Meatballs and meatballs, meatballs, cutlets, cabbage rolls, dumplings - all these dishes are based on minced meat. Homemade is always more attractive in taste and appearance than store-bought, but creating such a meat base is not as easy as we would like. Where is the secret of perfect minced meat for cutlets of any kind and what mistakes do inexperienced housewives make?
How to make minced meat for cutlets
Pieces of pork, beef, poultry or even fish twisted through a meat grinder - in the general understanding, this is minced meat. However, such a “bare” base is not suitable for further work, since it falls apart, dries out during heat treatment, and has almost no taste. As a result, you have to add some binding components, spices, etc., so the question of how to prepare minced meat for cutlets can take a very long time to figure out. First of all, it is advisable to decide how this dish will be prepared.
In the oven
This method of heat treatment is very popular along with cooking in a slow cooker. There are no special requirements for minced meat for cutlets in the oven, but it is desirable that it be juicy, since the moisture is actively evaporated. Breading is not necessary here, but it is recommended to make a wet filling for the cutlets - it will saturate them from the inside, preventing them from drying out. Mixed pork-beef, pork-chicken or fish mixture is ideal.
For a couple
This cooking method is mainly used for fish and poultry, when dietary recipes are selected and fats are not allowed. The minced meat for steam cutlets can even be completely dry - the humidity inside will be created and preserved by the chosen method of heat treatment. The only disadvantage of the finished dish is its outward appearance: the steamed cutlets are very pale, so experts advise putting them in the oven for a quarter of an hour so that a crust appears.
A couple of important nuances:
- There is no need to bread the formed cutlets - a steamer will turn this dry shell into an unsightly mess.
- Don't have a meat grinder? Use a blender or food processor. The consistency of the minced meat will vary depending on the duration of operation of the device.
In a frying pan
If we talk about the classic fried dish, then it uses mainly combined minced meat, part of which is necessarily juicy pork. Professionals do not recommend using ground chicken or turkey for frying cutlets, as it can become too dry when frying. Some chefs make a twisted pork-beef tandem with a small amount of lard - this makes the dish especially tender.
Minced meat recipe for cutlets
After reading the methods outlined below for creating minced meat, poultry or fish, you will forget about the problem of falling apart or burnt cutlets, and learn how to choose the right flavoring additives. Each step-by-step recipe for preparing minced meat is accompanied by a photo, and at the end the most valuable advice from professionals is collected, selected based on the frequency of questions that housewives have.
Classical
The traditional version of this delicious dish is pork and beef, complemented with white onion, black pepper, and salt. Most housewives prefer to make classic minced meat for cutlets with an egg, whose task is to give the mass elasticity and integrity. Be sure to bread it with ground breadcrumbs, and for tenderness, add a piece of butter at the very last stage.
Ingredients:
- beef – 400 g;
- pork – 180 g;
- egg higher cat.;
- bulb onions;
- salt pepper;
- butter – 20 g.
Cooking method:
- Scroll the meat and onion slices twice at the same time.
- Add salt and pepper. Taste the mixture, because more often it happens to be under-salted than over-salted.
- Beat the egg and add it in. Knead with your hands (!) for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in a spoonful of ice water and add butter. Knead for another minute.
From pike
This fish is characterized by dry fillet, so professionals always use butter, which will make the cutlets juicy. You can take lard or even fatty pork, but if you are planning to prepare a dish for a child, this option is not suitable. The remaining secrets of how to make ideal minced pike for cutlets are revealed as the algorithm is described.
Ingredients:
- pike – 550 g;
- butter – 30 g;
- milk – half a glass;
- bulb;
- salt;
- a sprig of cilantro;
- slice of white loaf.
Cooking method:
- Cut the bread crumb and pour in milk - this will make the cutlets tender.
- Clean the pike fillet and grind through a meat grinder with chopped onion.
- Add the squeezed bread mass, salt, chopped cilantro.
- Before frying/baking, the cutlets will definitely need to be breaded, otherwise all the juice will go away.
