Ground Beef and Dumplings

Ground beef and dumplings is a hearty comfort food classic made with seasoned ground beef, tender vegetables, and fluffy biscuit dumplings simmered in a rich, creamy broth. This dish is warm, filling, and comes together in under an hour, making it perfect for busy weeknights or cozy weekends. Every bite is packed with flavor and guaranteed to satisfy the whole family.

Love More Dinner Ideas? Try My Hamburger Gravy Over Mashed Potatoes or this Slow Cooker Beef Ragu next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This dish is perfect for nights when you need something quick, hearty, and delicious on the table. Ready in just 45 minutes, it’s filled with rich, comforting flavors that even the pickiest eaters will enjoy. The tender dumplings paired with savory ground beef make it a cozy, satisfying meal that feels like home every time.

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Ingredient List

For the Base:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

For the Broth:

• 10.5 oz can condensed cheddar soup
• 10.5 oz can condensed cream-of-bacon soup
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups half-and-half

For the Dumplings & Veggies:

• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 can refrigerated biscuit dough (about 10 biscuits)

Substitutions:

• Regular milk instead of half-and-half works but it’s thinner
• Any cream soup works if you can’t find bacon flavor
• Ground turkey if you want less fat

Why These Ingredients Work

I tried making this fancy once. Used fresh vegetables, made my own dumpling dough, bought expensive organic beef. Took three hours and tasted worse than this version.

Those canned soups already have all the seasonings figured out. The cheddar one tastes like someone melted a whole block of cheese in there, and the bacon one has this smoky thing that makes everyone think you put actual bacon in it. Which you didn’t, but who cares.

The half-and-half makes it creamy without being gross and heavy like when you use straight cream. My sister uses heavy cream and her version sits in your stomach like concrete. Mine you can actually eat without feeling sick after.

Frozen vegetables don’t turn to mush like fresh ones do. I learned this after watching twenty dollars worth of fresh carrots turn into baby food. Now I buy the big bag of frozen mixed vegetables from Costco and use them for everything.

The biscuit trick came from my mother-in-law, who got it from her mother-in-law. You cut up canned biscuits instead of making dumpling dough from scratch. Sounds gross but they puff up better than anything I’ve ever made myself. My grandmother would probably have a heart attack, but my grandmother also spent six hours making Sunday dinner.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Big pot – I use the one that came with my stove but anything that holds about six quarts works
• Sharp knife for chopping onions
• Wooden spoon that won’t melt if you accidentally leave it in the pot
• Kitchen scissors for cutting biscuits
• Can opener

How To Make Ground Beef and Dumplings

Heat Oil and Prep Onion

Heat the oil in your big pot. Medium-high heat, whatever that means on your stove. Mine goes up to 10 so I put it on 7. While it heats up, chop your onion. I cut mine pretty small because my middle kid picks out onion pieces if he can see them.

Cook Beef and Onions

Put the beef and onions in at the same time. This saves a step and they cook fine together. Break up the meat with your spoon – really break it up, not just poke at it a few times. Took me years to figure out that big chunks of ground beef are gross. Cook until the beef isn’t pink anymore and the onions look soft. Maybe eight or ten minutes.

Add Garlic and Seasoning

Throw in the garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir it around for a minute until you can smell the garlic. Don’t let it burn or it gets bitter and you have to start over. Ask me how I know.

Add Soups and Liquids

Open both cans of soup and dump them in. Then add the chicken broth and half-and-half. Stir everything together. It looks weird at first, kind of chunky and separated, but it smooths out as it heats up.

Add Vegetables and Bring to Boil

Add the frozen vegetables straight from the bag. Don’t thaw them first or they’ll get mushy. Turn the heat up and wait for everything to start bubbling. Takes maybe five minutes because all that frozen stuff cools it down.

Add Biscuit Dumplings

While you wait, get your biscuits out and cut each one into six pieces. I use kitchen scissors because it’s faster and I don’t have to get a cutting board dirty. Just snip snip snip right over the pot. When the soup is bubbling hard – not just steaming, actually bubbling – dump all the biscuit pieces in. Stir them around just enough to get them all wet.

Cover and Simmer

Put the lid on, turn it down to medium-low, and set a timer for fifteen minutes. Try not to lift the lid too much because the steam cooks the dumplings. I peek maybe twice the whole time.

Rest and Serve

When the timer goes off, turn off the heat and stir it gently. Then let it sit for about five minutes before you eat it. It’ll thicken up during this time and the dumplings finish cooking in the heat.

You Must Know

The soup has to be actually boiling when you put the biscuit pieces in. Not simmering, not hot, boiling with bubbles. I messed this up the first three times I made it and ended up with gummy blobs instead of fluffy dumplings.

Don’t stir it to death once the dumplings go in. A couple gentle stirs is fine but if you go crazy with the spoon they’ll break apart and you’ll have dumpling soup instead of soup with dumplings.

Personal Secret: I cut the biscuits with scissors instead of a knife because my mother-in-law showed me and it works better. They don’t get squished flat like they do when you press down with a knife, and the weird uneven shapes hold more soup.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Cook the garlic and Italian seasoning for that full minute even though it seems pointless. I used to just throw everything in together but that minute makes a big difference in how it tastes at the end.

