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Ahem. I present to you THE meatball of all meatballs. There’s an oddity in the list of ingredients, but believe me when I tell you; these will be the talk of your dinner party. These meatballs are incredibly juicy and quite possibly the best ones I’ve ever tried. I kid you not.
My sisters Tanya & Sveta have been raving about how their Mama-in-law (they married two brothers, you see) makes fantastic meatballs. I finally asked Maria for the recipe. I knew from the first bite; my sisters were right.
Flashback! (I love how food triggers memories). I remember the first time we gave my grandpa a burger, he took it apart and ate each ingredient separately. He was probably wondering why we served Katleti in such a strange way.
The Ukrainian way is to serve katleti (meatballs) along side potatoes and salad, but I do think they’d taste great as sliders. Yum, yum!
Ingredients for Juicy Pork Meatballs:
2 slices good black/rye bread
1 lb lean ground pork (I ground my own lean pork tenderloin)
1 small/medium onion, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning, or your fave seasoning
3/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp mayo.
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs.
Oil to Saute (I used extra light olive oil)
P.S. Maria said you can double the batch and freeze half of them raw then thaw and saute them when you’re ready for more!
How to Make Juicy Pork Meatballs:
1. Dry your bread slices in the oven at 350˚F for 25 minutes (or in the sunshine) until fully dried.
2. Once bread is fully dried, soak it in water for 10 mins then squeeze out the water and drain really well. I placed/pressed a bowl over the bread crumbs inside of my colander to help drain it. Break bread into crumbs.
3. Saute onions in a medium pan over medium/high heat until golden brown then set aside.
4. Place ground pork into a large mixing bowl. Add moist bread crumbs, sautéed onion, 1 beaten egg, 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp black pepper and 1 Tbsp Mayo. Mix until well combined.
5. Form 1 1/2″ meatballs and slightly flatten each one. Roll meatballs in bread crumbs and arrange on a platter.
6. Heat a large non-stick pan (I used my cast iron skillet) over medium heat with 2 Tbsp oil. Once oil is hot, add 1/2 of the prepared meatballs (about 10) and cook about 3 minutes per side, adding more oil as needed.
Saute until meatballs are golden brown on the outside and cooked through. Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel.
These were soo stankin’ juicy! My mouth is watering. Come to Mama!
Just in case you missed the juiciness..
Juicy Pork Meatballs (Kotlety)
Ingredients
- 2 slices good black bread
- 1 lb lean ground pork, I ground my own lean pork
- 1 small/medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
- Oil to Saute, I used extra light olive oil
Instructions
- Dry your bread slices in the oven at 350˚F for 25 minutes (or in the sunshine) until fully dried.
- Once bread is fully dried, soak it in water for 10 mins then squeeze out the water and drain really well. I placed a bowl over the bread crumbs inside of my colander to help drain it. Break bread into crumbs.
- Saute onions in a medium pan over medium/high heat until golden brown then set aside.
- Place ground pork into a large mixing bowl. Add moist bread crumbs, sautéed onion, 1 beaten egg, 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp black pepper and 1 Tbsp Mayo. Mix until well combined.
- Form 1 1/2" meatballs and slightly flatten each one. Roll meatballs in bread crumbs and arrange on a platter.
- Heat a large non-stick pan (I used my cast iron skillet) over medium heat with 2 Tbsp oil. Once oil is hot, add 1/2 of the prepared meatballs (about 10) and cook about 2-3 minutes per side, adding more oil as needed. Saute until meatballs are golden brown on the outside and cooked through. Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel.
Notes
My Mom made these with ground pork, ground veal, and ground beef. Otherwise, recipe is pretty much the same.
The BEST Kotleti I’ve had, besides moms of course 🙂
Super! Thanks for your great feedback.
I do similar, but use one slice of white bread and 3 tblsp. milk to soak. Mix that with the egg, rest is same. Granddaughter doesn’t like beef, so I did a one to one with turkey & pork. Had no breadcrumbs 🙁 so I used flour with seasoned salt to dredge the Kotlety…made 19, our son ate 5…so good.
Thanks for sharing that with us Pat. Appreciate it!
Can you substitute the black bread with any other bread if you’re out of black bread?
