Mince & Tatties is the traditional Scottish recipe? If you never heard of the ‘classic’ Mince and Tatties recipe in America then you are not alone. I love to learn new recipes and this is a budget friendly dish which is heralded as one of the most popular dishes in Scotland.
I noticed this little gem of a Mince and Tatties recipe flying through the Facebook feed of a Scottish friend. This recipe caught my attention and is a keeper.
At the time we were in the middle of a heat wave so I waited until the weather has cooled to give this recipe a try and this Mince & Tatties recipe was a comfort food winner and was well worth the wait until comfort food weather here in the north.
If you love potatoes, this is a recipe for you. If you love an affordable meal, this recipe is for you.
If you are a meat and potatoes lover, this recipe is for you!
When I first read the Mince & Tatties recipe it reminded me of our own family meal when I was growing up which originated from the stretch the budget combination and concoction of hamburger, peas and rice. The original recipe from The Herald Scotland can be found here.
When the author stated he didn’t like his Mince & Tatties without any vegetables, I thought this is a recipe for me! But I loved the fact that root vegetables can easily be added for a well rounded meal.
For an easy to make and very affordable comfort food meal, Mince and Tatties ties with my Grandma’s Hungarian Goulash recipe (thanks Grandma!)
Is Minced Beef The Same As Ground Beef?
Well I stumped my local butcher when I asked for a pound of mince. “Which of course he then asked, did you say mincemeat?” This led to a discussion of what is mince?
I explained this was a recipe from Scotland and from the pictures and research it appeared to be our American version of finely ground beef or sirloin.
The next time I visited the store, the butcher came running over and was quite excited to reveal that he now understood what I was asking for? Beef which was minced via a mincing machine or for this butcher it would be grinding the beef 3-4 times.
In any event, ground beef or sirloin works for this recipe and I simply ‘minced’ the beef while cooking the beef with a fork by making reducing the size of the ground beef.
Either way it is the consistency which will differ depending upon how minced the beef is and not the taste. For those really interested in mince, Jamie Oliver provides all you need to know at All About Mince.
My version of Mince & Tatties with American conversion of measurements:
How To Make Mince & Tatties Recipe
Ingredients
Serves four.
1 pound of minced beef (ground round, ground sirloin, ground steak)
1 small diced onion
1/2 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of beef stock
Idaho potatoes to make as many servings of mashed potatoes as desired
Butter and milk as desired for mashed potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Peas, carrots, vegetables of your choosing. Worcester sauce for a kick.
DIRECTIONS
- I know – you know- how to make mashed potatoes. You will be boiling the mashed potatoes in conjunction with cooking the beef. Begin boiling the potatoes first in order to time the potatoes to be finished with the mince.
- On medium heat in a large skillet, brown the beef and onions.
- Once cooked, add flour to mixture.
- Pour beef stock over mixture, lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.
- Mash and prepare your potatoes to be ready when the mince is completely cooked.
- Kitchen Tip: I simmered the mince longer and added a smidge more flour for a consistency I desired. If you are a cook who likes to tweak recipes, this recipe can be easily tweaked for the preference of the audience regarding consistency and optional vegetables or Worcester sauce.
The Must Have Kitchen Tool For Mashed Potatoes
I make no taters about the fact I am a mashed potato fan. I’ve probably made mashed potatoes in every way possible (adding Mince & Tatties) to the rotation. What is common about every mashed potato recipe I have made is my favorite mashed potato helper – the potato ricer.
The ricer will be the key to creamy mashed potatoes every time. (I know there are lumpy mashed potato fans, but I prefer creamy.) I highly recommend adding a potato ricer to your kitchen tools and ricers can also be used for any soft veggie to mash.
Mince & Tatties Recipe - Traditional Scottish Comfort Food
Ingredients
- 1 pound minced beef (ground round, ground sirloin, ground steak)
- 1 diced small diced onion
- 1/2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup beef stock or broth
- 4 servings mashed potatoes
Instructions
- Mash and prepare your potatoes to be ready when the mince is completely cooked.
On medium heat in a large skillet, brown the beef and onions.Once cooked, add flour to mixture.Pour beef stock over mixture, lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.Serve the mashed potatoes with the meat - or serve the mashed potatoes on top of the meat - your preference! - Kitchen Tip: I simmered the mince longer and added a smidge more flour for a consistency I desired. If you are a cook who likes to tweak recipes, this recipe can be easily tweaked for the preference of the audience regarding consistency and optional vegetables or Worcester sauce.
Andria Perry says
Yum! this is most certain doable in this kitchen! thanks for the recipe.
tab says
Definitely doable and yummy!
Sandy KS says
This would go over well in my household.
tab says
It went over very well in mine 🙂
Lizzie Roles says
This looks yum! As part of the UK I really could have done this recipe already, especially as I have some Scottish friends, alas I have yet to try it. Looks amazing I’ll add it to our list of things to try. Thank you so much for linking up to #sharethejoy, if you could pop the Share the Joy badge on each post linked up that would be awesome! Thank you, I’m Looking forward to reading more of your posts over on Share the Joy , open every week! Lizzie xo
tab says
It is definitely worth trying, thanks for visiting!
Evelyn Peacock says
Hello if you enjoyed this dish should really try Scottish stovies it’s very similar warm tasty winter dish and very cheap to make And there’s a million ways to make it but I would say avoid adding any sort of alcohol of strong tasting herbs that some of the recipes ask for Happy Cooking.
tab says
Thanks! I will definitely check out Stovies!
Cathy says
My Gramma, who was born in Scotland, made this a lot and we all loved it. I add the sliced carrots and Worcestershire sauce to it but I don’t use flour, I thicken mine with cornstarch. She called it MINCE and that’s what our family has always called it. We serve it over mashed potatoes and it is YUM.
Rita Inglis says
Our family always thickened our mince with bisto. Being Scottish I was brought up eating mince and potatoes and still love it. I add Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, H.P. And Heinz fruity sauce just a bit of each and it kicks up the flavour. Also you can add doughballs 😋.