Frikadellen — Pan-Fried Meatballs
This is the kind of German lunch you’ll make on repeat — ground beef and pork mix and stale bread roll, 35 minutes, big payoff.
✓ USDA-verified nutrition data
610 calories
43g protein
35g carbs
33g fat
2g fiber
Ingredients
- 1.25 lb Ground beef and pork mix
- 50 g Stale bread roll
- 1 Egg
- 1 Yellow onion
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 4 cups Potato salad
Steps
- Soak the bread roll, squeeze it dry, and work it into the meat with the egg, finely diced onion, mustard, salt, and pepper. The soaked bread keeps them juicy — dry breadcrumbs alone make hockey pucks.
- Form 8 thick patties, slightly flattened, with wet hands. Chill 10 minutes so they hold together in the pan.
- Fry in a mix of oil and butter over medium heat, 5 to 6 minutes per side, until deeply browned and cooked through. Resist the urge to press them flat — pressing squeezes out the juices.
- Drain briefly on a rack, then rest 5 minutes so the juices redistribute.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with potato salad and mustard, or cold in a roll the next day — frikadellen are the backbone of every German picnic.