Should You Rinse Your Ground Beef?

By Melissa Moore on March 7, 2023

Ground beef is seen past a price sticker at a grocery store in Washington, DC, on June 14, 2022. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

We’ve all heard to drain the fat off of ground beef after browning it, but what about rinsing it with water?

Just this past year I learned that you have to rinse rice before cooking it.  I considered myself a good cook, so you can imagine my shock at the rice tidbit.  When I read about rinsing ground beef after browning it I was curious.  Had I missed something that everyone else knew to do?

So I did some research and here is what I found.  Rinsing your cooked ground beef rinses off all the flavor.  The rendered fat is part of that flavor make up of ground beef.  The flavor goes down the drain when you rinse all the fat off of it.

According to Better Homes & Garden Kitchen Testers instead of rinsing the beef-  drain the fat or buy lean beef.

That sounds a lot more reasonable and tasty to me.

xox

Melissa