This is an authentic Indian curried beef mince recipe called Qeema (or keema or kheema). It’s a gem of a find because it tastes incredible but unlike many Indian dishes, there are no hard-to-find spices in the ingredients. And it’s super fast – on the table in 20 minutes! 

Qeema – Quick & Easy Indian Curried Beef Mince

This recipe is an excellent way to get an Indian food fix without having to hunt down hard-to-find Indian spices.

It’s also an excellent way to change up your usual rotation of beef mince recipes. Spag Bol, we love you, but sometimes it’s nice to try something new!!

And new this is. You probably haven’t seen Qeema on Indian restaurant menus because it’s a home cooking meal. But blimey, it’s a great find! 100% legit Indian flavours, 7 minute prep, 13 minute cook. Get all the spices from regular grocery stores – turmeric, garam masala, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper.

What you need for Qeema

The key to achieving the bold, authentic Indian curried beef flavour in this quick ‘n easy recipe is a good amount of fresh garlic and ginger, and a generous amount of ground spices.

Here’s what you need:

• Beef mince – That’s ground beef to those of you in the States! I’m using lean today, but regular is fine (fattier – juicier). I also made this recipe a few years ago using chicken mince which was terrific.

• Fresh garlic and ginger – Key to flavour in this otherwise simple Indian dish, so don’t skip these.

• Spices – Garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper. You can get all these at regular grocery stores here in Australia. Garam masala is an Indian spice mix which I tell people is the “better curry powder” because it tastes more legit, whereas the curry powders you get at regular grocery stores are very Westernised.

• Fresh coriander/cilantro for garnish. (Skip if you’re not a coriander fan).

• Green cayenne pepper (optional garnish) – This is for garnish, and it adds fresh chilli flavour without much spiciness because cayenne peppers are not that spicy. But it’s entirely optional, so feel free to omit!

How to make Qeema

1. Sauté – Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds until golden, don’t let it burn! Add onion and cook for 1 minute until it is starting to turn translucent.

2. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it changes from pink to light brown. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT water. Cook for a further 2 minutes to let the spices bloom.

3. Cook 10 minutes – Add water, give it a stir, then put a lid on (or cover with a baking tray if you don’t have a lid for your pan). Turn heat down to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated, but still a bit juicy.

4. Serve over with basmati rice or plain white rice, garnished with extra chilli and coriander/cilantro, and lots of Mint Yogurt. Naan or flatbreads would make it even better, though if time is not your friend, try frozen roti (pictured in post, more on this below the photo).

What to serve with Qeema

Serve over basmati rice and mint yogurt or plain yogurt (recipe below for mint yogurt). Then mix up the beef into the rice so it flavours the rice, then dig in!

It’s also pictured above with flaky, buttery roti which I stuffed with the Qeema and rice. Not homemade. I always have a stash of frozen ones which you can get at regular grocery stores. I love them because they can be cooked from frozen in a few minutes – how good is that! Ideal to use for any and all Indian / South East Asian saucy foods, like curries.

Though, if I have the time (or foresight to plan in advance), you can’t beat homemade naan. 😊

For vegetable sides, try one of these:

• Indian Tomato Salad with Mint Raita Dressing

• South Indian Carrot & Cabbage Salad with Coconut is fresh and popping with flavours – love the coconut flavour in this!

• Give this Everyday Cabbage Salad an Indian spin by sautéing garlic and cumin seeds in oil before mixing up with other Dressing ingredients.

Indian Tomato Salad with Mint Dressing

Cabbage & Carrot Thoran-style Indian Salad

Everyday Cabbage Salad

I really hope you try this Qeema recipe, the flavour is so authentic! Something a little different to make with that packet of beef mince you threw in your shopping trolley on the weekend. – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Qeema Indian Curried Beef

An authentic Indian spiced ground (minced) beef recipe known as Qeema (or keema or kheema). This is a gem of a recipe because it tastes incredible but unlike many Indian dishes, there are no hard-to-find spices in the ingredients. And it's super fast – on the table in 20 minutes!

Serve over basmati rice. Great with plain yogurt, even better with Mint Yogurt.

