Minced Meat vs Ground Meat | Difference, Similarities & Price

Jessica Wiest
Last updated: October 5, 2023

Minced Meat vs Ground Meat | Difference, Similarities & PriceLike me, you must often get confused between minced and ground meat, and wonder what is the actual difference between the two. Although they look similar, using them in the wrong dish can make it taste not good.

What’s the difference between minced and ground meat?

Though both types of meat look very similar, they have distinct differences in their ingredients, uses, making process, flavors, and taste. Thus once you identify the difference, you’ll realize which one is suitable for any specific dish.

In today’s article, we’ll look at the similarities and differences between ground meat and minced meat. Let’s dive deeper!

What You will Know show

Minced Meat vs. Ground Meat: Quick Comparison Table

Before diving into the main discussion, let’s take a glimpse at the differences between minced vs. ground meat. So you can identify their distinction much more easily.

Difference	Minced Meat	Ground Meat
Ingredients	Made of a 100% single meat	Made of a single or two or more mixes of animal and other ingredients
Processing	Processed with a knife and cutting board	Processed with a meat grinder
Texture	Finely chop texture and coarser	Fine texture in the form of long-stringy pieces
Texture Color	Dark and deeper color	Diluted color
Taste	Fresh meat flavor	Mix flavor
Best Suited For	The dishes need a strong meaty flavor and good texture	Dishes that don't focus on meaty flavor or texture
	On Amazon	On Amazon

What Is Minced Meat?

Minced meat refers to finely chopped meat and usually, it does not contain other ingredients. That means it gives you an authentic and deeper meaty flavor, and the meaty flavor is the hero of the dish.

Which Tools Do You Need To Make Minced Meat?

People use a sharp knife and a cutting board to chop the meat finely. The skeletal-muscle meat of a single animal only should be used to process the minced meat.

Minced meat can also be processed using a meat processor, which saves much more time than a knife or cutting board. The sharp blades of the machine repeatedly chop the meat. So it gets a coarser texture than ground meat.

Typically, Which Recipes Need Minced Meat?

Minced meat is processed to get a lean and crumbly form of meat. Minced meat is used in dishes where you want mostly meaty flavors, like lasagna, beef patties, meatballs, spaghetti bolognaise, sausage rows, stews, and pies.

You can use beef, turkey, or whatever meat you want to make minced meat.

Where can I get the minced meat?

Minced meat is also available at the grocery stores and butcher shops near your home, so you can easily grab some. Or, if you’re fond of homemade stuff, you can make fresh minced meat in your home.

What Is Ground Meat?

Ground meat is raw meat that is processed in the meat grinder. You can use any animal, like beef, venison, or a mix of different animals.

When Karl Drais introduced the first meat grinder to the public, ground meat also appeared. So ground meat is meat that has been ground through a meat grinder.

Big pieces of meat were inserted into the top of the grinder, which worked through the grinder and pushed out into long string-like pieces.

The main characteristic of ground meat is that it contains additional ingredients except for lean meat, such as fat, water, and soy. When you buy a package of ground meat, there will be a ratio on the label such as 70/30, 80/20, 90/10 (e.g. 80/20, which means 80% of lean meat like venison and 20% fat, water, etc.)

Ground meat is usually used in recipes like a burger patty, sausage, and anything where you don’t need the texture of meat. Instead, you want the flavor of spices and herbs along with meat.

Minced Meat vs. Ground Meat || What're The Differences?

Now, it’s time to completely clear your doubt about distinguishing between minced meat and ground meat based on some important criteria.

1. Ingredients

The main difference between minced meat and ground meat is in the ingredients they contain.

● Minced Meat

Minced meat is made using only one ingredient, 100% lean meat of a single animal. The animal can be beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, or venison.

Minced meat is prepared with only the skeletal muscle attached to the bones by tendons.

For those who love extremely meaty flavors and want to enjoy any of their favorite specific meat, minced meat is ideal.

● Ground Meat

On the other hand, the main ingredient of ground meat is a mix of lean meat, water, and additional fat. It can even be made with a blend of two different types of meat.

But, most people can’t understand what to mix when grinding lean meat or venison. There you can add potatoes and different species while grinding. But, to know the exact percentage, check out our separate article about what to add for ground meat.

2. Making Procedure

The making or preparation method of minced meat and ground meat is completely different.

● Minced Meat

So, how do you make minced meat?

It’s very simple and easy to prepare minced meat at home by following the steps below.

Slice the meat with a knife into long chunks. (One-inch thick on each side)
Now cut the meat again into thinner strips and spread them on a tray
Next, put the meat strips tray in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Put the meat strips into a cutting board.
Using two sharp knives, chop the strips quickly. Constantly chop the pile and turn the meat until it turns into tiny and thin pieces.

However, if you don’t have enough time to chop the meat, you can use a food processor to mince the meat. As it is also good to use for emulsifying meat.

If you don’t have the processor at your home, and are thinking of buying one. You can check out this guide. Here we have reviewed 5 with their advantages and limitations without getting biased.

How to make minced meat using a food processor?

Chop the meat you want to mince into one-inch cubes.
Now, freeze the meat cubes for 15 minutes to form a bit solid so they can easily mince in the food processor.
Take the meat from the freezer and put it into the food processor.
Keep minced in the meat until you get the desired consistency.

● Ground Meat

Ground meat is prepared in a meat grinder, which is squeezed through small holes in grinding plates. Grinder holes give the meat a long string-like structure and make the meat very soft and fluffy to the touch.

So, how to make ground meat?

Following the simple instructions below, you can make ground meat with a meat grinder in no time.