Consider another option for a fish dish -. Delicious cooking recipes with photos and videos await you.
From beef and pork
If you like the big, hearty burgers sold at food chains, but are wary of their unknown ingredients, learn how to make this dish yourself. First of all, you need to figure out how to prepare minced meat for pork and beef cutlets. This mass, according to professionals, is ideal for burgers. The dietary version discards pork.
Ingredients:
- beef – 250 g;
- pork – 250 g;
- egg 1 cat.;
- white loaf – 100 g;
- salt, oregano, basil - a pinch;
- caraway seeds – 1/2 tsp.
Cooking method:
- Grind the beef and pork through a meat grinder.
- Freeze the loaf and grate it coarsely.
- Beat the egg and add to the meat mixture. Add spices and salt there.
- Add the loaf crumbs last - the mass should be thick.
- You can fry burger patties made from minced pork and beef without oil, remembering to give them the correct flattened shape.
Chicken
A very quick, tasty, tender dish is obtained if you prepare the base according to this recipe. Chicken fillet is low-fat, so it is complemented with processed cheese or regular cheese with sour cream, and fresh herbs will give it a pleasant aroma and taste. Minced chicken for cutlets also wins over others due to the speed of frying, especially if you make small flattened balls.
Ingredients:
- chicken fillet – 500 g;
- one processed cheese;
- eggs 2 cat. - 2 pcs.;
- a bunch of dill;
- green onion feathers;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Chop the chicken fillet with a knife and grind in a blender. Add salt.
- Mash the cheese, add torn dill and green onions.
- Add beaten eggs, knead chicken mixture. If it is very liquid, add a little flour.
- These cutlets are best baked or steamed to keep them low in calories. If frying, make breading.
From fish
For such a dish, experts do not place restrictions on the type of main product - you can use both juicy fatty trout and skinny pollock, as well as pike perch and cod. The only important thing is the absence of a large number of bones, otherwise cleaning will turn into torture. There are no special secrets in how to make minced fish for cutlets - even all the components that complement the fillet can be identical to those for meat.
Ingredients:
- fish fillet – 600 g;
- a bunch of parsley;
- semolina - 3 tbsp. l.;
- salt;
- ground white pepper;
- breadcrumbs.
Cooking method:
- Cool the fish fillets before using. Clean, rinse.
- Cut into cubes and grind with a blender.
- Add torn parsley, salt and ground white pepper.
- Add semolina to make the mixture less liquid.
- Form cutlets and cover with breadcrumbs.
From pork
This type of meat is rarely used alone due to its fat content. Even if housewives do not add beef/poultry, they try to make a filling that will make the dish easier to digest. Apples, prunes and greens are ideal. These minced pork cutlets are juicy, fluffy, beautiful, and are in no way inferior to dishes from restaurant photos. Try this recipe to see for yourself.
Ingredients:
- pork – 700 g;
- bulb;
- salt, ground pepper;
- prunes - a handful;
- green apple;
- semolina – 3 tbsp. l.
Cooking method:
- Toss cooled pork with onion pieces.
- Salt, pepper, add semolina. Beat this mass and knead for several minutes.
- Grate the apple, steam the prunes, make cutlets, adding the filling to the center.
Beef
For such a dish, choose the front zone of the carcass - it is the most tender, but not too greasy. If you use a spatula, it is better to cook mixed minced meat or add butter/lard. However, the fluffiness is also affected by beating - without it, the cutlets will be flat and very heavy inside. How to make ground beef so that your homemade dish can compete with restaurant photos? The technology is disclosed below.
Ingredients:
- beef – 500 g;
- lard – 100 g;
- bulb;
- tomato paste – 2 tsp;
- salt pepper.
Cooking method:
- Twist the meat with lard, add ground pepper.
- Salt the minced beef and combine with tomato paste.
- Beat for 3-4 minutes, immediately form cutlets.
