Minced meat dishes are always popular. Adherents of a healthy diet are increasingly striving to cook them in a double boiler or bake them in the oven, but meatballs and cutlets fried in a pan still remain classics. Every housewife has her own family secret. The recipe for delicious cutlets is far from one, but you can cook them from any meat or fish.

Recipe for homemade meatballs

More often, mixed minced meat is used for cooking. The equal combination of pork and beef makes the dish juicy, but not too greasy. However, you can limit yourself to one type of meat. The advantage of a dish familiar in every home is that ready-made homemade cutlets can be frozen and provide the family with food for some time in advance.

How to make minced meatballs

Increasingly, housewives are buying ready-made minced meat. However, to get a real homemade dish, it is better to cook minced meat yourself. This will require a small piece of meat, preferably lean, and a good meat grinder. Each hostess chooses additives herself. For example, it can be finely chopped onion, a little white bread soaked in milk, grated cheese or grated raw potatoes. Such ingredients will make the cutlets more juicy. Any meat dish will benefit if finely chopped fresh herbs are added to it.

Fish

To make the dish tasty, you need to carefully choose the fish. Gourmets appreciate trout, but then the lunch is too expensive. The best option is river fish, for example, carp. Try to cook fish cakes according to this recipe:

• fish fillet - 500 g;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• egg - 1 pc.;
• breadcrumbs -100 g;
• fresh dill, salt and white pepper.

You can also cook from whole fish, independently separating the fillet from the ridge. Work order:

1. Chop the fish. It is not necessary to pass through a meat grinder, you can simply chop the fillet with a sharp knife into small pieces.
2. Finely chop the onion.
3. Add raw egg, herbs and spices to the mixture. Mix the stuffing with your hands.
4. Roll the molded cutlets in breadcrumbs.
5. How to fry fish cakes in a pan, each housewife decides for herself - they take olive or sunflower oil, add a little melted butter.

Beef

Classic beef cutlets are made without additives. Then you will have a product suitable for making American hamburgers. It can be served like a steak - with a fried egg side dish. Compound:

• beef - 1 kg;
• salt, pepper - to taste;
• flour - 50 g;
• oil - 4 tbsp. spoons.

The perfect beef patties come from the tenderloin. This dish will cost you dearly. You can choose a soft piece of fillet - for example, the shoulder part. Try this cooking method:

1. Cut the meat into medium-sized pieces, immerse in a meat grinder.
2. Scroll and cook minced meat. Add spices.
3. Make patties - classic beef patties should be round and fluffy. Roll each in flour. If you want to bake them like steaks on the grill, then flour is not required.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. The result you want to get depends on how to fry beef cutlets in a frying pan. It will take 4-5 minutes on each side for the meat to be completely fried. However, beef can also be served slightly uncooked, with blood - then the cooking time will be reduced.
5. Ground beef does not like additives, but you can serve fried onion rings or scrambled eggs as a side dish. Mashed potatoes are good too.

Pork

Few people cook from pure pork - it is fatty meat. If we compare how many calories are in a pork and beef cutlet, then pork ones will definitely turn out to be more harmful. However, if you still want to cook them, do not save on meat - you need to buy lean pork without fatty layers, better tenderloin. The recipe might be:

• pork - 1 kg;
• onions - 2 pcs.;
• white bread - 2-3 slices;
• milk - 125 ml (half a glass);
• breadcrumbs - 100 g;
• salt, pepper, spices - to taste.

Some housewives add raw potatoes to minced meat instead of white bread. Thanks to this, the dish also becomes softer. In addition, you can add a raw egg, but meatballs without eggs are crumbly and tender. Prepare minced meat like this:

1. Load the pork pieces into the meat grinder. Prepare minced meat. If you have different nozzles, use the largest one.
2. Heat half a glass of milk in the microwave or over a fire. Add broken white bread (without crust) to it, mash with a fork.
3. Finely chop the onion.
4. Mix all minced meat ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Blind meatballs the size of half the palm of your hand. Roll in breadcrumbs (you can use flour or semolina). Frying will be fast - no more than 3 minutes on each side.

Chicken

Recipes for chicken meat cutlets are varied - it can be delicacy “pozharsky” or “Kyiv”, or it can be diet meatballs from chicken breast. The classic recipe is based on white meat - breast fillet:

• breast fillet - 2 pcs. (weight will be about 700 grams);
• cheese - 75 g;
• butter - 50-80 g;
• onion - 1 pc;
• cream 10% - 75 ml;
• flour - 50 g;
• white bread - 2-3 slices.

