[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;”] I[/dropcap]always feel a little self conscious when I go to my farmers market on a Saturday morning.
I only go every few weeks to stock up. My first stop is usually the organic vegetable section for cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage and the best broccoli in the world. But my vegetable purchases don’t cause the embarrassment…
It’s when I pickup my meat order and there is so much minced (ground) meat.
I mean heaps.
I LOVE my ‘mince’ as we call it here in Oz.
It’s quick to cook. It’s inexpensive.
It’s always tender because any tough muscle fibres have been chopped up. Which also means it’s very forgiving, so if you overcook it won’t be ruined.
And since I buy the special ‘fatty mince’ from Claire and Sam, it’s always super tasty and never dry.
I also love that it’s so versatile as you’ll see when you browse through the recipes below.
Need I say more?
23 Tasty Ideas for Minced (Ground) Meat
1. Baked Meatballs
2. Moroccan Meatball Tajine
3. Yoghurt & Kofta Curry
4. Spanish Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles
5. Stuffed Sweet Potato
6. ‘Super Iron’ Supper
7. Beef, Broccolini & Basil
8. Bacon Sang Choi Bau
9. Sesame Stir Fry
10. Chicken & Basil Stir Fry
11. Shichimi Togarashi Beef
12. Chinese Beef & Beans
13. Chinese Chinkiang Beef
14. Seriously Easy Moussaka
15. Green ‘Spaghetti’ & Meatballs
16. Green Curry Stir Fry
17. Ground Beef with Kale
18. Spiced Beef with Hummus
19. Salt Crusted Burgers
20. Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry
21. Buttery Zucchini with Ground Beef
22. 5-Ingredient Shepherds Pie
23. The Great Aussie Rissole! (below)
I’m always looking for new ideas…
What’s your favourite way to use minced meat?
Share your ideas with the Stonesoup community in the comments below.
But what if I’m vegetarian?
No probs! Just substitute cooked lentils like these for any recipe calling for plain mince. And use this lentil ball recipe for any of the ‘meatball’ recipes. You might also like these chickpea burgers.
—
The Great Aussie Rissole!
At first glance I know these just look like a burger or meatballs but there’s something really special about the humble rissole. As far as I know they’re an Australian invention. I hadn’t had them in years until I was inspired to make a much simplified version of the rissoles in the Three Blue Ducks cookbook. Talk about a winner!
I like to serve mine with salad leaves and some Mayo but you’re welcome to pop them in a burger bun with a splash more ketchup if you like.
Enough for 2-3
Takes 20 minutes
500g (1lb) minced (ground) beef
75g (3oz) almond meal
1 egg
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 handful pine nuts
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley (optional)
1. Mix beef, almond meal, egg, pine nuts, parsley (if using) and a little salt in a large bowl.
2. Using your hands form into patties. It’s up to you how big or small. I like mine medium sized so they don’t take too long to cook.
3. Heat a little oil in a frying pan on a medium high heat and cook rissoles for about 5 minutes on each side until well browned and just cooked through. Be careful as the sugar in the ketchup makes them easy to burn.
4. Serve with salad leaves or however you like your burgers.
Variations
sugar-free – just skip the ketchup or replace with 1 tablespoon tomato paste.
egg-free – just skip the egg. The texture will be slightly dryer and more prone to crumbling but it won’t be the end of the world.
5 ingredients – skip the parsley
nut-free – skip the pine nuts and replace the almond meal with soft bread crumbs.
vegetarian – add pine nuts, ketchup and parsley to these lentil balls.
Big love,
Jules x
Mince recipe . . . Meatloaf, add plenty of grated vegetables and anything else you fancy. Great hot with homemade sauce and super easy in sandwiches and lunch boxes the day after.
Thx Angie!
Hi, I love your easy recipes.but I think rissoles were invented in England during the war.
Other than that keep up the good work. I love your rissoles too.
:)
Thx Iceni.. My food history isn’t the best so you could well be right!
almond meal in an Aussie rissole! sacrilege!
It’s just a gluten-free alternative to bread crumbs paul… I like a bit of sacrilege though :)
I love to make meatloaf. My recipe includes 1/2 cup of milk, plenty of bread crumbs and an egg or 2 depending on how much ground or minced meat you use. Everyone likes my meatloaf and they love it moist. What I add sometimes is these natural dip mixes that I’ve bought from someone at a fair. They aren’t just for making dips out of! I bought ones that I knew my family and I would like and that would go well in a meatloaf. My mom is Italian and she makes meat balls. I love hamburgs but mine are never juicy enough. I could make them like a meatloaf but it’s hamburg, not a meatloaf. I especially love the minced meat you can buy at our Farmer’s Market too. I don’t know if they will be there this year or not but I bought pork chops from them and they were from grass fed beef and natural and they were so good! I hope they are there this year.
Yay for meatloaf Gail! If your hamburgers are too dry you need to find a fattier source of meat.. Or add lots of olive oil or butter:)
What a lovely list of recipes for mince. Can’t wait to make some. I have been making a lot of “Chop Suey” like my Mum made for us in the 70’s. Great way to use up all the cabbage from the garden.
Ooh I hadn’t thought of Chop Suey… Thx Debra!