With bread
A culinary trick such as using a loaf or a simple white bun helps make even fried cutlets very tender. This technique is especially actively used for fish or chicken mass, which is devoid of fat. Homemade minced meat cutlets with bread are always juicy, fluffy, and soft. Take stale slices - they will work better due to the gluten. This stuffing cannot be prepared in advance!
Ingredients:
- meat – 600 g;
- garlic clove;
- stale bread – 120 g;
- milk – 150 ml;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Pour milk over the bread, wait 10-12 minutes.
- Grind the beef through a meat grinder. Send it there again, but with squeezed bread and garlic.
- Salt the resulting mass, add chopped onion. Beat and start making cutlets.
With potatoes
Housewives and even culinary professionals like this simple method - grated potatoes added to chopped meat perform the same role as an egg. This recipe is suitable for people allergic to albumin and is often used in children's menus. Tender, juicy minced meat for cutlets with potatoes can be prepared from any base - it always turns out perfect.
Ingredients:
- meat (any) – 600 g;
- large potatoes;
- onions – 1/2 pcs.;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Grind the meat pieces through a meat grinder and add half the chopped onion.
- Add salt. Beat for 2-3 minutes - this way the cutlets will be fluffy.
- Add finely grated potatoes, stir for another 1-1.5 minutes.
Turkey
Chefs call this type of meat an excellent compromise between the fat content of pork and the dryness of chicken. Turkey is juicy, tender, but has low calorie content, so it is actively used in the diet menu. If you wanted to know how to make ground turkey, but were constantly faced with a hundred insoluble questions, this recipe will help you figure it out completely.
Ingredients:
- turkey fillet (not breast) – 600 g;
- zucchini pulp – 100 g;
- sour cream – 2 tbsp. l.;
- dried herbs - a pinch;
- salt;
- bell pepper
Cooking method:
- Pour milk over the bread.
- Chop the turkey with a knife and grind through a meat grinder with pepper. Season with herbs and salt.
- Mix with sour cream and egg. Add grated zucchini.
- Knead for a couple of minutes and form into cutlets.
What can you add to minced meat for cutlets?
Any classic recipe can be modified to change the taste and appearance/consistency of the dish. Professionals tell us what to add to the minced meat for cutlets to get the perfect result:
- Do you want dietary but juicy fluffy cutlets? Mix grated beets or carrots with the meat mixture.
- Minced cod can be supplemented with sour cream or low-fat cream.
- An unusual way to prepare minced meat for cutlets without bread is to use a little grated zucchini pulp.
- Too liquid and no flour? Take bran or oatmeal.
Video
Before an Austrian inventor, taking care of his wife, came up with a meat grinder in the 19th century, housewives spent a long time and painfully grinding pieces of meat with a special knife - the minced meat turned out to be very coarse, and dishes made from it were difficult to chew. Today, to get meat pulp, we don’t even need to turn the handle: blenders and electric meat grinders have made our lives much easier and reduced the time we spend in the kitchen. But having entrusted the equipment with the roughest work, you cannot relax: it is important to remember the many subtleties necessary to prepare delicious minced meat.
Choose your meat wisely
Perhaps there is no need to talk much about the advantages of homemade minced meat over store-bought ones. They are obvious - from the absence of questionable preservatives in self-made minced meat to a completely different taste. Ideal minced meat should be made from fresh, not frozen, meat, because only it retains all the beneficial substances. The same rule applies to chicken and fish.
Remember: bad meat is bad minced meat. Therefore, choose your meat responsibly. Keep in mind that the choice of meat directly depends on the dish you are going to cook, and very often the most advantageous option will be a combination of different meats. The most versatile mince is a mixture of beef shoulder or brisket with the addition of a small amount of pork neck or shoulder. This way the product will not turn out too dry.
Prepare the meat grinder
Soft, tasty minced meat is more likely to come out of a meat grinder with sharp knives: the easier it is to turn the handle, the better the knives are sharpened. If you decide to use a blender, then stringy meat may cause you minor problems in the form of veins wrapped around the knife, which you then have to scrape out.
