Old lady at the farmer’s market taught me how to stretch a pound of ground beef

I was buying a single pound of 80/20 at the Saturday market in Portland and this older woman next to me said “grate a zucchini into that and you’ll get two meals instead of one.” I tried it with a cup of shredded zucchini last Tuesday and my tacos were actually bigger and juicier. She said she’s been doing it since the 70s to save on meat costs. Has anyone else tried bulking ground meat with veggies like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

briannguyen18d ago

This is how my grandma stretched everything during the 90s recession.

wren30118d ago

OH man, YES. This is a PRO tip right here. I do the same thing but I grate a CARROT into my ground beef too. The carrot adds a little sweetness that cuts the savory, and when you shred it fine enough it basically disappears into the meat. I also sneak in some finely chopped mushrooms sometimes - they soak up all the beef fat and taste just like meat. Between the zucchini and mushrooms you can easily get 3 meals out of a pound. Your tacos were juicy because the veg holds moisture that the lean meat would just lose.