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In Memory – Scottish Mince and Tatties

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In Memory – Scottish Mince & Tatties for a a comfort food meal that is a family favourite meal my Nana made. It’s a comforting Scottish mince recipe. 

Scottish Mince and Tatties | My Kitchen Love

This post is in memory of my brother. He passed away very suddenly and tragically in 2008 when he was 28 years old and this week he would have turned 37. This Scottish Mince recipe with Tatties (or just plain “Mince” as we called it) was his favourite meal that our Nana would make him.

I don’t want to go on for very long about this dark period in my life. I don’t like talking about it, I don’t like writing about it. What I much prefer to do is remember the good times with my brother and I know that he would have always wanted me to choose hope, love, and happiness above of sitting in the depths of grief.

Scottish Mince and Tatties | My Kitchen Love

The instant I start making this meal, I can recall what the dinner plates looked like at my grandparent’s house. I remember the stash of Scottish mints in their car. But most of all, I remember my brother enjoying this meal with such delight (he wasn’t the best eater in our family, that was clearly my role).

Isn’t funny how a taste or a smell can take you so far back down memory lane? My youngest daughter is the most like my brother. The twinkle in their eyes, their joy for life, the glee over this dish. Lucy went crazy for it and would not stay down off the table long enough for me to photograph it. So, not only do you get see this bowl of tastiness, but you get to see a lot of Lucy’s tiny hands.

Scottish Mince and Tatties | My Kitchen Love

Scottish Mince and Tatties is basically ground meat and potatoes. There are countless (and often controversial) versions of the recipe. The recipe shown here is the closest I can get it to my Nana’s. She sadly passed away a number of years before my brother and so I’ve been trying to replicate it while carefully questioning any Scottish person I run into about this dish since I don’t have a solid referral source for it.

I will say that using OXO gravy mix was the turning point for me. If you’ve never had this dish before, then I don’t think the type of beef broth you use will matter all that much. Since I grew up on it, the slight nuances are a factor for me and that’s why I use that mix specifically. The vegetables are a big controversial portion of the dish. I like it with more vegetables versus less. I pack onion, carrots and peas into the dish for some sort of nutritional value. Even when I have all this veg, I still usually serve a simple green salad on the side. My kids always eat salad so it’s an easy out for me.

My husband obviously loves this dish; it’s literally meat and potatoes so he’s very pleased when he arrives home from work to this on the dinner table. Baby Lucy totally went crazy for this dish. She loves meat and potatoes so it’s not a stretch to assume she would be into it, I was surprised at the quantity she ate of it. A lot. The 3 year olds were into the meat portion of this dish. One loved the entire dish and the other loved the meat portion (she doesn’t like potatoes unless they are french fries).

Other comfort food meals:

4.67 from 3 votes
Scottish Mince & Tatties for a a comfort food meal that is my favourite meal my Nana made me. #scottishmince #potatoes #groundbeef
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Scottish Mince and Tatties
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 

Comfort food of mince and potatoes! Ground beef is cooked in a luscious gravy and served over classic mashed potatoes.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: scottish
Keyword: mince, mince and tatties
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Samantha
Ingredients
Mince:
  • 1 lb (454 gr) extra lean ground beef
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup dry red wine
  • 1 cup beef broth (I use OXO Beef and I use 2 small packages (4.5 grams each) per 1 cup of water)
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces (around 5 cm)
  • 1 cup fresh, canned or frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Potatoes:
  • 4 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
  • 2 medium dried bay leaves (optional)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
Mince:

  1. Brown beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking meat up with a wooden spoon if necessary. Once beef starts to brown add onions to the skillet. Cook for a few minutes until vegetables start to soften, but not brown. Add garlic and cook stirring for 1-2 minutes. Add wine and deglaze pan by scraping the bottom with spoon. Allow wine to reduce and evaporate by more than half.

  2. Sprinkle cornstarch over beef and vegetables, and stir to fully coat ingredients (and avoid any cornstarch lumps).

  3. Slowly add beef broth, starting with a tablespoon or two and gradually increasing quantity. Once broth is added, bring pot to a boil and reduce heat to low.

  4. Simmer, uncovered for about 20 minutes, until sauce has thickened and reduced slightly. Add carrots, peas and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until carrots have reached desired tenderness.

