Buying minced chicken can be an easy solution when it comes to cooking because it is ready to use and will cut down on your prep time significantly.
So where to buy the minced chicken on the market and what are the tips to look for the best minced chicken at a reasonable price?
This article will help you answer these questions and make you feel like cooking has never been easier than that.
What is minced chicken?
Minced chicken refers to chicken that has been cut up into tiny pieces.
So is minced chicken different from ground chicken? Yes, it is.
Many people think minced chicken and ground chicken are just one thing and these terms are used interchangeably.
In fact, they are two different types of chicken.
Ground chicken is made by putting large chicken pieces into the meat grinder with additional ingredients like fat, a small amount of pink slime, and other ingredients.
The outcomes are long string-like pieces of chicken that can be finely mixed into a paste-like texture.
Meanwhile, minced chicken contains 100% real chicken without any other ingredients.
It can be minced through a meat grinder, or manually chopped, which results in a coarser texture of the meat.
Because minced chicken doesn’t contain any additional ingredients except for real meat, it has a more intense flavor of poultry.
This makes the minced chicken more suitable for dishes where the meaty flavor is more important, such as chicken meatballs or chicken patties, while ground chicken can be used to make chicken sausages, curries, and soups.
How many calories are in minced chicken?
The calories in minced chicken can vary depending on what cut of chicken has been used to make minced chicken.
For example, minced chicken breast will be leaner, therefore lower in calories than the minced chicken thigh.
However, in general, because minced chicken doesn’t include additional fat and other ingredients, it delivers fewer calories than the ground version.
On average, a serving size of 100 grams of minced chicken will provide us with 136 calories, while it can be appropriately 170 to 180 calories in the same amount of ground chicken.
Minced chicken is also a rich source of protein and other essential nutrients that benefit our health, and the best part is still its fresh meat flavor.
How to choose the best minced chicken?
Choosing the best minced chicken is not that hard, but if you don’t know the following tips, chances are you are going with ground chicken instead of the minced counterpart.
So let’s check out how to choose the best minced chicken:
1. Look at its color: minced chicken has a deeper color
Ground chicken is made out of about 70 to 80% meat, and the rest are water, soy, additional fat, and other ingredients.
Therefore, it has a diluted color.
Whereas, minced chicken has a deeper color of meat because it doesn’t contain anything else besides real meat.
Since chicken is a kind of white meat, the minced chicken will possess a true color of actual chicken meat, which is pale pink to yellow, not dark pink or reddish like beef.
2. Look at its texture: minced chicken is coarser
After looking at its color to know you are buying minced chicken or ground chicken, you should take a closer look at its texture.
Ground chicken is usually finer in texture, and since it is ground through a grinder, the meat outcome has the shape of the grinder outcome, which is long string-like.
Meanwhile, minced chicken is coarser, messier, and rounder.
3. Choose organic minced chicken if possible
Organic chicken, free-range chicken, or antibiotic-free chicken are superior to conventionally-raised chicken that is confined inside the factory.
Therefore, opt for minced chicken that is made from organic chicken if possible.
However, you need to choose from a reputable store to buy organic minced chicken because this type of meat usually costs you a bit more.
4. Opt for air-chilled minced chicken instead of frozen minced chicken
When shopping for minced chicken, you should look for the air-chilled package because this method will diminish the water content from the meat and also keeps it fresher than frozen meat.
Where to buy minced chicken?
Minced chicken is widely sold on the market because it is a great alternative to minced or ground beef because of the lower content of fat and cholesterol.
Here are some places where you can find minced chicken:
1. Local butcher
This is the best place to buy minced chicken.
Besides the freshest cuts of chicken, the butcher also chops some cuts, packages them, and sells them right in their shop.
If you have a good relationship with the butcher, you can even ask them ahead to notify you if there is a good and organic chicken.
2. Grocery store or supermarket
You can also purchase minced chicken from a grocery store or supermarket.
They have both raw minced chicken and minced chicken products like meatballs or patties that are already cooked.
Consider buying your favorite one from a reliable manufacturer to assure the best experience.
3. Online
Amazon, eBay, and many eCommerce platforms also carry minced chicken on their websites.
Therefore, when you don’t have time to go shopping, visit those websites and choose the best package of minced chicken based on other customer reviews.
Conclusion
Preparing meals at home can be time-consuming, but buying minced chicken can be a lifesaver.
You can find the best minced chicken at your local butcher shop at an affordable price so you can have a delicious and nutritious meal without breaking your budget.
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