Ground Beef and Zucchini Skillet with Feta

This is ground beef, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and onion cooked in one 12-inch skillet with garlic and oregano, finished with lemon and crumbled feta.

The beef goes in first and browns on its own for a few minutes before anything else touches the pan. The zucchini goes in after, covered for three minutes to soften and then uncovered so the liquid it gives off cooks away, and the tomatoes go in for the last minute or two so they warm through but stay whole. The lemon and feta go on with the heat off, which keeps the lemon sharp and the feta in soft pieces instead of melted into the beef.

It makes two servings and takes about 25 minutes.

Why You’ll Love It

• One 12-inch skillet, about 25 minutes.
• Written for two servings, doubles cleanly in the same pan.
• No draining the beef if you use 85/15.
• Low-carb on its own, or served over rice or in pita.
• Reheats for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 lb 85/15 ground beef

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

2 small zucchini, about 10 to 12 oz total, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/2-inch half-moons

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus the zest of half a lemon

1/3 cup crumbled feta

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or dill

Steps

1. Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers.

2. Add the beef, season with the salt and pepper, and break it into a rough single layer with a spatula. Then leave it alone for 3 minutes. You want browned edges, and stirring constantly turns the beef gray and wet instead. After 3 minutes, break it up and stir once or twice more until no pink remains, about 5 to 6 minutes total.

3. Push the beef to one side of the pan. Add the onion to the empty side and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until it starts to soften, then stir it into the beef.

4. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Stir for 30 to 60 seconds until the garlic smells toasted but hasn’t browned.

5. Add the zucchini, stir to coat it in the fat, and put a lid on the pan for 3 minutes. Then take the lid off and cook another 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is just tender with some browning on the cut sides. It should still hold its shape. If it’s going limp, the heat is too low.

6. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just until they’re warm and starting to soften. You don’t want them to break down into sauce.

7. Turn off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and herbs.

8. Scatter the feta over the top and put the lid back on for 1 minute so it softens. Serve straight from the pan.

Helpful Tips and Substitutions

The lid-on, lid-off step for the zucchini is what keeps it from going watery. Three minutes covered softens it through, and the uncovered minutes after that cook off the liquid it released so the pan ends up nearly dry instead of soupy.

Use 85/15 beef. Leaner beef needs extra oil to cook the onion properly, and fattier beef leaves enough grease that you’ll want to drain it, which means losing the browned bits from the pan.

Ground lamb is the better meat here if you can get it. The oregano and lemon are built for it. Ground turkey works too, but add another tablespoon of oil before the onion since there’s almost no fat in the pan after browning it.

Buy feta in a block and crumble it yourself. Pre-crumbled feta has anti-caking starch on it and stays chalky instead of softening under the lid.

If your zucchini are on the large side, toss the slices with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and let them sit for 10 minutes, then pat dry before they go in the pan. It pulls out water before it can end up in the skillet. Small zucchini don’t need this.

A handful of kalamata olives or two cups of baby spinach stirred in with the tomatoes are both good additions and don’t change the timing.

Serving Ideas

Over white rice or orzo, with the pan juices spooned on top.

Stuffed into warm pita with a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt or tzatziki. Warm the pita in a dry skillet for 30 seconds per side first.

Over a pile of arugula for a warm salad. The lemon in the beef is enough dressing.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Reheat in a skillet over medium heat rather than the microwave. The zucchini releases more liquid as it sits, and a skillet cooks that off. The microwave leaves it sitting in the liquid.

The feta that’s already in the leftovers goes rubbery on the second heat. Add a little fresh feta on top after reheating.

It doesn’t freeze well. The zucchini turns to mush on thawing. If you want to freeze it, cook and freeze the beef and onion base only, then add fresh zucchini and tomatoes when you reheat.

The lemon fades overnight, so a fresh squeeze over leftovers brings it back.