Course Dinner

Cuisine Indian

Keyword beef mince curry, curried beef, queema

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 255cal

Author Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil , or other neutral oil
• 4 tsp ginger , finely mince
• 5 large garlic cloves , minced (about 4 tsp)
• 1 large onion , finely diced
• 500g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef)
• 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder (pure, not US chili powder spice mix), omit for not spicy
• 1 1/4 tsp garam masala (Note 1)
• 1 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cup water

Garnish

• 1 green cayenne pepper , deseeded, finely sliced
• Cilantro/coriander leaves
• Plain yogurt or Mint yogurt (below)

Mint yogurt (optional, pictured in post)

• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup (lightly packed) mint leaves
• 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt

Instructions

• Sauté – Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds until golden, don't let it burn! Add onion and cook for 1 minute until it is starting to turn translucent.
• Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it changes from pink to light brown. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT water. Cook for a further 2 minutes to let the spices bloom.
• Cook 10 minutes – Add water, give it a stir, then put a lid on (or cover with a baking tray). Turn heat down to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated.
• Serve over with basmati rice or plain white rice, garnished with extra chilli and coriander/cilantro, and lots of Mint Yogurt. Naan or flatbreads would make it even better, though if time is not your friend, try frozen roti (pictured in post, Note 3).

Mint yogurt

• Blitz then stir – Put just 1/4 cup of the yogurt with the mint leaves and salt in a jug just big enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz until mint is very finely chopped. Then stir in remaining yogurt. (Note 4) Refrigerate until required.

Notes

Recipe credit – very slightly adapted from this Indian Queema Minced Beef by Scrambled Chefs.

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1. American “Chili Powder” is not pure ground chilli, it contains other spices like paprika and is not very spicy. This recipe calls for pure ground chilli for spiciness, or cayenne pepper.

2. Garam Masala – Spice mix used in Indian cooking, a more legit curry powder. Sold at regular grocery stores in Australia -> Coles, Woolworths, Harris Farms.

3. Roti – Flaky Indian round flatbread that’s sold in the freezer section of large grocery stores these days. Love them because they’re so handy – cook from frozen on the stove in just a couple of minutes. Cheap, tasty, if you’ve never tried it, it’s a game changer! 🙂

4. Mint yogurt – Blitzing makes yogurt watery. So just blitz the minimum to puree the mint, then stir the rest in which thickens the sauce up again.

5. Leftovers keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months.

Nutrition for beef only, not including rice or yogurt sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 172g | Calories: 255cal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 525mg | Potassium: 517mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 217IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 4mg

First published April 2016. Republished 7 years later with sparkling new photos, brand new recipe video (couldn’t make them back then!) and of course added a Life of Dozer section!

My easiest Indian recipes

More easy Indian recipes!

Butter Chicken

One-pan Baked Butter Chicken

Oven Baked Tandoori Chicken

Naan recipe – chewy & fluffy!

Chicken Tikka Masala

Beef Biryani

Chickpea Curry with Potato (Chana Aloo Curry)

Indian Recipes

Life of Dozer

He doesn’t realise it’s a vegetable platter. (Yet).

The post Qeema – Easy Indian Curried Beef Mince appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Lightly battered pan-fried chicken breast with an elegant white wine lemon sauce. It’s like Chicken Piccata, but a thicker sauce, more of it, no capers, with subtle lemon flavour. It’s got a terrific crust that soaks up the sauce! Lovely restaurant dish that’s simple to make at home.

Chicken Francese

Chicken breast, being a lean, neutral flavoured protein, is a terrific blank canvas to get creative with. Stuff it, sear it, crumb it, bake it, fry it, marinate it, poach it – see the many, many ways I cook it in my chicken breast recipe collection!

Today, we are battering and saucing. The battering is a little unique. Chicken Francese is dredged in egg then pan fried which gives the chicken a lovely golden crust with excellent sauce clinging capabilities.

Speaking of the sauce! It’s an elegant white wine sauce that’s savoury with a subtle brightness from lemon. It doesn’t taste winey because it’s reduced to cook out the alcohol. And it’s not meant to be really lemony, it just has a subtle flavour from the juices of lemon slices put into the sauce. I personally think most recipes use way too much lemon which makes it lip-puckeringly sour.

Also, not all recipes thicken the sauce, it’s thinner. I am firmly in the thickened sauce camp. Like so:

So, if all that sounds good to you, read on!

Ingredients in Chicken Francese

Here’s what you need to make Chicken Francese:

• Chicken breast is the cut commonly used for Chicken Francese. We only need 2 because we cut them in half horizontally to form 4 thin steaks in total. Get big ones, so one piece makes a sufficient serving for a meal. You could also get chicken breast that’s already cut / pounded thin, usually sold labelled as “chicken schnitzel” here in Australia (it comes un-crumbed).

