Serves a Crowd

Hungarian Meatballs

by:
September 28, 2009
4.8
4 Ratings
Hungarian Meatballs
  • Serves 20-30 meatballs, depending on size
Test Kitchen Notes

This recipe is a weekend project, best attempted with a friend. But believe us, after doing all the chopping and measuring, you will not be let down. Bogre's meatballs defy gravity, and the spicy sauce pulses with paprika, rosemary and mushrooms. A few tips: mix the pork and beef before adding the rest of the seasonings. Roll the meatballs as gently as possible. And make sure you temper the sour cream before blending it into the sauce. You do this by stirring a few spoonfuls of the hot sauce into the sour cream before adding this back to the remaining sauce. - A&M —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the meatballs
  • 3/4 pound ground pork
  • 3/4 pound ground beef (80/20 or 85/15)
  • 1/4 pound pancetta, small dice
  • 1/2 cup parmesean, grated
  • 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon (each) red pepper flakes, ground coriander, ground cumin, caraway seeds (crushed), kosher salt, and ground pepper
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • For the sauce
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/4 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 large banana pepper, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika (1 heaping tbsp)
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot or half-sharp paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon porcini mushroom powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon (each) dried rosemary, thyme, crushed fennel seeds, and marjoram
  • 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 15 oz stewed tomatoes, chopped, with juices
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly mix all ingredients for the meatballs except the olive oil together and form into balls 1-1 1/2 inches in diameter. (Depending on size, you should get between 20 and 30.) Allow time to refrigerate them so they firm up a bit.
  2. In an oven-safe pan, brown the meatballs in olive oil on all sides. Remove to a plate, cover with foil, and set aside.
  3. Add the chopped onion to the pan dripping and saute until starting to brown. Add mushroom and saute a few minutes more, until they start to brown as well. Add garlic and peppers and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the paprikas, the porcini powder, and the rest of the herbs and spices. Cook, stirring, about a minute. Deglaze with wine. Cook until wine is mostly evaporated, then stir in tomatoes and their juices and the broth. Bring to a boil and return the meatballs to the pan.
  4. Transfer the pan the oven and braise for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and luxuriating in the awesome aromas that should be enveloping your kitchen at this point.
  5. When the braising time is up, remove the pan from the oven. Put the sour cream into a small bowl, then temper it by stirring in a few spoonfuls of the braising liquid. Stir the sour cream mixture back into the pan, coating the meatballs and heating through. Serve as an appetizer or with spaetzle or egg noodles for an entree.
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  • JJ Avinger-Jacques
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  • Jaq Andre
    Jaq Andre
  • Regine
    Regine
  • LynneSteen
    LynneSteen
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45 Reviews

JJ A.
JJ A. December 6, 2017
Made this a couple of days ago....YUM! Well, I only made 1/2 of the recipe, but still yum.
I only needed to make a few changes/substitutions....couldn't find any porcini (dried) to whizz into powder so just left it out, and also could not find banana peppers, so subbed Anaheim peppers and one yellow Mexican pepper...(don't know the name, not well marked in the grocery store!), but it was pretty spicy and fruity and added a nice punch to the recipe.
I have a comment on the much touted "mix the meat lightly!!!!" mantra. A while ago ATK did some testing on this and found that it was the ground beef that tended to get overly hard when worked too hard. They said that one can mix the heck out of pork without any bad side effects, and I have found this to be true through my own cooking experiments.
What made this recipe so much easier was putting all the spices, pancetta and pork, as well as the panade ingredients (I used bread and cream) into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times til mixed THEN add the beef in smallish chunks and then mix lightly with a spoon or spatula...THEN chill in the fridge before shaping into meatballs, with a scoop.
It was fast and easy and no meaty hands!!
Everyone LOVED this recipe. I served with buttered and parsley-ed egg noodles. YUMMY
 
Raney B.
Raney B. November 14, 2016
Well, I must say, this was to die for!! My "changes" were only slight because I was making enough for 50-60 people. I was using 1 1/2 kg. each of pork and beef and almost a kilogram of pancetta. I couldn't get the kind of pepper indicated but since I wanted to add more vegetables to the dish I added a total of 4 peppers, 2 green, 1 red & 1 yellow. Everything else was the same except that, instead of braising it in the oven, after I had cooked the meatballs and made the sauce I mixed everything together and cooked it all just till it was all hot. Then it was all transferred to 2 slow-cookers and set on keep warm for about 4 hours before we actually ate it (we were in church). I tortured everyone with the wonderful smell of everything all through the service and this was essentially equivalent to the braising time in the oven. They ate every meatball and devoured the sauce down to the last drop. I absolutely love cooking with all the different paprikas and this was certainly worth the effort. Thanks for a really great recipe!!
 