An immersion blender with a special meat chopping attachment is best for chopping meat. The finer you cut the meat, the more you will help both yourself and the meat grinder. When making minced meat, make sure that its consistency is uniform; do not be lazy, if necessary, scroll the meat twice.
Add juiciness to the meat
Did you twist the meat? Great! We bring it to perfection. There are many ways to make shredded meat more juicy: milk, water, cream, egg white. If the minced meat, on the contrary, turns out to be too liquid, add bread, boiled potatoes or flour to it. To give the meat juice, put it in a bag and beat it thoroughly on the table. Chicken for minced meat must be peeled and pre-beaten.
Lamb behaves most capriciously during the preparation of minced meat, scaring off potential eaters with its sharp, specific smell. But you shouldn’t give up this healthy and delicious meat: try marinating or greatly cooling the meat before cooking, and adding a variety of spices and a lot of pepper to the minced meat.
Ancillary Products
Minced meat loves onions, garlic, spices, herbs and does not tolerate dryness. Minced fish will be much tastier if you prepare it from fatty fish that does not have large bones, and add a little lemon juice to it, as well as onions or peppers to taste. In this case, cream or grated potatoes can add juiciness.
Onions, eggs and bread are added to the minced chicken for softness. It is usually recommended to diversify the taste of dietary turkey with fried mushrooms or grated cheese, and butter, flour and dried mint are often added to minced lamb.
Take care of storage
If you are preparing a lot of minced meat and want to save some for next time, then before putting it in the freezer, it is better not to add salt and pepper, or onions and garlic to it: this way it will be preserved better and will not become tough. It is wise to divide the minced meat into portions, placing it in sealed bags or plastic containers. This way you can store the semi-finished product for about 2 months, without, of course, allowing re-freezing.
Also remember that if you want to mix several types of meat for a dish, then minced meat from different meats should be stored strictly separately. If you want to store minced meat in the refrigerator, remember that minced meat can be stored for no more than 12 hours, and fish minced meat can be stored for no more than 6 hours. In order to be 100 percent sure of the quality of the product, use a marker to write on the package the date by which it must be defrosted and eaten.
Minced meat is a convenient thing, it can stay in the refrigerator for a long time, and there are hundreds of options for what to cook from minced meat. That is why our housewives are looking every day for what to cook from minced chicken, what to cook from minced beef, what to cook from minced pork, what to cook from minced turkey, and especially what to cook from minced meat quickly. Recipes with minced meat are always popular. Minced meat is essentially a semi-finished product, minced meat dishes save a lot of time, and you can really cook quick minced meat dishes. That is why it will be useful for you to know what can be prepared from minced meat. You can buy minced meat, but homemade minced meat will certainly taste better. Therefore, it is important to know how to cook minced meat. Pieces of meat, onions, salt, pepper are the main ingredients from which minced meat is prepared. Recipes for minced meat dishes also use minced meat with the addition of bread and flour. The first answer to the question of what to make from minced meat is, of course, dumplings. Or dumplings, which can also be called simple minced meat dishes. If you need to boil minced meat quickly, cook the minced meat in a slow cooker.
Minced meat is prepared both separately, for example, cutlets, meatballs, and as part of other products. The most commonly used are minced chicken, minced pork, and minced beef. There are also minced fish dishes. The simplest thing is to cook minced meat dishes in a frying pan. Rolled in flour and into a frying pan. It is more difficult to prepare minced meat dishes in pots, but you will get a complete second course with a side dish. Cooking minced meat dishes precedes the preparation of minced meat. Minced meat is prepared not only from meat, there is minced meat with rice, minced meat with potatoes. Dishes with minced meat are made with a wide variety of side dishes. Simple and tasty dishes are made from minced meat and pasta. We traditionally call minced meat with pasta navy style pasta. You can also prepare minced meat with mushrooms. Dishes made from minced meat and mushrooms are often baked in pots. Minced meat in pots is often baked with vegetables and cheese. Other hot dishes made from minced meat are lasagna, zrazy, and mititei. If you boil the meat, you can prepare minced meat in puff pastry, in other words, pies. French-style meat and hedgehogs are perhaps the most popular minced beef dishes. Asian cuisine offers recipes for second courses made from minced meat, such as cutlets on skewers or kebabs. Dishes made from ground pork are, of course, more fatty than dishes made from ground beef. If you want something low-fat, minced chicken dishes and minced turkey dishes are suitable for you. If you have minced chicken, the recipe you should prepare first is minced meat Kiev cutlets. But there are other delicious minced chicken dishes. Recipes for pies and rolls often use minced chicken.
