Quorn - who gets on with it?

[PoppyWoods]

Really trying to eat less meat so invested in a bag of frozen quorn mince. So far I've tried spag bol, slow cooker chilli and keema curry.

Each time it has the consistency of soggy cardboard and not like beef mince whatsoever. What am I doing wrong? I really want to love it and eat less meat.

Grateful for ideas, pointers, advice.
Will try all (sensible) suggestions.
Thanks x

@Wizzbangfizz of course. Spot on.

What surprises me is that most assume ‘red’ bistro is meaty and it isn’t. It’s veggie. So if making a cottage pie or whatever you can liberally use it and it really helps the taste (even if it is full of crap)

Bisto not bistro!!

Quorn gave me diarrhoea both times I used it.

@PoppyWoods

Really trying to eat less meat so invested in a bag of frozen quorn mince. So far I've tried spag bol, slow cooker chilli and keema curry.

Each time it has the consistency of soggy cardboard and not like beef mince whatsoever. What am I doing wrong? I really want to love it and eat less meat.

Grateful for ideas, pointers, advice.
Will try all (sensible) suggestions.
Thanks x

I love it. I treat it exactly like meat and cook it for just as long (not as per pack instructions) and it’s deliciously silky and yummy.

A quick google shows that adverse reactions are fairly common. Plus eating a "vat grown fungus" just does not sound very appetising to me 🤷‍♀️

https://www.nutritionaction.com/daily/what-not-to-eat/dangers-quorn-products/

The first time I thought it was great, but it started to make me sick, getting worse each time. I'm too scared to eat it again.

I love the pieces but hate the mince. For spag bol I use plain soya mince from Holland and Barrett, soaked in stock made from boiling water and Vecon (though I haven’t been able to find Vecon for ages). Even my meat-loving DS likes it.

Tesco/Sainsbury’s frozen vegan mince is much much nicer

I use the mince for lasagne , but just layer it frozen with passata lasagne sheets and cheese sauce . I think you’re probably overcooking it

Meat eating friends make Bolognese and lasagne using 50/50 mix of Quorn and meat - which works well for their large family.

Quorn pieces I use in fajitas or spicy stir fries as I think Quorn products really need help with flavouring

always crumble some oxo beef stock (the vegan ones) into it. add some sauce but minimise it. Always fry

I like it but it doesn't react well to being treated like meat. You can't just substitute it for meat and expect a good result. You need less liquid in the recipe, and add the quorn much later in the cooking process than you would for a meat dish. I make great chilli-non-carne with it but my mum who regularly cooks with meat and just substitutes quorn when cooking for me tends to get much less tasty results as it goes mushy and unpleasant.

It stops my DD breathing so we don’t use it BUT we get on fine with plant based mince. Usually use it to make a Thai based dish or Keema with peas