  Boneless thighs will also work. Pound to even thickness to get a nice flat surface on both sides so the egg batter cooks evenly.

• Eggs and milk whisked together make up the batter than the chicken is dipped in before frying.

• Flour is used to thicken then sauce and for coating the chicken before dipping in the egg. It makes the egg cling better to the chicken and also makes the crust a little bit crispy.

• Wine –  Chardonnay is the best all-rounder cooking wine, in my opinion, for flavour. It is the only white wine I stock for cooking these days. No need to use an expensive one! Pretty well documented by cooking authorities that there’s no need to use expensive wine for cooking. Buy discounted bottles – I use ~$15 bottles discounted to ~$5. 

  Substitute with non-alcoholic white wine. Else, leave out the wine and add 2 – 3 tablespoons lemon juice to make a lovely lemon sauce instead.

• Chicken stock/broth is the other liquid that makes up the sauce.

• Butter for the sauce and olive oil for cooking the chicken. We discard the surplus olive oil (which gets black bits in it) before adding the butter.

• Lemon – Cut into slices then pan fried before adding back into the sauce. A very specific Chicken Francese step! More on this in the How To Make section below.

• Parsley for optional garnish.

How to make Chicken Francese

A nice, leisurely 15 minute cook. We first pan-fry the battered chicken cutlets then make the sauce in the same pan. The chicken is returned into the sauce at the end so the crust gets soaked in the sauce, as well as re-warming the chicken.

1. Cut each breast in half horizontally to form 4 thin steaks in total.

2. Flour coating – Mix flour, salt and pepper on a plate (I use my fingertips). Coat the chicken in the flour first, shaking off excess, then set aside on a plate while you heat the oil in the pan, ready to cook.

3. Egg dredge – Once the oil is hot, dip the chicken in the egg, coating both sides, then hold it up for a couple of seconds to let the excess drip off.

4. Cook chicken – Put the chicken straight into the pan. Then continue to coat the remaining chicken pieces.

5. Cook the chicken for 3 minutes until golden. Flip, lower heat to medium, then cook for 4 minutes until the chicken is golden (target internal temperature 68°C/155°F). Then remove onto a plate. The chicken will rest while we’re making the sauce. It’s ok if it cools down, it will warm up when we put it back in the sauce.

6. Pan fry lemon slices – Next, cook the lemon slices for about 1 1/2 minutes until lightly browned or they become soft (usually the latter for me). In this step, the lemon slices are soaking up the tasty bits left in the pan from cooking the chicken (it’s called fond). This flavour is then released into the sauce when we pop the lemon slices in at the end.

   This is a step that is unique to Chicken Francese! Great technique.

7. Clean the pan by giving it a quick wipe down with paper towels. You’ll see there are lots of black bits from cooking the chicken. No need to wash with detergent, just get rid of most of the black bits.

8. Roux – Next, we move onto the sauce. Melt the butter over medium heat then cook the flour for 1 minute to cook out the raw flour flavour. This pasty mixture in the pan is called a roux and this is what thickens the sauce.

9. Make the sauce – While stirring, slowly pour in half the stock. Keep stirring until the roux is mixed into the stock. Then you can pour the remaining stock in along with the wine, salt and pepper. Then mix to combine.

   Lump free! The technique of stirring while you slowly pour in some stock should prevent lumps forming in your sauce. But if you end up with pesky lumps, swish a whisk across the surface of the liquid to remove them, taking care not to scratch the non-stick surface of the pan. Worst case – strain it.

10. Simmer to thicken – Simmer the sauce for around 4 minutes, stirring every now and then, until it thickens into a syrupy consistency.

11. Sauce thickness – This is what you’re aiming for. About the thickness of maple syrup. It will thicken more when the chicken is returned into the pan, from flour bits in the crust mixing into the sauce.

12. Finishing – Once the sauce is the right thickness, it’s time to bring it all together! With the pan still on the stove, pop the chicken pieces back in along with the lemon slices and let it simmer for about 30 seconds to warm through and bring the flavour together.

    Then spoon sauce all over the chicken, then it’s dinnertime!

How to serve Chicken Francese

This recipe makes a generous amount of sauce because it’s hard to make less in large pans. You’ll end up with over a cup in the pan in addition to the sauce clinging to the chicken. That’s a good amount to serve this over mashed potato (or faux mash), rice, or other similar starchy vehicles (risoni/orzo, couscous).

