Lean Beef Mince - Wagyu F1 x Angus

The Beef: This is 100% grass-fed F1 Wagyu, a first-cross of Full-blood Wagyu over Angus, raised for superior quality and grown with a deep respect for the land. The F1 cross is the sweet spot: it takes the Wagyu's fine intramuscular marbling and pairs it with the Angus frame and the deep, beefy flavour Australian cattle are known for. Even trimmed lean, Wagyu mince keeps a tenderness and depth of flavour that ordinary lean mince just can't match.

The Cut: Lean mince is ground from carefully trimmed Wagyu to around 10% fat, with most of the external fat taken off before it goes through the grinder. What's left is mostly muscle, with the fine marbling inside it doing the work. It's the everyday workhorse for the family table: sauces, ragus, tacos, curries and pies, anywhere you want plenty of beef flavour without a pool of fat in the pan. It's also a brilliant base for meal prep.

How to Cook It: Take the mince out of the fridge 10 minutes before cooking. Heat a heavy pan over medium-high heat with a small splash of oil, since lean mince won't give up much fat of its own.

Add the mince, spread it out, and leave it alone for 3–4 minutes until it develops a proper brown crust underneath. Then break it up and keep cooking until browned all over. Season with salt once it's coloured. Work in batches if you're cooking more than 500g, since a crowded pan steams the meat instead of browning it.

From there, build your sauce. For a ragu, add onions, garlic and carrot, a splash of wine, tomatoes and stock, then simmer gently for at least 45 minutes, longer if you have it.

Grass-fed lean mince has less fat to protect it, so keep the heat at medium once you've browned it, and give it a little liquid when it goes into a long cook so it stays tender.

Tips

• Brown the mince well. Colour is flavour, and it's the step most people rush.
• A splash of milk in a bolognese, added before the tomatoes, keeps lean mince soft through a long simmer.
• Cook a big batch and freeze it in portions. Bolognese, chilli and cottage pie all freeze beautifully.
• Perfect for lettuce cups, rice bowls and stuffed vegetables for a lighter meal.

A Little History: Before the meat grinder, mince was chopped by hand with heavy knives, a job that took time and skill. Once machines made it easy, minced beef became the backbone of home cooking around the world: bolognese in Italy, cottage pie in Britain, picadillo in Latin America, and the Aussie spag bol that's been on the weeknight table for generations. It's proof that the most-cooked dishes in any kitchen are often the simplest ones, made with good meat.