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Kotletten

I can't give you the history of these tasty little deep-fried meatballs, but I know they were a regular menu item in the home in which I grew up. They are wonderful served hot or cold...a summer picnic favorite at our place.




Kotletten
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1-2 slices day-old bread 
  • 1 egg
  • 1 medium potato, sliced
  • 1 small onion, peeled and sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  1. Soak bread in water, and wring out excess.
  2. Add the 'soaked bread' to a blender along with all other ingredients except for ground beef, and blend until smooth.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine pureed mixture and ground beef.
  4. Mix well with your hands.
  5. Form meat balls of desired size.
  6. Heat about 1/2 inch oil in frying pan and cook over medium-high heat. 
  7. Turn meat balls over once well browned on the bottom side; cook several minutes longer.
Tip: If not using a blender, grate potato and onion before adding to meat mixture.


Enjoy another recipe from the past...

17 comments:

  1. Way to go. I was waiting for someone to make Kotletten. My mom always made lots of them, so the next day we could take them on a family picnic.
    Now, who's going to make so much work for a family picnic?

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  2. They look fantastic. So nice to see your visit to my place. I have had you marked and have not really had the time to have a good read and recipe share.
    Love sharing recipes. Sort of like sharing hospitality...has a blessing attached to it.
    Next time I see beef on special, I have a recipe to try. Thanks.
    Moggie also says thanks for prodding Mum to buy beef mince because that was I get some bits.
    She is an opportunistic Madam Moggie Cat.

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  3. Oh Judy...I am so glad the mystery is revealed. I have to say, I have never heard the folks use the word Kotletten...but we did eat these little 'burgers' You are simply amazing with a wealth of goodies in your repetoire

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  4. oh yes!!!! kotletten are amazing. definately a comfort food for me. my kids having been very health concious doesn't allow me to make them but fried and the baked version just doesn't cut it the same way. however we sure do enjoy them at oma's house....my healthy freaks.

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  5. My mom made these for us regularly. She took to baking them instead of frying them. We call them Kotletty. Yum...
    I love Pioneer woman's smashed potatoes. I served them at a dinner we had here and they were a hit! I'm going to have to make my family some Kotletty soon! Blessings..

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  6. Judy we always called these . ."klups". That must be the long german name eh? I was saying to Terry not so long ago that I hadn't made these for ages. . I love them for a summer picnic with potato salad. . oh yum. you must be having a big picnic. have fun.
    Oh and those potatoes do look wonderful, I'll try those too.

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  7. Another Pioneer Woman fan? I love her site.
    We ate these growing up fairly regularly with lots of ketchup. I remember though even as a little girl the grease was too rich for me.
    We remembered their name by thinking: Let in the cat
    Cat-let-in

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  8. These were always a favorite in our house growing up. I never could decide if I liked them better piping hot or cold out of the fridge the next day. Either way, lots of ketchup made them perfect. :)

    I'm definitely going to have to give those potatoes a whirl. I'm also a Pioneer Woman fan!

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  9. We call them Kotlety too...just as yummy!
    Krissie from Winterwood blog

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  10. Lovella said: Judy we always called these . ."klups".

    Lovella, yes, I am German and we call them Klopps. Kotletten, to us, are porkchops, fried to a beautiful golden color after having been rolled in beaten egg and breadcrumbs, also called Schnitzel (for which some use veal). Both can be served with fresh mushrooms in a cream sauce and fried potatoes ;)

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    Replies
    1. i just fell into this website - no background for this kind of food whatsoever, but I looke to cook good food so I am saving this link and will make them soon

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  11. I grew up in Russia and have eaten those Kotleti all my life. There is, however, one very important ingredient not to be left out: garlic! Add fresh garlic, a couple of cloves for this amount of meat, minced, chopped, or put through garlic press, together with the rest of ingredients and proceed as described. Hot or cold, it's delicious. My grandma actually scolded me when I made my Kotleti round. It was believed that they are to be oblong. No matter! As a later addition, on someone's advise I started adding fresh shopped herbs in the mix: parsley, cilantro. You might want to try it, too.

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  12. My Mom had the recipe title as "Cutletin". (An Irish girl's literal translation of her German Mother-in-law's traditional Mennonite recipe.)
    I have long since lost her hand written recipe card. I have never forgotten the meatball recipe with grated raw potatoes, milk and bread. Grandma's recipe had 1/2 lb ground pork for each lb of lean ground beef.
    50 years later, nothing beats a day at the lake with cutletin, dill pickles and Canada Dry ginger ale!
    Thanks for keeping the memory alive.

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  13. I grew up in Saskatchewan and I also knew them as Klups, my Dad used to make them all the time that was the only thing he cooked our mother cooked all the other meals in our house. My grandmother would make them as well and we would eat them with homemade crabapple jelly. They also used half beef half pork. Oh how I miss those Sunday dinners at my Grandmothers farm and all the yummy food she would make, while all her grandchildren played outside with the kittens from the barn.

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  14. I think the back ground on these meatballs is "Dutch" they were made in a fosterhome my son was in

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  15. I made these for the first time last week. They are absolutely delicious. I have 2 questions. Do these meatballs freeze well? Would I get the same results if I used GF oats in place of the day old bread?

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    Replies
    1. Hello, Ruth ... yes, you can freeze these meatballs and reheat them, wrapped in foil.
      It should be okay to use GF oats, but will likely just make them a bit firmer in texture.

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