Savoury mince is a British comfort food made from mince, seasonings and vegetables. Somewhat akin to a British-style Bolognese sauce, savoury mince is typically eaten with toast, mashed potato or rice. Popular throughout Australia, the UK and New Zealand, savoury mince has been enjoyed for many years and is a staple for many families.
Quick and simple to make, savoury mince is perfect for a low-effort weeknight dinner, or making a large batch to freeze or meal prep for the week. It's budget friendly, too, and quick to make using a single pan.
Savoury mince is traditionally served on toast, mashed potato, or rice, but it is versatile and can also be used as:
- As a filling for a baked jacket potato with some cheese and sour cream.
- In a pie, either in pastry or with mashed potato on top, like a shepherd's pie.
- In a wrap along with salad ingredients like lettuce and tomato.
- Stirred through pasta, as a pasta sauce.
You can even make a decent vegetarian version of savoury mince. See my instructions below for a meat free savoury mince.
Savoury mince ingredients
- Olive oil - used for sautéing, substitute with another oil if you prefer.
- Onion and garlic
- Beef mince - ideally no more than 10% fat. Beef mince works best, or a mixture of beef and pork. You can also use lamb, pork, or chicken mince. If you use a fattier mince, drain excess fat before adding the tomato paste.
- Mushrooms are optional but work well.
- Italian herbs are likewise optional but bring flavour.
- Tomato paste
- Beef stock - from a concentrate is fine, alternatively substitute for chicken stock. Where possible, use reduced salt or no salt varieties as this gives more flexibility when seasoning before serving.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Soy sauce is used for umami. Alternatively substitute with fish sauce, or half the amount of vegemite or marmite.
- Waxy potato and carrot
- Extra vegetables - I use peas, corn and broccoli, but use the same volume of your favourite veg if you prefer. You could also add cooked legumes or pulses instead, for example some lentils or kidney beans.
- A slurry made from corn flour/starch and water is used to thicken the sauce at the end.
Step-by-step guide to making savoury mince
Cook the onion - heat oil in a large skillet that has a lid, over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until translucent - about 2-3 minutes.
Add garlic and mince - stir in garlic (1) and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add mince and cook, breaking up any lumps with a spatula or spoon, until browned - around 8 minutes (2).
Add mushrooms (1) and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until they soften and shrink in size (2).
Add herbs and liquid - stir in the Italian herbs and tomato paste (1), cooking for about 30 seconds until the tomato paste starts to stick. Pour in the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce, stirring well (2). Use your spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Add potatoes and carrots and then cover with the lid, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the remaining vegetables and continue cooking, covered, until they soften.
Season and thicken - season with salt and pepper to taste. In a small bowl, mix the corn flour/starch with water to make a slurry. Stir it into the mince mixture - it should thicken immediately.
Serve hot over rice, buttered toast, or mashed potatoes.
Tips
- For the best results, use no more than 10% fat. If using a fattier mince, drain the excess fat before adding the tomato paste.
- Keep an eye on the liquid level while you're simmering the sauce. Your lid should prevent most of the evaporation, but if it starts getting too dry add some water.
- For the final part of cooking, you want to simmer - not boil - the sauce. This helps to develop the flavours and prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the skillet.
- Savoury mince should not be watery - make sure the sauce has thickened before serving - add more of the corn flour/starch slurry if needed, or remove the lid and allow it to reduce.
What is the best mince for savoury mince?
Traditionally beef mince is used, and I've written the recipe with that in mind. Feel free to use chicken, lamb or pork mince if you prefer - or even a mixture; I found that beef and pork mince worked particularly well during my testing.
Keep an eye on the mince fat ratio - I suggest using 10% fat. If you use a fattier mince, drain excess fat before adding the tomato paste.
How to make vegetarian savoury mince
You can easily make savoury mince vegetarian! The result works surprisingly well. I made this for a simple vegetarian dinner when I had some vegetarian friends over. Just remember that some might not eat soy sauce so you might wish to substitute for tamari and leave out the Worcestershire sauce as well.
