Greek Youvetsi Recipe (Ground Beef and Orzo)

Youvetsi (also called giovetsi) is a simple beef and orzo one-pot meal that your whole family will love. Cozy and comforting, this Greek dish is packed with flavor.

I’ll never forget my first bite of youvetsi. We were in Oia, a tiny village on the beautiful Island of Santorini, Greece. The menu listed it simply as “beef and pasta”. And I’m not sure what I was picturing in my head, exactly, but when the bubbling dish of stewed beef and orzo was set down in front of me, I was mesmerized. As I watched them crumble salty kefalotyri cheese on top, I knew this was going to be good. REALLY GOOD.

And you guys – it was delicious. My version of this popular beef and orzo dish is made with ground beef in a skillet, right on your stove. There’s no need to brown a large cut of beef and braise it for hours, so you can whip up this Greek youvetsi recipe any day of the week.

Kefalotyri is hard to find outside of Greece, but this aged, salty, cow-and-sheep milk cheese is very similar in flavor to parmesan cheese (made with cow’s milk) or a pecorino cheese (made with sheep’s milk). I recommend picking up a nice-sized hunk of either and grating it right on top of your bowl of steaming youvetsi.

Why you’ll love this Greek Youvetsi Pasta:

Lightened up recipe: We’ve lightened up the calories in this dish but kept all the rich flavor. Instead of a fattier cut of beef chuck, we’re using a lean ground beef. We’re also reducing the amount of orzo in the recipe to cut down on the carbs, but trust me – this dish is still hearty and full of flavor!

Simple Ingredients: Greek youvetsi comes together with the simplest of ingredients. We just need beef, pasta, onion, some warm spices, tomato and red wine.

Perfect for Meal Prep: This recipe makes a big batch – perfect for meal prep. Portion out single-servings into glass bowls and add a little side salad.

Beef and Orzo Skillet Ingredients

Lean Ground Beef: I used a lean ground beef from Butcher Box. If you’d like to sign up to try it for yourself, you can use my affiliate link to get a discount AND free meat! To check the latest Butcher Box deals – click here.

Crushed Tomatoes: I prefer the texture and flavor of canned crushed tomatoes. If all you have are canned diced tomatoes, you can blitz the tomato + juice in the blender for a moment to create a similar texture.

Onion & Garlic: Any color of onion will do.

Spices: We’re going to be using a mix of warm spices like allspice, cinnamon, cumin, and bay leaves, along with a salt and pepper.

Orzo: Greek youvetsi is typically made with orzo pasta, but you can substitute any small shaped pasta such as pastina or ditalini.

Red Wine: I recommend using a red wine that you enjoy drinking. If you’d prefer not to use wine, you can substitute beef broth instead.

Cheese: Optional, but I recommend grating some parmesan or pecorino cheese on top of your Greek beef and orzo pasta.

How to Make Greek Youvetsi With Ground Beef

Add ground beef to a skillet over medium heat. Start by breaking up your ground beef into larger pieces, and cook without disturbing for about 4 minutes. This will allow a nice brown crust to form on the beef and really add to the flavor.

Next, crumble and stir the beef and add in onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes or until beef is brown, onion is soft and garlic is fragrant. I did not need to drain off any fat as I used a lean ground beef. If yours is fattier, now is when you’ll want to drain off any extra grease.

Next we’re going to deglaze our skillet by adding gin the wine, and gently scraping up any browned bits. Cook for about a minute, or until most of the wine has cooked off. Then add in in the crushed tomatoes and your spices. Give it a good stir and turn heat down to low. Gently simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to melt together.

Next we’ll add in our orzo pasta along with a cup of water. Cook, stirring often, and add in splashes of water as needed to keep the sauce from getting too dry. You’ll want to stir often so the orzo doesn’t stick to the skillet. (I ended up needed to add in about another 1/2 cup of water and it took me about 12-13 minutes until my orzo was tender.)

Garnish your Greek youvetsi with grated cheese and scallions if desired and serve with a green salad. If you like flavorful ground beef recipes, try out my stuffed Italian mushrooms or my cowboy baked beans with ground beef.

Enjoy!