On the other hand, if you choose bread for mopping (as pictured), then you might not use all the sauce. But, having too much sauce is a much more desirable position to be in than not enough sauce (*her heart thuds in fear at the thought*) and this precious liquid gold is going to make your morning scrambled eggs or a plain omelette SO MUCH MORE EXCITING. Who wouldn’t want white wine lemon sauce on their breakfast eggs???! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

UPDATE in response to reader questions – YES I use the leftover egg to make an omelette! There is less than the equivalent of 1 egg left so it makes a thin omelette crepe. As long as you cook the omelette through thoroughly, and because it’s so thin, you can, it is fine to eat even after dipping raw chicken into it!

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Chicken Francese

Recipe video above. Lightly battered pan-fried chicken breast with an elegant white wine lemon sauce. It's like Chicken Piccata, but a thicker sauce, more of it, no capers, with subtle lemon flavour. It's got a terrific crust that soaks up the sauce! Lovely restaurant dish that's simple to make at home.

Doesn't taste winey because the alcohol is cooked out, leaving behind magical flavour only wine can bring to sauces.

Course Mains

Cuisine Western

Keyword chicken breast recipe, chicken francese, chicken french, chicken in white wine sauce

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 368cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Chicken & coating:

• 2 large chicken breasts , skinless boneless (250-300g / 8-10oz each)
• 1/4 cup flour , plain / all-purpose
• 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp milk (any fat %)

Cooking & sauce:

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon , thinly sliced 0.3cm / 1/8″
• 50g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp flour , plain / all-purpose
• 2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium
• 1/3 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine (Note 1)
• 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (no pepper!)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley , for garnish (optional)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Cut each breast in half horizontally to form 4 thin steaks in total.
• Whisk eggs and milk in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Flour coating – Mix flour, salt and pepper on a plate (I use my fingertips). Coat the chicken in the flour, shaking off excess, then set aside on a plate.
• Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat.
• Cook chicken – Dip the chicken in the egg, allow excess to drip off, then put into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes until golden. Flip, lower heat to medium, then cook for 4 minutes until the chicken is golden (internal temp 68°C/155°F). Remove onto a plate.
• Lemon – Add the lemon slices to the pan. Cook for a minute or until the lemons go soft / brown, then turn and cook the other side for 30 seconds. Remove onto a plate. (Note 2)
• Wipe the pan clean using paper towels.
• White wine sauce – Still on medium heat, melt the butter in the pan. Add flour and stir for 1 minute using a wooden spoon. While stirring, slowly pour in half the stock. Once the flour is dissolved into the liquid, stir in remaining stock, then the wine and salt. (See Note 3 for lumps tip)
• Thicken sauce – Turn the heat up slightly then simmer for 3 – 4 minutes or until the sauce thickens into a syrupy consistency.
• Sauce it! Return the chicken and lemon slices to the pan, then spoon the sauce all over the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley then serve the chicken with the sauce (use it ALL!).

Notes

UPDATE – Yes, I use the leftover egg to make a thin crepe-omelette! Cook it through thoroughly so it’s safe to eat even after dipping raw chicken into it. I actually had this in the video but cut it out because I thought the video was too long!!

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1. Wine –  Chardonnay is the best cooking wine, in my opinion. Pretty well documented these days that there’s no need to use expensive drinking wine, buy discounted bottles for cooking (I use ~$15 bottles discounted to ~$5). 

Substitute with non-alcoholic white wine. Else, leave out the wine and add 2 – 3 tbsp lemon juice to make a lovely lemon sauce instead.

2. Pan frying the lemon slices makes them soak up the tasty flavour left in the pan by the chicken (it’s called fond!) which is then released into the sauce at the end when we put the lemon slices in. So don’t skip this step!

3. Lumps in sauce – The method of stirring while you slowly pour in some stock should avoid lumps. But if you end up with pesky lumps in your sauce, swish a whisk across the surface of the liquid to remove them, taking care not to scratch the non-stick surface of the pan. Worst case – strain it.

4. Serving – Pictured with pan seared asparagus (drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, pan sear in hot pan until lightly charred. Do this while the sauce is simmering). For sauce mopping, I used bread but mash (or faux mash), rice and similar are excellent sauce-soaking options.

5. Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge though the crust does loosen.