Interesting minced meat dishes in the oven, these are meat casseroles. Just a little time and you will have a wonderful dish of minced meat and potatoes. Casseroles can act as festive minced meat dishes. Minced meat cooked in the oven is especially tasty. Also try cooking minced meat dishes in a slow cooker, such as steamed cutlets, casseroles, and rolls. Finally, if you still don’t know what to cook with minced meat, then make pizza. The most common dishes made from minced meat and rice are cabbage rolls and the like. Now about what to cook from minced fish. These are, again, fish balls. If you have time and desire, and you are interested in what to cook deliciously from minced fish, then make stuffed fish. Fish dishes will save you during Lent, when you have to cross off minced meat dishes from the menu. Recipes for stuffed fish are best prepared with photos. For this, and also if you need to prepare some complex minced meat dishes, choose minced meat recipes with photos, minced meat dishes with photos, minced meat dishes with photos.
John/Flickr.comIf you have minced meat in the refrigerator and a baguette in the cupboard, then you can prepare an excellent dinner in half an hour.
Ingredients
- 500 g minced beef;
- 350 g of tomatoes in their own juice;
- 250 g mozzarella;
- 1 baguette;
- bunch of basil;
- vegetable oil.
Preparation
It is better to take minced beef. But you can use a mixture of pork and chicken. Fry the minced meat in a well-heated frying pan for 5-8 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes until the liquid has evaporated.
Cut the baguette lengthwise and remove the pulp from the middle. Dry both halves in the oven for 2-3 minutes. Cut the mozzarella into cubes. Chop the basil.
Place the minced meat with tomatoes and cheese on both halves of the baguette. Sprinkle with basil and bake for another 5 minutes.
fanfon/Depositphotos.com This is a traditional dish of Greek cuisine, which is juicy balls of minced meat and vegetables. Keftedes can be served separately (they go well with) or with a side dish.
Ingredients
- 500 g minced beef;
- 2–3 medium onions;
- 2 slices of white bread;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 egg;
- 4 tablespoons chopped parsley;
- 4 tablespoons milk;
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar;
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano;
- 10 mint leaves;
- salt and ground black pepper - to taste;
- vegetable oil.
Preparation
Soak the bread in milk. Squeeze and add minced meat, egg, chopped onion, garlic, parsley and mint. Mix well. Salt, pepper, add oregano, sprinkle with olive oil and vinegar. Mix again - preferably with your hands.
Cover the bowl of minced meat with cling film and place in the refrigerator for an hour. During this time, the spices will release their aroma, and the meat will release juice (it will need to be drained). If you don't have ground beef, use lamb or pork and chicken (50/50).
Form the minced meat into balls and fry them in a large amount of very hot vegetable oil. Place the finished keftedes on a paper towel to remove excess fat.
nata_vkusidey/Depositphotos.com Beef Wellington is an expensive, festive dish. But you can simplify it by replacing the beef tenderloin with ground meat. The result will be no worse.
Ingredients
- 1 kg minced beef;
- 500 g puff pastry;
- 200 g mushrooms;
- 100 g tomato sauce;
- 25 g butter;
- 4 eggs;
- 3 onions;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- parsley and other greens - to taste;
- vegetable oil.
Preparation
Mix the minced meat with chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic and herbs. Add 3 eggs and mix well. Place in a baking dish and place in an oven preheated to 180°C for 20 minutes. Cool.
