Are you wondering what the hell is ‘mince’?
I know it doesn’t sound the most appetizing. But mince or minced meat is the Australian term for ground beef.
Apart from lamb shanks, it’s my favourite cut of meat because it’s inexpensive, incredibly versatile and it’s very forgiving.
No need to stress about it overcooking and ending up tough. Unlike expensive rib eye.
The idea to make this dish came from my wonderful neighbour Heather.
We were talking about our go-to dinners at the bus stop and this savoury mince using soy sauce to season is one of Heather’s faves.
I love the idea of an alternative to the knee-jerk reaction of tomato based sauces.
I’ve used cabbage here but any cooked veg will work.
Magnificent Mince & Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 onion chopped
- 450 g ground (minced) beef
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon sherry or wine vinegar
- 1/4 large cabbage approx (800g / 1.5lb)
- mayonnaise to serve
Instructions
- Peel and chop onion. Heat a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add a few tablespoons olive oil and chopped onion. Cook onion with the lid on, stirring every few minutes until the onion is soft but not browned. Will take about 10 minutes.
- While the onion is cooking, finely slice the cabbage into approx 1/4 inch ribbons.
- Increase the heat to medium high and add meat. Cook, stirring until the meat is well browned. Remove from the heat and toss in the soy or fish sauce and vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Remove cooked meat and keep warm in a clean bowl.
- Return the pot to a medium high heat. Add cabbage and about 1/4 cup water. Cook with the lid on, stirring every now and then for about 5 minutes or until cabbage is soft.
- Return the cooked meat to the pan and allow to warm.
- Divide between 2 bowls and top each with a nice big drizzle of mayo.
Nutrition
WINE MATCH: A spicy Shiraz or Zinfandel.
Variations & Substitutions
short on time – skip onion or replace onion with a bunch of chopped chives added at the end.
keto / ultra low carb – skip the onion.
more colourful / greener – serve with chopped parsley or basil. Or toss in some baby spinach leaves at the end.
mayo-free – try crumbled feta, chopped olives, parmesan cheese, sour cream, smashed avocado, hummus, toasted pine nuts, blue cheese, chilli oil, extra virgin olive oil, chive butter or spiced butter.
vegetarian – beef = lentils or chickpeas or crumbled tofu. OR scramble some eggs in with the cabbage. Cheese is another great meat-free option – either crumble in goast cheese or feta at the end. Or serve with lashings of grated parmesan or pan fried halloumi cubes.
more substantial (carb lovers) – cooked pasta, cooked rice, cooked quinoa. Or wrap it all in flat breads.
more substantial (low carb) – more mayo. Roast nuts. more cabbage.
Low FODMAP – skip onion or replace onion with a bunch of chopped chives added at the end. Replace some of the cabbage with spinach or chard.
different vegetables – onions = leeks or green onions (scallions). Cabbage = kale, collard greens, brussels sprouts, broccoli (will take longer to cook and add 1/2 cup water), cauliflower (will take longer to cook and add 1/2 cup water), zucchini, eggplant. Or serve the savoury meat on a bed of roast veggies.
different protein – egg is amazing with the cabbage like this recipe, any ground (minced) meat will work, or crumbled sausages. Keen to try a canned tuna version one day.
soy-free – use coconut aminos or fish sauce or tomato ketchup or tomato puree.
Problem Solving Guide
bland – more soy / fish sauce and more vinegar. A splash of hot sauce will help.
too dry – next time use higher fat meat. For now more mayo or a splash of olive oil or coconut oil is the solution.
hard to eat – it’s important to cook the cabbage until it’s soft.
burning – reduce the heat and add a few tablespoons water to cool the pot down and generate some steam which will help the cabbage cook more evenly. If it’s really badly burned, tip everything out of the pot into another pan, leaving the burnt bits in your original pot.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
onion – will keep in the pantry for months. Best if in a dark corner in a brown paper bag.
minced (ground) beef – freeze it.
soy or fish sauce / sherry, rice or wine vinegar – keep them in the pantry.
cabbage – will keep in a plastic bag in the fridge for weeks, even months. Can be frozen but will have a wilted texture once defrosted.
mayonnaise – unopened in pantry or once opened will keep for months in the fridge.
Prepare Ahead
Yes! Just cook as per the recipe but keep the mayo separately. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or can be frozen. To serve, warm in a pan with a little oil and finish with the mayo.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Such a quick, nutritious and filling meal (and I even forgot to add the chives at the end!) Thumbs up for this one. Definitely in my favourites list now.
So glad you enjoyed Lisa!
Another hit for me – I really enjoyed the simplicity, and flavours! I cooked garlic with the onion, and added some Chinese 5 Spice and a local herb mix to ground pork. Tossed a couple handfuls of baby kale in with purple cabbage, and it was a lovely colourful one-pan meal! I can’t do eggs, and didn’t have any of the creamy suggested toppings on hand, so used my haskap chutney and it tied everything together nicely! This will definitely be a regular go-to for me, thank you! ?
Wonderful Sarah! Love all your variations 🙂 Nuts or nut based sauces are a good topping if you can’t do eggs. But your chutney sounds fab! And I do have an egg-free mayo recipe.
This is a family favorite. Everyone chooses their own topping: mayo, Thousand Island dressing, Chinese mustard or duck sauce.
ooh LOVE a choose your own topping option Debbie 🙂
Great fan of cabbage, cooked and otherwise. This is a really tasty dish. Added some shichimi togarashi to give it a bit of oriental punch. Delicious!
ooh nice addition with the togarashi Ken!
And I had never heard of togarashi until you introduced me to it!
I should try actual mince with one of your recipes one of these days, but I had a steak a couple of days ago, so decided to go vegan tonight. I cooked a capsicum and a few mushrooms (could have used more) with the onion, put that aside and then cooked dried lentils in the same pot with some rice that needed using up, then the cabbage of course, which wound up a bit like a congee, though none the worse for that. I flavoured the result with the last cup or so of passata in a bottle from last week, lashings of veg stock powder, and some fish sauce and soy sauce, and topped it with cashews. Good.
You’ve very creative Mark – love it!
I was a bit more faithful to the original this time. I fried a grated carrot and 5 chopped spring onions before adding about 300g of beef mince, then a tin of brown lentils, and flavoured the mix with red wine vinegar, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and veg stock powder. Rather than water, I cooked the cabbage in leftover passata. Good, even though I completely forgot the mayonnaise.
Excellent Mark! with all the extra sauces you added I’m not surpised it didn’t need mayo 🙂