Mince quantity question (stretching and portion sizes)?

loopy-loo73

Hi,

I'm sure i've read somewhere I can pad mince out with oats.
I'm making lasagne & hoping to stretch it to some pasta bake for the freezer.
Do I just as porridge oats? And how much? Do I do anything to them 1st or just chuck them in?

Thanks,
Lou x

Pink.

Hi loopy-loo,

I prefer to use red lentils rather than oats as it's easy to overdo the oats and turn it into bolognese flavoured porridge...yes I did do that once! For five people I just add a good handful of red lentils and once they cook down they're almost invisible and make no difference to the taste.

These threads have more advice that may help:

Mince quantity question (stretching and portion sizes)?

Padding out meals

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

loopy-loo73

thanks Pink, I've not got any lentils in so will try a few oats after reading the other thread you linked
Lou x

sexki11en

Oats work well for us. I just throw in a couple of handfuls as they are. I never weigh or measure lol.

I've also found that soya mince works really well for stretching both beef and lamb mince. The last shepherds pie I made had 300g of cubed lamb (finely chopped) and was bulked out with both soya mince and oats and served hubby & I 4 meals (so 8 individual portions) I was quite pleased with that!

SK x

iris

As P-W has said, I also prefer red lentils. I also add finely chopped celery and carrots (I use a small food processor), which also helps to bulk the mixture out.

Olliebeak

Not so sure it would work for Lasagne, but I s-t-r-e-t-c-h my mince out with soup/broth mix, pearl barley or red lentils.

Dried mixed beans (sometimes called salad beans) pre-soaked and cooked, would probably work for Lasagne along with some chopped peppers and mushrooms - but peppers and mushrooms can just add to the overall cost.

loopy-loo73

thanks everyone,
I had onion, carrots & pepper in the fridge already so used them with 1 bag mince & 2 handfuls oats.
It made 6 portions lasagne & 3 pasta bake
Nobody noticed
Lou x

canidothis

I cant for the life of me find posts on stretching mince - I wondered what people add to say 250g of mince to make it go further and how many meals can they make out of it.

I added lentils and porridge oats last night but Im more confused to how many tins of tomatoes and liquid are added - btw please move if Im in the wrong place

Moorhen

Hi,

I make 450g of mince into 5 portions of spaghetti bolognese and 5 portions of chilli just by adding loads of vegetables to the spag bol (whatever is cheapest but at least 1 can of tomatoes and a big squirt of tomato passata).
I usually add peppers and mushrooms and at the moment courgettes to both of them and then I put 2 tins of kidney beans in the chilli.

HTH

canidothis

thanks moorhen - so just to clarify (its a bit early for me:)) you make 10 portions out of 450g and only need to add 1 can of toms?