finance
    • All Things Finance
    • Finance Tips & Resources
      • Meeting Your Financial Goals
      • Managing Household Finances
    • Dropping Debt
    • Making Money From Home
    • Over 100 Ways to Earn Extra Income
    • Our Financial Journey
  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Produce Tips
    • Breakfast Ideas
  • Printables
  • How To Blog
    • Start Here
    • Resources
    • Detailed Blog Income Reports

Daily Dose of Thrifty: Substitute Rice For Half The Ground Beef in Your Recipes

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

August 25 by Alex 14 Comments

brown rice

Here is your Daily Dose of Thrifty – a new feature here on The Thrifty Couple.  We have tons of these ideas (and want to hear yours yours too!) and thought it would be fun to start sharing some of our tips on thrifty, frugal living.

Today’s Tip: Substitute Rice for half of your ground beef.

How? Well in many recipes, you can replace about 1/2 the ground beef a recipe calls for with rice! It is much cheaper than beef and keep many recipes tasting just as, well… tasty.

Meat can be one of the most expensive portions of your grocery budget, so finding little tricks that can help reduce the cost can have a great impact on your budget.

Our kids are getting bigger – the 6,5,4 and even 1 year old are really gaining some big appetites.  So instead of increasing our taco meat or other beef recipes to 1.5-2 lbs. of beef, we just add rice and still use the same amount.  Rice is significantly cheaper than ground beef, especially when purchased in bulk.

Here are some examples:

  • Taco Meat
  • Meatloaf
  • Meatballs
  • Ground Beef Fried Rice
  • Recipes calling for ground beef

Use around 1/2 cup to 1 cup of rice uncooked in your recipes. This will give you more servings in your typical recipes or you can reduce the ground beef in your recipes. Either way, you can save money and not compromise on taste.

Finally, we all know that our meat portions should be cut down.  We all look over our shoulder to make sure our doctor isn’t in the restaurant when eating our half-pound burgers.  🙂  Not only is this our daily dose of thrifty, but its our small attempt at our daily dose of health (especially when you are using the long-grained, brown rice).

Filed Under: Daily Dose of Thrifty, Frugal Living, Home Life, Recipes

Previous Post: « Flexitol Heel Balm FREE Sample For Dry Cracked Feet
Next Post: Procter and Gamble Coupon Book Filled With $110 of Coupons »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristalyn Ford

    What a great tip! Do you cook the rice before you add it? Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Danielle Nguyen

    Great idea! I noticed that my 5 layer burrito from taco bell is mainly rice instead of beef… lol. I bet they know about this trick!

    Reply
  3. Catherine Taylor

    @Kristalyn..It said to add uncooked rice??? I have never done that before, how long and do you have to add water when you cook the beef? Do you still drain the fat? This is a cool idea, but I have never done that before and I am not the best cook ;(

    Reply
    • thriftyal

      Oh – sorry for not clarifying. You would measure out 1/2 to 1 cup uncooked rice (1/2 cup is recommend most often, especially if you are using just 1 lb. or less of beef). We drain and rinse the beef that we are using if it is ground beef in a casserole, tacos, etc. and then add the al dente, cooked rice for the last minutes of cooking. This works especially well for taco meat (you are probably right Danielle!). Brown the beef, drain and rinse, then add the rice and taco seasoning.

      For meatloaves, meatballs, etc. add the al dente rice to the raw meat mixture and then it will finish cooking with the dish. Casseroles, same thing.

      A lot this will depend on what type of rice you are using. Instant white rice may be okay to add to the casserole/dish without precooking in some recipes. Brown rice, long grain etc. will need to be mostly cooked before!

      Summary: most every dish will require cooked rice to an al dente state.

      Hope that helps!

      Thrifty Al

      Reply
  4. Melissa

    That is an awesome idea. I have my husband and I, a 2 year old and an infant. I have been trying to make fast and easy meals due to needy children at that time of day. I buy my ground beef in bulk and brown the WHOLE thing when the kids are napping. I let it cool a little and put 1/2 cup portions in a ziplock bag and freeze it cooked. Cuts my cooking time in half at night! Mmm. I need to go buy rice now! Thanks!! 🙂

    Reply
  5. SimplySarah

    I also substitute healthier black beans for beef. A half can of black beans substituted for a half pound of beef.

    For any Mexican or Casserole type recipes, I just cook the beef and drain. Then I put the meat back in the pan and add the slightly drained (but not fully) black beans and cook til the bean juice and beans have integrated with the meat.

    For burgers, I mash the beans first and then mix with the uncooked beef. Make into patties and cook burgers as normal (they grill a bit faster).

    Reply
    • thriftycas

      That is a great idea! Kinda mix up the beef substitutes. We have a whole bunch of those on our shelves!

      Reply
  6. Martha

    I whip up a great vegetarian pasta dish in no time with lentils, pasta sauce and whole wheat pasta. Delish! Also, I make chicken soup with leftover rotisserie chicken, but instead of adding noodles or rice, I add about a half a cup of instant oatmeal close to the end of cooking time. Great texture and creaminess! If I have no leftover chicken, then I make vegetable soup (using fresh or frozen veggies), add chicken, beef or veg stock, a potato, and then add the half a cup of oatmeal close to the end of cooking time. So good! Don’t forget to add a dash of cumin for a deep rich flavor. I sometimes add a sprinkling of finely chopped cilantro to garnish the soup.

    Reply
  7. Sara

    We use 1/2 TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein – soy) with 1/2 beef. My kids need the protein, I need the iron and my husband just needs to reduce red meat – TVP works for all of our dietary needs. My husband has always considered himself a meat and potatoes kind of guy and was surprised that TVP tasted good.

    Reply
  8. Anne

    I use beans as a filler. Dried beans are cheap!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Walmart Deals 8/26 - FREE, Under One Dollar and More | The Thrifty Couple says:
    August 26 at 10:35 am

    […] Taco Bell Taco Seasoning (see a Simple Spanish Rice recipe here and a tip for use with beef and rice here) […]

    Reply
  2. Thrifty Couple Weekly Menu Week of 9/12 | The Thrifty Couple says:
    September 14 at 9:54 pm

    […] Leftover rice from the stir fry to make the meat go further […]

    Reply
  3. FREE Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Packets with New Coupon and Ideas on Ways To Use says:
    September 3 at 12:18 pm

    […] way to stretch your food dollar is mixing in 1/2 – 1 lb. of hamburger with half of rice and mix-in taco seasoning for any classic taco […]

    Reply
  4. We Challenge You To Save $4,068 This Year With These Food Tips! Will You Join Us? says:
    July 10 at 2:32 pm

    […] See more details on our Daily Dose of Thrifty tip HERE on using rice as a filler! […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Read About Our New Book

Read About Our New Book

Check Our Our Podcast!

Check Our Our Podcast!

Get a Deal on Our Book Now!

Looking for Inspiration?







Our Most Popular Articles

Our Most Popular Articles

Copyright © 2025 · The Thrifty Couple · Please check out our Privacy Policy and our Disclosure Policy.