Kjøttkaker (Norwegian Meatballs)
Tender and juicy meatballs, lightly spiced with ginger and nutmeg. A delicious and hearty dinner option!
Ingredients
- 900 grams mix of ground pork and beef (you can definitely stick to just one type of ground meat - we would suggest pork if so!)
- 225 grams onion, grated or finely chopped
- 4 tbsp potato starch (can substitute with cornstarch)
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1.5 tsp ground ginger
- 200 ml milk or water to bind
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Butter or vegetable oil for cooking
Instructions
- Chop or grate your onion finely.
- Add chopped or grated onion, potato starch, nutmeg, and ginger to a large mixing bowl and mix to get the spices and starch evenly distributed.
- Add ground meat to the bowl.
- Add milk to the mixture and start to mix it together; once somewhat mixed together, add in salt and pepper.
- Continue mixing until the mixture is homogeneous. You may need to add more milk if it seems dry. If you add too much milk, try to let it sit for about 15 minutes and come back to it; you can also add more starch to soak up excess liquid! The meat mix should be able to hold a shape easily and not fall apart.
- Preheat a pan over medium - high heat.
- Add butter or vegetable oil (or cooking oil of your choice) to the pan, and start spooning in the meatball mix to create meatballs. We use a spoon to dollop the mixture onto the pan and create more of an oval shape. If you prefer the meatballs to be round, you can roll them in your hands before putting them in the pan.
- Cook on one side for 3-4 minutes, then flip each meatball. They should have a nice browned crust. You may need to move the meatballs around on the pan if the heat isn't totally even.
- Let cook on the second side another 3-4 minutes, then lower the heat to medium - low. Continue to cook and monitor for doneness - probably at least another 5 minutes. The meatballs are done when they feel firm to the touch, or you can use a thermometer to check the internal temperature. It should reach 160F (71C).
- Remove cooked meatballs from the pan, add more oil to the pan if necessary, and repeat the cooking process for a second batch of meatballs. You can also have two pans cooking at once, we just tend to cook ours in batches.
- Enjoy! If you're serving meatballs for dinner, you can make a quick brown gravy by combining beef stock with a bit of the potato starch to thicken it slightly. We like to serve our meatballs with a quick gravy, peas, stewed cabbage, and often also a potato side. Any leftovers keep great in the fridge and reheat well!