Deborah
Deborah October 23, 2016
This recipe is so delicious; the mixture of spices gives different levels of appreciation. All I had on hand was Sweet Hungarian paprika and used a heaping TB of it. It was perfect. Glad i found this website too.
 
Jaq A.
Jaq A. November 30, 2015
I just use pimenton de la vera & call it a day.
 
Regine
Regine November 30, 2015
Thanks LynneSteen. I do have and use constantly sweet smoked paprika. This and turmeric are my most favorite spices. I also have regular paprika. But what throws me off is references in the ingredient list to Sweet Hungarian Paprika (first paprika item in list) and smoky paprika (third paprika item in list). I thought Sweeet Hungarian Paprika was same as Sweet Smoky Paprika but your explanation makes sense. I guess i was wrong. I also know there is Sweet Smoky Paprika and Hot Smoky Paprika. I will use google to get a better undersanding.
 
Chris H.
Chris H. December 1, 2015
Hi, Regine--

I wrote this recipe a long time ago, and I don't seem to be able to edit it, but I wanted to clarify that it's fine to just use one type of paprika. Just using the heaping tbsp of Hungarian sweet would suffice. I use the different varieties to achieve layers of flavor and heat, but I don't think it would substantially affect the outcome if you just went with one variety as opposed to all three. You might be sacrificing a certain depth of flavor or sharpness, but overall it would still be a very good dish. As Jaq says above (and someone opined downthread as well), using just pimenton de la vera produces great results, albeit with a smokier profile.
 
LynneSteen
LynneSteen November 30, 2015
Well, I'm part Hungarian but not an expert on paprika so here goes. There is definitely a difference between regular paprika (sweet) and hot. The hot is much spicier and hotter. The smoked paprika has a smoky tone to it. I just opened my jar and it smells sort of like a bbq - smoky. If you don't want to buy all 3 types, you might be able to add a little cayenne pepper to the regular (sweet) paprika to get a hot paprika but it would be difficult to replicate the smoky paprika. Good luck!
 
Regine
Regine November 30, 2015
I meant 1 tbsp for the Sweet Hungarian Paprika.
 
Regine
Regine November 30, 2015
What is difference between Sweet Hungarian Paprika and Sweet Smoked Paprika? I thought they were the same. I need 3 different ones? Recipe lists 3 separately: Sweet Hungarian Paprika (1 tsp), hot or half sharp paprika (1/2 tsp), and smoked paprika (1/4 tsp). I have regular paprika; and sweet smoked paprika.
1tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika (1 heaping tbsp)
1/2teaspoon hot or half-sharp paprika
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
 
Michelle
Michelle January 17, 2015
These are awesome; I'm making them again today! BTW don't be intimidated by the "weekend project" comment. They really don't take very long to make.
 
Cookie
Cookie October 13, 2014
I am hungarian but I've never seen, heard or ate meatballs such this one. I have to try :)
 
Julie
Julie September 11, 2014
Delicious! Meatballs were delicious and so light. Loved the texture.
 
ghainskom
ghainskom August 5, 2014
I had ground meat and mushrooms in my fridge yesterday and decided to make this dish but without going to the grocery, although missing several ingredients that I had to substitute. The end results was so good nonetheless, that I imagine the recipe would've been grandiose if followed to the tee. Really, I had my 7yo basically circle around the stove and asking: "mom, it smells good. Are we eating soon?" in a rather untypical manner for her.
 
KirstenS
KirstenS March 16, 2014
BF and I did this yesterday as a weekend project, and it was delicious! Because we started late, we only braised for an hour, and it was still tasty -- though I'd be interest in trying it again with the last 30 minutes uncovered.
 
LynneSteen
LynneSteen February 7, 2014
Thank you for letting me know how it turned out. I ended up making the raw meatballs then freezing & defrosting them on a cookie sheet. They defrosted quickly and it was easy to finish the recipe when I was ready.
 
