Mince quantity question (stretching and portion sizes)?

amazon_spice

mushrooms in eevrything here!

green or red peppers in chilli.

nickinoodle_2

Great, thanks for all ur ideas people, some really good things, will def try the lentils as wanted to start using these more

newlywed

And I add thinly sliced parsnip and mushrooms to cottage pie and lasagna as the kids eat them without realising then

On another thread a comment by MATH (I think) said to add in some rolled oats with the mince as when the mince is cooked apparently you can't tell the difference between the oats and the mince - have yet to try it though.

morganb

With moussaka I always add green lentils and the kids love them

snoozer

I use about 4oz of mince per person if I'm not padding. I added oats to cottage pie but tbh felt it made the texture a bit slimy. Didn't tell DS or DH though and neither commented and the flavour was fine.

Grated carrot will pad anything - the sweetness goes really well with bolognaise sauce.

gingin_2

I always thought a 500g pack was intended for four although I know some use for more some less. Husband eats large quantities of meat so a 500g pack usually goes 1/2 on him and the rest on 1 adult and 2 children. OH would eat the whole pack if I wasn't there to complain :rolleyes:

I am another fan of adding, peppers, beans, mushrooms, carrots etc to bulk the meal out.

cupid_s

The packs we get are 454g. We cut this in half and each half will do two people easily. Apparently you're not supposed to eat more than 100g or so of meat for your dinner so I just usually work on that principal.

Heth_2

When I make chilli I use a 454 g pack of mince and usually make four portions, of which I then freeze two.

stilernin

454g is 1lb in old money and 4oz is always ample for a serving when cooked in 'mincey' recipes.

When things were very tight I used to add oats or the breadcrumbs from stale bread that I had frozen. As long as the gravy or sauce is well flavoured and there is loads of mash, rice or pasta, it usually all goes down with no complaints.

Now of course it is healthy to have oats rather than red meat... dried soya pieces (double points for Whole Foods in Mr T's at the mo) is a good padding too.

Pandora123_2

We use veggie mince (fresh or frozen, not the dried stuff), 150g for two LARGE servings (more like three normal-sized adult servings). We add pinto beans to chili. You might want to try mixing veggie mince with regular mince, or even veggie mince on its own... DH says the only diff he can tell with stuff made from veggie mince is there aren't any gristly bits :rotfl:

:A