  5. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Potatoes:

  1. Meanwhile, place potatoes and bay leaves (if using) into a large sauce pan and cover with 2-3" of cold water. Add 1 tsp of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a strong simmer and cook for around 20-25 minutes until tender.

  2. Drain water and let potatoes air dry in the strainer (do not rinse!). Add milk and butter to pan and cook over low heat until butter has melted and milk has warmed. Return potatoes to mean with milk and butter and mash until desired consistency has been reached. Season with salt and pepper

Assembly:

  1. Serve mince over tatties and garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired.

Enjoy! xo

Scottish Mince and Tatties | My Kitchen Love

Comments

  1. I can see my husband totally loving this recipe! He's sooo picky but I know this will be a winner for sure. I'll make it in honour of your brother. He'd be the same age I am now. Thanks for sharing this family recipe. *hugs*
    Reply

    • Thanks Diana. I hope your husband likes it. It wins over the picky eater in our house. Big hugs back to you! I'm always inspired by your positivity and I'm honoured that you'd make something with my brother in mind. He'd have loved that a lot. Thank you.
      Reply

  2. Samantha, what a lovely tribute to your brother. It's such a wonderful thing that you can introduce your kids to the memory of your brother through food and the feelings and memories it evokes. This is exactly why I love our little food blogger commmnity - I am surrounded by people who truly get just how important and special food is in our lives. Big hugs.
    Reply

  3. What a lovely post Sam! Losing a loved one suddenly and tragically is a lose like no other. It's beautiful that you can remember the good times, find comfort in those memories and in delicious family recipes like this one. Thank you for sharing your story ❤️
    Reply

    • Thanks for reading Meaghan! I have good days and bad days, but I try my very best to look at the positives in life. I have very few family recipes so this is one that I've hung onto for quite sometime before sharing.
      Reply

  4. It is incredible how food and smell trigger memories and emotions! I am really sorry for your loss but I'm glad that your loved ones live through the Food that you make and your little ones get to experience their presence and love that way. The dish looks amazing - so comforting and cozy! I can see my husband and me enjoying it this winter in front of our fireplace!
    Reply

  5. Hi Sam. I am Alexandra's aunt and we met once when she was so sick way back in 2009. That must have been a doubly difficult time given the loss of your brother so close in time. We are so lucky to still have our girl and having come so close to not, I can tell you that I am profoundly sorry for your loss. I will be making this tonight and will raise a glass in your brother's honour. And PS I couldn't have made it without the vegies either!
    Reply

    • Hi Christine, I do remember you! Al was just over today actually; she's one of my favourite people and I feel so lucky that I get to spend time with her and my girls with Evie. Thank you for your kind words and I know my brother would be honoured for you to toast to him.
      Reply

  7. Thanks for sharing this, Samantha. It's a special thing when food can trigger fond memories. It really is strange, and sometimes alarming, that a taste or a smell can take you down memory lane even deeper than, say, an actual photo. Songs do the same for me, too. A few years ago I hear an 80s song that I had forgotten about — that I hadn't heard since then — and despite the fact that I was fine that day I just started bawling. It really transplanted me to back then. Anyway. I'm happy that you were able to use your blog, skills + creativity as an outlet; as a way to remember your brother. The biggest of hugs, girl.
    Reply

    • I'm totally curious now and want to know which song it is. I sing my kids an obscure song from the 70's that my dad used to sing to my brother and I ... music, food, smells - all create this vehicle for falling back into simpler times when we were "younger" (because we're still young right?). Biggest hugs back. Happy wine-end. ;)
      Reply

      • Haha, okay. So it's super dorky and not even an emotional song, but I seriously had *the* happiest childhood, and 80s/early 90s jams always tug at my heartstrings. The song was Howard Jones - Things Can Only Get Better. I didn't even recognize the song until the pre-chorus, and I was like… :O and I was going through a shitty time and yeah. It just brought on a wave of feels. Music has always been huge for me, but the 80s is extra special! I love that you're the same way with music, food and smells! Sometimes I hate how emotional and empathetic I am, haha. It's always nice to meet others who are the same. I hope you have an amazing wine-end too, girl! xo
        Reply

  8. Samantha, thank you for sharing about your loss, and this lovely tribute to your brother. It's wonderful to find comfort in happy memories, and food has a way of evoking them. Your recipe is so familiar to me as well, coming from a Scottish background. It's true comfort food, and I love that you add extra veggies. Makes me want to make this soon!
    Reply

