Kotlety Mielone (Polish Minced Meat Cutlets)

Kotlety mielone are Polish minced meat cutlets: seasoned pork mince shaped into small flat patties, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried until golden. They are the everyday dinner, the one I grew up on, with mashed potatoes and something sharp on the side.

The recipe is simple, but a few things decide whether they come out juicy or dry, or fall apart in the pan. Below I explain which pork to buy, why five minutes of mixing matters, and how to cook them.

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Kotlety Mielone (Polish Minced Meat Cutlets)

Fried onion, garlic and marjoram go into pork mince, and the mixture is worked until it turns sticky, shaped into 11 small cutlets and crumbed. They fry in about ten minutes a batch. I eat them with dill mashed potatoes, a pickled cucumber, and a spoon of the frying oil over the potatoes.

What Are Kotlety Mielone?

Kotlet mielony means minced cutlet, and that is exactly what it is: a seasoned patty of minced meat, breaded and fried. They are not the same as a kotlet schabowy, which is a pork loin steak beaten thin and breaded. The schabowy is Sunday lunch. The mielony is a weeknight.

The Polish culinary histories say minced cutlets became common in the 19th century, once a meat grinder meant nobody had to chop meat by hand for hours. They are usually made of pork, or pork and beef, with egg, breadcrumbs or a soaked roll, and finely chopped onion, and then rolled in crumbs and fried. In Małopolska they are called sznycle, and in Silesia karminadle, and every family makes them a little differently.

We always ate them with potatoes, and in summer with mizeria, cucumber in soured cream, or otherwise with buraczki, grated beetroot. If one was left over the next day, it went into a bun, which is two dinners in one. That is how my Polish burger started.

Which Meat to Use

The meat decides how juicy the cutlets are. Here is how I think about it.

• Ordinary pork mince is what I used here. It is not the leanest and it is not shoulder, somewhere in between. It has enough fat to stay juicy, and it is easy to find.
• Pork shoulder carries more fat, so the cutlets are even more forgiving if you cook them a minute too long.
• Very lean pork gives a lighter cutlet, but it dries out faster, so keep the fried onion and the cold water in.
• Turkey works, and we sometimes make them with it, though I prefer pork. It is lean, so treat it like very lean pork.
• Pork and beef is a common mix in Poland. Ham works too, and then it helps to fry the onion in a little more oil.
• Ask the butcher to mince it fresh. Freshly minced meat is better than a tray that has sat for days.

Equipment You’ll Need

A heavy pan, and scales if you have them.

A Closer Look at the Ingredients

Nine ingredients, and each one has a job.

• Pork mince 500 g of ordinary pork mince, not the leanest and not shoulder. We sometimes make these with turkey, but I prefer pork. Instead: Pork shoulder mince for even juicier cutlets, or turkey. Very lean mince works too, but it dries out faster.
• Onions Two medium onions, finely diced and fried first until soft and lightly browned. They add sweetness, and the oil that comes in with them adds a little extra fat to the mixture.
• Garlic Four cloves, minced.
• Salt 6 g, about a teaspoon. It seasons the meat, and it is also what makes the mixture sticky when you work it.
• Breadcrumbs 40 g go into the mixture to bind it, and 60 g coat the outside to make the crust. Instead: Half a stale bread roll soaked in water or milk and squeezed dry, in place of the crumbs in the mix.
• Egg One large egg binds the mixture.
• Cold water 60 ml, worked in at the start, so the meat holds on to it. It helps keep the cutlets moist.
• Marjoram A teaspoon of dried marjoram. It is the herb Polish cooks put in minced meat, and it is what makes these taste Polish, so I would not leave it out.

How to Make Kotlety Mielone, Step by Step

Full quantities are in the recipe card below. You can mix the meat the day before, which makes a weeknight easier.

