How do you bulk out mince?

christineperseus

TVP - soya mince

MallyGirl

splishsplash wrote: »

I'm a bit odd in that I don't like the texture of lentils or oats in mince dishes and I can definitely taste them. Instead I use courgette, mixed peppers, celery and onions.

For 500g mince I would use 1 courgette, half each of red, green and yellow peppers and a rib of celery. That's in addition to onion, garlic, tinned toms herbs and passata for spag bol/lasagne/chili.

My daughter can spot a lentil sneaked in at 20 paces unfortunately.
For spag bol I use 2 cans of tomatoes to 500g lean mince, plus at least one onion, 1 grated carrot, a whole red pepper, plenty of mushrooms, garlic, tomato puree. I have sneaked in grated courgette before - it was eaten but DH and DD weren't that thrilled with it. I hate celery.

ouraggie

I put either Quorn mince or breadcrumbs in mine. Other half has never noticed!

[Deleted User]

handful of red lentils/porridge oats and some grated carrots and diced onions will streetch a mince meal to at least a couple more portions for the freezer.once you have bisto gravy powder in as well and its simmered for a bit you would never notice it especially in lasagne or chilli sauce

Steve059

Grated carrots are the traditional way of padding out cottage/Shepherd's pies.

I've used chopped mushrooms in Bolognese sauce and chilli con carne if a YS'd meat pack size is 400g or 450g and the recipe needs 500g. They're "meaty" and you can't tell the difference, In fact, I've been unable to tell which frozen portions of these I've used mushrooms in and which ones I haven't.

A word of warning about using Quorn, if other people are likely to be eating it. A lot of people, including Lynne, my wife, are allergic to it.

Carrot007

Celery is my go to ingrident.

It would be sad to call it a padder though.

in a nicely cooked meal it goes to (near) mush and enhances the flavour by absorbing the tasy bits.

Curry, Mince based dishes, Pies it is all good.

And don't forget carrots, leeks, potato, mushrooms, random beans and such depending on what you are cooking.

jackyann

Personal taste, so you have to experiment.
Personally, the only time I bulk out a mince dish is chilli, when I add lots of veges - I roast things like peppers, aubergines and tomatoes separately and stir them in, then add kidney beans and / or sweet corn.

With things like moussaka, lasagne & shepherds pie, I make the basic mince, then layer with veges, depending on what suits - lots of aubergines & potatoes in moussaka - layers of sliced carrots and leeks in shepherds' pie, but I often change it about, and sometimes mash things like parsnips. I think that I get a good tasting mince sauce and good tasting vegetables all cooked together.
For me, bulking out mince seems tasteless.

Sometimes I make a lentil "shepherds' pie" - either true vegetarian, or with a few bits of ham hock / bacon mis-shapes for flavour (they can also bulk out / add flavour to basic mince) This suits me better than mixing lentils and mince.

I nearly always use a 50/50 mix of beef / pork - pork mince is usually cheaper than beef and I find the mix is a lovely taste & texture (I lived around an Italian area when learning to cook). And some beef mince recipes come up beautifully (if not traditionally!) using sausage meat.

So experiment, and don't get downhearted if it doesn't work at first - what could you tweak to make it better next time?

milasavesmoney

Ohhh I love the idea of adding potatoes to the moussaka. I think that would help soften the flavor and it just sounds good!

kathrynha

I personally bulk out mince with grated veg and value baked beans, although I will be trying red lentils at some point.

Any veg pretty much works, and if you have a food processor it is really quick. It's a great way of using up any veg that is past it's best. Also great for getting some of your 5 a day in to the family.
Just be aware that it does add fluid, so you will need to reduce amount of other fluid, or thicken it.


Baked beans are a good starter, if you like them, for bulking out, especially if hubby is a bit of a carnivore, as they are something familiar.


As for quantities. It's trial and error, but stock up with freezer bags, to freeze leftovers.

kboss2010

I add 2 cups of peas/sweetcorn, a couple of diced carrots/onions for 500g mince.