Go Back

Baked Meatballs— Bulgarian style

Mix ground meat with onion, garlic, parsley, red paprika, summer savory, cumin, salt, and pepper. Add eggs as a binder and breadcrumbs and bread for moisture retention and structure. Shape into meatballs and bake until golden, aiming for an internal temperature of 69–70°C (156–158°F). Rest briefly before serving for juicy, tender, and flavourful Bulgarian meatballs.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Bulgarian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg Ground meat 60:40, 50:50 (beef: pork) etc.
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 Medium sized onion
  • 2 Cloves of garlic
  • ½ or 1 Bunch Flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tbsp Red paprika
  • 1 tbsp  Summer savory
  • 1 tbsp Cumin powder
  • 70 g Breadcrumbs
  • +/- 1 Red/Green bell pepper
  • 1 loaf of bread without the crust (10-15g approximately)
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper To taste

Method
 

  1. Start by gathering your ingredients.
    Ingredients needed for baked Bulgarian style meatballs The-sauce-lab
  2. Remove the crust of the dried bread, so that only the white part will be left.
    Bread-for-meatballs-The-sauce-lab
  3. Add the ground meat, the eggs, the diced onion and garlic, the breadcrumbs, the white part of the bread, some salt and pepper to a mixing bowl and start mixing everything to combine. 
    Bulgarian Meatballs mix- The-sauce-lab
  4. Let it rest for at least 1h, preferably 24h in the refrigerator.
    Bulgarian meatball mix-the-sauce-lab
  5. Shape 20 meatball and place them on a tray with a parchment paper.
    Ready meatballs for baking- The-sauce-lab
  6. Bake them on the middle of your oven with fan on @ 220°C (430° F) for 20-25 min.
    Bulgarian Meatballs ready to be baked
  7. Check them on the 20 min mark with a food thermometer and aim for 69-70°C (156–158°F.)
    Bulgarian baked meatballs- ready for serving
  8. Let them rest for 5 min (they will continue cooking to the internal temperature of 72-73°C (162–163°F) and serve.