Parents of fussy eaters rejoice! We’ve got a delicious and super simple minced beef recipe that’s great for kids and grown-ups alike.

With a prep and cook time of half an hour, you can serve this dish with rice, mix it through with congee, or have it with a pile of buttery mashed potatoes.

Loaded with yummy vegetables, this minced beef recipe is also great as filling for non-spicy curry puffs, bread rolls, pastries and pies.

That kid party or school gathering you’ve got to cook for? Don’t panic. Try whipping up some of this minced beef, put a couple of tablespoonsful in sturdy muffin liners and top with mashed potatoes for mini shepherd’s pie servings. Bake for extra points.

So easy even your kid can help out.

Ingredients: Serves 4 (as a side dish)

• 200g minced beef

• 25g sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

• 30g potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

• 70g carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes

• 65g onion, peeled and diced small

• 22g garlic (about 4 cloves), peeled & diced small

• 5g spring onions, cut small

• 5g Chinese parsley leaves, cut small

• 300ml chicken stock

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• ¼ tsp pepper

• ¼ tsp salt flakes

• 2 tbsp cooking or olive oil

Method

• Cut sweet potato, onions and carrot into small cubes.

• Finely dice onions and garlic, followed by spring onions and Chinese parsley leaves.

• Heat oil in a shallow pot over high heat.

• Add onions and garlic and sauté until slightly translucent, about 1 to 2 minutes.

• Next, add minced beef, spring onions and Chinese parsley leaves. Stir to brown the meat, about 30 seconds.

• Add your diced root vegetables – sweet potato, potatoes and carrots. Stir for about 1 to 2 minutes.

• Pour chicken stock into the pot, stir.

• Add pepper, salt, soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir to mix thoroughly. Cover until it boils.

• Turn down the heat to low, remove cover and let it simmer until the sauce thickens and almost dries up, about 10 to 12 minutes. Stir occasionally. Be sure to check that sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots have also cooked through. Cook longer (and add a little bit of water to aid) if necessary.

• Serve.

Extra tips

• Just realised you’ve run out of chicken stock? Replace with good old plain water. Your minced beef will still be very tasty.

• If using ground salt instead of flakes, reduce amount by half unless you like your dish really salty. You can always add a bit more at the end if you want it saltier.

• This recipe can also be modified as baby food. Just remove sauces, pepper and salt and cook as per above. Once cooked, blend and mix with soft congee.

Psst… you don’t need to have kids to cook this recipe. When all you want is some simple, comfort food, this minced beef recipe is as good as any. Feel free to adult-it-up any way you like.

This article first appeared in butterkicap.com

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