6. Nutrition per serving assuming all the sauce is consumed.

Nutrition

Calories: 368cal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 783mg | Potassium: 656mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 507IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg

Life of Dozer

It was worth trying.

The post Chicken Francese appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

This is a beef pasta cooked with Italian seasonings in a creamy tomato sauce. The epitome of easy homemade comfort food with the convenience of one-pot cooking!

One Pot Creamy Tomato Beef Pasta

I’m quite selective about one-pot pasta recipes. I only use it for saucy pastas, like today’s. It just doesn’t work properly with less saucy pastas, like Puttanesca and pesto pasta, because there’s not enough liquid to cook the pasta evenly.

So, any one-pot pasta recipe you see here on my website is saucy and oozy.

I’ve never heard any complaints. Everybody loves sauce!

Today’s is a beef pasta that comes with a creamy tomato sauce. It’s essentially a variation of Bolognese, with Italian seasonings plus a dash of cream. Total crowd pleaser!

Proof of ooziness:

Ingredients in this One Pot Beef Pasta

Following on from my introduction about the sauciness of one pot pastas, it will be no surprise when I say that the key to cooking one pot pasta recipes is to have plenty of liquid that the pasta can absorb! Dried pasta absorbs more than double its own weight in liquid as it cooks. Today, we use 4 cups of stock plus a can of tomato for 360g/12 ounces of pasta.

• Beef mince (ground beef) – I use lean here (90% or 95%) but any fat % will do. Actually, the fattier the beef, the beefier the flavour – because fat is where all the flavour is! If you mix, say, lamb fat into very lean beef mince and cook it up, you’d swear you’re eating lamb.

• Chicken stock/broth – The cooking liquid of choice. Tastier than water! I use the liquid cartons regularly in my cooking so I stock up when it’s on sale. For an economical option, I recommend using Vegeta stock powder or Chinese chicken stock powder (Knorr) plus water. I prefer the flavour of these over other Western stock powders.

• Pasta type – I used the spirals (fusilli), but other similar sized short pastas will work just fine too. Penne, ziti, elbow macaroni, shells. Avoid the really small pastas like risoni/orzo, tiny stars etc. If using long pasta, it’s easiest to break in half. You can also use a little more – increase up to about 400g/14oz.

• Cream – Just 3/4 cup, stirred in right at the end transforms a normal tomato sauce into a creamy tomato sauce! You really do only need 3/4 cup to get the flavour and colour impact of the creaminess.

• Garlic and onion – Essential flavour base.

• Tomato paste and canned tomato – Tomato paste gives a boost to the tomato flavour as well as thickening the sauce a touch.

• Italian herbs – Seasoning! I use a store bought mix, it’s a staple in the dried herbs and spices aisle at any grocery store and doesn’t cost any more than other dried herbs. If you don’t have it, use any mix of dried oregano, basil and parsley. Or, a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Just something to add flavour.

• Red pepper flakes (chilli flakes) – 100% optional. I like to add a tiny touch of warmth into this to keep things interest but you can just leave it out if you prefer!

How to make One Pot Creamy Tomato Beef Pasta

Don’t be alarmed by how saucy it is at the end as you take it off the stove, that’s exactly what you want. Pasta absorbs liquid really quickly, so by the time you ladle into bowls, garnish with parmesan, put the bowls on the table, yell at everyone to sit down then start eating, the pasta will go from a little bit too soupy to the perfect level of ooziness.

1. Cook beef – Sauté the garlic and onion. Then add the beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until you no longer see red.

2. Toast seasoning – Add the Italian herbs then cook for 30 seconds. This really brings out the flavour of the herbs and spices, and improves the flavour by toasting it. Then add the tomato paste and stir for a minute. This cooks out the rawness and also improves the flavour.

3. Add liquids and pasta – Add the stock, canned tomato, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Give it a good stir, then add the pasta.

4. Cook 15 minutes – Once the liquid comes back up to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes until the pasta is just about cooked. Stir every couple of minutes at the start then more regularly towards the end to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick to the base of the pot. As you cook, the liquid will reduce and thicken but should still be soupier than you’d expect.

5. Cream it! Stir in the cream, bring it back up to a simmer then keep cooking for another minute until the pasta is fully cooked. It should still be slightly soupier than you think!

6. Serving – Remove from the stove, then give it a good stir and ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with parmesan and a little parsley if using, then devour!

