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Home » Ground Beef Recipes » Mushroom Farro with Ground Beef

Mushroom Farro with Ground Beef

Published: Mar 20, 2020 · Modified: Oct 10, 2021 by Cooking Chat · This post may contain affiliate links

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Mushroom Farro with Ground Beef is a hearty, richly flavored main dish. Farro grain is a great ingredient to stock up on; if you have done so this dish can be easily made with ingredients on hand. Read on for details, including our wine pairing suggestion. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

farro with ground beef and mushrooms.

This Mushroom Farro with Ground Beef was one of the first meals I made during our first week practicing social distancing — or “physical distancing” as I prefer to call it. 

This hearty dish definitely qualifies as the comfort food we need, but also packs plenty of nutrition. I’ll break down the ingredients that make this work, noting how these ingredients work as part of an emergency food stockpile.

Ingredients for this recipe — and to keep on hand!

farro with mushroom and ground beef on a white plateThis recipe uses ingredients that are great to have on hand. Some you probably already, and others you might want to think about adding to your food supply!

Farro is a hearty ancient strain of hard wheat popular in Italian cooking. Farro is a nutritious grain, high in protein fiber and other nutrients. I encourage you to stock up on farro! A little goes a long way. Lately I’ve using the Nature’s Earthly Choice pearled farro, which can be found at local grocery stores and also seems to be in stock on Amazon as of this writing. 

Ground beef is a great staple to keep in your freezer, if you eat meat even occasionally. I prefer grass fed ground beef for its nutritional value. We have several 1 pound packages in the freezer. This recipe only uses ½ pound, leaving enough for two burgers the next night. Stretching our meat is a good strategy these days!

Mushrooms: I bought sliced mushrooms, so needed to use them pretty quickly. But stocking up on dried mushrooms and reconstituting them is a great idea for your pantry! We love using dried porcini! For details on how to reconstitute dried mushrooms, scroll down to the middle of our Porcini Mushroom Beef Stew article for details and photos.

Onions keep well for an extended time in a cool, dark place like the basement. I got a big bag when stocking up to add flavor to all kinds of dishes!

Block of cheese: Buy a block of Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, and shred what you need for this dish. Sealed well after using, hard cheeses like these can last a couple of weeks in the freezer.

Extra virgin olive oil: Make sure you have plenty of evoo when you stock up! It can be used for cooking recipes like this, and is a great starting point for homemade dressings.

Garlic A head of fresh garlic lasts for weeks. We keep ours in a little storage container on the counter — which is typically overflowing! Garlic is not something I would want to run out of!

Dried herbs Fresh herbs are great, but they are very fleeting in the fridge. Keeping a good variety of herbs on hand helps to have flavor options without making many trips to the store.

Wine Pairing

We have enjoyed this Mushroom Farro recipe with a Merlot as well as an Italian red wine from Sicily.

October is known as #MerlotMe month, which has had me focusing on the grape. I was reminded that Merlot can work well with tomato based sauces and is great with mushrooms, so I thought I would try one with this hearty dish the last time we made it.

mushroom farro with ground beef on a white plate, served with red wine.

I opened the 2018 Longboard Merlot Dakine ($39, 13.9% ABV) from the Russian River Valley. The grapes are from the winery’s estate vineyard, and include 17% Malbec along with the Merlot. The wine was provided as a complimentary sample.

The Longboard Merlot has notes of brambles and violet on the nose. On the palate, the Merlot has blackberry fruit, notes of charcoal. Firm tannins and medium acidity. A well-balanced wine. That acidity and structure makes the Longboard Merlot a great pairing for the Mushroom Farro with Ground Beef!

Visit our Merlot Food Pairing article for more delicious pairings with this grape!

The first time we served this farro recipe, I opened a bottle of 2017 Planeta Sicilia Cerasuolo di Vittoria (13% ABV), a blend of 60% Nero d’Avola and 40% Frappato.

Sicilian red wine with farro dish.

I get forest floor on the nose of the Planeta. Bright cherry fruit with notes of charcoal on the palate. Tart acidity–good for a tomato based dish. Definitely has volcanic soil notes, not a surprise for a wine from Sicily.

I have come to be a big fan of the Cerasuolo rosés from Abruzzo. So the Cerasuolo di Vittoria term through me for a loop at first, but a bit of research shed some light on the matter. Cerasuolo di Vittoria is a DOCG wine region in Southeastern Sicily.

This Cerasuolo di Vittoria definitely works as a pairing for the mushroom farro. You could also open a good Chianti to go with this recipe. 

