Julie Goodwin's Magical Mince Dinners

Cooking a great dinner needn’t cost the earth, and cooking to a budget doesn’t have to be boring! The recipes below are just some of my ideas for jazzing up mince and sausages for meals the family will love.

Tips for mince dinners

Some tips:

Buy mince in bulk and divide it into meal-sized portions to freeze.
When making rissoles and meatballs it’s important to work the mince thoroughly so that it holds together.
Use damp hands to form patties and meatballs.
Experiment with different types of mince for a different result.
Cook bulk batches and freeze dinner for another night.

Types of mince

Beef – a myriad of choices are available in butchers and supermarkets be it from the type of beef such as highly marbled or whether it’s from beef that is grass or grain fed to the fat content of the mince. The leaner the mince is obviously better for health and well being but a down-side of using super lean mince is that fat (and oil) hold and emphasise flavours and help break up the solid protein in the meat. This is especially noticeable during browning and stirring of mince when making a meat sauce. The lack of fat is why the mince “clumps”. This can be avoided by adding a little olive oil and squashing the clumps of meat with a fork.
Lamb – is tasty and easy to cook with, mostly because it’s quite high in fat and easily takes on flavours. Widely used in Middle Eastern, Greek and North African cuisine.
Pork and Veal – minced pork is often quite high in fat, like lamb it holds flavours well. Veal mince is low in fat and is often sold combined with pork mince so that the virtues of each complement each other.
Chicken and turkey – these are popular with children for its mild taste and soft texture. It readily takes on flavours particularly Asian ingredients.

This mince recipe feature ran in The Australian Women’s Weekly in February 2013, and was published online in 2026.

Italian-style sausage rolls

Makes 6

Julie adds Mediterranean flavours to this classic savoury pastry.

Lamb burger in a bun with salad on a plate

Lebanese-style lamb burgers

Makes 6 burgers

Add some spice to your classic burger with these lamb mince patties served with a spicy yoghurt sauce.

Lemon chicken rissoles

Serves 4

Flavour-packed and served with a yoghurt sauce

Beef larb

Serves 4

Inspired by the classic Thai dish. Serve with crisp lettuce leaves.

Sweet and sour pork meatballs

Serves 4

The kids will love these!

Julie Goodwin’s sweet curried sausages

Serves 4

This old fashioned curried sausages recipe is made sweet by the addition of mango chutney and apricot nectar.

Julie Goodwin’s 6-hour bolognese sauce

three minced beef pasties with puff pastry and a jar of chutney

Julie Goodwin’s beef mince hand pies

Julie Goodwin’s nachos pie recipe

Julie Goodwin’s curried mince & rice

Julie Goodwin

The inaugural winner of MasterChef Australia, Julie Goodwin has re-joined The Australian Women's Weekly as a monthly columnist, sharing her family favourite recipes. One of Australia's most well known home cooks, Julie released her memoir Your Time Starts Now in 2024. She previously wrote recipes for The Weekly for nearly decade.