Tips for cooking Quorn mince
Continuing our series of posts about how much we love Quorn, we wanted to give some tips on how to effectively cook Quorn mince. We should start by saying that it is pretty easy to cook, but like many Quorn products, it is often undercooked. There are some useful tips and tricks to be aware of if you want it to taste really good. Let's get into the article:
What does Quorn recommend?
On the back of the packet of Quorn Mince you'll find a number of recommendations for cooking, not just how to cook the Quorn mince but also recommendations for dishes you can make with it. We like the idea of spicy chilli tacos and we think all of this demonstrates how versatile Quorn mince is!
Don't fry it
If you're making a bolognese or chilli with beef mince then you might typically fry the beef mince for 10 minutes or so before adding the rest of the ingredients - with Quorn mince you don't need to do this, and actually doing this might give the Quorn mince a slightly smoky, burnt flavour. Keep in mind that Quorn mince isn't really supposed to bring much flavour to your dish, it is more used to recreate the texture of beef mince. So you don't need to worry about frying Quorn mince to unleash any flavour, because there isn't any!
Let the mince stew for a while
Another great thing about Quorn mince is that you can stew it for hours and it won't lose much of its texture or firmness, it'll just slowly soften up. We've made bolognese and chilli dishes for people who love meat and had nothing but compliments about how the Quorn mince tasted. If you're the type of person who likes to chuck loads of stuff into a slow cooker and let it all simmer for several hours, then Quorn mince is absolutely ideal for this.
Be generous with flavour
So far we've mentioned most of the positives about cooking with Quorn mince, but there is no getting around the fact that it doesn't have much flavour. This is where you need to use your culinary skills to add loads of additional flavour to any dish that you're making with Quorn mince - we like to start by frying onions and garlic, then adding the Quorn mince on top for a minute before adding chopped tomatoes, lots of spices and stock cubes. Again, Quorn mince is really handy because it doesn't have an overpowering taste at all and it absorbs flavours really well.
Don't make burgers or meatballs with Quorn mince
Ok, so this is probably the only major negative we have to say about cooking with Quorn mince - you can't make burgers with it like you can with beef mince. This is because beef mince contains some fat which definitely helps to provide some stability and sticking when creating burgers. This is near impossible with Quorn mince and we've never successfully managed to create anything like this. Just a tip!
So overall, we think that Quorn mince is excellent to cook with and has some major advantages over beef mince, but there are still a few things to keep in mind.
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.
2 Comments
Kat
I’ve had good results making Quorn meatballs by adding a slice of bread soaked in soy milk to the mix.
Dorothy Allen
I have noticed that quorum mince is now chunkier. This makes me feel a bit sick as it is too close to beef! Any reason why the change from smaller grains?