   As noted at above, pasta absorbs liquid quite quickly so it will go from a little too soupy to perfect ooziness in the time it takes between taking it off the stove and eating it. In any case, saucier is better than dry. Nobody wants a mound of gluey, stodgy pasta!!!

YUM. That’s a bowl of food that is 100% me. It’s not fancy. It’s fuss free to make. It’s hearty and cosy and easy and rustic and full of flavour.

I know it’s a cliche to say “it’s me on a plate”, but it really is. (Well, bowl).

Love to know what you think if you try it! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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One pot creamy tomato beef pasta

Recipe video above. This is a beefy pasta cooked with Italian seasonings in a creamy tomato sauce. Epitome of homemade comfort food with the convenience of one-pot cooking! Love how the pasta absorbs the flavour of the sauce.

For more, see the full One Pot Pasta recipe collection.

Course Mains

Cuisine Italian, Western

Keyword beef pasta, creamy tomato beef pasta, easy pasta dinner, One Pot Pasta

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4 – 5 people

Calories 610cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
• 1 onion , finely chopped
• 500g/ 1 lb beef mince / ground beef
• 2 tsp Italian herbs (Note 1)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 400g/ 14 oz can crushed tomatoes (or tomato passata)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (chilli flakes, optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 cups (1 L) chicken stock/broth , low sodium (Note 2)
• 350g/ 12oz fusilli, penne, elbow macaroni or other short pasta (Note 3)
• 3/4 cups thickened / heavy cream

Serving:

• Parmesan cheese , finely grated
• Parsley , finely chopped, optional

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Sauté – Heat the oil on high heat in a large heavy-based pot. Cook garlic and onion for 1 1/2 minutes.
• Cook beef & seasonings – Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until you can no longer see red meat. Add the Italian herbs and cook for 30 seconds, then add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to cook out the raw flavour.
• All in – Add crushed tomato, chicken stock, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, if using. Stir, then add the pasta.
• Cook 15 min – Bring the liquid to a simmer, then cook for 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes then more frequently towards the end (ensure pasta doesn't stick to base) until the pasta is just about cooked.
• Creamy – Add cream, then simmer for a further 1 to 2 minutes. It will still be quite saucy – this is what you want! Pasta absorbs liquid quickly, so it will still be nice and oozy when you start eating.
• Serve – Remove from the stove. Give it a good stir then ladle into bowls. Serve with parmesan and parsley.

Notes

1. Italian Herbs – Just a store bought mix, very common at grocery stores. If you don’t have any, just use a mix of dried oregano, parsley, basil. Or sub with a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce.

2. Chicken stock/broth – Tastier than water! I stock up when on sale. Economical alternative – I recommend using Vegeta stock powder (info here – I use it regularly) or Chinese chicken stock powder (Knorr) plus water. I prefer the flavour of these over other Western stock powders. 

3. Any short pasta will work here, like macaroni, penne etc but not tiny ones like risoni/orzo. If using long pasta, easiest to break in half and you can cook about 400g/14oz (a little more than short pasta).

4. Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Not suitable for freezing.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings using 90% lean beef.

Nutrition

Calories: 610cal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 988mg | Potassium: 1013mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 868IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 5mg

Life of Dozer

I caught him snuffling a tub of rice in the pantry so he was made to walk around with a sticker of shame. (Raw rice grains. I think there was a smear of sauce on the tub. It can surely be the only explanation).

The post One pot creamy tomato beef pasta appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Here’s a great beef mince recipe for you that’s quick to make, economical and full of hidden vegetables so it’s a complete meal – Beef Chow Mein! It’s the beef version of everybody’s favourite Chicken Chow Mein, made with the convenience of ground beef.

Beef chow mein

Here’s something new to try with that packet of beef mince you throw into your shopping cart every week! The beef is stir fried with chow mein sauce until it’s beautifully caramelised then tossed in a tangle of noodles and vegetables.

A neat trick in today’s recipe is to scramble up an egg with the beef. It makes the beef bits stick to the noodles better, with the added bonus of upping the protein.

Another bonus: chow mein actually has a vast amount of noodle-shaped vegetables hidden in the noodles. A carrot, 2 heaped cups of cabbage and a heaped cup of bean sprouts. That’s a good veg serving for a meal!

What you need

Here’s what you need to make this:

Noodles & add-ins

• Noodles – Chow mein noodles are sort of dry and crinkly, rather than oily and straight like hokkien noodles, lo mein noodles. But this dish can really be made with any noodles – or even spaghetti (yes really, who’s going to know once tossed in chow mein sauce??). Use the same weight.

