Place one pound of ground meat in large skillet. Brown no more than one pound of meat at a time to avoid overloading the skillet and trapping moisture so meat is steamed rather than browned.

Cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until meat is not pink, breaking it up into ¾-inch pieces. Add one chopped medium onion to meat as it is browning. Remove meat and onion with slotted spoon to bowl or shallow container lined with paper towel to absorb grease.

To freeze browned meat for later use, remove and discard paper towel and loosely cover bowl or container. Place in
refrigerator to completely cool meat. When cold, transfer meat to freezer bag. Press out as much air from bag as possible before sealing, then label and date package. When placing bag in freezer, flatten to speed freezing now and thawing later. Bags may be stacked in freezer after they are completely frozen.

Wipe skillet with paper towel before starting next batch if making multiple batches of browned meat to freeze, or return browned meat to skillet and continue with recipe.
 

 A nonstick skillet works best for browning ground meat especially if it is lean. Avoid using uncoated iron or aluminum skillets which can speed unwanted flavor changes in frozen cooked ground meat.

Browning meat with onions or bell peppers speeds future recipe preparation and helps slow flavor changes.

Do not add salt to browned meat until using it in your recipe as salt too can speed up unwanted flavor changes.

Use frozen browned meat within 2 to 3 months for best flavor and quality.