Prepare the meat with fat or other ingredients you want to ground with your preferred ratio.
Chop the meat into small chunks.
Freeze the meat cubes for 15-20 minutes.
Put the meat cubes and additional ingredients (fat, water, etc.) into the grinder and begin grinding them.

3. Texture & Color

The appearance of the ground meat and minced meat in texture and color is also different.

● Minced Meat

Minced meat appears with a much deeper color because it’s made from only single and lean meat. It doesn’t contain any other ingredients, so it resembles the actual meat color.

For texture, minced meat comes with a coarser and chopped texture than ground meat. It is lean, chunky, and chewy.

● Ground Meat

On the contrary, ground meat appears light or diluted as it contains different ingredients such as fat, water content, and other ingredients with lean meat.

Leaner ground meat has more muscle and less fat, so it looks dry and crumbly. Besides, the fattier ground meat has less muscle and more fat, making it smooth and succulent.

Apart from that, ground meat has a very fine texture in the form of long stringy pieces shaped by the meat grinder’s output grinds.

4. Taste & Flavor

As the ingredients are varied in the minced and ground meat, no wonder you can expect different tastes and flavors from both types of meat.

● Minced Meat

Minced meat offers a fresh and authentic meat flavor. It’s 100% lean and gives you a tenderizing taste. For example, minced meat is used in pies to bring a strong, meaty flavor.

● Ground Meat

Besides, ground meat bursts a mix of different flavors with meat in your mouth. You can enjoy the flavor of a single animal or a mix of two animals as much as you love.

However, low-fat beef for ground meat will taste a bit dry and less salty.

5. Uses

Both these processed types of meat have different textures, so they are also used in different dishes.

● Minced Meat

Minced meat is mostly used in dishes such as chili or any other recipe that needs coarsely processed meat or demands a deep meaty flavor. Choppy minced meat appears in long-cooked recipes and dishes that don’t need any stable meat shape. Some popular minced meat dishes are Chili con carne (spicy beef or bean stew), pies, stews, and curries.

● Ground Meat

Meanwhile, ground meat is mostly used in burger patties or recipes that require finely processed meat or a blend of multiple finely processed meat.

Due to its smooth and harmonized consistency, ground meat is best fitted in dishes that need to keep the shape of the meat. So ground meat is ideal for meatballs, kebabs, and burgers.

6. Nutritional Value

The nutation value of minced and ground meat depends on the meat you’re processing. Though beef is common in both processes, here is a look at the difference in their nutrition.

Any meat, of course, contains many nutrients, especially protein. So ground meat and minced meat are good sources of high-quality protein.

And you might know protein is mandatory to develop muscle and maintain biological processes in the body.

● Minced Meat

Minced meat such as minced beef, contains higher levels of protein, phosphorus, sodium, iron, pantothenic acid, Vitamin B1, and Vitamin B6. Minced meat also contains a higher micronutrient level.

● Ground Meat

Ground beef is richer in fat, calories, potassium, zinc, vitamin B3, and fatty acids. We know, B vitamins and zinc amazingly improve your immune system. The higher B3 vitamin works for developing your body’s functionality. However, ground beef is fatter than minced beef because it adds extra fat.

7. Price

The price of minced and ground meat depends on the type of meat you use and where you buy it from.

● Minced Meat

As minced meat is made with pure meat, it has a higher price than ground meat.

● Ground Meat

If you’re grinding different types of meat to make any special dish, it will typically be a bit more costly than making minced meat from a single animal. But ground meat with fat or adding other ingredients can make it less pricey than minced meat.

Minced Meat vs. Ground Meat: Similarities

Despite the differences, ground meat and minced meat also share some similarities. Here are they-

Rich In Protein

Ground and minced meat are made with meat, so they are both high protein sources. However, the percentage of protein can be slightly different as one uses extra lean meat, whereas another uses a higher proportion of fat.

Use the Same Types Of Meat

Another common characteristic of minced and ground meat is that they are made with almost the same kind of meat, including beef, lamb, venison, turkey, etc.

Cutting Into Small Pieces Before the Process

You should chop meat into small pieces before processing, whether for minced meat or ground. Because they both are widely used in cooking with tiny pieces. Even the small pieces can be suitable for any dish where you don’t need to follow the rule of minced or ground meat strictly.

Storage Duration

For both minced and ground meat, you must keep the small cubes in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before processing.

Can You Use Ground Meat Instead Of Minced Meat?

It depends on the recipe you’re going to make. You have to consider whether the dish requires the shape of cooked meat. You can use ground meat If your recipe doesn’t need 100% pure meat, such as soups or curries.

On the other hand, minced meat might not replace ground meat due to its coarser and chunkier texture and shape.

FAQs

Is beef mince and steak mince the same?

No. Beef mince and steak mince are not the same. Beef is the meat from cows, whereas steak is some special cuts from cows. Steak may also come from goat, turkey, salmon, etc.

So, a steak mince is a beef mince, but a beef mince would not be mandatorily steak mince.

Can you mince cooked meat?

Yes, cooked meat can be minced. You can use a sharp knife to chop the meat or a food processor to mince the cooked meat.

Can I mince meat in a blender?

Yes, it’s possible to mince meat in a blender. But you might have to blend the meat a few times to get your desired texture.

What Meat To Choose & When

Hopefully, you already clear your doubt and won’t face any trouble choosing between minced meat vs. ground meat to make your favorite dishes.

Choose minced meat if your dishes demand a meaty, chunky, chewy vibe. Otherwise, if you make some hamburger patties or the dishes demand a smooth fine texture of meat, absolutely ground meat will be the perfect fit.