Mince
/mɪns/
verbnounB1
Definition
Mince means to cut food, especially meat, into very small pieces to make it easier to cook or eat. The noun "mince" is the small pieces of meat after cutting. Minced meat is often used in dishes like burgers, meat sauces, or meatballs.
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See It in Action
Verb: To cut food into very small pieces
- •She minced the garlic before adding it to the sauce.
- •Please mince the onions finely for the recipe.
- •The butcher minced the beef for the burgers.
Noun: Meat cut into very small pieces (minced meat)
- •I bought some mince for making spaghetti bolognese.
- •Mince is often used in dishes like meat pies or tacos.
- •The recipe calls for 500 grams of mince.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "mince" like "cut," but much smaller pieces—like cutting a big carrot into tiny bits instead of big slices
- ✓Picture a chef using a knife to chop meat finely until it looks like tiny grains or crumbs
- ✓It's the feeling of preparing food carefully to make it soft and easy to mix or cook
- ✓Sounds like "mince" → imagine a tiny prince (small and delicate) cutting food into very small parts
- ✓Think of a hamburger patty made from minced meat, where big pieces are no longer visible
- ✓NOT like "slice" (which means cutting into bigger, flat pieces), mince means very small pieces
- ✓NOT like "grind" (which uses a machine to crush meat), mince is usually cutting by hand or machine but focuses on small pieces, not powder
Try Other Words
- •Chop: to cut into pieces (Use when the pieces are larger and less fine)
- •Grind: to crush food into small particles, usually with a machine (Use when the food is turned into very fine bits or powder)
- •Dice: to cut into small cubes (Use when pieces are small but shaped like cubes, not tiny bits)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: (no prefix or suffix) — "mince" is a simple root word
- •Etymology: From Old French "mincier," meaning to cut small, from Latin "minutiare" meaning to make small
- •Historical development: The word has been used since the Middle Ages to describe cutting food into small pieces
- •Modern usage: Commonly used in cooking to describe finely cutting meat or vegetables; also refers to the small pieces of meat themselves
Reflect & Connect
•How does the way food is cut (minced vs chopped) change the taste or cooking time of a dish?
•Can you think of dishes from your culture that use mince or finely cut ingredients? How important is the size of the pieces in those dishes?
Fill in the blanks
1.When cooking a sauce, it is important to mince garlic ___ to release its flavor evenly.
2.Mince is different from chop because mince means cutting food into pieces that are much ___.
3.The recipe asks for mince, not whole pieces of meat, so you should ___ the meat before cooking.
4.If you want a smooth texture in a dish, you should use mince ___ larger chunks.
5.Mince can be made by hand with a knife or by using a ___ machine.
6.When a chef minces onions, the small pieces help the onion cook ___ and blend better in the dish.
7.In some recipes, mince is used because it ___ easily with other ingredients like spices and sauces.