Question about stretching ground beef with lentils

I used to just buy the big family packs of ground beef at Walmart and use the whole thing for tacos or spaghetti. About 4 months ago I started mixing in a cup of cooked brown lentils per pound of beef. My family of 4 can now stretch one pound into two meals. Has anyone else tried bulking meat with lentils, and what ratio works best for you?

2 comments

2 Comments

sage_rodriguez2d ago

Hold up, have you been using them raw or cooked? Because mixing in raw lentils with ground beef is a no-go, they won't cook right. You gotta cook them first until they're soft, then mix them in. I do about 3/4 cup cooked lentils per pound of beef, and nobody in my house notices a thing. The key is to smash the lentils a bit with a fork before mixing so the texture blends in better.

the_nancy2d ago

Wait, you mean I can actually tell my kids we're having "taco meat" and it's secretly half lentils? That's genius, I've been hiding chopped mushrooms in everything like a sucker. I do about half and half now and my husband still hasn't caught on, which tells you how much he actually pays attention to dinner. The trick is to really season the lentils well so they don't just taste like sad little pebbles in your sauce.