Ground Beef and Butter with Fresh Curry Leaves

Heard of the beef and butter fast? I was skeptical but decided to do it for a few days to experiment and, what do you know, it works a treat! The simplicity of the foods that you eat will help keep you well within macro ranges. Many may think the ground beef would throw me off my protein count.

Ingredients · Servings 4

4 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup curry leaves
16 ounce ground beef (80/20)
salt (to taste)
4 large egg
water
crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
2 ounce queso fresco

Method · 35 min

In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Let the butter cook until it's slightly browned. Add curry leaves. Stir and cook until aromatic.
Add ground beef. Break up and cook until no longer pink. Generously season with salt.
Add 1 inch of water to a pot, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the eggs straight from the refrigerator into the pot. Replace the lid and let it continue to boil for about six minutes.
Once done, place the eggs in ice water or run under cold water until they are cool to the touch. Peel and set aside.
Transfer to serving or individual bowls. Sprinkle a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes for some kick. Serve with softboiled eggs and cheese.

It can get a bit boring though so when I chanced upon some 75% Lean ground beef at my local store, I decided to give it a whirl. This time, seasoning the butter with some fresh curry leaves. If you don’t have an Asian store nearby, Amazon sells it.

Note that a little goes a long way – make sure to store the extras in an airtight container, or better yet vacuum pack it. And to answer your question, no, fresh curry leaves are DIFFERENT from curry powder. The latter is a spice blend. The fresh leaves, on the other hand, are leafy herbs, think bay leaves with a vibrant and nutty aroma.

Serving this with jammy (softboiled) eggs and Cuajada Fresca (Salvadoran fresh cheese) is a great idea, at least to break the monotony – also good with some roughly mashed avocados (healthy fats) with coarse pink salt.

Yields 4 servings of Ground Beef with Curry Butter.

The Preparation

4 tablespoons butter
16 ounces ground beef (80/20)
2 ounces queso fresco

The Execution

1. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add curry leaves. Stir and cook until aromatic. Pro tip – make sure your butter is hot, slightly browned (gives out a nutty flavor). Once you add the leaves, it will sizzle and crisp up a bit.

2. Add ground beef. Break up and cook until no longer pink. Generously season with pink salt.

3. Transfer to serving or individual bowls. Sprinkle a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes for some kick. May serve as is or, for variety, add sides such as softboiled eggs, cheese, avocado, etc.

This makes a total of 4 servings of Ground Beef and Butter with Fresh Curry Leaves. Each serving comes out to be 504 calories, 42.3g fats, 0.8g net carbs, and 28.5g protein.