Stretching ground meat

[Mama_Rana]

I have been experimenting with stretching ground meat

1) to save money [pastured/grass-finished meat is $$$]

2) to increase fiber and decrease meat intake

and probably another reason I'm forgetting.

 

I cooked 1C dry lentils and without thinking, dumped the whole thing in my pound of bulk sausage [luckily this was a traditionally-raised package of meat] and made meatballs. Hubby and I agreed: I tried to stretch it too far.

 

So any tips on the proper ratio of meat to stretcher? I'm mostly planning to use lentils to keep the amount of carbs down and the protein up [i know lentils have carbs, but I think they're better for us than rice or bread crumbs]. But DH also said that growing up, a lot of the ladies in his community used course ground or even lightly chopped peanuts.

[Soror]

I don't usually stretch mine like that but in dishes with lots of extra veggies or beans or sometimes grains.

[Katy]

If you're going to use lentils or beans, it might help to grind them into a paste in the food processor first to get rid of the texture. I've also used rice. Or even cornflakes, though obviously that doesn't solve a carb issue.

 

I'm allergic to wheat, so I can't do this, but they make something called texturized vegetable protein that's really cheap, and already textured a lot like burger.

[Onceuponatime]

I use rolled oats (not instant) in my meatloaf and meat balls, about 3/4 cup per pound of meat. I also add chopped onion and/or green pepper.

 

I also use less meat and more veggies in casserole type dishes.

[happypamama]

Mushrooms are a good choice. Spinach might work too; it worked with meatloaf the other nght for me. You could also try adding chopped liver to ground meat, if it's cheaper than ground beef; I did that with chicken livers and ground beef in spaghetti sauce a while ago, and nobody could tell the liver was in there.

 

Instead of mixing them directly together, I do often do a side of black or refried beans to put in tacos/burritos with the ground meat.

[Momof3littles]

We serve a lot of ground beef recipes over shredded cooked cabbage to stretch them, rather than adding something directly to the meat.

 

For stuffed peppers and a few other things, I like shredded/"riced" cooked cauliflower added to the ground beef. Cauli isn't always super inexpensive, but if you can find a good deal on frozen it might be worth it (or not?).

 

Ditto on the spinach and mushrooms.

[Katy]

Actually I think TVP is soy.

 

You might be thinking of wheat gluten which is often used to make meat substitutes.

 

 

That could be. I've seen a few online lists that says it's okay, but I saw a package of it at the store that said it contained wheat, so maybe it was just that brand.

[Ottakee]

A friend does this with zuchinni. She mixes about 1/2 ground beef to 1/2 shredded zuchinni and adds a bit of steak sauce to the mix and then makes it into patties and freezes them. She said they are great on the grill but you must freeze the patties first before grilling.

 

I haven't tried it but might...............as I might be the only person in the world that can not get zuchinni to grow :-)

[Parrothead]

Add things like chopped mushrooms, onions, celery, bell pepper and even carrots. All of those can be added to loaves, patties, and balls. They can also be added during the browning process.

[Nestof3]

I make my tacos with black beans and ground beef. A about $6.00 for a package of hormone-free, grass-fed beef, I can totally understand needing to stretch it. I also just like the tacos better this way.

 

I have been experimenting with stretching ground meat

1) to save money [pastured/grass-finished meat is $$$]

2) to increase fiber and decrease meat intake

and probably another reason I'm forgetting.

 

I cooked 1C dry lentils and without thinking, dumped the whole thing in my pound of bulk sausage [luckily this was a traditionally-raised package of meat] and made meatballs. Hubby and I agreed: I tried to stretch it too far.

 

So any tips on the proper ratio of meat to stretcher? I'm mostly planning to use lentils to keep the amount of carbs down and the protein up [i know lentils have carbs, but I think they're better for us than rice or bread crumbs]. But DH also said that growing up, a lot of the ladies in his community used course ground or even lightly chopped peanuts.

[happypamama]

We serve a lot of ground beef recipes over shredded cooked cabbage to stretch them, rather than adding something directly to the meat.

 

 

 

Ooooh, I've got a huge cabbage here that someone gave us, and I'm wondering what to do with it. My attempts at sauerkraut have not gone well, and I just made borscht with some cabbage earlier in the week. I would love to hear more ideas for what you do with ground beef that goes well over cabbage (like, do you use it for a sub for pasta with a usual spaghetti sauce?). And how do you cook the cabbage -- shred it and saute it, or what? That sounds like a great idea!

