Stop Ignoring This Unexpected Cooking Oil That'll Make Ground Beef 10X More Flavorful

Chicken frequently receives the MVP (Most Valuable Protein) for versatility, but don't get caught sleeping on the flexibility of ground beef. This savory meat can be almost anything you need it to be by adding various combinations of seasonings. There are so many ways to impart a specific flavor profile to ground beef that some of these are often overlooked. Marissa Stevens, recipe developer and founder of Pinch and Swirl, mentioned one in particular that's perfect for giving the meat an Asian twist.

"Cooking ground beef with sesame oil is a great option when you're making all kinds of Asian-inspired recipes," she says. "It has a unique 'sesame' or toasted nutty flavor, if you're using toasted sesame oil, that you really can't get from other oils." Even the best, most flavorful Italian olive oils seem tame when compared to sesame oil. The unique taste lends well to lettuce wraps, dumpling filling, and the classic Korean dish that's perfect for leftover steak, bibimbap.

"That said," Stevens warns, "it doesn't work for all dishes. You wouldn't want to use it in classic beef tacos or something like a beef ragu sauce." In other words, sesame oil has a very specific profile that doesn't mesh with all types of cuisine. It's also incredibly potent, which makes it imperative that folks use only as much as is needed to keep ingredient from overwhelming the dish.

Once you've decided to give ground beef with sesame oil a shot, the question becomes how much you should use. If you're leaning into the unique taste, Stevens suggests paying close attention to the meat-to-fat ratio in your beef. "You need to consider how fatty your ground beef is and how strong a sesame flavor you're after to decide how much sesame oil to use," she says. "If your beef is fatty and you want a more pronounced sesame flavor, drain the beef well after browning and then add more sesame oil."

Even then, Stevens says the "correct" amount of sesame oil can depend on the dish. As powerful as it is, sometimes a teaspoon is all you need. In other cases, she mentions using as much as a few tablespoons. More than that, however, and you're likely straying into overpowering territory.

Of course, you don't want sesame oil to be the only flavor in your ground beef. Stevens recommends using other ingredients as well to create a harmonious balance in your meal. "The seasonings that pair best with sesame oil and ground beef are things you'd associate with many Asian dishes: aromatic base ingredients like garlic, fresh ginger, and scallions; umami ingredients like soy sauce or tamari; gochujang or gochugaru if you're making a Korean-inspired dish." Stevens also mentions adding a sweetener to tame the saltiness, whereas adding a bit of rice vinegar or lime juice is a terrific way to introduce acidity. These ingredients mellow out the robust flavor of sesame oil so it works to lift the ground beef up rather than take it over.