Cutting down on meat will usually help you save money, but cutting down doesn’t mean forgoing the joy of meat altogether. Check out some creative ideas from Dollar Stretcher contributors for stretching your ground beef:

1. Add Grated Potato: grate some potato and add it to hamburger for Mexican dishes like tacos and chili.
2. Use Pureed Veggies: from Dollar Stretcher reader Mark:
   

   I find the best way to disguise veggies in ground beef is to puree them in the food processor. This works even better than grating. I put in a cup or more of cabbage, carrots, peppers, broccoli stems, celery, etc. in as I start to cook the meat. I usually also add half of a cup of filler like precooked lentils, kasha, quinoa, rice, or ground up beans. I often boil up this mix and put one cup containers in the freezer for those busy nights when we just have crumbled ground beef for tacos or shepherd’s pie. I usually have double the amount of meat mixture when I’m done.

3. Use Up Stale Bread: kill 2 birds with 1 stone with this tip. Use up stale bread and stretch ground beef by tearing the bits of bread into tiny pieces and mixing the bits with an egg, spices and ground beef. You’ll create great burgers, meatloaf and meatballs this way with less meat.

What are your favorite methods for stretching your ground meats?

Find more ideas over at The Dollar Stretcher’s How to Stretch Ground Beef.