I stumbled across the following recipe (or one just like it) for spinach and meatball soup one night when I wanted to use up the beef mince I had, but didn’t want to make something tomatoey
http://www.food.com/recipe/comfort-soup-spinach-meatballs-57424
My standard version now is:
500g beef mince
1 pkt french onion soup mix
chopped spinach (fresh or frozen; english, silverbeet, kale – doesn’t matter)
handful of grated parmesan cheese
Water (whatever the soup mix says)
Roll the mince and parmesan into balls (or don’t if you can’t be bothered)
Brown the mince (or balls) in the bottom of the soup pot
Pour over soup mix and water
Add frozen spinach immediately, or chopped fresh spinach once the balls are almost cooked
Simmer until it seems done (it will be quicker if you don’t roll the mince into balls, or use fresh spinach)
Garnish with parmesan cheese when serving if you didn’t add it into the meatballs – or even if it is!
Season to taste with pepper, chilli, paprika, cayenne as the mood takes you (it will already be a little salty from the soup mix and parmesan)
To ‘bulk it up’ a bit you can add rice, potatoes, noodles or beans, but you may also need to add more water. You can also add other veggies or herbs. You could use your own stock instead of dodgy packet mixes. Bacon goes very nicely in the meatballs, or as a garnish
This dish has the distinction of being the first dish my picky husband would eat spinach in!
Love the sound of this Kazrina! And am on the lookout for more soup recipes! Thx for sharing Jx
Thanks for all these awesome recipes Jules. I’m pretty keen to give a few of them a try.
Welcome Ellen!
We Indians have a super simple and tasty way to cook ground meat. And since it’s ground meat, quick too. You will find the recipe in the following links, the bare-bones recipe on my food52 collection
https://food52.com/recipes/47438-curried-ground-meat-or-keema-matar
And the recipe along with an entertaining piece about beef and Indians on my blog
https://theminimalistindian.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/imagine-eating-dog-meat-thats-how-many-indians-feel-about-eating-cow-meat/
This is new to me, responding to a request on-line. I have your 5-Ingredients, 10-Minutes Cookbook and it is well-used and dog-eared. I am 68 years old and still learning about beautiful cooking. This is a ‘recipe’ that my mother made – Slumgullion. I have made it throughout my life, but I confess, I did not call it that because my children would have turned their noses up. Nonetheless, it is a great way to use up all those veggie bits, and the weird stuff in the bottom of the fridge before you go grocery shopping.
1 onion
1 lb. ground beef, or 1/2 lb. ground beef, whatever you have
1 garlic clove
1 tin tomatoes, smooshed
1 tin beans, any beans – black, red or white kidney, chick peas, lentils whatever, drained
Brown the beef in a bit of oil with the onion. Add the garlic, cook a bit, and add the smooshed tomatoes.
Chop up any old veg you have in the fridge and dump them in. Cook a bit. Add the beans. Cook a bit more, maybe 20 minutes. Add whatever seasonings seem to match what’s in the pot. Cook until a bit thickened, maybe 10 minutes.
Pour over whatever starch seems to match what’s in the pot . . . . pasta for an Italian thing, rice or rice noodles for Asian, mashed potatoes for just about anything (you will be loved for this option).
Jules: I hope this makes sense to you. Your lovely cookbook makes so much sense to me as George and I more and more live a life as a couple again.
Sincerely, Peggy Sloan – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Thanks for sharing Peggy! Totally makes sense… You’ve got me curious about the name Slumguillon.. Jx
This is great! I’ve been using mince (ground beef) almost every week. I love that it’s so versatile, but lately I find myself doing up versions of your Super Iron Supper (#6 above) every week because it’s just so fast.
My little ones prefer a tortilla with sour cream instead of spinach, which works especially well when I use black beans. Usually when I make that version, we put sour cream on top too instead of the tahini, and I season the meat with cumin.
Now I’ll have to expand my repertoire by trying out some of the other recipes you listed :)
Yum Rachel!
Personally, my fav is cabbage rolls with a meat-rice filling, baked in a tomatoey (word?) sauce. Learned it from my Grandmother, have been eating them all my life. Super super yummy!
Love the idea of cabbage rolls Adriane!
I LOVE LOVE the (bok choy) Shichimi Togarashi (spelling?). I saw it in one of your posts a few months ago, and it looked so easy, PLUS, it used a vegetable I had never tasted & wanted to try. A relative took me to a Japanese market in Las Vegas and I bought the last two bottles of the spice, based on your recommendation of deliciousness!! I made it and it was a huge success, my husband loved it (surprised him) and me too. It’s now a dish I make weekly, especially if time is short — 5-8 minutes and dinner is ready!!! Thank you for the revolution, Jules, you created in my kitchen since 2007. Sincerely, Mimi in Tucson
You’re welcome Mimi! Thanks for hanging around :)
A few years back, a friend shot his first deer. His buddy was trying to dismember the carcass, but he was about three sheets to the wind. As the buddy come butcher finished a section, I loaded the remains into a very sturdy leaf bag. “I’ll toss these in the dumpster for you.” I managed to trim at least five pounds of venison off the discarded bones, which I mixed with a pound of bacon. The mix was run through my grinder twice. I suppose you could call it hamburger. I won’t mince any words, it just doesn’t get much better.
Nice one Daryle!
Love San Chow Bow. Husband anti green foods (!?) but LOVES this meal! SO eats LOTS of lettuce lol! I don’t use bacon, just free range pork mince, soy and plum sauce, and Chinese five spice…
Yum Chrissie!
Thanks for sharing
Welcome!
Hey there, I’m a big fan of your website. I really enjoy your article. I am a really keen hunter so your stuff are really appealing to me and my friends. Fish & hunt on! Cheers.