Description
I've been seeing a lot of recipes pop up lately for adding lentils to your meat, helping to stretch them out and feed more people, helping to save money. Truly a recession indicator.
But it's a great idea, allowing you to add roughly 25% more servings, as well as some fiber, protein, iron, and folate. With beef prices these days, it's damn near necessary to stretch that out as much as possible. So today, I'm making a taco meat by mixing ground beef with cooked lentils and taco seasoning.
But it's a great idea, allowing you to add roughly 25% more servings, as well as some fiber, protein, iron, and folate. With beef prices these days, it's damn near necessary to stretch that out as much as possible. So today, I'm making a taco meat by mixing ground beef with cooked lentils and taco seasoning.
Time
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Cost
Total Cost:
Cost per Serving:
$1.85
Ingredients
Serving(s)
Lentils
- 1/2 cup Lentils
- 1 cup Water
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Meat
- 1 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium Onion
- 1 lb Ground beef, 93/7
- 1 tbsp Minced garlic
- 2 tbsp Lime juice
Spcies
- 3 tbsp Chili powder
- 2 tbsp Paprika
- 1 tbsp Cumin, ground
- 1 tbsp Cilantro, dried
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Onion powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
Instructions
Cook Mode Off: Prevents screen dimming
- Meanwhile, heat a large pan over medium heat with olive oil. Cut an onion into a small dice. When the oil is hot, add in the onion, and cook until it starts to turn translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add in the meat, and press it down as much as possible to make sure as much of meat is touching the pan. Let it sear for about 5 minutes without touching it to develop good browning, until fragrant.
Mash with a wooden spoon, and continue cooking until no longer pink.
Make a hole in the center, and add the garlic to the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add in the lime juice, and mix the lime and garlic into the meat.
- Meanwhile, mix together all the spices in a small bowl.
- When the lentils are done cooking and the meat is no longer pink, add all your lentils and spice mix into the meat. Mix together, and cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until you can smell the spices. Season with salt and lime juice to taste, and serve.
Notes
- Any lentils will work, like brown, green, or red lentils.
- Any ground meat will work, like ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork.
- 1/2 cup (96 g) of raw lentils yields about 1 1/3 cup (260 g) of cooked lentils.
- Typically, 1 lb (454 g) of raw meat serves 4 people. By adding the lentils here, we can increase the number of servings to 5 people per pound of meat, or an increase of 25%.
- You can scale this recipe up or down to add the amount of lentils you need to the meat to be able to feed more people.
- Below are the nutrition facts assuming 1 lb (454 g) 93% ground beef with all the spices, serving 5 people, both with and without the lentils. The serving size with 5 total servings is too small for just 1 lb (454 g) of meat, but the addition of the lentils make it a bigger serving size while on a budget. Moreover, the lentils add fiber, folate, and plant-based protein & iron.
Nutrition Facts
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Total Fat: 9.2g (12%
12 % of Daily Value (78 g)
)
Saturated Fat: 3.0g (15%
15 % of Daily Value (20 g)
)
Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.2g
Monounsaturated Fat: 3.8g
Cholesterol: 57mg (19%
19 % of Daily Value (300 mg)
)
Sodium: 903mg (39%
39 % of Daily Value (2300 mg)
)
Total Carbohydrate: 25.1g (9%
9 % of Daily Value (275 g)
)
Fiber: 6.4g (23%
23 % of Daily Value (28 g)
)
Net Carbs: 18.7g
Total Sugar: 2.8g
Protein: 26.3g (53%
53 % of Daily Value (50 g)
)
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Vitamin B12: 2.02mcg (84%
84 % of Daily Value (2.4 mcg)
)
Vitamin D: 0.1mcg (0%
0 % of Daily Value (20 mcg)
)
------------------------------------------
Calcium: 88mg (7%
7 % of Daily Value (1300 mg)
)
Iron: 6.49mg (36%
36 % of Daily Value (18 mg)
)
Magnesium: 57mg (14%
14 % of Daily Value (420 mg)
)
Potassium: 791mg (17%
17 % of Daily Value (4700 mg)
)
:
:
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:
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28.5
:
7.2
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:
8.5
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Sources of Inspiration
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