Frikadellen

Learn how to make the enormously popular German Frikadellen + tips on authentic beer garden style sides. 

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Read on for relevant tidbits and useful recipe pertinent information (2 mins)

What are Frikadellen?

Frikadellen are pan-fried ground meat patties and are also known by other names such as ‘Fleischklops’ (meatballs), or ‘Buletten’ (also translated to meatballs and used in the Berlin area). In Austria they call them ‘Faschierte Laibchen’ (minced meat patties).

What they are not is German hamburger patties because frikadellen are the original hamburger.

Enjoyed hot or cold they are a delicious partner to most German beer styles and are present on the menus of beer gardens across the country.

Background

Did you ever wonder why a hamburger is called a hamburger when there is no actual ham in it?

The unofficial story goes (and there are similar ones in circulation) that once a man from the German city of Hamburg who had emigrated to NYC made frikadellen for a local food fair. They smelled delicious and many were interested in buying them but they were also hot and he wasn’t very well prepared to serve them to the customers.

He decided to sandwich them between pieces of bread. That way the customers could easily hold them and enjoy them while still hot. His frikadellen were very popular and people started referring to them as the hamburger sandwich, meaning the sandwich made by the man from Hamburg.

How to Make Frikadellen

There are many frikadellen recipes out there. The one I used is authentic Bavarian and Chris has it from working at Kaltenberg Castle. He scaled it down significantly of course, to serve four.

• Typically they are made with a ground beef and ground pork mix. If you make them with all beef they will be leaner.
• Traditionally day-old white bread soaked in water is added but you also can substitute 1/2 cup oatmeal microwaved until really soft in 1/2 cup milk for added nutrition (still need to squeeze out liquid before you add it).

You will need a good skillet to pan fry the frikadellen and this concludes the needed equipment. 

Frikadellen as a Biergarten Food

Both regular sized and smaller bite-sized frikadellen such as the ones you see in the pictures are commonly served in German beer gardens. In Bavaria they are also enjoyed during Oktoberfest. It is up to you how big you will shape them – the recipe is exactly the same.

The larger ones are flatter like patties – see picture above. The smaller ones are rounder like meatballs.

Another beer garden favorite in Bavaria – Schnittlauchbrot, is commonly served alongside frikadellen – large or small. ‘Schnitt’ means cut, ‘lauch’ means onion and ‘brot’ means bread. It is essentially an open-faced butter and chives sandwich, typically prepared with Bauernbrot – German Farmer’s bread.

The bread is made with sourdough starter and both white and whole wheat flour, sometimes oats are added. It is then sliced, buttered and pressed onto a layer of finely chopped chives. I wasn’t able to buy Bauernbrot and was short on time to bake a loaf so I used a crusty sourdough loaf instead.

What to Serve with Frikadellen

The larger frikadellen are commonly served with pan roasted potatoes or German potato salad, pasta salad, mixed salad, steamed vegetables. In sandwich form they are presented on Kaiser rolls with mustard, frequently garnished with radishes or fried onions.

The bite-sized frikadellen are commonly served for Brotzeit along with the Schnittlauchbrot and accompanied by beer mustard and radishes. Both the small red ones and thinly sliced/spiraled white radish called ‘Münchner Bierradi’ (Munich beer radish) are traditioanl. 

Bierradi is the best known Bavarian radish variety, tastes peppery and pairs extremely well with beer and soft pretzels. The digestive juices it contains are known to help with overindulgence. One of these things where unless you try it, you will not believe it.

The classic way to slice Munich beer radish is lengthwise, after peeling the outer skin, but most commonly it is spiralized. Use daikon radish instead  even though it lacks in peppery flavor.

A spiralizer like the one in the recipe video will do the job or you can purchase a spiral attachment for stand up mixers.

Do not underestimate radishes. The status they occupy as beer garden fare is nearly at par with sauerkraut. Radishes are served with Obatzda beer cheese dip, on various brotzeit platters and commonly on their own with just a sprinkle of chives and sea salt.

Other Suggestions for Frikadellen

Besides the most common ways to serve frikadellen I listed above they will taste delicious if you

• use caraway instead of marjoram
• add very finely chopped bacon (about 1/3 cup) to the ground meat mixture (especially if you are using beef only)
• instead of dicing the onion – grate it, it will still add flavor but the texture will be smoother
• drench them in creamy mustard sauces or gravy
• serve them with bread dumplings (Semmelknödel)

Other Bavarian Recipes You May Like

Schweinshaxe (Bavarian Roasted Pork Knuckle)
Bavarian Pork Roast
Schnitzel
Obatzda
Half Roast Chicken
Kasespatzle

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Authentic Frikadellen (German Meatballs)

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

German Frikadellen recipe anyone can handle. Frikadellen are very popular in German cuisine and are often prepared bite-sized and served with radishes, mustard and open-faced chives sandwiches (Schnittlauchbrot) in beer gardens across Bavaria.

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Ingredients

For Frikadellen

• 1 bread roll/bun, 1-2 days old
• 1 onion (medium size), diced
• 1 tbsp cooking oil (for softening diced onion)
• 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 10 oz ground pork
• 10 oz ground beef
• 1 tbsp German mustard
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1 cup cooking oil for frying (or as needed)

For Schnittlauchbrot (optional)

• 1/2 loaf German Farmer's bread or sourdough bread, sliced for sandwiches
• 1-2 bunch chives, chopped very fine
• 2-3 tbsp softened butter

For Radish Snack (optional)

• 1 daikon radish
• 1 bunch red radishes
• 1 tsp chopped chives

Instructions

For Frikadellen

1. In a bowl of water soak the bread roll/bun.
2.  In about 20 minutes squeeze out all the water and crumble in a mixing bowl.
3. While the bread is soaking heat the 1 tbsp cooking oil in a pan over medium heat and saute the onions until they soften. Set aside to cool them down.
4. Add the chopped parsley to the crumbled roll, add the cooled softened onions, add the ground meat, the egg, the mustard, salt and pepper, paprika and marjoram and mix well. 
5. Shape into large patties or smaller bite-sized meatballs.
6. Heat the cooking oil in a cast iron skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the patties or meatballs and quickly turn them, then reduce the heat to medium and fry until cooked, turning once. For larger patties allow 4-5 minutes per side, for smaller meatballs about 2-3 minutes per side, depending on their size.
7. Serve with the radishes, mustard and Schnitlauchbrot.

For Schnittlauchbrot (optional)

1. Butter the slices of bread. 
2. On a plate spread the finely chopped chives and press each buttered bread slice onto them, face down, so that the chives stick to the buttered surface. 
3. You now have small open-faced chives sandwiches. Carefully slice in half and serve.

For Radish (optional)

1. Clean the red radishes thoroughly and slice thin. 
2. Peel the daikon and using a spiralizer or a potato peeler create thin spirals or shavings. Flavor with a few grains of sea salt and sprinkle with chives. 

Notes

This recipe yields 8 large frikadellen patties or about 20 small meatballs. 

The Schnittlauchbrot (open faced chives sandwich is a traditional accompaniment to small frikadellen. So are the radishes. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 4 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 516Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 1633mgCarbohydrates: 78gFiber: 7gSugar: 11gProtein: 54g

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