Creamy Bulgur with Peas and Beef | Student Cooking

I love bulgur, it´s probably one of my favourite carbohydrates to have – besides pasta, of course! I feel like not many people use bulgur often, however, it is so easy to make and tastes so good, I think everyone should know how to make it! So, today I am sharing this super easy recipe for creamy bulgur with peas and beef with you!

What is bulgur?

Bulgur are cracked kernels that come from various types of wholegrain wheat. It´s very common in Middle Eastern cooking, especially Turkish cuisine, and is often used to make tabbouleh or pilaf dishes. Think of it as in between couscous and rice, the grains are slightly larger than couscous but smaller than rice.
It is very good for you, even healthier than brown rice apparently, as it´s a great source of fibre and also folate. Plus, it is extremely cheap and easy to cook with – so perfect for students or budget-cooking! 1 500g bag from Morrisons for as little as £1.15 can make me 10 dinners!

So, if you are looking for an alternative to your usual pasta and rice, then I really recommend giving bulgur a try!!!

The key to achieving delicious bulgur lies in the cooking! Similar to risotto rice, slowly adding chicken stock to the bulgur as it cooks results in a beautifully creamy texture. The bulgur can then be flavoured with some extra spices, I like adding ground black pepper and some turmeric to give it a vibrant, yellow colour.

One of my flatmates in first year was Turkish and taught me how to make bulgur properly!
I never liked it before when my dad made it – now I cannot get enough of it! The main thing for me was the concept of having it warm. My dad used to make salads with it, but it tastes so much better when it is warm!

You can mix anything into a basic bulgur recipe!

I love having it with some vegetables stirred through it (e.g. peas, red pepper, courgette, broccoli) and usually add some meat on the side, for example, chicken, turkey or beef. Bulgur “stir-fry” is the perfect way to use up leftovers in the fridge.

For this creamy bulgur recipe, I used frozen peas and a beef steak I had left over. However, you could use different vegetables or also use chicken breast or turkey steak instead. It´s entirely up to you!

The great thing about this creamy bulgur recipe is that you can make portion sizes for 1! Perfect for students! And you can easily double, triple, etc. the recipe when you are cooking for multiple people!

For more student cooking recipes, why not check out some of my other recipes?
– Healthy Vegetable Stir–Fry (vegetarian)
– Creamy Hummus Linguine (vegetarian)
– Chicken, Red Pepper and Avocado Wrap
– Healthy Wrap Pizza
– Mixed Bean Chilli (vegan)

Creamy Bulgur with Peas and Beef

Recipe

Ingredients (serves 1):

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small or ½ medium onion, finely chopped
• 50g bulgur wheat
• ½ chicken stock cube
• 75g frozen peas
• 1 beef steak, cut into strips
• 1 tsp turmeric, ground black pepper

Method:

1. Start by finely chopping the onion. Gently heat the olive oil in a pot. Once it is warm, add the onions and fry for a few minutes over a low heat until they start to become soft and translucent.
2. In the meantime, bring some water to the boil in the kettle and cut the beef into strips.
3. Once the onions are beginning to soften, add in the bulgur wheat and the stock cube and mix it.
4. Add some boiling water to the pot until the bulgur is just about covered. You then want to leave the bulgur to simmer until it has absorbed most/all the water. Then, continue to add more water, a little at a time until the bulgur is soft. This will take about 10 minutes, and you´re probably aiming too add 200-300mls of water in total. But just keep trying the bulgur and continue to add more water until it is soft. Keep stirring it and make sure you add more water as it is absorbed, to prevent the bulgur from sticking.
5. In the meantime, place the frozen peas in a microwave-safe bowl and pour some boiling water over them. Microwave on high for two minutes, then drain through a sieve and set aside.
6. Whilst the bulgur is simmering away, fry the beef in a small frying pan.
7. Once the bulgur is cooked, turn off the heat to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Taste, and season to your liking with some turmeric and ground black pepper.
8. Finish by stirring in the peas and beef strips.