1. Fry the Onions. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small pan over a medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook until soft and translucent, then keep going until they start to brown a little. Take them off the heat and let them cool slightly.Frying the onion first takes the raw edge off it and adds sweetness. The oil that comes in with it also adds a little extra fat to the mixture, which helps keep the cutlets juicy.Do not rush it: a little brown on the onion is where the flavour comes from, so give it the time.Cool it a little: a very hot onion would start to cook the egg and the meat when it goes into the bowl.
2. Mix. Put the pork, cooled onions, garlic, salt, 40 g of the breadcrumbs, egg, pepper, marjoram and the cold water into a large bowl. Work it with your hands for a full five minutes, until it is completely uniform and has turned sticky.Salt pulls a protein out of the meat and onto its surface, where it works like glue. Five minutes of working is what turns the mixture sticky, and that stickiness is what holds the cutlet together in the pan.Cold water at the start: worked in now, not added at the end, so the meat holds on to it.Very lean mince or turkey: if you use them, do not skip the onion or the water, they are what keep it moist.Too short: if the mixture is still crumbly, it needs more working, not more crumbs.
3. Shape. Divide the mixture into 11 equal portions and shape each one into a small, flat round about 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) thick.Small, even cutlets cook through in the time the crust needs to turn golden. Thick ones brown on the outside long before the middle is done.Falling apart: if a cutlet will not hold its shape while you press it flat, go back and work the mixture another minute.Even size: weigh a portion or two if you like, so they all cook in the same time.
4. Coat. Tip the 60 g of coating breadcrumbs onto a plate. Press each cutlet into the crumbs, turning it so every face and the edge is covered, then shake off the loose crumbs.The crumbs make the crust. Pressing them on, instead of rolling, makes them stick, and shaking off the loose ones stops them burning in the pan.Just before frying: crumbs left sitting on a damp cutlet go soft, so coat as you fry.
5. Fry. Heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the cutlets in batches, without crowding, 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until deep golden and cooked through. Drain them on kitchen paper.A medium heat gives the crust time to turn golden while the middle cooks through. Too hot and the crumbs are dark before the pork is done.Do not crowd the pan: two or three batches. A crowded pan loses its heat and the cutlets steam instead of crisping.Do not press them down: it squeezes the juice out into the pan.Is it done: the middle is no longer pink and the cutlet reads at least 71C (160F). Ground meat needs to be cooked right through.
6. Serve. Serve straight away with mashed potatoes and a pickled cucumber, and spoon a little of the frying oil over the potatoes.They are at their best hot, while the crust is still crisp.The oil: I spoon a little of the oil the cutlets were fried in over the mashed potatoes. I love it there.

Recipe Card for Kotlety Mielone

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What to Serve With Kotlety Mielone

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Mashed potatoes with dill and a pickled cucumber, with a spoon of the frying oil over the potatoes. Mine are pickled cucumbers made at home. In summer, mizeria, and the rest of the year grated beetroot or braised cabbage.

Storing, Freezing and Reheating

The mixture can be made the day before and kept covered in the fridge. Shaped raw cutlets freeze well: open-freeze them on a tray so they are not touching, bag them once they are solid, and cook them from frozen over a slightly lower heat for a few minutes longer a side. Cooked ones keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, and they freeze too, though they come out drier than the raw ones.

The best way to reheat a fried cutlet is with steam, not dry heat. A splash of water in a covered pan over a low heat, a few minutes, and it comes back juicy, instead of hardening the way it does in a dry pan or the microwave.

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FAQ for Kotlety Mielone

Why do my kotlety mielone fall apart?

Almost always because the mixture was not worked long enough. Work it for a full five minutes until it turns sticky, because that is what holds it together. Then fry them over a medium heat and leave each one alone until the crust has set before you turn it.

Why are they dry or hard?

Usually the meat is very lean, they are overcooked, or the mixture was left without the fried onion and the cold water. Lean pork and turkey both dry out quickly. Keep the onion and the water in, and take them out of the pan once they are cooked through.

What meat is best for kotlety mielone?

Pork is the classic, and in Poland pork or a mix of pork and beef is the usual. I used ordinary pork mince for these, not the leanest and not shoulder. We sometimes use turkey, but I prefer pork. Shoulder is juicier and more forgiving, and very lean mince dries out faster.

How is kotlet mielony different from kotlet schabowy?

A kotlet schabowy is a pork loin steak beaten thin and breaded, and it is the Sunday dinner. A kotlet mielony is made of minced meat, which is why it is the everyday one. My kotlety schabowe are the loin version.

Do I need a soaked bread roll?

The older way uses a stale roll soaked in water or milk and squeezed dry, and many Polish recipes still do. I use dry breadcrumbs in the mix instead, and the cold water does the soaking. If you want the classic version, use half a soaked roll in place of the breadcrumbs in the mix.

Can I bake them?

I fry mine, so I cannot give you a tested baked version. Baked ones exist, but you lose the crisp crust that comes from the oil in the pan.

Can I freeze kotlety mielone?

Yes. Shaped raw cutlets freeze well. Open-freeze them on a tray so they are not touching, then bag them once they are solid, and cook them from frozen over a slightly lower heat for a few minutes longer a side. Cooked ones freeze too, but they come out drier.

How do I reheat them?

With steam, not dry heat. A splash of water in a covered pan over a low heat, for a few minutes, brings them back juicy. A dry pan or the microwave makes them hard.

How much salt do they need?

I use 6 g, about a teaspoon, for 500 g of mince. The salt seasons the meat and also helps the mixture turn sticky, which is what binds the cutlets, so do not cut it back much.

A Few Words from the Chef

This is the dinner I grew up on, and I still make it with ordinary pork mince, or sometimes turkey, though I prefer pork. The thing I would tell anyone is to work the mixture properly and to spoon the oil over the potatoes. If you make them, tell me in the comments what you served them with. Smacznego!