[JR the hs dad]

Your ratio of lentils to meat sounded good to me. Was the problem with your meatballs the flavor, the texture, or both? For flavor, I would add some beef broth to the cooking liquid. For texture, I much prefer red lentils to brown because it's easier to cook them to be tender but not mushy.

 

For burgers and meatballs where keeping everything stuck together is an issue, I've had better luck with partially mashed black beans. This is where some grains (we use oats) can also be helpful. The adhesion problem is where finding the right amount of non-meat extender is the most challenging for me.

[Mom in High Heels]

I add finely chopped eggplant to almost all meat dishes. It cooks down so it's not obvious and it kind of takes on the flavor of whatever it's cooked with. James Bond and Indy love my chicken enchilada casserole (basically just enchiladas layered instead of rolled-so much easier) and they have never suspected it has eggplant in it. Both swear up and down they hate eggplant.

[Ferdie]

I saute a chopped onion, two carrots and two celery stalks for 5 min and add to ground beef. Not really to stretch it but to bulk up fiber/minerals. I usually make a large batch of the veggies and add them to everything: spaghetti sauce, casseroles, ground meat and soups. The veggie mixture freezes great in ziploc bags, (preportion so it is ready to use). I use a food processor to chop them so even though the size is small you can tell that there are carrots in your lasgne. LOL!

[justasque]

I routinely add onion, garlic, and celery. Depending on the dish, I might add shredded carrots, beans, etc.

 

For example - my spaghetti sauce usually has onion, garlic, turnip (just a bit, if I have it), zucchini, peppers, and maybe eggplant or mushrooms. My chili has onion, garlic, celery, beans, corn, peppers, maybe a small turnip, and sometimes carrots. My shepard's pie has onion, garlic, celery, carrots, turnip, parsnips if I have them, and maybe mushrooms. I often add lentils to one-pot rice and veg dishes - about half as much lentils as rice. Even my mac cheese has onion, garlic, celery, carrot, and turnip if I have any on hand.

 

Depending who I'm serving, I might chop the veg really tiny, so it's not so obvious. This is particularly true for my mac cheese - shhh!!! Don't tell the visiting kids!!!

[ChemMommy]

If it is a hotdish with ground beef, I smash a can of pinto beans and mix it into a pound of ground beef. Really smash those beans and mix thoroughly. To my surprise, most people PREFER the extra flavor and richness the beans provide. Now, I just need to learn to soak beans to really make this a cheap way to extend the meat.

 

I use oatmeal (any kind) ground up a bit and mixed into ground beef that I turn into hamburger. For my family, if it is ground up so that the major texture is still the beef, they never complain (but you should have heard the complaints when I tried to save time and just throw the oats in!!!). YMVM!

[Mama_Rana]

Your ratio of lentils to meat sounded good to me. Was the problem with your meatballs the flavor, the texture, or both? For flavor, I would add some beef broth to the cooking liquid. For texture, I much prefer red lentils to brown because it's easier to cook them to be tender but not mushy.

 

For burgers and meatballs where keeping everything stuck together is an issue, I've had better luck with partially mashed black beans. This is where some grains (we use oats) can also be helpful. The adhesion problem is where finding the right amount of non-meat extender is the most challenging for me.

I used some lentils that were almost choral color before cooking. I didn't think to smash them. The texture was ok to me, but there just wasn't much meat flavor. I did add an egg to help it all stick together better. They didn't really roll, so I just scooped them out with a Pampered Chef scooper thing [not the ice cream one; the one for cookie dough and such], and baked them on cookie sheets.

 

If it is a hotdish with ground beef, I smash a can of pinto beans and mix it into a pound of ground beef. Really smash those beans and mix thoroughly. To my surprise, most people PREFER the extra flavor and richness the beans provide. Now, I just need to learn to soak beans to really make this a cheap way to extend the meat.

 

I use oatmeal (any kind) ground up a bit and mixed into ground beef that I turn into hamburger. For my family, if it is ground up so that the major texture is still the beef, they never complain (but you should have heard the complaints when I tried to save time and just throw the oats in!!!). YMVM!

 

Soaking beans is easy. It just takes time to remember. A good 24 hour soak in water with a little vinegar really helps reduce the gassiness issues beans can cause. Before cooking, drain the soaking water away and rinse really well.

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I really like the ideas of mushrooms. If I chop them really small, they won't notice [they claim not to like them]. I've done shredded carrots and onions and such. For browned meat that works well. I'm curious about the burger idea above [the one that needs to be frozen first; gotta go reread!]. I just bought a wallet-full of pastured meat [chicken, ground beef & turkey, and sausages], and I'm really hoping to make it last a full month.