Keep extra chicken broth around because sometimes the soup gets too thick after the dumplings cook. Depends on what brand of biscuits you use – some soak up more liquid than others. Just pour in a little more broth if it’s too thick for your taste.

Let it sit after you turn off the heat. I know everyone’s hungry but the dumplings aren’t actually done cooking when the timer goes off. They need that five minutes of sitting in the hot soup to finish up, and the whole thing thickens during this time too.

Buy lean ground beef or you’ll have to drain off a bunch of grease before you add the liquids. I use the 90/10 stuff because it’s not that much more expensive and it saves me from having to deal with grease.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

My neighbor makes a Mexican version with taco seasoning instead of Italian and she adds corn and black beans. Her kids like it even more than the regular version.

If you like mushrooms, cook some sliced ones with the onions. I buy the pre-sliced ones because I’m lazy but fresh ones probably taste better.

Sometimes I throw in some thyme or rosemary at the very end if I remember to buy fresh herbs. Makes it smell fancier than it actually is.

My brother-in-law puts jalapeños in everything so when he comes over I add a diced one with the onions. Makes it spicy but not too spicy for the kids.

Make-Ahead Options

You can brown the meat and onions ahead of time if you want to prep for a busy night. I do this sometimes on Sunday and then just add everything else when I get home from work. Just heat the meat mixture back up before you add the liquids.

Don’t try to make the whole thing ahead and reheat it though. The dumplings get weird and gummy when they sit too long. Always make the dumplings fresh.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

This gets thicker as it sits because the dumplings keep soaking up liquid. So if you have leftovers they’ll be more like a thick stew than a soup. Just add some milk or more chicken broth when you reheat it.

Different brands of biscuits act different. Some puff up huge, some stay smaller and denser. I’ve tried probably every brand at the grocery store and they all work fine, just with different textures. Use whatever’s on sale.

Don’t worry if your dumplings look lumpy and weird. They’re supposed to look homemade, not perfect. If they look too perfect people will think you used some fancy technique.

Serving Suggestions

This is dinner. That’s it. The meat, vegetables, and dumplings cover all the food groups so I don’t feel guilty about not making anything else.

We usually have some kind of bread because bread makes everything better. Cornbread if I’m feeling ambitious, but usually just whatever’s in the pantry. Sometimes just crackers.

My kids discovered that sour cream on top makes it taste even better. I thought they were crazy but I tried it and they’re right. Adds some tanginess that cuts through all the richness.

If you want to make it look fancy, chop up some parsley and sprinkle it on top. I do this when my mother-in-law comes over because she judges everything I cook.

We eat this probably twice a month now because it’s easy and everyone likes it. Even my picky eater who won’t touch vegetables will eat the frozen mixed ones in this soup. I have no idea why but I’m not questioning it.

How to Store Your Ground Beef and Dumplings

Refrigerator: It keeps for three or four days in the fridge. Maybe longer but we always eat it up before I find out. Like I said, it gets thicker as it sits but that’s normal.

Reheating: I heat it up on the stove on low heat and stir it a lot so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Usually have to add some milk or more broth to thin it out. If I’m just heating up one bowl I use the microwave for like two minutes.

Freezer: Don’t freeze it. I tried once and it was disgusting when I thawed it out. The dairy gets all separated and weird, and the dumplings turn to mush. Just make what you can eat in a few days.

Allergy Information

This has gluten from the biscuits and dairy from the soups and half-and-half.

Gluten-free: They make gluten-free biscuit dough now. It’s more expensive but it works the same way. I’ve only tried it once when my sister-in-law was visiting and it was fine.

Dairy-free: This one’s harder. You can use coconut milk instead of half-and-half and there are dairy-free condensed soups but they’re hard to find and expensive. Honestly the dairy is what makes this taste good so I don’t know if it would be worth it.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I make real dumplings instead of using biscuits?

You can but why would you want to? The biscuit ones taste better and take half the time. I’m all for making things from scratch when it actually improves them but this isn’t one of those times.

My dumplings came out tough and chewy. What went wrong?

The soup wasn’t boiling when you put them in, or you stirred too much while they cooked. They need really hot liquid and gentle treatment to puff up right.

Can I put other vegetables in?

Sure. I’ve used fresh carrots but you have to cut them really small and add them early so they cook through. Potatoes work too but same thing – small pieces and add them with the meat.

How do I make this healthier?

Use ground turkey instead of beef and regular milk instead of half-and-half. You could add more vegetables too. But this is comfort food, not health food, so don’t expect miracles.

How do I know when the dumplings are done?

They’ll be puffed up and look cooked through. If you’re not sure, fish one out and cut it open. The inside should be fluffy and cooked, not raw or gummy.

Can I make a bigger batch?

Yeah, just double everything and use a bigger pot. I do this sometimes when we’re having people over. The cooking time stays the same.

What if it’s too salty?

Those condensed soups are pretty salty already. If it’s too much, add more chicken broth or milk to dilute it. Next time maybe use low-sodium broth.

💬 Let me know if you try this! I always want to hear about what other families think of it.