Fry the mushrooms with the remaining garlic. The mushrooms will produce liquid - fry until it evaporates.
Ingredients
- 500 g minced meat;
- 5 tomatoes;
- 4 burger buns;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 medium onion;
- 1 medium carrot;
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce;
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar;
- salt, ground black pepper and chili pepper flakes - to taste;
- vegetable oil.
Preparation
Peel the onions and carrots. Finely chop the onion and grate the carrots. Fry the vegetables in vegetable oil, and then add minced meat to them.
While it's roasting, remove the skin from the tomatoes and mash the flesh with a fork. Peel and chop the garlic. When the liquid has evaporated from the minced meat, salt and pepper it and add chopped garlic.
Stir, let heat through for a minute, then pour in the Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Stir again. Finally, add the tomatoes and simmer until most of the moisture has evaporated from the sauce.
Toast the burger buns in a dry, hot frying pan. Spoon the sauce onto the bottom halves of the buns and cover with the top halves.
Emily/Flickr.com Ziti is a type of pasta (large long or short tubes) that Italians use for casseroles. This dish is also sometimes called lazy lasagna.
Ingredients
- 450 g ziti or penne pasta;
- 450 g lean minced meat;
- 200 g parmesan;
- 200 g mozzarella;
- 600 g tomato sauce;
- 1 onion;
- 1 tablespoon olive oil;
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano;
- 1 tablespoon basil;
- salt and pepper - to taste;
- butter.
Preparation
Fry the minced meat along with chopped onion in olive oil. Then add salt and pepper, add tomato sauce and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Boil the pasta in lightly salted water until it becomes soft.
Grease a baking dish with butter. Layer the casserole: half boiled ziti, half grated Parmesan and mozzarella slices, half meat sauce, more pasta and remaining cheese. Sprinkle oregano and basil on top.
Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C.
i.fotorecept.com A very simple recipe, since the ingredients do not require additional processing. If you have ready-made minced chicken in the refrigerator, you will assemble a roll in 20 minutes, and in another 40 you will have a delicious dinner.
Ingredients
- 500 g minced chicken;
- 200 g thick sour cream;
- 150 g hard cheese;
- 1 egg;
- 2 thin pita breads;
- salt, pepper and herbs - to taste.
Preparation
Salt and pepper the minced meat. Add chopped herbs that you like to it.
Sprinkle one pita bread with a small amount of grated cheese and place another on top. Mix the minced meat with sour cream and spread it on the pita bread. Roll the roll tightly.
Brush the resulting roll with beaten egg and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the roll on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40–45 minutes at 180°C.
You can, without further ado, buy ready-made minced meat in a store or, but it’s still better to cook it yourself, spending very little time on it.
The ingredients that make up store-bought minced meat always make you doubt their quality and freshness. In addition, its bright and rich color constantly suggests that, in addition to the usual components, its composition inevitably includes, allowing it to maintain its presentation over such a long period of time.
May the technologists and production managers forgive us, but we cannot entrust the business of preparing minced meat to anyone.
Preparatory work
In what proportions should I use pork and beef? The fact is that minced meat made entirely from beef is unlikely to be juicy, which means that dishes prepared from it will also be dry. 
Regular store-bought minced meat is made from beef with a small addition of lard. Cheap and cheerful! We will prepare real homemade minced beef and pork.
The classic ratio of meat ingredients in it is 50 to 50. 
If there is a need to make minced meat with less fat content, the proportion of pork meat in it must be reduced; the ratio of beef and pork in this case will be 70 to 30.
Let's stick to the classic recipe - select 0.5 kg of beef and the same amount of pork.
Wash the pieces of meat thoroughly, mercilessly remove tendons and excess fat, dry the pork and beef and cut into small pieces.
Or soak 200 g of loaf in milk, first cutting off the peel and leaving only the crumb.
Preparation
Pass through the meat, 2 medium-sized onions, 3 cloves of garlic and soaked white bread, after squeezing the milk from it.