• Garlic – Rarely do Asian stir fries happen without garlic, and this one is no exception!

• Beef mince – That’s ground beef to Americans. Any fat % is fine here though lean beef won’t caramelise quite as well.

  Other proteins – Any other mince will work just fine here. Chicken, pork, turkey, even lamb! Though bear in mind the sauce is quite intense flavoured to suit the beefy flavour of beef, so you won’t taste the flavour of white meats through the sauce.

• Egg – We use this to scramble into the beef. Neat trick to make the beef stick to the noodles better with the added bonus of a free protein boost!

• Green cabbage – Or Chinese cabbage. Finely sliced so it disappears into the tangle of noodles.

• Bean sprouts – Excellent grab-and-throw-in vegetable option! STORAGE TIP: Keep bean sprouts in water in an airtight container. Change the water every couple of days. This will increase the shelf life of beansprouts 3x.

• Carrot – Cut into thin batons. More noodle shaped vegetables so it all jumbles up together!

• Green onion – We use 3 whole stems here. They are the onion in this dish, as well as some fresh green colour.

Chow Mein Sauce

The combination of sauces used in Chow Mein is common in Chinese dishes.

• Soy sauces – We’re using both light and dark soy sauce in this recipe. What’s the difference? Dark soy stains the noodles a lovely warm mahogany colour as well as adding soy flavour. Light soy sauce provides the salt without overwhelming with soy flavour, and does not stain the rice. 

  Substitutions -You can use only light soy sauce or just an all-purpose soy sauce (ie bottle just labelled “soy sauce” without “light” or “dark” in front of it) instead of dark soy sauce. But you cannot use only dark soy sauce as the flavour is too strong! More on different types of soy sauces here.

• Oyster sauce – A load of flavour, all in one sauce! It’s sweet and savoury and adds a neat flavour shortcut in dishes. Makes a regular appearance in Asian dishes, from Pad See Ew to Asian Glazed Salmon to Honey Pepper Beef to Supreme Soy Noodles. And Steamed Asian Greens with Oyster Sauce!

  Vegetarian oyster sauce is available these days, at Asian stores and some large grocery stores (Australia – there’s Ayam vegetarian oyster sauce at Woolies). Otherwise, hoisin is a good alternative. Slightly different flavour profile (hint of Chinese five spice) but similar savoury / sweetness.

• Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant tasting” Chinese dishes. Without it, the dish will be lacking something. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. 

  Non alcoholic sub – sub both the cooking wine and water with low sodium chicken broth/stock.

• Cornflour / cornstarch (left out of photo – oops!) – For thickening the sauce so it clings to the noodles. It also makes the sauce lovely and glossy.

• White pepper and sugar – For seasoning.

How to make Beef Chow Mein

Be sure to cook the beef well once you add the sauce to get it really nicely caramelised, for a free flavour boost!

1. Sauce & thickener

1. Sauce – Mix the soy sauces, oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sugar and pepper in a small bowl. We’re going to use some to flavour the beef, then we will mix the rest with the sauce thickener (next step) to make the noodle sauce.

2. Sauce thickener (cornflour slurry) – Mix the cornflour / cornstarch and water in a separate small bowl. This is what thickens the sauce so it coats the noodles, as well as making it shiny and glossy.

2. Making the stir fried noodles

1. Prepare the noodles per the packet directions then drain. I usually get the water boiling while I’m prepping the vegetables then cook the noodles when I start cooking. The chow mein noodles I get just call for soaking in hot water for 3 minutes. Some brands need to be boiled.

2. Caramelise beef – Using a large non-stick pan, cook the garlic first to flavour the oil. Then cook the beef, breaking it up as you go, until you can no longer see raw beef.

   Then add the white part of the green onions and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Sauce. We add the white part of the green onions first as it takes longer than the green part. Cook for another 2 minutes to get the beef nicely caramelised.

3. Finish sauce – Meanwhile, mix the cornflour slurry into the remaining sauce.

4. Scramble egg – Add the egg into the pan then mix it through the beef, it will sort of scramble into the mixture. This is what makes beef stick to the noodles better!

5. Keep cooking! – When the egg is mostly cooked, add the carrot and cabbage. Cook for 1 minute until cabbage starts to wilt.

