Polish Meatballs {Pulpety}
I asked my 11-year-old today, what she would like for dinner… she quickly said: “pulpety”. A good way to guarantee a dinner success. I can always tell when she likes my food, and when she just tolerates it. She’ll never tell me that it doesn’t taste good, but if dinner takes more than 20 minutes, its clear, it’s not her favorite dish. But when I get so much enthusiasm from planning dinner, I’m guaranteed dinner satisfaction.
She was always a great eater. She was exposed to flavors of “normal food” from early age. I never cooked separate meals for her, and she accepted it as the only option… so we were lucky in this department, I know how fussy some kids can be with their eating habits leaving their parents with limited options and resorting to a couple of dishes they know their kids will eat.
One time, I think she was 4, I served pickled herring rolls with olives at a house party. Adults were sitting around the table, enjoying food and drink, and the kids ran up to see what they could snatch off the table. I asked: “Hanna, do you want some herring?”, she quickly came back “sure!” Stuffed her little face with a piece of fish rolled around a pimento olive and went on her way… we were all waiting for a reaction, but were surprisingly wowed with a lack of one.
Now, that she’s 11, her pallet is evolving and becoming more and more demanding. It’s not only normal for her to eat sour rye soup {white barszcz} or pasztet, she loves it! I think she truly enjoys different varieties of flavors. And to a cooking mom (a Polish cooking mom!) this is a big deal 🙂
Meatballs {pulpety} is a pretty popular dish among Polish children. Aromatic meatballs in irresistibly creamy gravy over warm kopytka or mashed potatoes renders this a kid friendly dish.
Traditionally, I’m using pork and beef mixture, but turkey would work great also. Beef is easy, as it normally comes ground. Pork however is a bit more challanging to find ground, however any grocer with a meat counter will grind any piece of meat when requested. I’m using a meat grinder attachment to my stand up KitchenAid mixer and not only put the meat through it, but also bread, garlic and the carrot for this particular recipe. This works well for me, as I can choose any cut of meat I prefer and always be sure that I’m eating real food, free of fillers and scraps.**
In the video below I will show you how easy it is to make these delicious Polish meatballs {pulpety}.
Polish Meatballs {Pulpety}
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 tbsp of butter
- About 1 lb / 500 g of beef
- About 1 lb / 500 g of pork (pork loin or shoulder, but any part will do)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 boiled carrot (optional)
- 4 slices of bread or ½ cup of bread crumbs or 2 dinner rolls
- 2 tbsp of minced parsley
- 1 raw egg
- ½ tbsp of salt
- ½ tsp of ground pepper
- 4 c / 1 l of broth (chicken, beef or vegetable)
- 4 bay leaves
- 6-8 whole peppercorns and allspice berries (each)
- 6 slices of dried mushrooms
- ¾ c / 180 ml of cold water
- 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour
Instructions
Mince onion and sauté in butter until golden brown around the edges.
Cube meat and put through a meat grinder, follow with garlic, carrot and bread slices (if using bread).
To meat mixture add sautéd onion, parsley, egg, bread crumbs (if using instead of bread), salt, pepper. Mix until combined.
Heat broth in a medium pot with bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice berries, and mushrooms. Form even balls (I like using an ice-cream scooper, the balls come out the same size) about 2 inches / 5 centimeters in diameter. Drop raw balls into simmering broth (over low heat).
Simmer for 15 minutes. Take one out, cut open and see if it's cooked.
When cooked through, take meatballs out and strain the sauce through a small strainer.
In a small bowl, whisk cold water and flour. Return broth to pot and heat through. Add water / flour mixture to thicken the sauce. Bring to boil. Taste. Amount of salt will depend on your broth, so if you think it needs more, add a bit at a time.
Return meatballs to the sauce and heat before serving. Garnish with parsley.
Notes
Kids love this!
Serve over polish potato dumplings {kopytka} or mashed potatoes, with a side of a cold salad, e.g. beet salad, carrot salad, sauerkraut salad or my favorite side to a gravy-type dinner: a hot fried beet salad.
I hope you try serving this to your children and please do let me know how they turned out for you in comments below.
**my post includes affiliate links connecting you to amazon.com. If you choose to purchase something using my link, I will receive a small commission for talking about the product. With that said, please know that I’m only recommending products I absolutely believe in, use and, and am not only doing so to collect commission. Polish meatballs {pulpety}Polish meatballs {pulpety}Polish meatballs {pulpety}Polish meatballs {pulpety}
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Sounds delicious!
My goal for this weekend is to try this recipe!
Awesome! Let me know what you think!
My mother tried for years to make these but was never successful.. She had them when she lived at an orphan’s home in Buffalo NY… The nuns used to make it and she never did figure out how to do it.. Wish she was alive so I could make them for her…
I know how you feel, I wish some of my family members were around so I could ask all those questions I want to know the answers to now. Hope YOU enjoy the cooking as much as eating 😊
My Polish grandparents passed away before teaching me about a lot of Polish foods (except Pierogi, Crusciki, barszcz, & a few others), so I’ve been looking for some to try. I modified this recipe a little by browning the meatballs in a skillet before adding them to the broth, and then cooking them in a crock pot for a couple hours while taking my kids places. We loved this recipe!
Turned out so moist and delicious.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I love your blog, all the photos, stories and recipes! I live in the United States, but most of my family is in Poland and I’ve been especially missing them these days. Cooking these recipes helps me feel connected to them and reading your blog reminds me that Polish people are strong and cook amazing food!! 😉 Dziękuję bardzo i smacznego!!
Powodzenia😊❤️
I love this recipe (and your whole website)! Just made it last night, and it turned out great… although I have to say, I took some advice from your video and just went with what I had on hand. Your recipes remind me of a cafe near where I grew up that serves traditional polish food. I live far away now, but I can relive a few food memories and make more new ones!
Holly, glad to hear! Keep cooking!
First time I made these.They are delicious!
Oh yes, they are delicious. We have them often.
I am trying to figure out how to free up some of my stove-top space for this coming Thanksgiving. Have you ever tried making the pulpety in a crock pot? I wonder what I would have to change about the heating times and what-not to make that work. Do you have any tips?
Dziękuję za przepis na pulpety. W szczególności za podzieleniem się informacjami jak zagęścić sos (co stanowiło dla mnie zawsze wielką tajemnicę, dopiero ten filmik rozwiał wszystkie wątpliwości). Ziemniaki się już gotują. Buraczków raczej nie zrobię bo moje dzieci je średnio lubią, ale pulpeciki i sosik są bardzo smaczne. Pozdrawiam i czekam na następne filmiki
Can this be made if you omit the pork?
Delicious recipe! Can you make this ahead of time and freeze? Any steps you’d do differently?
Sure thing. To thaw, just leave in the fridge until completely liquid again.