How many portions of bolognese or chilli do you get from 450g mince?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Thinking of batch cooking a large pot and freezing some portions. It's only me that eats meat at home, so don't want any waste. Decent quality beef mince is about $7 a pound, how many portions would you get from this?

I have not cooked with mince for years and years!

We get 4 adult portions with 500g usually.

It’s not necessarily competitive though, is it? A lot of people have to eke out their food to ensure there’s enough for everyone for the money they have! They bulk things out so that everyone gets the lovely flavour and goodness of meat but they also have enough to be properly satisfied.

Others might have health considerations and/or a view to better sustainability of food resources worldwide long-term. Humans don’t actually need a huge amount of protein daily, and it’s perfectly fine to not eat huge portions of it all the time. Obviously teenage boys or pregnant/breastfeeding women or men working in manual jobs need more, but I really don’t.

I love food and if I could get away with it I’d have as much as I want of everything, all the time! But I can’t, so I’m careful.

Probably a decent 8 portions. But I generally add in onions, mushrooms, peppers, celery, a carrot or two and either beans, lentils or chickpeas.

It's not particularly for money saving, it's to make it a more balanced meal. Spag bol is a frequent meal here, probably once a week. There's nothing particularly healthy about a big plate of minced meat and pasta so adding in non meat protein like beans or lentils and a shit load of veg makes it better all round imo.

According to my chilli recipe 500g of mince is 4 portions.

@Haffiana

I don't understand the point of all this bulking out with lentils and whatnot.

Make proper bolognese that tastes like proper bolognese - 500g for 4 portions. Yum.

Next day make a pasta with tomato and vegetable sauce and eat that. Yum.

The day after that make a wonderful bowl of lentils. Yum yum.

Why make 12 portions of ersatz bolognese with a miserably small amount of meat? Just why?

Although this would generally be my approach too. For example I’d rather just have a chorizo (you don’t need much for great flavour), butter bean and spinach stew for an almost meatless option - £1 of meat for 4 people to eat generously, plus the cost of tinned tomatoes, butter beans and some spinach. Garlic bread on the side for those who need/want extra carbs. And if you’ve already had a good amount of protein that day it’ll be plenty.

I stretch beef mince in chilli because it lends itself so well to there not being much meat in it, and I like beans! Pasta sauce is different and it’s usually roundabout 100g per portion for us, perhaps a bit less if I’ve added vegetables.

Oh ffs it’s not competitive!! It’s just about how you cook! I bulk out with veg, because it’s healthier and goes further.

Cooked in a slow cooker, over 8 hours - it doesn't ever taste “less meaty” - it’s delicious!

With added celery, carrot, onion and mayne a handful of red lentils.

Some of these recipes appear to have homeopathic levels of mince in them. Nothing wrong with that if you like it, but I wouldn't call it spag! My vote is for 4 to 6 portions, depending on appetite.

I'd get 8 portions of bolognese out of 500g, but we use the sauce to dress the pasta rather than serving a ladleful into a circle of naked cooked spaghetti, so it seems to go further.
For chilli it depends on how I'll serve it: with rice probably 4-6 portions depending on appetite, but if in burritos or tacos with cheese and salad and veggies and rice then probably 8 again.

4 portions max. Some of these estimates are stingy and weird!

@TheLovleyChebbyMcGee

Last week I managed to get 150g of mince to go for 2 large portions, a large lunch and a child's portion. There was a lot of carrot, pepper, onions and mushroom in it, and a handful of lentils too. We're moving house in a few weeks and eating some random stuff to empty the cupboards and freezers!

My, you must be Teeny Tiny.

@sparepantsandtoothbrush

Oh god this is the MN chicken again isn't it? Who the fuck gets 8 or 10 adult portions out of 450g of mince? I don't care how much you're bulking it out, that's still not normal surely??

@sparepantsandtoothbrush I’m with you.

In our house we use that for 4. Kids are hungry young male adults.

4 adults here
I'm not a huge fan of pasta though so would have less pasta more mince

Depends on what we are making.
But usually feeds 5 of us 2/3 meals.
We bulk it with alot of vegetables.
Lazagna we are able to get 3 meals for all of us from it, same with a cottage pie.
Pasta or chilli is usually 2 full meals for all of us and usually enough to do 2 portions of mince on jacket potatoes on top of that.

1-2, depends how hungry I am.

I can't be doing with this 125g is a portion crap. I only eat one proper meal a day though.

Well, i made chilli last week, a 500g pack of mince, a jar sauce, tin of kidney beans and tin of baked beans.
My dad got to it first, and had about 2/3 of it plus a bag of microwave rice, he eats massive portions though.

@sparepantsandtoothbrush

Oh god this is the MN chicken again isn't it? Who the fuck gets 8 or 10 adult portions out of 450g of mince? I don't care how much you're bulking it out, that's still not normal surely??

Hahaha, same

OP, I would get 4 portions out of that. The whole meal (including pasta) would be 500 calories, so an average meal. These women on here are lying to you for god knows what reason......issues around food/weight maybe?

2-3

At least 6. Bolognese I bulk out with mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, grated carrot. Chilli I bulk out with peppers, beans, fresh tomatoes.

@Chely

1-2, depends how hungry I am.

I can't be doing with this 125g is a portion crap. I only eat one proper meal a day though.

@Chely

Thank god. I actually love you for saying this.

I'm exactly the same, also only tend to eat one meal per day. One pack will usually do me and DP although I'm pretty sure he could very easily eat the whole lot on his own, given the opportunity.

Four

500g of mince, 2 large pointed red peppers, 250g carton chestnut mushrooms, jar of bolognese sauce, some red wine. Possibly some leeks or onions. That makes 4 or 5 double portions, so 8-10 in all.
Frozen as easy warming comfort food, served with pasta and cheese, sometimes potato. Though tomorrow I'll be having the tail end of the current batch with grated carrot & beetroot, and feeling smug about my vegetable intake for the day!

8, but that's bulked with onions, carrots, aubergine, broccoli, butter beans, chickpeas and tomatoes. All my main meals are veg-heavy!

@Nnique

It’s not necessarily competitive though, is it? A lot of people have to eke out their food to ensure there’s enough for everyone for the money they have! They bulk things out so that everyone gets the lovely flavour and goodness of meat but they also have enough to be properly satisfied.

Others might have health considerations and/or a view to better sustainability of food resources worldwide long-term. Humans don’t actually need a huge amount of protein daily, and it’s perfectly fine to not eat huge portions of it all the time. Obviously teenage boys or pregnant/breastfeeding women or men working in manual jobs need more, but I really don’t.

I love food and if I could get away with it I’d have as much as I want of everything, all the time! But I can’t, so I’m careful.

But why not just have one or two decent mince-based meals and do a vegetable pasta bake or a lentil curry the other nights?

Why add the tiniest amount of mince to a meal and claim it's a portion?

Just add a stock cube if you want the meaty flavour.

I buy the 250g packs and feed 2/3 with it.
If I was trying to save money I’d bulk it out with mushrooms/onion/pepper/kidney beans/lentils/tinned tomato.