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mom2kyle&mason

I am trying to substitute some ground beef recipes with ground chicken. DH's cholesterol was borderline high at his last check up so I'm trying to do what I can (whether he likes it or not LOL) and adjust some of my cooking. I was able to stock up on ground chicken last month at Target (got about 12+ lbs for around 1.00/lb) and would like to use this instead of beef but am wondering about the differences in cooking.

For example, I have a great recipe for sweet and sour meatballs that I've been making for 15+ years but it uses 2lbs of ground beef and bakes for 1 hour at 350. If I use chicken in place of the beef, how would I adjust the cooking? Since the chicken is leaner, I would assume that I could cook it for less time since it would be cooking faster and if I cooked it for the full hour, it might dry out so ... Confused

I cook with chicken breast often so I'm familiar with that but looking specifically for info (and maybe even a good recipe Wink

) for ground chicken. TIA. Smile

ETA: Almost forgot, DH likes his red meat. Rolling Eyes

I eat red meat occasionally too but really prefer chicken breast for most of my cooking. He will eat ground chicken tacos with me (but not much more) so keep that in mind.

MrsBPS · Coupon Lover Joined: 24 Jan 2006 Posts: 30675

I was going to suggest using ground chicken in tacos, we make ours with griund turkey and they are so yummy! I also will season the meat with tacco seasoning and sauce OR Manwhich and serve it with Fritos. The guys like the Scoops, I crush mine.

I am sorry that I don't have an idea about the cooking times. I do want to point out that shrimp is also really high in cholesterol, so you may want to cut back on that too.

LivsMum · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:32 am Post subject:

iluvmykids2004 · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:07 am Post subject:

I don't have much advice about chicken but we use ground turkey in everything using ground beef and I haven't changed the cook times and so far everything has come out perfect shrug

Leggett44 · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:26 am Post subject:

We tried ground chicken in Manwich...all I can say is YUCK! It just didn't taste right.

barretsmommy · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:00 pm Post subject:

When cooking with ground chicken there are some things to keep in mind:

There isn't as much fat in ground chicken usually (you have to check and see the fat content). Lean meats ususally cook much faster than fattier meats so you have to be careful not to overcook.

Chicken doesn't break apart as easily as ground beef so the chunks are usually bigger. You can run it through the food processor for just a bit to get the same consistency as ground beef, or at least one thats similar.

Since there isn't as much fat in ground chicken it's sometimes best to add an egg to act as the "glue" in your recipes. If a recipe calls for one egg sometimes I add 2.

Last, the taste is different than ground beef and sometimes it takes a while to get used to it. Now, I actually prefer the taste, but at first I didn't.

Aaron's Mom · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:04 pm Post subject:

I am sure most people here know this already, but in my nutrition class we learned last week that Saturated fats in food were worse then cholesterol in food for raising the blood cholesterol. Also, soluble fiber in the diet can help lower cholesterol!

uaught2nvme · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 5:03 pm Post subject:

I have a ground chicken meatloaf recipe that I LOVE (just need to find it)

I use ground turkey 98% of the time...In most recipes I cook it with some beef broth and a lil beef bouillon to give it more flavor...

Ground turkey and chicken do not have near the flavor beef does so u need to play with adding flavor through brooth/spices Smile

Jen

uaught2nvme · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 5:04 pm Post subject:

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Cooking with ground chicken questions?