A ground beef pile on a parchment paper.
How To Pick The Best Ground Beef At The Supermarket?

NEWS

By ANDREW AMELINCKX
A bowl of ground beef.
For optimal ground beef selection, it’s important to determine the desired fat content and the cut of beef used by the butcher, depending on your intended use for the meat.
Uncooked hamburger patties on a wooden board.
The fat content for ground beef runs from around 30% fat to 10% or less. If the label says “lean,” it can’t have more than 22.5% fat, and “extra lean” contains no more than 15% fat.
Beef being ground in a machine.
Ground chuck has about 15% to 20% fat, while ground round typically has a fat content of around 10% to 15%. Ground sirloin, on the other hand, is the leanest, with 10% fat or less.
Slices of meatloaf.
Since fat equates to flavor, opt for ground beef with at least 15% fat when making a meatloaf. For oven-baked meatballs, consider using leaner beef as fat also comes with grease.
A pile of ground beef on a plate.
In dishes like soups or stews, where there’s already plenty of moisture from the other ingredients, ground sirloin imparts delicious beef flavor without the grease of other cuts.