How to Grind Meat without a Grinder in just a few minutes. Sounds like a topic that will probably elicit a lot of questions from our readers. Like:
Q: Really? Minutes?
A: You betcha.
Q: Noooo…You must be kidding?
A: Not really!
Q: Wait, why would you want do that in the first place?
A: Let us count the reasons.
First of all, grinding meat without any type of meat grinding device is definitely doable, and I promise to show you exactly how. But more importantly, there are many reasons to hand-grind meat yourself. In fact, I’ve stopped buying many pre-ground meats from the store, opting instead to do it at home.
Here are a few reasons why.
Why Hand-Chopped Meat is Better Than Store-bought Ground Meat
Reason #1: TASTE
Hand-chopped ground meats taste so much better than machine-ground meats. While prepared, packaged ground meats are readily available and we have all already gotten used to their texture, some dishes––especially in Asian cooking––are just better using meat that has been finely hand-chopped the old-fashioned way. If you ask anyone from my parents’ generation, they will tell you that they hand-chop ground meat when making fillings for dumplings, wontons or baozi. Ultimately, the texture will be meaty and flavorful instead of paste-like and indistinguishable.
Reason #2: HEALTH
Store-bought ground meats are often ground with scraps and then packaged neatly, so that we ultimately don’t know what’s gone into them. You also have little control over the cleanliness of the process or the fat content. Ground chicken, for instance, is often made from chicken breast, making it very lean. Likewise, ground pork found in the supermarket is also quite lean. At the supermarket, I can get different lean meat to fat ratios in ground beef, but not for pork, chicken, lamb, or turkey.
Reason #3: PRACTICALITY
If you cook a lot like we do, how often do you find yourself wishing that you had some ground meat for the dish you want to make at that very moment? My answer is…very often. Being able to take any piece of pork shoulder or a pack of chicken thighs to transform into ground meat is super convenient, and saves you a trip to the grocery store. Not only that, you get to control the coarseness and texture of the ground meat by chopping it more or less finely. This can give you greater control over the final results in your dishes.
Trust me, you will be as thrilled as we are with this newfound skill. In fact, Sarah is going to be sharing a great homemade breakfast sausage recipe in a couple days that uses this technique––and we’re very excited about it! Will have to keep it a secret for a couple more days. ;)
OK, here’s how to grind meat without a grinder––in just minutes. I used a piece of pork shoulder in this example, but this method can be used with boneless beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, etc.
How to Grind Meat without a Grinder
Step 1: With a sharp knife, slice your piece of meat on 45-degree angle, only cutting 75% of the way through––do not cut all the way to the bottom. Make your slices about ¼-inch thick.
Step 2: Flip the piece of meat over and repeat Step 1, slicing at a 45 degree angle in the opposite direction.
Step 3: Flip the meat back over, and slice at a 90 degree angle this time, again 75% of the way through, with a ¼-inch between each slice.
Step 4: Flip the meat over and repeat Step 3.
Step 5: Now gather the meat into a pile, and using the part of the knife or cleaver closest to the handle, rapidly chop the meat from left to right a couple times.
And that’s it, you’re done! If you want a finer texture, repeat Step 5 until it’s done the way you like it. You may need 3 minutes instead of 2. But who’s counting?
Scroll down for the video showing the entire process, as well as the recipe card with printable instructions.
And here are some recipes that you can use this method with!
Recipes You Can Use This Method With
Garlic Chive Stir-fry with Pork
Garlic Chive Stir Fry with Pork or Cang Ying Tou (苍蝇头) literally translates to “Flies’ Heads” in Chinese. It’s an excellent stir fry dish to have over rice!
Restaurant-style Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans
Sichuan Dry Fried String Beans or Gan Bian Si Ji Dou are cooked in China using Sichuan peppercorns with a little heat from the addition of dried chili peppers and ground pork.
Pork Larb, The National Dish of Laos
Pork Larb is a Southeast Asian meat salad from Laos that only takes minutes to make and is delicious!