If you want to cook a dietary dish, then it is better to refuse cream and butter. In another case, the step-by-step cooking algorithm is as follows:

1. Scroll the chicken fillet through a meat grinder.
2. Heat the cream and soak slices of white bread (without the crust) in it.
3. Finely chop the onion. Soften the butter slightly.
4. Rub the cheese. It can be added to minced meat immediately, or you can wrap it inside the meat. Then you get chicken zrazy (you can also add fresh greens to the filling).
5. Mix all ingredients. Roll the meatballs in flour and place on a hot, greased pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side - the chicken cooks quickly.

How and how much to fry cutlets in a pan

To properly fry cutlets, it is recommended to use vegetable oil - it is less harmful and high-calorie than butter. You can also try frying with melted bird fat that drips off a roasted goose or duck. If you are cooking a large portion, it is better to change the oil. It takes only seven minutes to completely fry the dish (it will turn out faster under the lid).

Chicken or beef cutlets can simply be rolled in a thin layer of flour, and pork cutlets in breadcrumbs. But if you want the crust to be crispy, prepare a triple breading: first roll in flour, then in a beaten egg, and the last layer is breadcrumbs. It is best to make such a crust for meatballs not from minced meat, but from minced meat in small pieces.

How to cook frozen meatballs

Proper preparation of minced meat cutlets is a long and laborious process, for which not everyone is ready. Therefore, in any store or cookery, you can buy frozen semi-finished products that only need to be reheated. Most likely, the packaging will describe in detail how to fry cutlets in a pan. Do not forget: they must be thawed (unless otherwise indicated in the instructions), and then fried for 5-7 minutes.

Video: how to cook delicious and juicy meatballs

No less popular than ordinary meat cutlets are vegetable, squash or cabbage cutlets, which can be cooked and served as a side dish (as in the photo). For those who decide to make them at home, there are video instructions where the cooking process of each dish is demonstrated step by step.

Pork and beef with cheese

From salmon fish

From zucchini

Beet

Every housewife knows that even the pickiest person in food will not refuse tasty and juicy cutlets. The word "cutlet" is a European word that later appeared in Russian cuisine. In Russia and Europe, a cutlet was a small piece of meat on a spare rib. Over time, this dish began to change. With the advent of manual meat grinders, “chopped cutlets”, cutlets in Kiev, chicken, fish, vegetables, rice, etc. appeared. In modern Russian cuisine, cutlets are usually prepared from any minced meat with the addition of other products: eggs, bread, onions. But not always cutlets are obtained for everyone. They are often dry and tough, or worse, can stick to the pan or fall apart during frying. But don't despair, there is always a way out. It is important to know a few rules and secrets on how to fry cutlets in a pan so that they turn out tasty and fragrant.

I suggest you consider several options for cooking cutlets.

For the preparation of semi-finished products, it is necessary to choose the right dishes. The best option for frying semi-finished products is a frying pan with a thick bottom. The pan should be well heated over high heat and greased with vegetable oil so that the oil is evenly distributed over the entire surface of the dish.

It is no secret that cutlets from any minced meat must first be fried over high heat so that they become crispy and do not spread. Cutlets will turn out even and neat, and will look beautiful if you fry them in this way.

Also, do not forget that the type of minced meat depends on what cutlets you get. Chicken or fish cutlets are usually softer and take less time to cook, but these cutlets hold their shape the worst. Beef cutlets - semi-finished products usually cook from 15 to 20 minutes.

Nowadays it is very convenient to use semi-finished products. But more often, housewives try to make minced meat with their own hands, since cutlets turn out tastier from such minced meat. I offer you a recipe for homemade meatballs.

To prepare minced meat, you will need the following products:

• Minced beef - 1 kg.
• Onion - 5 pcs.
• Raw eggs - 2 pcs.
• Boiled water - 1/2 cup
• White or black wheat bread - 300 gr.
• Salt, pepper to taste

Cooking method:

1. Peel the onion, wash thoroughly, finely chop and add to the minced meat.
2. The pulp of bread must be softened in boiled water, then the pulp must be squeezed out slightly and added to the minced meat. If milk is used instead of water for soaking, the dish may not turn out juicy due to the interaction of milk proteins and minced meat during the frying process.
3. We break the eggs and combine with the resulting mass.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. All products are mixed evenly. To make the stuffing less sticky to your hands, you can moisten your hands with water.
6. Shape the cutlets, roll them in flour or batter (a mixture of flour, milk and eggs). The batter will keep the juice inside the patty.
7. Fry the cutlets in a heated pan on both sides for 10-15 minutes, while the lid does not need to be closed.
8. After the appearance of the crust, close the pan with a lid and bring to a boil over low heat.

To give zest to cutlets, you can make a sauce or just serve with sour cream. So the cutlets will be more juicy.

To cook cutlets without adding oil to the pan, you will need the following products:

• Chicken fillet or ready minced chicken - 1 kg
• Onion - 7 pcs. (medium size)
• Raw egg - 1 pc.
• Milk - 4 tbsp. spoons
• White bread (not fresh) - 150 gr.
• Salt pepper
• Raw potatoes - 1 pc.

Cooking method:

1. Chicken fillet must be scrolled through a meat grinder or take ready-made minced meat, then add chopped onion to it.
2. It is advisable to soak the bread in milk in advance. I recommend that you use the following advice: replace milk with water, as the protein contained in milk deprives cutlets of rigidity.
3. Raw, peeled potatoes should be grated on a fine grater.
4. Now mix all the ingredients. Add egg, salt, pepper and mix until smooth. Form large patties, because in the process of frying, they shrink. The larger the cutlets you make, the juicier they will be.

To cook a dish without adding oil, it is better to use a non-stick pan. Preheat the skillet, then spread the cutlets evenly. Fry over high heat for a few minutes until crispy. Do the procedure on both sides and add water, so that most of the cutlets are in the water. Close the pan with a lid and simmer the cutlets for about 30-40 minutes, bringing the heat to medium. Add water as needed while simmering.

The cutlets are very tasty.

How to fry cutlets correctly

There are several ways to help you cook tender and juicy meatballs:

Secret 1. For minced meat, always choose fresh non-lean meat. It will be better if you mix several types - for example, beef and pork. Cutlets will be delicious if you add a little lard to the minced meat.

Secret 2. Add white stale bread to the minced meat, but do not overdo it, otherwise the cutlets will absorb fat and turn out to be greasy. You can also add finely chopped greens to the minced meat, for example, dill.

Secret 3. Soak bread in boiled water or cream for 10-15 minutes.

Secret 4. When soaking bread in water, it should be squeezed out a little before mixing with minced meat. When soaking the rolls in cream, you can pour the entire contents into the minced meat.

Secret 5. Cutlets will be juicier if you put a small piece of butter during modeling.

Secret 6. Do not twist the onion in a meat grinder, but finely chop it. The more onions you add, the more juicy the dish will be.

Secret 7. Add a little starch to the minced meat for viscosity.

Secret 8. You need to knead the minced meat well with your hands or beat it off so that it turns out soft and tender.

Secret 9. So that the stuffing does not stick to your hands, moisten your palms with plain water.

Cooking meatballs is not difficult. You just need to follow some rules. And then your dish will always delight you and your loved ones with its juicy and pleasant taste.

Cook with pleasure!

How to fry cutlets in a pan - video review

Cutlets, as you know, are a rather high-calorie dish, because you have to use a lot of oil to cook it. It is for this reason that people who carefully monitor their figure cannot afford to eat this dish. However, if you know good recipes, then you can cook diet cutlets that will contain a minimum amount of calories.

We buy the right products

First, to prepare such a dietary dish, you will need to choose non-fatty meat, best of all beef. You can also use chicken or fish for cooking diet cutlets, as this meat is considered dietary. The main thing is not to buy pork or lamb for cooking cutlets, as this meat is very high in calories.

After the necessary products are purchased, you can start cooking the dish. They are prepared in the same way as ordinary cutlets, that is, you need to add onion, ground potatoes, bread and an egg to the minced meat. But if a person wants cutlets to contain even fewer calories, then bread can be replaced with cabbage, and potatoes with carrots. If a person loves vegetables, then he will definitely like this dish.

Bake meatballs in the oven

To cook delicious and, most importantly, diet cutlets without oil at all, you can use the oven, that is, bake cutlets with it. To do this, you will need to use only a couple of teaspoons of oil, but only in order to grease the baking sheet, otherwise the cutlets will stick to it.

Next, you need to carefully lay out diet cutlets on a baking sheet and put them to bake for about fifty minutes at a temperature of two hundred degrees. After this time, diet cutlets will be ready, and they can be served on the table. Thus, cooking cutlets is much more convenient and faster, because you will not need to stand at the stove for hours. In addition, such a dish turns out to be very tasty, so that family members or even guests will definitely not be disappointed with a treat.

Steam cooking

In addition to baking cutlets, you can cook with steam, for this you will have to purchase a pressure cooker or a double boiler, or use the steam function in a slow cooker. Steam cutlets are also considered very tasty and contain very few calories, because no oil is used at all in their preparation. So they can be safely consumed even during a diet.

If a person buys a double boiler for cooking cutlets, then he will not regret it, because with the help of this technique he will be able to cook, in addition to cutlets, a huge number of delicious and various dishes. And you will no longer need to spend a lot of time on cooking, because this wonderful technique does more than half of the work for a person.

For the proper preparation of cutlets in a pan, you must first prepare a good quality minced meat. Then fry them properly. For the preparation of semi-finished products, it is worth choosing the right pan, or rather, the bottom should be much thicker than in ordinary similar dishes.

And in order to fry cutlets without oil, a pan with a non-stick coating is used.

In order to properly cook cutlets, it is not enough to know the recipe. Many things often go wrong. That dish turns out to be tough, then it falls apart before our eyes, then it sticks to the dishes. To avoid this, you need to follow some rules and secrets.

How to make homemade minced meat for cutlets

Despite the fact that a considerable number of interesting and original recipes are constantly appearing these days, many people continue to give their preference to cutlets.

And, basically, the housewives make minced meat with their own hands. This is not surprising, because homemade minced meat makes a tasty and reliable dish (considering the quality).

Steps for making homemade minced meat:

1. It is necessary to choose meat on which there will be no various tendons and films, since their presence may prevent the product from being passed through a meat grinder. Twisted meat should be supplemented with a little water. So the cutlets will turn out more juicy;
2. It is better to chop the onion in a blender in order to protect yourself from unnecessary tears. It can be fried in a pan for a short time before being added to the meat;
3. Bread must first be separated from the hard crust and soak the pulp in milk. Add to minced meat and break eggs there. Then pepper and salt to taste. Next, you need to mix all the ingredients thoroughly. After that, the stuffing is completely ready;
4. In order for the cutlets to not fall apart during frying, it is necessary to give the finished mince ductility. This can be done by knocking it on the table, or by throwing it from hand to hand. Hands must first be wetted in water, because this way the minced meat will not have the opportunity to stick to them;
5. After the minced meat products are formed, it is necessary to roll them in breadcrumbs or flour, and then fry them (read more about this below).

How to fry cutlets in a pan

After the cutlets are fully formed, it is necessary to heat up and grease the pan with sunflower oil. Then put the formed minced meat there. Cover and fry until light brown.

You also need to fry the opposite side of the cutlets. After that, reduce the heat as much as possible and add a little water to the cutlets.

After doing this, cover the container again with a lid and allow the dish to stew a little. If desired, you can add a little ketchup, mayonnaise or a cube of broth to the pan with water.

In order to fry chicken cutlets, it is necessary to prepare the breading mixture in advance. To prepare it, you need to cut stale bread into small cubes and dry them in the oven. For these purposes, you can also use a frying pan.

After the chicken balls are formed, they need to be rolled in cooked crushed crackers. And then do everything in the same way as in the case of minced pork and beef.

How to fry frozen meatballs

Many women do not have enough time to spend a long time in the kitchen area. That is why they often buy frozen semi-finished products. In such cases, no one can promise high quality and good taste of the product.

In order to save time, you can cook minced meat and form cutlets yourself in your free time, and then hide and freeze them in the freezer. And get them in any quantity as needed.

In order to cook semi-finished products correctly and tasty, it is necessary to use a kind of frying pan, the bottom of which will be thicker than that of a regular one. At maximum heat, it warms up well and is lubricated with vegetable or butter. It is important to ensure that the oil is evenly distributed over the entire bottom area.

There is no need to defrost semi-finished products in advance. Directly from the freezer, they can be put in a pan. It is necessary to ensure that the stacked cutlets do not touch each other. Such cutlets should be fried at maximum heat from all sides.

With this frying, all the juice that can stand out from the meat will remain inside the cutlets. Then you need to reduce the heat to medium, add a little water and cover with a lid. Turn off the stove after a short time.

The level of readiness of cutlets can be determined using two methods. In the first case, it is worth piercing the dish with a fork - if the selected juice has a transparent color, then everything is ready.

In the second case, it is necessary to cut the cutlet into two halves. If the cut is of a uniform grayish color without any inclusions, then the cooking process can be completed.

How to fry chicken cutlets without oil in a pan

Cooking minced chicken cutlets is done at a fairly fast pace. This is a pretty tasty dish, so everyone loves it. To prepare this dish, you need products that are always available from any hostess.

List of required ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken fillet;
• Bulb of medium size;
• 150 g of bread, always white;
• 1 small potato;
• 1 egg;
• 3-4 st. l. fresh milk;
• Salt, pepper to taste.

