Mince quantity question (stretching and portion sizes)?

FZwanab

How much mince would you need to feed 5 adults and 3 toddlers without being over generous or mean at the same time?

thriftlady_2

I'd go for 4-6 oz per adult and 2 oz per toddler - 2 lb 4 oz. But it depends what you're making - a cottage pie or mince and tatties needs more than spag bol or chili because of the extra ingredients.

needaspirin

I'd use 2 pounds of mince, 6-8 ounces of onions, 3 oxo cubes, and make a shepherds pie with 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes. Grate a little cheese over the top and serve with carrots, peas and yorkshire puds!
If you make too much, it freezes well and reheats in the microwave.

FZwanab

Thats great advice, much appreciated, sorry for delay getting back to your responses.

LJM

there are 2 adults and 2 little ones in my house and i only ever cook 1Lb mince at any one time(unless im cooking for the freezer)works fine for us and we all have quite big appetites

teedy23

LJM wrote:

there are 2 adults and 2 little ones in my house and i only ever cook 1Lb mince at any one time(unless im cooking for the freezer)works fine for us and we all have quite big appetites

always used 1lb of mince for 2 adults and 3 kids, but bulked it up with carrots and plenty of totties, a spoonfull of baked beans would fill a space in the plate too. We all liked our grub too:rotfl:

nickinoodle_2

When making a chilli (or shepards pie etc) I was wondering how much mince people use? just I always use a pack of mince - not sure of the size think they are about 400/500g?? standard supermarket packet anyway. And I was wondering if this was too much just for 2 people for one meal?

How can I pad out a chilli to make it go further? Know what sort of things I can use in sherpards pie etc, but just a bit stuck with what to put in a chilli?


Any ideas be great

newlywed

Extra kidney beans?
I put sweetcorn in almost everything to pad them out and add to the 5 a day, or peas sometimes.

In curry I add sweet potato which is lovely

elona

I use turkey mince as it is lower in fat and use about 450 grams for five or six people.

For Shepherd's pie I pad it out with lots of onion, tomatoes, grated carrot and add a tin of baked beans to the base before topping with mashed potato.

For pasta I omit the beans but add peppers or mushrooom as well as the above.

nickinoodle_2

Hmmmm sweetcorn sounds a good idea, thank you!

HariboJunkie

I use a small pack of mince and if the sauce is tomato based like spag bol or chilli I throw in loads of red lentils. If it is gravy based I use green lentils. i also add loads of kidney beans, chickpeas and veg to chilli to make it go further. A bit windy roung here:o but it really eaks it out.
I usually have enough for 4 people and leftovers to freeze another 4 portions. I hate people having seconds as it throws my freezer cooking out of kilter:rolleyes: