Ukrainian Pork Meatballs (kotlety)

Easy Ukrainian Pork Meatballs (kotlety) are perfectly tender and hearty and you will love that these are oven baked. There is no needed attention to each meatball individually or cooking in few batches to fit in a skillet.

It’s a comforting home-style dish that is sure to satisfy! And did I mention these are freezer friendly?

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Pork Meatballs Recipe:

Our Ukrainian Pork Meatballs recipe is a classic, simple-ingredients dish made up of ground pork, soaked bread, onion, mayo, salt and pepper. These are slightly crispy on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside.

Traditionally you will find them served up with mashed potatoes and paired with a side of fresh homemade salad. Few of our favorite salads to complete the meal are: all-veggie salad, cabbage carrot pepper salad, cucumber radish salad or tomato cucumber radish salad.

These are a staple at many gatherings and always in demand. We love them paired with mashed potatoes for guests or on the weekends. For easier weeknight dinner, they are also delicious served over a bed of pasta. The prep is so much easier and faster.

What Ingredients go into Pork Meatballs?

• Ground pork: choose with a bit of fat. The fats keep meatballs juicy and tender.
• Yellow onion: add lots of flavor and meatballs will not turn out bland.
• Dried bread: will lighten the texture and make meatballs tender. I like this homemade bread the best or rustic. Store-bought sliced or french bread will change meatballs texture.
• Real Mayonnaise: will add the extra fat to make these moist and tastier.
• Fine salt: for flavoring
• Ground black pepper: for flavoring. You can add more than the recipe calls for if you want to taste the extra heat with each bite.
• Plain bread crumbs: will give better texture and create that exterior crisp of each meatball.
• Lukewarm water: for soaking dried bread before grating.

Can I Use Chicken or Beef for Meatballs?

You can use the same amount of ground chicken or ground beef the recipe calls for to make our favorite meatball recipe. You can also do half chicken and half pork.

Can you Freeze Pork Meatballs?

One of the main reasons why I do these in the oven is that I could freeze them. When meatballs are baked, they don’t fry as much as on the skillet making these so perfect for reheating later. Also, if you are mainly planning to freeze the meatballs, it will save you a lot of time and effort to bake instead of frying.

Let the meatballs cool completely. Place them into freezer bags and freeze up to 3 months.

Can you Reheat Pork Meatballs?

Single layer frozen baked meatballs into a lightly oiled skillet. Reheat them over low heat, covered with lid until fully heated. You do not need to thaw these before reheating.

Because these Ukrainian meatballs recipe is always in demand at our house, I always keep them in freezer. My mom taught me this method and I double or triple the recipe so I can always have my freezer loaded with homemade meatballs.

How to Make Baked Pork Meatballs:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line parchment paper with a baking sheet (no cooking spray or oil is required). In a medium bowl, cover dried bread slices with lukewarm water; let it stand and soak for few minutes. Squeeze out the water from bread and grate onto a large hole of grater.
• In a large bowl, combine and mix ground pork meat and grated bread (for best results, use your hands).
• Grate onion onto a small hole of grater. Dispose any excess onion juice.
• To the meat, add mayonnaise, grated onion, fine salt and ground black pepper. Mix until well combined.
• Scoop meat with a cookie scoop for equal sized meatballs. Roll them in bread crumbs and slightly flatten each one to about 1/2″ thick. Using cookie scoop will save time and it will help meatballs cook more evenly if they are the same size. 

• Transfer onto baking sheet (side by side). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until fully cooked, by flipping meatballs over halfway through. Transfer baked pork meatballs into a dish and serve warm over a bed of mashed potatoes or pasta. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers once cooled.

Can I Cook the Meatballs on the Stovetop Instead of the Oven?

Very often I cook the meatballs on the stovetop because my husband likes them better this way. I have to admit they taste slightly different when you have that extra crispy crust on each meatball. It works great, but it takes more time and effort.

Use the same recipe and same instructions as for baked meatballs. Heat a large non-stick skillet over low-medium heat with few tablespoons of oil, to fully cover the bottom of the skillet. Once oil is hot, add prepared meatballs (10-13, depends on skillet size) and cook about 8-10 minutes per side, adding more oil as needed. Saute until meatballs are golden brown on the outside and cooked through.

More Ukrainian Favorites You’ll Love:

• Baked Millet Porridge (pshonyana kasha) – a one-pot dish baked in the oven to be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner
• Crepes With Cheese (nalisniki) – delicate dessert filled with super tasty farmer’s cheese filling
• Deruny (Ukrainian Potato Pancakes) – one of the favorites as an easy breakfast or dinner meal
• Oven Roasted Salmon – one-pan meal, slow roasted in the oven
• Ukrainian Oven Roasted Cabbage with Pork – simple and inexpensive. Juicy, sweet and sour!