Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Königsberger Klopse (German meatballs in caper sauce)
Tender poached meatballs seasoned with anchovy, in a silky white sauce sharpened with capers and lemon: the Prussian classic every German grandmother knows. Served with parsley potatoes and a little beetroot, as it should be.
- Time
- 70 min (30 prep + 40 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 616 kcal
- Protein
- 39 g
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 stale white roll kaiser roll, soaked in cold water, squeezed dry
- 10 oz ground beef (95% lean)
- 7 oz pork mince
- 1 small onion, very finely chopped
- 2 fillets anchovies, finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard, or medium-hot German mustard
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 2 3/4 cups beef broth, low-sodium
- 1 bay leaf
To serve
- 1 3/4 lb gold potatoes, peeled, halved
Caper sauce
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp capers, drained
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
To serve
- 1 small handful fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 cups, diced cooked beets, ready-cooked
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
Steps
- Mix the squeezed roll, both meats, onion, anchovies, egg, mustard, salt and white pepper with your hands until evenly combined, without overworking it. With wet hands shape into 12 balls, each about the size of a large golf ball.
- Bring the broth and bay leaf to a bare simmer in a wide pot. Lower in the meatballs in one layer, cover and poach gently for 12 minutes, turning them once, until cooked through (160°F in the centre). The liquid should only shiver: a hard boil makes them tough. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, discard the bay leaf and keep the broth.
- Meanwhile boil the potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes, until tender, and drain.
- Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute without browning. Whisk in the warm broth a little at a time, then the cream, and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until it coats a spoon.
- Stir in the capers, lemon juice and sugar, then taste: it should be gently sour and salty from the capers. Add the meatballs and heat them through for 3 minutes without boiling.
- Toss the potatoes with the parsley, reserving a little for the top, and dress the beetroot with the vinegar and a pinch of salt. Serve the Klopse in plenty of sauce with the potatoes and beetroot. They keep 4 days in the fridge; warm them gently in the sauce so it stays smooth. The meatballs in their sauce freeze for 3 months.
Good to know
Do the anchovies make it taste of fish?
No. Two fillets melt into the meat and give a savoury depth nobody can name, and every traditional recipe has them. Leave them out if you must and add an extra pinch of salt.
Can I use richer mince?
Yes, ordinary half-and-half mince (Gemischtes Hack) gives a softer, juicier meatball, at about 52 instead of 56.
Why is my sauce too sharp?
Capers and lemon vary a lot, so add the lemon a spoonful at a time. A small pinch of extra sugar rounds it off.
Per
- Calories
- 98
- Protein
- (26%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (37%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (37%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 264 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2464 kcal goes into the pot and 2696 g of ingredients comes out as about 2523 g of food: 98 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.