Ten 30-minute meals made with mince

What’s for dinner? It’s the same question that’s being asked in houses all around Australia at about 5pm. Thank goodness you have a secret weapon in the fridge: Mince.

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30-minute meals made with mince

Armed with a packet of mince and these recipes, you’ll have a delicious dinner ready in no time. Bookmark this page or login and save the recipes to your free myfoodbook eCookbook, 'cause you’ll want to have these 30 minute meals with mince on hand.
 
Here are some quick tips to get the most out of mince, and below are quick mince recipes.
Mince cooking tips
  • Mince is best cooked in batches. This stops the mince from stewing, turning grey and losing its flavour.
  • Keep it hot: too much mince in the pan can over-crowd things, leading to the frying pan losing heat. Get your pan nice and hot before adding the mince in batches. Add a little more oil with each batch if needed.
Storing and freezing mince 
  • Fresh mince can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.
  • Raw mince should be stored in the coldest part of your fridge, usually in the bottom corner.
  • If you're planning on freezing the mince. Remove it from the store packaging once you are home and place it in a freezer bag or zip-lock bag with all the air squeezed out. Try to flatten the mince so it's a thinner layer. This helps it to freeze faster and then defrost faster. Keep mince in the freezer for up to 2 months.
  • Defrost mince in the fridge overnight.
Tips for faster meals
There are a few shortcuts to making meals quicker and easier for those busy weeknights. Here are some used in the following recipes: 
 
  • Opt for microwave rice rather than regular rice as it will be ready to use in just 90 seconds.
  • Use pre-cut frozen beans or other veg to save valuable prep time.
  • Choose mince rather than other cuts of beef or chicken as it will cook faster.
  • Use fresh pasta rather than dried as it is quicker to cook.
  • If you have sausages, cut them up to cook. Sausages are basically filled with flavoured mince. Plus they look like little meatballs.
Mince recipes ready in 30 minutes or under
Play Video: Chicken Meatballs in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Adding ricotta to these meatballs helps to keep them from becoming too dry from the lean chicken mince. The creamy mushroom sauce has bags of flavour and is delicious served with fettuccine plus some extra bread for dipping into that sauce.
 
 
Play Video: 20 Minute Penne Pasta
This quick and easy Penne Pasta recipe is a great veggie smuggler dinner idea too. Lots of vegetables are added to the the mince then cooked into the tomato sauce.
 
 
Play Video: Quick Chicken, Spinach and Pumpkin Pasta Bake
Using a can of pumpkin soup helps this flavourful pasta bake come together in 30 minutes flat.
 
 
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