The process of preparing this dish:

1. 1. Chicken meat, first of all, must be chopped using a blender or meat grinder. Then add the onion to it, after finely chopping it;
   2. Bread must be soaked in milk. Grate potatoes, preferably as small as possible;

1. Add soaked bread, grated potatoes and an egg to the meat;
2. According to your own taste, add salt, pepper and mix well all the added ingredients.

To cook chicken cutlets without using oil, you need to use a pan with a non-stick coating. First you need to heat the pan very well. Then the formed cutlets are laid out on it. They can be made large as they will become much smaller during the cooking process.

It is not necessary to cover the pan with a lid. Cooking should take place over high heat for three minutes. Then you need to lift one of the cutlets and check for the presence of a golden crust.

Then turn the product over and fry the other side in the same way. Next, water is added, in the amount necessary for the third part of the cutlets to be in it. Cover the container with a lid and make the fire of the stove smaller.

Cutlets should be stewed for 40 minutes. Water can be added if necessary.

The finished dish is very soft and juicy.

• For the preparation of cutlets, you need to use only white bread, which is a little stale. But you should not overdo it with the amount of bread added, because the dish will absorb too much fat from the pan;
• Bread is best soaked in water;
• Do not squeeze the bread too hard after soaking;
• During the formation of the dish, you can put a small piece of butter or ice inside. Cutlets will be much juicier;
• It is better not to twist the onion for minced meat in a meat grinder, but to chop it with a knife;
• Before cooking, minced meat can be placed in the refrigerator for a while.

Cooking meatballs is very easy. It is only important to follow some rules and secrets.

Homemade minced meat is the best for making delicious cutlets, so you should not save and be lazy. Moreover, the implementation of these plans will not require a lot of time.

When cooking cutlets in a pan without the use of sunflower oil, the calorie content and harmfulness of the product are reduced. But at the same time, the product does not become less tasty.

Meatballs are a welcome dish in any kitchen. However, many diets call for abandoning cutlets due to their high calorie content. But if you approach the cooking process wisely, it turns out that forbidden foods, as well as dishes prepared from them, do not exist! Mikhail Gavrilov, PhD, author of a patented weight loss technique, member of the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM, USA) shares five tips that will allow you to eat meatballs without harming your figure.

1. Buy the right meat

Dietary meats are chicken, turkey and rabbit. They are distinguished by a high level of nutritional properties, quick preparation and excellent absorption by the body. All these meats are rich in vitamin B, potassium and iron. Excellent dietary cutlets rich in phosphorus will be obtained from low-fat varieties of fish such as pike, cod, pike perch, hake and carp, which will be a great addition to the daily diet.

2. Prepare diet minced meat

Before you start cooking diet cutlets, be sure to process the purchased piece of meat: remove all excess fat, tendons from it, remove the skin from the bird. Do not add semolina, bread, cheese and breadcrumbs to minced meat. Instead, complement the meat with vegetables - grated carrots, onions, zucchini, spinach, or even an apple. To mix the ingredients better, pass them through a meat grinder or food processor.

3. Add seasonings

In order for diet cutlets to acquire an unforgettable aroma and delicate taste, feel free to add seasonings to the minced meat to taste: black pepper, rosemary, garlic, red pepper, paprika. Also, before cooking minced meat, you can marinate the meat in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, garlic and onions, before piercing it in several places so that the sauce is better absorbed.

4. Cook smart

It is the method of preparation that largely determines the benefits that we get from food. It is recommended to cook at a moderate temperature, if possible with the presence of water. Usually breaded cutlets are fried in oil, which gives the dish a lot of extra calories. That is why diet cutlets are cooked in a double boiler for 15-20 minutes, without breading and sauces. If you like the crust, dry the finished patties in the microwave or oven for a few minutes. Replace frying with baking or grilling (this method is good because it allows you not to add oil, and get rid of excess fat in the product itself during cooking).

Cutlets can be baked on parchment paper, eliminating the need for butter. Bake the patties at least 2 cm apart to ensure proper air circulation. When cooking pork cutlets, make sure that the internal temperature of the meat reaches 145 degrees.

Proper cookware is very important, as many non-stick pans release toxic lead, cadmium, aluminum, and acid when frying. Therefore, choose ecological dishes with a ceramic coating.

If you are not ready to give up frying at all, then use the right oil. Let it be a refined olive that does not harm like corn or sunflower.

To keep the patties juicy, cook them over medium heat and add salt at the very end. Juicy meat does not require additional sauces in the form of mayonnaise or ketchup.

5. Vegetables for garnish

The best addition to any meat dish will always be vegetables. Fresh, boiled or baked, they will promote the absorption of meat and saturate the body with nutrients and fiber.