In place of the mince, use either of the following:
- 200g of dried lentils. Cook in a pot of boiling water until tender. Drain and add to the dish in place of the mince.
- 150g of textured vegetable protein (TVP). Rehydrate in 350ml (1.5 cups) reduced salt vegetarian stock and add to the dish in place of the mince.
Of the two, I find that textured vegetable protein works better as its texture more closely resembles mince.
Make ahead, reheating and freezing Savoury Mince
You can easily make savoury mince ahead of time and reheat - keep it covered in the fridge where it will keep for 3-4 days.
To reheat, place a portion in the microwave and reheat. You can also reheat in a skillet or pot - over a medium-low heat with the lid on. You might need to give it a splash of water, keep an eye on it to make sure it's not sticking.
Savoury mince freezes well. Store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost the night before using in the fridge or in a microwave and reheat with the instructions above.
Add your own touch
- Add chilli or other spices such as curry powder if you want to add some heat.
- Use your favourite gravy powder instead of the corn flour slurry to thicken the gravy. Add a tablespoon or so before you add the beef stock.
- Rather than the suggested potato, carrot, peas, corn and broccoli, use your favourite vegetables!
- You can use fish sauce, vegemite or marmite in place of the soy sauce for an umami boost. If you use vegemite or marmite, halve the amount - it's significantly saltier than soy sauce.
Savoury mince
| Prep | Cook | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 10 mins | 25 mins | 35 mins |
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 500g (1lb) beef mince preferably 10% or less fat, see note 1
- 200g (7oz) button mushrooms, quartered optional
- 2 tsp Italian herbs optional - available as a mixed herb - see note 2
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 250ml (1 cup) beef stock preferably salt reduced
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 200g (7 oz) potato, peeled, diced use a waxy variety
- 2 carrots, peeled, diced
- 1 1/2 cups veg i.e. peas, corn, broccoli, see note 3
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp corn flour aka corn starch
- 2 tbsp water
- Rice, or
- Toast (preferably sourdough), or
- Mashed potato
- Cook the onion - heat oil in a large skillet that has a lid, over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until translucent - about 2-3 minutes.
- Add garlic and mince - stir in garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add mince and cook, breaking up any lumps with a spatula or spoon, until browned - around 8 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until they soften and shrink in size.
- Add herbs and liquid - stir in the Italian herbs and tomato paste, cooking for about 30 seconds until the tomato paste starts to stick. Pour in the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce, stirring well. Use your spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Add potatoes and carrots and then cover with the lid, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining vegetables and continue cooking, covered, until they soften.
- Season and thicken - season with salt and pepper to taste. In a small bowl, mix the corn flour/starch with water to make a slurry. Stir it into the mince mixture - it should thicken immediately.
- Serve hot over rice, buttered toast, or mashed potatoes.
- Mince - traditionally beef mince is used. Feel free to experiment with lamb, pork and chicken mince. Use 10% fat or less - if you use a fattier mince, I suggest draining excess fat before you add the tomato paste.
- Italian herbs are available from most supermarkets. It's a blend of Italian herbs such as basil, thyme, rosemary, etc. Use a blend that you like or use equal quantities of dried basil, rosemary, parsley, thyme, marjoram and oregano.
- Vegetables - I use frozen peas, corn and broccoli for convenience. Feel free to sub for other vegetables if you prefer - just keep the volume the same.
- Serving ideas - in addition to rice, toast or mashed potato, here are some serving ideas for you: filling for a jacket potato - topped with sour cream and cheese. In a pie, either with pastry or mashed potato on top, like a shepherd's pie. In a wrap with salad ingredients like lettuce and tomato. Stirred through pasta, as a pasta sauce.
- Vegetarian - you can replace the mince with textured vegetable protein (TVP) or lentils. See instructions in the post for how to make vegetarian savoury mince