More recipes with farro

OK, so I’ve earlier I was extolling the virtues of farro. Let me give you a few more favorite recipes using this hearty grain:

      • Arugula Steak Salad with Farro
      • Salmon Farro and Mushrooms
      • Roasted Root Vegetable Farro
      • Spoon Roast with Mushrooms and Farro

And while we are in the mode of suggesting other recipes, if you like this one, you might also want to try our Ground Beef and Kale recipe.

Print

Mushroom Farro with Ground Beef

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

Mushrooms cooked with ground beef and tossed with hearty farro grain for a substantial, richly flavored meal.

  • Author: Cooking Chat
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 55 mins
  • Yield: 5 servings 1x
  • Category: main
  • Method: stove top
  • Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 8 ozs mushrooms, sliced
  • ¼ cup dry red wine
  • ½ lb ground beef
  • 14 ½ oz can diced tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp thyme
  • 1 cup pearled farro grain (see notes)
  • 2 cups water
  • ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese or parm
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley (optional)

Instructions

  1. Sauté onion: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium low heat. Add the onions, stirring occasionally. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the onions begin to soften.
  2. Add mushrooms to the skillet, stir to combine with onions. Cook for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms begin to “sweat” (give off liquid). Stir in the red wine, and cook for a few more minutes until it is mostly absorbed.
  3. Cook the farro: Start the farro after adding the mushrooms to the skillet. Rinse the farro in cold water. Bring the 2 cups water to a boil, then add the rinsed farro grain. Simmer covered on medium low heat until the water has been absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes. When the farro is done, stir in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
  4. Stir ground beef into the skillet. After the beef has cooked for a few minutes, add the garlic, followed by the tomatoes, thyme and oregano. Simmer on medium low for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the beef should be cooked through. Cover the beef / mushroom mixture and keep warm on very low heat after the beef has cooked through.
  5. Finish the dish: Scoop the cooked farro into the skillet with the mushroom beef mixture, and stir to combine. Add the cheese, stirring to combine. Sprinkle a bit of parsley over the dish for presentation. Plate the farro and enjoy! Serve with a green salad or vegetable such as steamed green beans.

Notes

  • The cooking time is based on pearled farro. If you use whole farro, which is even more nutritious, it will take longer to cook. Follow cooking time on the package.
  • You could reconstitute dried mushrooms to use in place of fresh mushrooms in this recipe.

Keywords: farro, mushrooms and farro, beef and mushrooms, ground beef recipes.

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farro recipe with ground beef and mushrooms.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jen

    March 21, 2020 at 10:04 am

    This is such a great way to change up our normal ground beef dinner routine. I’m a sucker for anything with mushrooms. So good!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 21, 2020 at 3:55 pm

      Adding mushrooms really stretches the ground beef! i.e. you don’t need to use too much.

      Reply
  2. Farah Maizar

    March 21, 2020 at 10:25 am

    This is so hearty and delicious looking! I love anything with mushrooms , can’t wait to try this!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 21, 2020 at 3:54 pm

      I’m a big mushroom fan too!

      Reply
  3. Emmeline

    March 21, 2020 at 10:40 am

    Such a different & delicious recipe! Never had anything quite like it but I can imagine this flavor is off the charts!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 21, 2020 at 3:54 pm

      Thanks Emmeline, it is very flavorful!

      Reply
  4. Cookilicious

    March 26, 2020 at 11:11 am

    I love making farro! This looks delicious..love mushrooms.

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 26, 2020 at 12:21 pm

      Me too, one of my favorite grains!

      Reply
  5. Marissa

    March 29, 2020 at 5:38 pm

    I’ve been making a ton of farro lately and am always looking for new ways to enjoy it. This recipe is a must try because you can never have too many mushrooms!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      April 01, 2020 at 11:56 am

      That’s for sure, we use mushrooms in so many things.

      Reply
  6. wendy spackman

    September 13, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    Have made this many times now & It’s always so good! I’ve also tried variations with turkey meat, adding in chopped asparagus, making the farro like risotto and serving the meat & mushroom portion on top, etc…
    Its such a great recipe and can also be really flexible so you don’t get into a rut.
    Thanks so much for sharing this. 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 14, 2020 at 6:05 am

      Glad you have enjoyed and found ways to adapt it! Definitely can see it work well with turkey, too.

      Reply

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Hi there! I'm David. I love creating tasty, (mostly) healthy recipes, finding great wine pairings, and sharing good food with family and friends. learn more about me!

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