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 😂

With added veg, it's enough

Would be more than enough for the two of us. I make a shepherds pie with less, include some beans, or lentils, loads of veg and there usually seems to be too much! Depends on your appetite I guess!

I made the same Hello Fresh classic cottage pie last night. 240g is fine for 2 people although I did think the amount of mince was disproportionately small compared to the other ingredients.

I'm old. But we were always taught 110g (or to be precise, a pound 454 g) meat per person per portion.
Mince does not 'shrink' and disappear when cooked. The meat fibres contract if cooked too quickly and the fat runs free. But the nutrients/calories don't go away. With potatoes/pasta/flatbreads/chapattis/wraps etc etc and lots and lots of veg - of all kinds - approx 100g per portion is plenty. Especially if you add in toppings such as grated cheese or sour cream.

Just look at old cookery books. The portion sizes are by today's standards really quite small. There is a lot of what we would call padding - carbs and (especially) veg - to not very much meat. Bread - proper bread, not supermarket stuff - also contains quite a lot of protein, and was eaten alongside. So - as we all know - do veg such as peas. So people got all they needed. We really don't need more.

What is also interesting is that puddings - say 100-200 years ago - typically contained not only a lot of fruit - fresh or dried, so lots of fibre - but also eggs. But not much added sugar. So that's another way of adding protein and fat, if you feel you really need them.

Hello fresh is nearly always 480g mince for 4 people. We do find that enough for us - 2 adults and 2 teens, all giant people.

500g pack makes 6 huge to 8 smaller but still substantial portions. I add mince celery onions Carrotsa gravy sauce and then a decent amount of mash plus cheese on top, serve with green veg.

Usually does my family of 2 adults a 12yo and a hungry nearly 9yo for 2 meals.

I agree with others that I found hello fresh great for resetting my meat portion sizes. I was however disappointed that the vegetable servings seemed small and limited.

On the mince question I’d use 500g for 4 adult portions and 3 toddler portions. I do add a lot - tinned tomatoes, lentils, peppers, onions, carrots and mushrooms

I buy a 500g pack for 2 people which lasts x 2 meals, so approx 125g per person per meal and it’s more than enough.

I have recently got the gusto box and the meat seemed really tiny but I think it’s because I’m used to buying bigger portions and the packing is the same size as the meat, whereas usually the packaging is bigger than the amount of meat.

I’m really surprised by the massive portion sizes it makes and the nice thing is that it’s all calorie counted (apart from any oil you use) so I’m really enjoying having a large, satisfying meal but still being with my calorie limit range.

I usually crash diet in January but I didn’t want to get into that cycle again and so far I’m been really impressed.

I used 500g mince to make a chilli last night. Four of us ate it ( 2 adults and two teens ) and I still had enough left over to freeze three portions. So I'd say 250g between two is normal.

I’m not generally on board with competitive under eating (and deeply resent being served dinner on side plates at my mum’s) but I’m really struggling to imagine how big the portions must be if people are making bolognaise sauce for 2 with 500g of mince.

I really don’t serve small portions - and teenage DS eats a ridiculous amount - but there’s easily enough sauce for 6 with 500g of mince here. And no ‘bulking up with lentils’ or any such nonsense either.

I think in MN (as on the internet in general) things tend towards the extreme. It’s either people claiming they need a whole chicken each for a roast dinner or that a single chicken will feed their family of six for a week. Meanwhile, most people are just serving unremarkable portions and slightly baffled by those claiming a 500g packet of mince is sufficient to feed 27 hungry teenagers or that anything less than 250g of mince is in portion you’d need a magnifying glass to see.

@onyttig how much pasta do you have with it. That will make difference. Some people like more Ragu, little pasta, some the other way. Makes maaaive difference.

Like with "i can't eat 12 inch think crust pizza" which always made me wonder, then I realise I am not a weirdo, it's just that I have pizza and no sides like garlic bread😁

This was beef chilli with 500g mince, no huge bulking out, I added a tin of black beans and got 5 portions as in the pic
I’ll add stuff to it so won’t be eating it just as it is
second pic is cottage pie, 500g mince again and will make 5 portions

400g for 2 adults and a toddler to make spag bol. We prefer more ragu less pasta, I think it works out to 650 cals per adult so not awful in terms of cals. Having said that theres always a spoon or 2 left over and DD’s often doesn’t finish hers.

Co-op turkey mince 250 g feeds 3 people here. None of them are dieting.

Plenty of mince, especially if other things are added such as veg. Are you overweight OP?

I should have said allocated. But in my mind it’s the same as measuring out. Allocated 100 gms per person. Measured out 100 gms person. Allowed for 100 gms per person. It a very sad state of affairs.

It’s fine. I think it just looks weird because it’s unusual to make a cottage pie type thing for two, so you expect to see more.

I tried hello fresh but stopped as found meat quality really poor the mince is 15% fat I think I prefer 5% or 3%. Portion is fine though.

I love this. Are you very fat greedy pig or are you thin so it’s socially acceptable to have large portions?

Why? You have to know how much to buy somehow

The thing is it will be vac packed, not like how it looks in the shops. It’s definitely standard weights. IMO 500g for 2 adults and a 6 yr old with no leftovers is pretty piggy. We’re not massive meat eaters and I’d get a small portion of leftovers from a 250g pack of mince (me, DH, 6yr old) but I always bulk out with veg and or pulses.

We thought the same about hello fresh / Gousto but it really was enough for two and we aren’t small people either

That’s plenty for two here, but then I bulk it out with red lentils and sundry finely chopped veg, inc. mushrooms if I have any.

Yes. That’s true. But 100 gms a person. I just wouldn’t bother if it ever came to having to eke out mince to 100 gms per person.

And you are a 🙀🐈