This is a list of notable meatball dishes. A meatball is ground or minced meat rolled into a small ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning.[1] Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types of meatballs using different types of meats and spices, and most cuisines have a version of the dish.[2]
Faggot – a dish in the United Kingdom typically consisting of minced pork[5] liver and heart, wrapped in bacon, with onion and breadcrumbs. It is often cooked in a crock with gravy and served with peas and mashed potatoes. Faggots can also be made with beef.
Frikadeller – flat, pan-fried meatballs of minced meat, often likened to the Danish version of meatballs. The origin of the dish is unknown but the dish is most often associated with Danish cuisine specifically, or Scandinavian cuisine in general.
Frikkadel – a traditional Afrikaans dish comprising usually baked, but sometimes deep-fried, meatballs prepared with onion, bread, eggs, vinegar and spices.
Kibbeh – a Levantine dish[8] made of bulgur (cracked wheat), minced onions, and finely ground lean beef, lamb, goat, or camel meat with Middle Eastern spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice). Some types of kibbeh are shaped into balls or patties, and baked, cooked in broth, or served raw.[9]Kibbeh is considered to be the national dish of many Middle Eastern countries.[10]
Klopsiki – a Polish meatball dish often prepared using tomato sauce[lower-alpha 1]
Kotlet mielony – a Polish dish consisting of minced meat cutlet with eggs, bread crumbs, garlic, and salt and pepper rolled into a ball and fried with onions and butter
Köttbullar – Swedish meatballs that are typically prepared with ground pork or a meat mix, diced onion, breadcrumbs and broth. Cream is sometimes used.
Leberknödel – a traditional dish of German,[12] Austrian and Czech cuisines. It is usually composed of beef liver, although in the German Palatinate region pork is used instead. The meat is ground and mixed with bread, eggs, parsley and various spices, often nutmeg or marjoram. In Austria spleen is often mixed with the liver in a 1/3 ratio.
Lion's Head – a stewed Chinese meatball mixed with vegetables, from the Huaiyang cuisine of eastern China. There are two varieties: white (or plain), and red (红烧, cooked with soy sauce).
Meatballs with cuttlefish – a traditional Catalan dish of meatballs with cuttlefish, these two elements are fused together in one of the many dishes of the Catalan version of surf'n'turf
Mititei – a traditional Romanian dish of grilled ground meat rolls made from a mixture of beef, lamb and pork with spices, such as garlic, black pepper, thyme, coriander, anise, savory, and sometimes a touch of paprika. Sodium bicarbonate and broth or water are also added to the mixture.
Nem nguội – Vietnamese meatballs that are a variation of the Nem nướng meatballs. They are small and rectangular in shape, and stuffed with vermicelli. The reddish meat is covered with peppers and typically a chili pepper. Very spicy, they are eaten almost exclusively as a cocktail snack.
Nem nướng – (literally "grilled sausage") Vietnamese grilled pork sausage or grilled meatballs
Porcupines – ground-beef meatball, ingredients including chopped onions and long-grain rice. When cooked (traditionally in canned tomato soup) the rice projects from the meatball, creating the porcupine-look.
Skilpadjies – a traditional South African food consisting of lamb's liver wrapped in netvet (caul fat), which is the fatty membrane that surrounds the kidneys. Most cooks mince the liver, add coriander, chopped onion, salt and Worcestershire sauce then wrap balls of this mixture with the netvet and secure it with a toothpick. The balls, approximately 80mm (3.1in) in diameter, are normally barbecued (grilled over an open fire) and ready when the fat is crisp.
Şiş köfte – a köfte or kebab variant in the Turkish cuisine. It consists of minced lamb, mutton, veal or beef, or a mixture of some of these meats with herbs, often including parsley and mint, on a şiş (skewer), grilled.
Smyrna meatballs, also called soutzoukakia Smyrneika (σουτζουκάκια σμυρνέικα) or İzmir köfte: elongated meatballs in spicy sauce
Sulu köfte – a Turkish stew or thick soup (çorba) with köfte
"Klopsiki: This is the traditional meatball, ranging in size from that of a small walnut to that of a small apple. It is rarely perfectly round, as it gets slightly flattened with the spatula during browning."[11]