My neighbor swore by using oatmeal as a meat extender

Last year my neighbor Gina told me to mix half a cup of uncooked oatmeal into every pound of ground beef for burgers. I thought she was crazy but tried it anyway since we were broke that week. The patties held together way better than I expected and my kids didn't even notice the difference. Saved us about $3 per pound of meat for a family of four. Anyone else use weird pantry staples to stretch ground meat?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan224d ago

Oh man, I gotta push back on this one a little. I tried the oatmeal thing once and my burgers turned into mushy blobs that fell apart on the grill. Maybe I used too much or didn't mix it right, but it was a disaster. I'd rather just buy the cheaper ground beef with more fat in it and drain it after cooking, that saves money without messing with the texture. You can also add finely chopped mushrooms or grated zucchini to stretch meat and actually improve the flavor instead of making it taste like breakfast. To each their own, but oatmeal in my burgers just felt wrong to me.

danielhenderson24d ago

Respectfully, I've had good luck with quick oats holding my burgers together fine.