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!

I add 2kg of fresh veg to it (anything on offer) plus tins of tomato / lentils / beans and can get 10-15 portions. I usually serve with pasta tho.

To 500g I add beef Oxo cube, 3 tins of chopped tomatoes, dash of passata, herbs and it does 5 portions about 100g of meat per portion. My son likes his with chopped peppers, mushrooms, a finely chopped onion and a grated carrot in his so 500g makes 6 larger portions. He eats 2, takes 1 to work and I freeze other 3 portions for following week. Only have to make it once every other week.

@Goldengoosey

42

Amateur.

I do one piece of mince per person, and that's enough for a main meal and two portions of leftovers each.

The other 10,000 portions are put in the deep freeze and will keep until 4022.

Again @Nnique it was a general comment not necessarily aimed at one person.

I really don't care what people put in their pasta sauces but it amuses me when people claim to me making spaghetti bolognese when in fact it's only about 5% mince and 95% lentils, kidney beans and butternut squash.

I'm sure it tastes lovely but bolognese it isn't!

And the question was "how many portions of bolognese or chilli can you make" not "how far can you stretch a pack of mince"

I'd do about 4-5 portions out of it, depending on how hungry those wasting were. Would have veg and sauce added too, With plenty of pasta and cheese.

I tend to work on around 100-125g meat per portion as a rough guide for that kind of dish.

4 and 2 of those are children. I wouldn’t bother with some of the tiny amounts listed here, I would just make a veggie lasagne or something. I would make two portions of chilli out of 500g, but we don’t eat it with rice. DH and the DC won’t eat things bulked out with lentils.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts true although OP mentioned the cost of the meat which made me and probably also others think it was a concern.

Anyway I’m sorry for sounding combative/defensive there, I was hangry

[quote Nnique]@fairylightsandwaxmelts true although OP mentioned the cost of the meat which made me and probably also others think it was a concern.

Anyway I’m sorry for sounding combative/defensive there, I was hangry [/quote]
You need more mince

we’ve got roast beef (rare) for lunch today! Can’t wait!

@Nnique

we’ve got roast beef (rare) for lunch today! Can’t wait!

Yum!

Steak and ale pie here

I don’t cook with meat but if this were Quorn mince it would be 2 big portions including bulking veg. But I don’t eat much rice or pasta so the mince part would be the majority of the meal.

All I've deducted from this thread is...
If I had tea at most mumsnetters houses I would need to call in at the supermarket for a full cooked chicken on my way home.

8-10 portions? Hahahahaha.

400g mince barely covers 4 of us - DH and DS have huge appetites, admittedly. If I do 500g I can feed 4 of us easily and generously and have enough to create a small portion for DD in the freezer for another day as many of the meals the rest of us eat she won't.

When skint, I absolutely could stretch that out to perhaps a couple of additional portions with lots of additional bits like more tinned tomatoes/lentils/peppers etc. But If I'm doing a bolognaise I like it meaty and tend to keep it to one tin of tomatoes, possibly a small tin of passata and just a few mushrooms or a finely chopped pepper for extra flavour with the onion.

@Chely

All I've deducted from this thread is... If I had tea at most mumsnetters houses I would need to call in at the supermarket for a full cooked chicken on my way home.

Not at ours. You would be FED. With good food too (no false modesty here )

Last time we had people over we had this:

Platter of smoked salmon/prawns/pickled herrings/salmon mousse/eggs/lettuces and condiments to make open faced sandwiches on grain bread

Liver pâté, mushroom pâté, lard spread with bacon, onions and apple, crusty bread

Roasted pork belly, potatoes in butter, braised red cabbage, gravy and cucumbers pickled two ways

Roast duck with apple and prunes

Cheeses

Æbleskiver (Pancake dumplings) with cherry sauce and icing sugar

We are not parsimonious with food by any means.

I'd get about 4-6 good portions depending on who I am feeding.

@Wineat5isfine

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!

Exactly, that’s what I do too. Gets some of your 5-a-day in, adds extra flavour and goes further!

We rarely have bolognese, but I do it the traditional way (just mirepoix, meat, livers, pancetta, tomatoes wine and seasoning) and get 4 decent portions.

I can’t imagine peppers, courgettes, mushrooms, beans, lentils, etc and thinking it’s bolognese it’s just a veg sauce with a bit of mince. Why even put the mince in?!

Most of the meals being described here are ‘random stuff with pasta’ not Bolognese.

6 portions but I would stick in a few carrots, celery, tin of lentils etc. So it goes further than just mince with a tin of tomatoes.

I use 375g for a portion (half a 750g pack) I'll get a large lasagne to serve 4 (two adults and two dc 9&11) and a portion for my lunch, then bolognese for 4. We have garlic bread with both. I'd get three meals of spaghetti bolognese from the 375g. So 9-12 servings.

Chilli would be 4 and a portion for the freezer. We just have rice with chilli no bread, probably be able to get a double portion for the freezer if we added some bread.

I buy a 500g and it feeds 3 adults. I have no interest in 'bulking' it out or winning a mumsnet medal though.

2 adult portions.

6??? Yeh right!

@TenoringBehind

Most of the meals being described here are ‘random stuff with pasta’ not Bolognese.

Yep, exactly.

Which is fine, but why pretend it's something it's not?

The question was "how many portions of bolognese could you make" not "how far can you stretch a pack of mince".

But nothing like a competitive food thread on MN to get people showing off

I normally batch cook 4 X 450g packs at a time and that makes 5 family dinners for the four of us plus maybe a few small child size portions, obviously the excess stored in the freezer, we don't eat it all week. So that's 5-6 servings per pack. The only veg I use is the traditional onion, carrot, celery, but I do put in a fairly large amount compared to the mince.

I don't 'bulk' out but I use onion carrot and celery (soffritto) in my bolognese, that's how it's made.