San Xian Wontons are not your average wontons. The delicious trio of shrimp, pork and chicken filling is incredibly flavorful, and not difficult to make at home!
These spicy Asian meatballs are not your run-of-the-mill variety. They are delicious, unique and will redefine your meatball expectations!
Chinese Pickled Long Beans with Pork
Pickled Long Beans with Pork is a favorite stir-fried dish with perfect level of tongue burning chili flavor, crisped bits of ground pork, and vinegary pickled long beans whose flavor is transformed by the effect of the wok’s searing heat.
This post on how to grind meat without a grinder will eliminate the hassle of taking out your meat grinder and washing it just for a simple recipe like the ones above!
WATCH: How to Grind Meat Without a Grinder
How to Grind Meat without a Grinder in Minutes
Ingredients
- Any boneless piece of meat
Instructions
- Step 1: Slice your piece of meat on 45-degree angle, only cutting 75% of the way through––do not cut all the way to the bottom. Make your slices about ¼-inch thick.
- Step 2: Flip the piece of meat over and repeat Step 1, slicing at a 45 degree angle in the opposite direction.
- Step 3: Flip the meat back over, and slice at a 90 degree angle this time, again 75% of the way through, with a ¼-inch between each slice.
- Step 4: Flip the meat over and repeat Step 3.
- Step 5: Now gather the meat into a pile, and using the part of the knife or cleaver closest to the handle, rapidly chop the meat from left to right a couple times.
Hi, thank you very much for this! I am moving away from appliances/machines and working on developing really good knife skills. This has been super helpful. I hope you show us more techniques like this. It is just priceless information for a home cook.
Ok, Sera, let me see what else I can share :-) Many techniques are hidden in recipes.
I follow your hand chopped pork method, but I’d also like to see a video on the method 切丝 qie si [cut in fine shreds] for use in stir frying. I came up with my own method having watched butchers in my Shanghai wet market, but wish to see yours! I start with frozen pork shoulder which as partially thawed.
I know, this method is very useful :-)
Can you use this meat for burgers?
Sure you can.
I can only recommend this for anyone. Taste is better and it’s way more economic to just buy the package of pork shoulder at the supermarket (they don’t sell 100g) and cut it as needed for each dish.
You are so right about that :-)
thank you, you saved me from buying another item for my kitchen!
I agree!
What. is ANY boneless meat ????? PORK. BEEF. LAMB , FAT. content. ??? Skirt steak ?? Pork Belly ETC>
This is just a technique. It can be applied to many cuts of meat.
What kind of knife to use? Brand?
Hi Lorraine, best to use a sharp straight blade. We are not too big on brands because all knives dull, no matter what brand they are.
Joseph, how’d you get hold of a keyboard? Please don’t pick up any knives.
do you have any recommendations on what to look for when choosing a cut for meat for this? also, can this be done with frozen/defrosted meat? i’m planning on buying some meat in bulk while its cheap
Hi Luke, I’d pick pork butt, fresh or defrosted :-)
Wow.. This is great. I learnt from it. Because I don’t have a food processor.. So I think this is helpful. Thanks so much.
Yeah, Chisimdi, it’s a great technique to learn.
I rate 4 stars because you can just blend in a blender for a few seconds whereas here you cut for 5 minutes with the same result. My mother needed some grinded meat but couldn’t find any because of the outbreak. She used the blender and it took no time, then she cut the big pieces with a sharp knife and WALLA!
One would get mush in a blender, nowhere near the same consistency as hand chopping. Learn that grinded meat isn’t a thing, unless one is referring to something that was done during a particular movement in a dance, before you try your fingers at French. Voilà!
You should try the hand chopping method and be surprised with the texture of the ground meat. I know you will re-think using a blender.
If you have the time, hand chopped > blended meat.
Adapted this for left over turkey and used for for turkey burgers. Worked out awesomely. Thanks! Will try it with other types of meat too.
Yayyyy! Love it.