6. Sauce & noodles – Give the sauce a quick mix. Add the bean sprouts, noodles and sauce into the pan. Toss well for 1 minute or until sauce is dispersed through the noodles. Add green part of green onions. Toss for another 1 minute, then serve!

So there you go! Stir fried noodles for dinner, relatively low effort and quick to make. Great way to get a noodle fix, very economical, and highly versatile – switch out the vegetables and proteins with what you’ve got or what you love.

Enjoy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Print

Beef Chow Mein – great beef mince noodle recipe!

Recipe video above. The beef mince version of everybody's favourite Chicken Chow Mein – great way to cook up ground beef with noodles. Economical and no meat chopping required, with plenty of hidden vegetables so it's a complete dinner!

Scrambling up an egg with the beef is a neat trick to make the beef cling to the noodles better.

Course Mains

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Keyword beef mince recipe, beef noodles, Chow Mein, ground beef stir fry

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Calories 664cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Chow Mein:

• 200g/ 7 oz chow mein noodles , or other thin yellow egg noodles or 3 ramen cakes (Note 1)
• 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
• 200g/ 7 oz beef mince / ground beef (any fat %)
• 3 green onion stems , cut into 5cm/2″ lengths, white and green parts separated
• 1 egg
• 2 cups green cabbage , finely sliced (or Chinese cabbage)
• 1 carrot , peeled, cut into thin batons
• 1 heaped cups bean sprouts (~ 75g / 2 1/2 oz) (Note 5 – storage tip)

Chow Mein Sauce:

• 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce or all-purpose soy sauce (Note 2)
• 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 2)
• 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (Note 3)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing) (Note 4)
• 1 1/2 tsp white sugar
• Pinch white pepper

Sauce thickener:

• 1 1/2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
• 3 tbsp water

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Sauce – Mix ingredients in a small bowl then set aside. Some is used to flavour the beef, then the rest for the noodles.
• Sauce thickener (cornflour slurry) – Mix the cornflour / cornstarch and water in a separate small bowl.
• Prepare noodles per packet directions then drain.
• Cook beef – Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Cook garlic for 10 seconds, then add the beef and cook until you can no longer see pink. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Sauce and the white part of the green onions. Cook for another 2 minutes to get the beef nicely caramelised.
• Finish sauce – Mix the cornflour slurry into the remaining sauce.
• Egg – Add the egg into the pan then mix it through the beef, it will sort of scramble. Egg makes the beef stick to the noodles better!
• Cabbage & carrot – When the egg is mostly cooked, add the carrot and cabbage. Cook for 1 minute until cabbage starts to wilt.
• Sauce & noodles – Give the sauce a quick mix. Add the bean sprouts, noodles and sauce into the pan. Toss well for 1 minute or until sauce is dispersed through the noodles. Add green part of green onions. Toss for another 1 minute.
• Serve – Divide between bowls and serve!

Notes

1. Noodles – Chow mein noodles are sort of dry and crinkly, rather than oily and straight like hokkien noodles, lo mein noodles. But this dish can really be made with any noodles – or even spaghetti (yes really, who’s going to know once tossed in chow mein sauce??). Use the same weight.

2. Soy sauce – Light soy sauce and all-purpose soy sauce add salt but doesn’t add much soy flavour or colour. The dark soy sauce stains the noodles a brown colour and adds soy flavour. It’s intense so you don’t need much!

3. Oyster sauce – Sweet and savoury, adds depth of flavour to an otherwise simple sauce. Sub with vegetarian oyster sauce (available in some large grocery stores and Asian stores these days) or Hoisin (different flavour with hint of five spice but similar savouriness and sauce thickness).

4. Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant standard” Asian noodles. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry.

Non alcoholic sub – sub both the cooking wine AND water with low sodium chicken broth/stock.

5. Keep beansprouts submerged in water in an airtight container in the fridge. Change the water every couple of days. This will extend the shelf life 3x. Also, here in Australia, bean sprouts at Asian stores are much better quality than ordinary grocery stores!

6. Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Will freeze fine but not ideal – noodles get a little soft.

Nutrition per serving. Serves 2 very generously – more like 2 1/2 servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 664cal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 149mg | Sodium: 1681mg | Potassium: 732mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 5473IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 6mg

My noodle life

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Supreme Soy Noodles (NEW recipe – finally!)

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Life of Dozer

Visited our old stomping ground on the weekend – Bayview dog beach! Plenty of Dozer smiles that morning. 🥰

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