A bolognese is so easy to make. It’s great because it can easily be made into a vegetarian meal using meat-free mince and the cauliflower rice is perfect when you fancy an alternative to pasta. You can still stay on your plan and keep the carb intake low!
Bolognese was a staple meal in my house while I was growing up. It was always served with either pasta or rice. In recent years, using vegetables as a carb alternative has been wildly popular.
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Cauliflower Rice
Don’t make the mistake of boiling the cauliflower rice like you would with normal rice, as it will most likely go mushy.
The best way to cook cauliflower rice is to sauté it for a couple of minutes if wish to soften it but be careful not to overdo it. Over sautéing will make it soft and soggy.
I wouldn’t however recommend if you were wanting to meal prep for later in the week. The cauliflower rice is best eaten the day you make it.
For adults, the recommended daily amount for vitamin C is 65mg to 90mg a day. 75g of cauliflower has approximately 19 calories and 4g of carbs and 34.8mg of Vitamin C.
Comparing if you were to use 75g of brown rice, which contains approximately 84 calories and 17.5g carbs, and 75g of white rice, which contains approximately 98 calories and 21g of carbs. This to me, makes a great alternative if you were wanting to have the same bolognese meal, but with a healthier base.
There a loads of other alternatives to rice and pasta that you could use, including ‘courgetti’ which is courgette noodles.
Meat Free Mince Vs Quorn
You may have seen that I use different types of mince for various recipes. I usually use Quorn as a meat alternative for the majority of my meals. This time however, I wanted to try something different to see if the price made a difference in the taste. I hadn’t realised that the Tesco’s meat free mince was in fact vegan friendly until I bought it. After finding this out, I was intrigued as to whether the Quorn was also Vegan. As it turns out, it’s not, as it contains egg white.
Another difference between the two, is that the Quorn mince is gluten free, where as the Tesco meat free mince is not. This would completely depend on what your focus was as to which you would choose. As I am not so conscious about my gluten intake at the moment, this doesn’t affect my choosing.
Price difference
In regards to the difference in price. I would say that if you’re trying to save pennies, go for the Tesco’s meat free mince. For a 500g bag of Quorn mince, you’re looking at spending £3. The Tesco meat free mince however, for a 454g bag is only £1.75. It’s a no brainer for me!
More main meals:
If you decide to make this bolognese meal, be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think! If you have Instagram, share a snap and tag me in it! @thesliceofjess
*Calorific value may change depending on brands of food used*
Details
1 serving
2 minutes
30 minutes
646
Print
Ingredients
2 packs of frozen cauliflower rice
250g 5% fat minced beef
200g Kidney beans
200g Chopped tomatoes
250ml Vegetable stock
1tsp Worcestershire sauce
JD Seasonings Bolognese seasoning (Use code JESSGETS20 to get 20% off)
Low calorie spray oil
Directions
- Spray a pan with spray oil and cook the mince.
- Add your black beans, tinned tomatoes, vegetable stock, Worcestershire sauce and JD Seasonings bolognese seasoning with the mince and leave to simmer for 20 minutes until it thickens.
- When your Bolognese is nearly ready, microwave the steam bags of cauliflower rice as per the packet instructions.
- Serve your bolognese on top of the cauliflower rice and enjoy!
Last updated: 4th November 2021
