To think 240g of mince isn’t enough for 2 people?

[Ostryga]

Got a hello fresh delivery today and one of the recipes (classic cottage pie) was delivered with the smallest amount of mince I’ve ever seen. It is palm sized! Now I know theres other veggies and potatoes in it, but is this not slightly ridiculous? It’s about 4 mouthfuls of meat!

Am I just exceptionally greedy 😂

Yes.

in the sense that it has attracted both extremes: people who insist 45g of mince is a huge portion that would leave them full for days and those who claim 500g is only just enough for 2.

And with the general suggestion of lentils to ‘bulk out’ meals coming up repeatedly.

Someone upthread posted a photo of how much food she made with 1kg of mince. It was a big cottage pie (500g) and 5 good portions of sauce (the other 500g), which is probably along the lines of what most people are producing with mince in their houses too. So both extreme claims sound a bit odd to many people - just like both the claims that a single, small chicken will feed a family of 4 for a week and people must cook two large chickens to feed one roast dinner for 2 adults and 2 under 5s with no leftovers (and ‘all the trimmings’). Most people are probably managing fine with one chicken, which produces as small amount of leftovers but not a whole meal plan of chicken feasts.

Obviously people eat differently, but the more extreme claims tend to stand out online. In fact, any discussion of portions sizes almost seems to encourage exaggeration at both ends.

That said, my mum’s attitudes to portions seems to have become really weird over the last few years. Food in general. My parents are obsessed with not wasting food and with teeny tiny amounts of food being far too much to eat. Dinners at their house are served on side plates and feature a whole range of reheated dishes of varying vintage. 2 potatoes, a spoonful of carrots and such like all rise like zombies at mealtimes until they’re consumed by someone.

The worst thing is that I’ve noticed that their definition of leftovers includes any food leftover on anyone’s plate, not just the food left in serving dishes. Half eaten steaks get wrapped up and resurface at subsequent meals. So now we’re all very careful to make sure not to touch anything we aren’t sure wasn’t prepared freshly. And take snacks so that we can politely eat the couple of mouthfuls you can fit on their tiny side plates and nothing more.

I refuse to become my parents!

Interestingly, the last time I ate my mum’s food she’d made bolognaise with yellow split peas in it. Apparently this was ‘to make it tasty’. It did nothing of the sort. Slightly crunchy yellow split peas did nothing for either the flavour or the texture.

It did make it go much further though - because none of us wanted to eat much of it at all.

@Pothoswithasparkle No, I don't measure anything.

Let's all just be thankful we're not eating from ration quantities - I have a WWII cookbook that uses just 4oz/110g mince for a cottage pie for 4 people! That's just one single ounce per person. It's bulked with carrots, peas, lentils and oats, and flavored with any beef or bacon fat you'd managed to save during the week. Truly a MN magic meal! 😆

Nrtft; but I allow 100g of red meat per person. If I thought we needed more; then I’d add 25% (ie 50g) of red or green lentils.

Wow.

I followed a recipe this week with 800g of mince. Said served 6. When it was all made up I think it was about right

It depends on the mince. If it's high fat (over 5%), a lot will dissolve. I would use about 150g per person with good mince.

I’m so with you OP! My issue with Hello Fresh is that you end up eating more pasta to compensate for the low protein allocations. Stopped doing it now as I was just having to buy extra protein for each meal. (I restrained myself from ordering extra portions…😂)

I'd use 500g for four people and there'd be enough over to save a small portion of what I'd cooked with it for granddaughter's tea. So the amount you received sounds about right for 2 people

500g pack for 4 with vegetables and tinned tomatoes.
So - 250 for 2 so probably okay. You may need extra vegetables. I like to err on the bigger side and have leftovers.

We used to get hello fresh, and most of the time thought it would be nowhere near enough food, but once we cooked it and dishes it up it did fill us up

I use 300g for 2 people as I just put the whole tray in, which is more than enough so 240g sounds okay.

^ Scrap that. I actually use 350g so 240g might not be quite enough now.

I use a 500g pack of mince for our family of 5 (dds 16, 10 and 7). It looks small to me in the pack but by the time I've added Celery, carrots, onions etc etc it really bulks out so that sounds right.

I buy 750 g and divide it into 3 for freezing. Absolutely do make a cottage pie for 2- there are only 2 of us and we both like cottage pie.

Hello Fresh seem to get the portion sizes spot
On imo

There's about 600 calories in that meal so that seems sensible

450g pack makes a meal for 4/5 so yes half that is plenty for 2.

I thought hello fresh boxes didn't have a lot in but then when the meal is cooked it always seems perfect amount. I think because they literally only put in what you need it looks less but that's definitely the recommended amount per person per meal.

Family of 6 here, I use 500g for cottage pie but I bulk out with carrots, peas and an onion

I calculated grams to ounces since I wasn’t sure and I was expecting a measly amount - that’s 8 ounces so 1/2 lb, which imo is fine for two and I hate wimpy portions!

I normally buy 400g from the butchers for a spag bol for three of us and it's plenty.

I need more so yanbu. I stopped using hello fresh when I found out they used slave monkeys though.

It’s interesting that multiple people who’ve used HF say they thought b the portions looked small when they arrived, but once cooked were plenty and filling. Again, I think it shows how we can be a bit deluded about how much we need.

We start a bit too much bit too much of the raw ingredients, cook it and then have larger portions than we need….that many will then eat. Actually, this pretty strict portion control they engage with, is good for us. One of the things that works with services that provide measured food for Wright loss (and HF generally isn’t aiming for this) is how it is all carefully calorie controlled and balanced in terms of different elements. I know people don’t get HF for this purpose, but again, it highlights how what can look like too little, but isn’t.

What strikes me is the certainty a few posters speak with in assuring everyone it wouldn’t be enough meat. But why? A meal is made up if lots of ingredients and why exactly is it people think they need high quantities of meat, when there are other elements of the meal. With a move to more people eating meat-free a day or two a week too, isn’t a slightly smaller meat portion also an easy-win in a small cut-back?