So I just used quorn.....

[Ladygahgah]

...for the first time. I made Spag Bol using a pretty standard recipe.

Tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, garlic, onions carrot mushrooms etc.

However the texture of the quorn is mushy! It tastes bland(the whole bolognaise). We are trying to cut down our red meat intake and thought it was worth a go. But it tastes dull. Can I rescue it???

Did you fry it in the onion? It is nice if well friend until almost crunchy...

Yep I did fry it off with the onion...but as soon as I added the tomatoes it went all squishy

Should've fried it a little more (no help here really - sorry). I fry it well with onion, green chillis and garlic.

Actually - was it the mince or the chunks? Mince is better.

I use it all the time - it doesn't go mushy

It is bland though, you need to add something to make it taste, I cook it with half a veg stock cube in it and add some bisto granules at the end

I add paprika, red wine vinegar, basil, oregano, sage, splash of soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Hmmm was mince...bugger.

Might try the granules

Mushy maybe isn't the right word...but it is very soft....maybe I am just so used to mince and that's why I am finding it weird

I use the mince too and it doesn't go mushy. But it is bland so you do need to add extra stock. I also add a generous splodge of marmite and a good dash of lea & perrins too. HTH

I always add beef oxo and worcestershire sauce to pep it up a bit. I quite like it, but if you compare it to beef it is very tasteless.

Generally though, I use extra lean turkey mince rather than beef or quorn. You can usually get it in Sainsburys and if you add the beef oxo and lea and perrins its very good indeed and much lower in fat than beef.

Simmer it for ages so it can absorb the flavours.

Beef stock cube?

I have two more bags of the stuff in the freezer....going to throw stuff at it and pray!! Thankyou all

I season with salt and pepper, and a little bit of sugar, put some dried herbs in at the start as well and maybe paprika. Don't find it bland, but then I don't think I've ever had bolognese with 'real' meat so can't compare!

Honestly I think the most important thing is long, slow cooking, simmer until it's really reduced down, this makes the difference between a rich tasty sauce and a bland watery one.

I don't really like spag bol made with quorn as I am not keen on the texture either but it works really well in lasagne. And def needs lots of seasoning as others have said.

Ok will put it back on the heat later and see if that helps. A good shaving of Parmesan should help too

I use soy mince, it comes in a weird powder but you add water and it bulks up. I was very sceptical as we are real meat-lovers but its great in chilli/lasagne etc as long as its fried up with all the onion and herbs in it.

I can't stand the texture of quorn mince and always find it to be really bland. Shops own brand vegemince tends to be nicer- that or Linda McCartneys.

Ditch it... it's bloody awful stuff and by the time they've extruded & solidified it etc., it may have no fat in it, but I'm not sure it's all that good for you. I've had more success spinning out minced-beef with chickpeas chopped into small pieces or red lentils.

I love quorn! I always add a teaspoon of marmite when I'm cooking which gives it more taste.

It tasted ok...the kids loved it!

Marmite!