What can I use to pad out the meat in a bolognese or cottage pie other than lentils?

[DrKoothrappali]

Just that really, I'd like my mince meat to go a bit further and I know people who add lentils to theirs but lentils don't agree with me so what else could I use?

I was thinking of Quorn but that is really pricey too, is there another alternative? Some sort of soya pieces or something?

lots of finally diced mushroom?

grated carrot

breadcrumbs

I put lots of finely shredded carrot in my bolognese. I know it's not protein, but it keeps it quite light.

My mum always used to put a beanfeast sachet into hers. Can you even buy those anymore?

Soya mince? Tho tbh if lentils disagree with you, soya mince may be no better.

Or grated veg - carrot, courgette, sweet potato.

Wow, a fast response, thanks. DH won't eat mushrooms but carrot might work. Will lots of carrot make it too watery do you think?

For breadcrumbs do I just blitz any left over bread I have?

Porridge oats (honest!)

I put a heaped tablespoon in a bol. sauce which would feed 4/5. But you do need another half a tin of chopped toms or add extra water as they do absorb a fair bit. Same for cottage pie. I can't taste it and no-one else knows its there!
Start with a desert spoon and see what you think, increasing the amount added over time until you think you've got it right.

Or grate 1-2 extra carrots in, and add them early. They mush down and add to the sweetness, but really help to pad it out.

Don't go mad or you'll end up with purreed carrot porridge!

Queen where can I get soya mince to give it a whirl? Supermarket or is a health food shop type of thing?

I put loads of veggies in - green beans chopped up, peppers, carrots etc

bean? cannellini, black eyed or even baked

When I bulk mine out I use a lot of veg. Mushrooms, sliced mixed peppers and fresh tomatoes roughly chopped all works well here at making a little mince go a lot way.

Holland and Barret or any other health food shop. Not sure about supermarkets.

Have just remembered DP's padding-out-trick - wholemeal couscous. So long as there is plenty of flavour it goes unnoticed.

carrot.

Oh, Iceland sometimes do big bags of frozen veggie mince in the vegetarian section. Its nicer by far than the dried stuff IMO.

bog standard oats work a treat, they really do!

Carrot doesn't make mine watery. I sweat it with the onion and garlic first before adding the meat and then tomatoes.

Couscous is a great idea, we all like that and the DDs wouldn't notice I bet. They'd love baked beans too. As far as DD1 is concerned, if a meal contained baked beans then it must be yummy. I managed to get her to eat all sorts using that method!

I wonder if I have an Iceland near here, will go and google. I like quorn so if there is something like that but cheaper it would be perfect.

Quorn mince. Not as cheap as some of the other suggestions but still cheaper than meat and tastier than soya mince.

Sorry, didn't read your OP properly.

Which type of lentils do you use? Red lentils are much smaller and pretty much tasteless so I find them great for stretching out my Quorn spag bol (I'm veggie).

Nevermind to be honest a sachet of beanfeast isn't too bad an idea, I bet they do still sell them. I used to buy them at uni when all sources of income had failed!

Agree porridge is good, or the left over bits of bolognese which are lurking in small pots in the freezer.

The other thing is to make plenty of bread or gnocchi or salad to go with it.

I stick some or all of carrots, onion, celery, peppers, onion, courgettes, mushrooms etc in a food processor until they are the same texture as mince, then saute them first. Adds lots of flavour, and pads it out (although mostly I just use TVP mince not meat)

You could also try bulgar wheat. It has a good texture.

just dried soya will be cheaper than beanfeast and it's the same stuff without the favouring. You might want to add some marmite or bouillon or soy or worcester sauce for flavour cos plain soya doesn't have any. It is dead cheap tho.