Hi Angelina, you should be able to substitute the bread without any issues
Natasha, if you add a few garlic cloves to a sautéed onion, it adds an amazing flavor to these Katleti! I absolutely looove this recipe! Thank you, thank you, thank you:))
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
These katleti were so tender, juicy and delicious! Definitely one of my favorite recipes for katleti.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
What about serving in a gravy?? a sour cream one???
Hi Denise! You can apply the sauces from some of our other saucy meatball recipes for this one and I think it would be scrumptious :).
Hi Natasha! Thanks for the recipe! Can I substitute rye bread with your artisan bread? (I made it recently and it’s amazing!) Would it change the taste of kotleti a lot? Thank you!
Tatiana, you should be able to substitute the bread without any issues 😬
Hi, do you dip them in anything?
Hi Frank, a dip isn’t necessary with these but I do like the idea of a dip!! Something weird but really good that I’ve discovered recently via my Mom (and don’t laugh), but it’s a new product in grocery stores that is a spicy ketchup by the makers of sriracha and boy is it good! I’ve been really liking it with various kotlety.
What kind of meat do u grind for ur meatballs?
Hi Tanya, I use a variety of pork cuts but for these I used pork loin chops and ground them up. Any pre-ground pork would work fine as well 🙂
Thanks for this recipe,it’s delicious speciali with black/rye bread.Love it and love your page.
Thank you so much Galina! I’m so happy you loved the recipe and my site. 🙂
Hi Natasha, can you please give a link where to buy a skillet you used here? Thanks.
Hi Rita! It’s a great pan and inexpensive too: http://amzn.to/1LiOcUc. I’ve you’ve never owned a cast iron skillet, read up on cleaning it. It’s really easy to care for but it’s different than most pots and pans.
I’ve given up hope with my kotleti long time ago cause they just never turned out to the flavor I wanted/needed. But when I came across this recipe, the ingredients and reviews made me think again. I am moooore than happy with the result !! My family looooved them. I will be back to making kotlety once again !! But instead of Italian bread crumbs I used the Panko bread crumbs. They were unbelievably delicious !! Thank you thank you thank you !!
Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review!!
Yay a swift zipline back to my Ukrainian-Jewish childhood:) Honestly the best recipe, the only two problems were I could not find the right sort of black bread and I expected leftovers but my family ate the whole skillet:)
Victoria, thank you for such a nice review, looks like you might have to make them again soon 😀 .
Excellent! Tasty, juicy, tender. I don’t have mayo at home, so I used sour cream, italian seasoning instead of Mrs.Dash (don’t have that either), and flour instead of bread crumbs. I always try to adapt the recipe to the stuff I already have in my fridge/pantry, so it’s cheaper and faster (don’t have to run to the store etc.)
I love how you improvise. It’s a sign of a creative cook! Thanks for sharing your great review! 🙂
This is one of the best meatball recipes ever! Every time I make this, there’s hardly any leftovers (and any that’s left disappear before the next day). I’ve shared it a few times and nothing but rave reviews.
Lisa-Marie, thank you for such a great review and thanks for spreading the word :).
Thanks for sharing this recipe with us. Just fixed it for dinner tonight, turned out great. The wife loved it!
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks for sharing that with me. I’m so happy you both enjoyed it 🙂
Hi Natasha! I love your website and recipes, i use them all the time :)I love how everything is so easy and simple and step my step which is very helpful. I would like to know what cookware do you usually use? I noticed that for this recipe you used cast iron,and i wanted to see if you have any suggestions on what brand or what kind is best since you are the pro :)i have caphalon non stick but im trying to get rid of the non stick cookware because its not that great for health from what i heard. I tried out stainless steel but everything tends to stick to the bottom even if i add lots of oil, so i wanted to see if you have any suggestions.
I use different cookware for different things. My absolute favorite is LeCreuset; they make enamel-lined cast iron pans that are incredible, but they are spendy. The one in this picture is by Lodge Cast Iron. Here is a link. They are fairly inexpensive and if treated correctly (don’t wash with soap to keep it “seasoned”), then they will be non-stick even for eggs :). I hope that helps. I also have Circulon pans that are non-stick too, but again they have the undesireable coating on them like you said.
Made this today! Your blog has become my source of cooking inspiration! Yummy!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for the great feedback 🙂
These meatballs are great! I sort of had my doubts with the wet bread but everything worked out just right. Thanks for the recipe.
You are welcome Patricia, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe :).