What Is Lean ground beef patty and How Can I Use It?

Lean ground beef patty is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 7 recipes to get you started.

Key Points

A lean ground beef patty is a pre-formed 90/10 burger, lower fat and quicker to cook.
With only 10 percent fat it dries out fast, so pull it right at 160°F (71°C).
Dimple the center and salt the surface only, just before it hits the pan.
Loose lean ground beef is the easy swap; form your own patties in five minutes.
Fridge one to two days, or freeze flat with parchment for three to four months.

What is lean ground beef patty?

A lean ground beef patty is exactly what it sounds like: lean ground beef, usually a 90/10 grind, shaped into a flat round and ready to cook. Recipes call for it when they want a portioned, lower-fat burger without you having to weigh and form the meat yourself.

The "lean" part is the catch. With only 10 percent fat, these patties cook drier and tighter than a fatty 80/20 burger.

That means they reward a gentle hand and a quick exit from the heat.

Cooking It

Cook a lean patty to 160°F (71°C) and pull it the moment it gets there. The window between juicy and dry is short with so little fat, and every minute past done squeezes out more moisture.

Press a shallow dimple into the center before it hits the pan so the patty cooks flat instead of bulging into a ball. Salt the surface just before cooking, not into the raw mix, or the meat tightens toward a sausage bounce.

Keep the heat to medium-high and flip once. A lean patty has no fat cushion to forgive a fussed-over, repeatedly poked surface, so leave it alone to build a crust.

These patties also crumble straight into other dishes. Break one up for the meat in a quick Garlic Curry Burgers filling or a fast skillet sauce, treating it as pre-portioned lean ground beef.

Substitutes and Storage

Loose ground beef, lean is the obvious swap: buy the 90/10 grind and form your own patties, which costs five minutes and lets you control the size. A fattier 80/20 chuck grind makes a juicier burger if you do not need it lean.

Ground turkey or chicken patties stand in for an even leaner option, though they cook drier still and need a little oil and firmer seasoning.

Store raw patties in the coldest part of the fridge and cook them within one to two days. Freeze them flat with a square of parchment between each so they pull apart easily, and they hold quality three to four months. Thaw in the fridge, never on the counter.

Quick facts

In Chinese: 瘦牛肉馅饼
British (UK) term: Lean ground beef patty
en français: galette de bœuf haché maigre
en español: hamburguesa de ternera picada magra

Recipes using lean ground beef patty

There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Garlic Curry Burgers

Garlic curry burgers fold mild curry powder, fresh garlic, and sweet Vidalia onion right into the beef, with egg and evaporated milk keeping the patties tender on the grill. A spiced summer cookout twist.

Bolognese sauce / Ragù Bolognese: the modern recipe

This recipe is healthier in fact is the mostly used recipe you choose but they are both original recipies cause I live in Bologna!!! From this recipe you t get out 2Kgs of ragù if you don’t need that quantity you could freeze it and can remain in the freezer of at least 2 months, here all housewifes do so.