“Danish meatballs, fried in lots of oil. Always make extra — they’re awesome cold.” I respond.
This meal is a Danish legacy from my Grandma, who passed it to my mom, who used to feed these little meatballs to my brothers and I on a pretty regular basis — especially between hockey, tennis, soccer and softball practices. Originally fried in lard, Mom updated the recipe a bit and fried them in margarine.
I don’t buy margarine, which leaves me with veg oil to fry in. I know it seems like a lot of oil to use to shallow fry meat, but all that oil crisps up the sides and makes everything very tasty. You can, of course, fry them with no extra oil at all, but they aren’t the same.
I can’t say it enough: make extra, you will want a sandwich made from these the next day.
(Click on the title below for a printable version of the recipe.)
Hi, Theresa. I enjoyed your picture and post up on Mt. Norman.
I wondered if you ever went to the Turkey Stop on Granville Island, where I first heard the word, “Frikadeller”. Theirs, of course, were made with turkey, in patty format. I always bought them, when they weren’t sold out there.
Dan…great to hear from you! Hope you had a good trip…my grandmother would probably keel over at the idea of turkey frikadeller! I did see them at Granville Market, never tried them though. Too much of a purist — must be in my genes.
I have been wanting to make these for the longest time now. I had it recently in San Diego and it was amazing!Thanks for giving me the inspiration to try this.
Dreamed last night about my one and only experience with Frikadeller. (So got on the internet today to look them up.) Had them for dinner one night on a bike trip through Denmark and was violently ill for the next 24 hours. They did taste good, but not worth the end result!!
Are these similar to the Swedish Meatballs? We have something very similar in Bulgaria called Kufte, which have bread and traditional spices. These look great.
I love meat balls, they are great for all kinds of reasons (appetizers, in sauces, etc.) and this is the basic way that my family and I start with ours. We love to add in extra stuff like herbs and spices to change it up every now and then :D
Oh I see you have a Danish Frikadeller recipe. I use only ground pork in mine and fry them up using cooking spray. The ground pork already contains alot of fat and they get nice and crisp on the outside. My mother always used alot of margarine as well.
You make your frikadeller a little differently from mine. I only use ground pork, and I fry them with a little olive oil and butter mixed together, mom always used margarine, which is something I never buy. But you’re right, they’re good hot or cold, I always make a double recipe since they also freeze very nicely.
I think my (actually my Mom’s) recipe for frikadeller stems from my father’s refusal to eat ground pork (weird, I know). She always used half beef to disguise the pork! He came around to liking ground pork in later life, but Mom’s modified recipe stuck. Theresa
Have made these since I was a child and taught by my mother; she actually soaked bread in milk and worked into the meat mixture, then fried in lard. Yummy! My father ate them cold out of the fridge with mustard on them……I now make them every Christmas for Lil Jul Aftne.
Use the words ‘deep fry’ and you know I’m already hooked. I’ll be these are amazing, especially when done the original way with the lard. Wow. I had to laugh about your story in the comments of not trying the turkey version because you’re a purist. I can so see that. :)
Hi, Theresa. I enjoyed your picture and post up on Mt. Norman.
I wondered if you ever went to the Turkey Stop on Granville Island, where I first heard the word, “Frikadeller”. Theirs, of course, were made with turkey, in patty format. I always bought them, when they weren’t sold out there.
How was the cheese-making workshop???
Dan
Dan…great to hear from you! Hope you had a good trip…my grandmother would probably keel over at the idea of turkey frikadeller! I did see them at Granville Market, never tried them though. Too much of a purist — must be in my genes.
I have been wanting to make these for the longest time now. I had it recently in San Diego and it was amazing!Thanks for giving me the inspiration to try this.
Daniel, I`m glad to hear that the good news of Frikadeller is spreading! Good luck with your version…
Dreamed last night about my one and only experience with Frikadeller. (So got on the internet today to look them up.) Had them for dinner one night on a bike trip through Denmark and was violently ill for the next 24 hours. They did taste good, but not worth the end result!!
Are these similar to the Swedish Meatballs? We have something very similar in Bulgaria called Kufte, which have bread and traditional spices. These look great.
I love meat balls, they are great for all kinds of reasons (appetizers, in sauces, etc.) and this is the basic way that my family and I start with ours. We love to add in extra stuff like herbs and spices to change it up every now and then :D
These meatballs look fantastic! I already bookmarked this recipe.
Oh I see you have a Danish Frikadeller recipe. I use only ground pork in mine and fry them up using cooking spray. The ground pork already contains alot of fat and they get nice and crisp on the outside. My mother always used alot of margarine as well.
You make your frikadeller a little differently from mine. I only use ground pork, and I fry them with a little olive oil and butter mixed together, mom always used margarine, which is something I never buy. But you’re right, they’re good hot or cold, I always make a double recipe since they also freeze very nicely.
Sid,
I think my (actually my Mom’s) recipe for frikadeller stems from my father’s refusal to eat ground pork (weird, I know). She always used half beef to disguise the pork! He came around to liking ground pork in later life, but Mom’s modified recipe stuck. Theresa
Hi Theresa: I haven’t had frikadeller since we were in Germany 25 years ago.
Thanks for the recipe and the for the memories it triggered.
My pleasure Charlie — thanks for visiting Island Vittles!
Have made these since I was a child and taught by my mother; she actually soaked bread in milk and worked into the meat mixture, then fried in lard. Yummy! My father ate them cold out of the fridge with mustard on them……I now make them every Christmas for Lil Jul Aftne.
Use the words ‘deep fry’ and you know I’m already hooked. I’ll be these are amazing, especially when done the original way with the lard. Wow. I had to laugh about your story in the comments of not trying the turkey version because you’re a purist. I can so see that. :)
You get me, Christiane. :)