Frikadeller with new potatoes and cucumber salad
50 min · 30 g protein · 430 cals / serving
Denmark's best-loved meatballs: plump, oval pork frikadeller with a deep brown crust and a soft, juicy middle, served the summer way with buttery new potatoes, sweet-sour agurkesalat and a few slices of pickled beetroot. Lean pork mince keeps them tender, and the sharp cucumber salad makes every bite taste fresh.
Ingredients
Frikadeller
- 1 lb 2 oz raw ground pork, 8% fat, pork mince, about 8 % fat
- 1 medium onion, finely grated
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour (bleached), plain flour
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Agurkesalat
- 2 large cucumbers, very thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp white vinegar, the part the cucumber soaks up; use 5 tbsp in the bowl
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
To serve
- 1 lb 2 oz potato, small new potatoes, scrubbed
- 2 tsp butter, for frying
- 1 tsp canola oil, for frying
To serve
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup sliced pickled beetroot, drained
Steps
- Mix the pork with the salt in a bowl until sticky, then work in the onion, egg, flour, pepper and finally the milk, a little at a time, until the mixture is soft and holds together. Cover and chill for 15 minutes while you make the salad.
- Toss the cucumber with a pinch of salt and leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze out the liquid. Stir 5 tablespoons of vinegar with the sugar and 3 tablespoons of water until the sugar dissolves, pour over the cucumber, add the dill and leave to marinate.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–20 minutes until tender, then drain.
- Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until the butter foams. Shape the mixture into 12 ovals with a tablespoon and the palm of your hand, dipping the spoon in the hot fat between each. Fry for 5–6 minutes a side until deep brown and cooked through (160°F).
- Toss the potatoes with parsley and a spoon of the pan juices. Serve the frikadeller with the potatoes, the cucumber salad lifted from its brine and the pickled beetroot.
Good to know
Why grate the onion?
Grated onion melts into the mixture and keeps the frikadeller moist without any crunchy bits, which is how Danish home cooks do it.
Pork and veal?
Half pork, half veal mince is the other classic mix and works the same way.
What else goes with frikadeller?
In winter they come with brown gravy or creamed white cabbage (stuvet hvidkål); cold leftovers on rye bread with rødkål are a Danish lunch staple.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 83
- Protein
- (28%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (32%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (40%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 152 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1720 kcal goes into the pot and 2317 g of ingredients comes out as about 2060 g of food: 83 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.