    • Thanks so much Colleen. Have you ever had Mince before? I think it is somewhat regional in Scotland from what I know. I always try to work in more veggies, much to everyone else's dismay in my house.
      Reply

  9. Losing a loved one is never easy -- no matter how much time has passed. I love how you went with photographing Lucy's hands in it. So adorable! It is a joy to be able to make a dish that your family loves. :)
    Reply

    • So much truth to your words Cynthia. Lucy's pretty cute and bossy. She's not one to stay off the low coffee table no matter how many times she's removed from it. And I agree, sharing a dish my family loves is by far my favourite way to share recipes.
      Reply

  10. What a beautiful post, Samantha. Thank you for pulling back the curtain a little today and sharing such a personal part of you and your past. This sounds like classic comfort food and entirely applicable. xo
    Reply

    • Thanks Aimee. I'm a very private person so sharing so much of my personal life is difficult, but I'm trying my best. And, you can't go wrong with classic comfort foods when you need them the most.
      Reply

  11. Aww, what a sweet story and beautiful photos with those little hands, Samantha! I'm sure your brother it looking proudly upon this post and your journey into food blogging. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes! What a beautiful way to remember him. :)
    Reply

  13. Hello Samantha. I just discovered your site through looking up 'mince' on a Google search. Recently a friend mentioned American Chop Suey to me and when she listed many of the ingredients, they reminded me of my Mom's go-to dish, Mince. She was from Northern Ireland, so it the dish must have crossed the North Sea from Scotland. We had it every week, usually on a Monday (of course it couldn't be a Sunday since that was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding night:). She has passed on now, but I am inspired by your recipe and will tackle it this week. And of course I will need to make it for my kids the next time they stop by, and it will surely make me feel quite close to my Mom's spirit once again.
    Reply

    • Hi! Thank you SO much for this comment. This dish is close to my heart and it makes me happy to know that you're inspired by my recipe. I looked up the history of Mince and Tatties to see if it could possibly be linked to N Ireland (my Grandfather was actually from a town near Belfast), but I couldn't spot any links. Maybe the dish became more common throughout the entire UK over time? I do hope you get a chance to try this recipe and take a trip down memory lane :)
      Reply

  14. When I make mince and tatties I put the mince in a pot with salted water bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes - then take off the heat and put the pot in a basin of cold water then in the fridge if necessary - till the grease rises to the top and goes hard - it is then taken out (Good for the heart). Then back on the stove with a large onion cut roughly and a carrot or two cut in big chunks then add 3 OXOs and simmer until onion and carrot are cooked (Soft). Put enough potatoes - peeled and quartered in salted water and boil until soft. Serve mince with carrots and onion to one side and potatoes. The potatoes can be mashed on the plate with a lump of butter and combined with the mince. And you can eat the onion and carrot at your leisure through the meal. I normally eat the carrot first then the onion leaving the mince with the potato, which I mash up with a lot of butter- mixing it together - and as a taste treat - I put HP sauce on one side and Heinz tomato ketchup on the other side - and have a forkful from each side one after the other. So my tastebuds are going from HP to plain to Ketchup. Try it sometime !!!
    Reply

  15. I also grew up eating Mince and Tatties that my Nana, mom and I have cooked for over 50 yrs. They're from Scotland. I also lost a brother in a car accident tragically in 1988. I am so sorry for your loss. Might I suggest you use Bisto instead of cornstarch? It is all we use to make the gravy. You can order it online. I get it through Amazon. Love the Worcestershire Sauce idea. I'm making it tonight and trying it. Thanks for the ideas!!
    ★★★★★
    Reply

  16. I made this today for lunch and it was quite delicious. I may have altered the recipe a tad bit to my own taste (I used more wine and broth in my dish), but it was absolutely divine. It was hard not to keep filling my plate with more haha.
    ★★★★★
    Reply

  17. Made this over the weekend and it was soo delicious...husband licked his plate clean. After losing my recipe during my last move I was appreciative to find this one. Just like grandma use to make 😀. Thank you for the recipe!
    Reply

  18. Made this tonight. The dish has very good flavor and I am printing this recipe. My carrots weren't as tender as I would have hoped, but that is no fault of this recipe. Thank you!
    ★★★★★
    Reply

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