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Tender Tuscan kale, ground beef, bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes and lemon give this easy, keto-friendly Beef and Kale Skillet tons of flavor!
The verdict is in! After posting this Keto Sheet Pan Pizza recipe a couple of weeks ago, lots of you told us you wanted us to post more keto recipes. Today’s Beef and Kale Skillet is another delicious recipe that will nicely fit into a keto or low-carb eating plan.
But even if you aren’t counting your carbs these days, this Beef and Kale Skillet is just simply delicious, easy to prep, loaded with lots of healthy vegetables, and a meal that everyone will love.
How do you make this Beef and Kale Skillet?
This easy Beef and Kale Skillet is a one-pan meal – so start with a large, covered skillet.
In the skillet, sauté red onion, red bell pepper, diced sun dried tomatoes, and garlic in extra virgin olive oil, and cook until the vegetables start to soften.
Next, add ground beef and seasonings, and cook until the meat is browned.
Finally, add rinsed and chopped Tuscan kale, plus fresh lemon juice. Cover the skillet and cook until the kale is wilted – about 5 minutes or so. Remove the cover and simmer until the liquid in the pan has evaporated.
Last step – sprinkle some shredded, sharp cheddar cheese on top and cover again until it melts. Then serve your Beef and Kale Skillet immediately.
Can I use curly kale or other greens in this recipe?
Yes, although we personally prefer the taste and texture of Tuscan kale (also called dinosaur or lacinato kale). Curly green kale can take longer to cook than Tuscan kale so plan accordingly.
You can also swap in other greens such as Swiss chard, collard greens or turnip greens. (Just be sure to check the carb counts for any substitutions you make.)
What can I serve with this Beef and Kale Skillet?
- A simple spring mix salad with our Favorite Vinaigrette (swap in a couple of Stevia drops (unflavored) for the granulated sugar if you are keto)
- Cauliflower Puree
- Broccoli Rabe
- Mashed Cauliflower and Spinach
You may enjoy these other Kale recipes:
- Tuscan Kale Pesto
- Lemon Basil Chicken with Tuscan Kale and Cauliflower Rice
- Massaged Kale
- Tuscan Kale with Garlic Tomatoes
- Garlicky Tuscan Kale
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Beef and Kale Skillet
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, diced small
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
1/2 pound ground beef 70/30 (if you can’t find 70/30, 80/20 is fine, but more fat is better on a keto diet)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dry oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 cups Tuscan kale, chopped and packed (rinse well and leave in colander wet)
Juice of one lemon
2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat then add onion, bell pepper, sun dried tomatoes and garlic and saute for three minutes.
Add ground beef, salt, pepper, oregano and cumin and cook until browned, about two minutes.
Add the wet kale and the lemon juice and lower to medium low and cover.
Cook about five minutes until the kale has wilted. Remove cover, raise heat to medium and cook to evaporate liquid, about 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle on cheese, cover and remove from heat. Wait two minutes and serve.
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I haven’t tried yet but want to!! Why do you think it has so much sodium in it when the ingredients seem so simple?
Hi Michelle – We use a tool called Nutrifox to calculate the nutritional data – plugging in our ingredients, and their database compiles the data. I’m guessing the sodium calculation is adding up from the sun-dried tomatoes and the cheese, as well as the added salt in the ingredients list. It may be possible to find versions of both that are lower sodium, and you could also wait to season with salt until the end and season to suit you tastes. I hope that helps!
He’ll never admit to his friends, but my husband LOVED this meal! I added some bacon just because……it’s BACON!! 🙂 Will add this recipe to our favorite KETO file.
That’s great news Lisa! 🙂
We are In the middle of moving into a new home. Typed in beef, bell pepper and kale. Your recipe popped up. My husband and I give this 5 stars. Used 1/2 tbs of onion powder (no onion), add rice vinegar in replace of tomatoes, 1 lb of beef, one tbs of lime juice instead of lemon. We ate this with rice. I would have made it exactly if I had all the ingredients.
Yum yum will make this again
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Whitney – and good luck with your move!
Came together quickly and my entire family loved it! I doubled it and BARELY had enough for 8 people, 5 of which were children. I would definitely say the original recipe serves more
Like 2-3, rather than 4. Excellent flavor and I made zero tweaks!
Thanks for your feedback Lisa!
This is 2nd time making this. It is now going to be a regular in my meal line-up. I haven’t had sundried tomatoes on hand both times making this but I do have Roasted Tomato/ Pepper (a touch warm) Pesto in the freezer and have used that. It should be 10 stars:)
Wow Mary – thank you!
Your website is impossible to navigate. At least half of the links don’t work. Frustrating.
I’m sorry for the frustration Donna – I am seeing the same issue and believe it’s an issue with our ads taking time to load and it’s preventing links on the top half of the page to delay in being clickable, but if we scroll the page down a bit, the links are clickable. I’ve reported this to our ad manager to try to resolve. My apologies.
This was something I threw together – I used white onion and no bell pepper. It was excellent! I served over dirty mashed potatoes, my husband said it tasted like shepherds pie! I will definitely make this again!
Glad you liked the recipe Megan!
Just made this dish and it was DELICIOUS!! So flavorful and very satisfying. Will be adding this to the dinner rotation.
Thanks for a great recipe
You’re very welcome Carolyn! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Just made this beef and kale recipe, added some more spices and served with cauliflower rice and it was delicious, definitely a keeper.
Thanks Becky!
OMG this was amazing and so easy and quick to fix. Love It!!!
Thanks Jonnette – glad you enjoyed the recipe!