Lentils to bulk out mince meals

kezlou

we do this regularly, at one pint kids and OH complained it didn't taste the same when i just used mince
I bulk out mince with dried red lentils and grated carrots. Main thing is start off with a handful at first. Or everyone will notice the difference straight away.

Brown lentils require more cooking as they harder and they don't dissolve as much as the red.

Never bulked out with oats but you could always try it, but we tend to bulk meals out with plenty of veg. The lentils will need extra water though as they expand when cooking.

iris

I also bulk out my mince with tinned chopped tomatoes and also any soft tomatoes that are lurking in the fridge, grated carrot, finely chopped celery and Sainsbury's Lentilles Vertes (they are quite small and when cooked look like mince). The lentils are £1.10 for 500g, which should last you ages. I don't like porridge oats in my mince dishes, but that's just me and DH.


As someone else has said, just try a handful at a time and see how you go. I always make my mince meals in my slow cooker, so the lentils get well cooked.

peachyprice

For four portions you don't need 500g mince in the first place! 250g is plenty to get 5-6 good portions. Try it, you'll be surprised.

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

The other very affordable and almost invisible way of bulking out mince is with Textured Vegetable Protien (soya mince)

I'll give that a try, I hadn't noticed you can get it at Tesco.

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I add a beef oxo cube too.

:eek::eek: The salt!!

allybee101

Peachy is right - you can stretch mince a good way further. A 250g pack can easily make 6 portions of chilli/bolognese/mince.
I use plenty of finely chopped onion, mushrooms and grated carrot in any of these. You can add lentils, beans, oats to add further bulk.
Make sure you use meat stock cubes and plenty of seasoning/spices/herbs for flavour - you might find it a bit too bland otherwise.
I've not tried TVP so I can't pass comment on it.

allybee101

Jack, you need some salt in your diet, we can't completely cut it out.

I will use a little salt to season dishes like these but none goes onto my veg or gets added at the table. And a stock cube divided between multiple portions is a pretty small amount per portion.
If you're concerned about salt intake then it's processed foods like ketchup that you have to be more careful around.

MrsSave

Wow! Amazing responses today. Thank you. I'm definitely going to cut down the quantity of mince I use. Will make our meals using 250g instead of 500g and will add a handful of lentils to start and a few other bits and see how we get on

annie_d

I remember back in the day when i really had NOTHINg I used to pad out the mince with porridge oats. URGH.

SailorSam

boredjellybean wrote: »

can I just hijack & ask how you prep/cook the lentils as I always thought you had to be careful with them??

It depends which lentils & pulses you're using. I don't buy tins 'cos the packets of dried stuff is much cheaper. You'd need to read the instructions 'cos the likes of red lentils take very little time and can be thrown in at the end. Lots of others need to be soaked overnight. The ones you're thinking of when you say you need to take care are probably Red Kidney Beans, they need soaking overnight but also need boiling for 20mins or so to get rid of the toxins.

belleandthebudget

I use grated carrot, onion and mushrooms in mince dishes. I use the same amount of mince as usual but just freeze all the left overs. It goes so much further.