The Dollar Tree Kitchen Gadget That Will Change The Way You Cook Ground Meat

Ground meat forms the protein base for thousands of recipes, like classic ground beef meals that have been forgotten, or shepherd's pie made using Aldi's best-kept secret: meat like ground lamb. And aside from its deliciousness, it's fairly economical and quick to cook up for busy weeknight meals. However, mincing the meat can be tedious, and it can also be difficult to break it up into uniform pieces. Lucky for you, Dollar Tree — which has been knocking it out of the park with its cluttered kitchen junk solutions — has an inexpensive kitchen gadget which will revolutionize the way you cook ground meat: It's the Cooking Concepts brand meat chopper.

Of course, since you're buying it from Dollar Tree, this tool costs a mere $1.25, which is a fraction of the price of the name-brand OXO version, which retails for $11.99. With the cost of investment this small, you need to pick one up, because not only does it help you quickly create same-size bits of meat thanks to its five blades (which protrude from a center point like spokes on a bike wheel), it helps reduce the hand and arm fatigue that can come with slamming a turner down over and over again.

If you thought the name meat chopper meant that this Dollar Tree kitchen utensil is one of those single-use tools that come in handy once a year and otherwise take up space in a drawer, you would be incorrect. Aside from ground beef or pork, it can also be used on the stove to break up tomatoes for home-cooked sauce, and it's especially helpful when you're making large batches for canning. The chopper is useful for mashing potatoes, and it can even be used to scramble eggs; just twist the eggs over medium-low to low heat until they're cooked through for a succulent, soft scramble with perfectly tender texture.

Off the stove, the Dollar Tree meat chopper makes quick work of mashing avocados for guacamole, and it can also be used to macerate berries or other soft fruits for pie fillings or jams. Finally, the blades are just sharp enough that they can be used to create score marks in baked goods, by either holding the chopper horizontally and turning it like a mill wheel over the dough, or holding the utensil vertically and using it to stamp its distinctive starfish pattern into the tops of pies or cookies.