Marc R.
Marc R. February 3, 2014
I made the whole dish, then froze half of it and ate it over a month later. It was still amazing.
 
LynneSteen
LynneSteen December 15, 2013
Has anyone frozen the meatballs and then cooked them? I'd like to make these at Christmas but will be short on time.
 
LynneSteen
LynneSteen November 21, 2013
An exceptional recipe. I couldn't find the traditional banana peppers so I used an Anaheim chili. I also substituted bacon for the pancetta and finely chopped porcini mushrooms for the powder. I didn't cover them and ended up with almost no sauce so next time I will follow Lemongrass&Lime's suggestion to cover for 45 min. and uncover for 45 min.
 
Chris H.
Chris H. December 4, 2013
I'm glad you enjoyed them. Definitely cover the dish while it's in the oven, as it's meant to braise--that's how the meatballs stay so light and airy. I've also tried the half-on/half-off method as Lemongrass&Lime suggested, and that works nicely, too, especially if you prefer a thicker sauce.
 
Lemongrass&Lime
Lemongrass&Lime April 12, 2013
These were fantastic! We substituted sweet smoked Spanish paprika for the Hungarian paprika and it worked beautifully. Delicious layering of flavors and one we'll make again. We chose to cook covered for the first 45min and uncovered for the last 45min and were very happy with the creamy consistency of the sauce.
 
Glen L.
Glen L. December 31, 2012
Making them now for a New Years Eve party. Smell great!

One question... do you braise them covered or uncovered in the oven?
 
thomas.marks
thomas.marks November 19, 2012
These are incredible. Substituted Venison for the pork and beef, and it worked flawlessly.
 
aixpat
aixpat October 21, 2012
Really delicious. Next time I might omit the pancetta and one cup of the chicken broth, but I'll definitely be making it again!
 
aixpat
aixpat October 21, 2012
Really delicious. Next time I might omit the pancetta and one cup of the chicken broth, but I'll definitely be making it again!
 
G E.
G E. March 26, 2012
This was absolutely the best meal I have cooked in 3-4 weeks (I cook frequently). Thnak you for sharing it . It will become part of my stable of go to meals! Great Job!
 
woodchuck29
woodchuck29 February 19, 2012
Sunday afternoon and my house smells fabulous! My Italian grandmother might be frowning down on me, but I can't wait for dinner....
 
maureencd
maureencd February 8, 2011
I made this on Superbowl Sunday (just for the family - no party). They were very tasty. I eliminated the hot paprika because we'd been eating spicy food all weekend. The braising technique was a revelation to me. I've never cooked meatballs so long. Tasty!
 
artfulgourmet
artfulgourmet February 3, 2011
these sound absolutely divine. my family always used to serve Swedish meatballs on holidays and family occasions but I like these because there's a spicy kick to them with the paprika and pepper flakes. Can't wait to make these and report back!
 
TerriCooks
TerriCooks November 30, 2010
My mother-in-law is Hungarian and I made this for my in-laws' anniversary dinner. They were simply amazing and were a very big hit with everyone. They are well worth the time it takes to prepare them.
 
healthierkitchen
healthierkitchen November 28, 2010
I've had this saved since last year and finally had the time to make this. It was definitely worth the effort. We loved the flavors of the meatballs and sauce. Really delicious!
 
lastnightsdinner
lastnightsdinner August 9, 2010
Having tasted these meatballs, I can vouch for the fact that they are fantastic!
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen June 26, 2010
Thanks! I am going to Hungary next week and can't wait to get paprika there to bring home. Your recipe looks great.
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen August 9, 2010
Since I have been back from Hungary I made these, and they are really incredible!
 
Lizthechef
Lizthechef June 14, 2010
Your recipe popped up on the right side of my screen, and looks delicious. Half Hungarian, I posted a recipe for goulash some months back. Will most likely wait until weather cools before making this, but have already printed it out - thanks!
 
HIllbilly
HIllbilly December 8, 2009
This recipe first attracted me to this site. Picture is beautiful! However, this was a lot of work to prepare and the meatballs/sauce were too spicy for my family and me. Will try again by using less, or eliminating, some of the spices.
 
veronique
veronique November 4, 2009
OK, this is a recipe wiki, so I feel completely at ease about splitting hairs in this very interesting recipe. Have made it for three groups so far (and tweaked recipe differently on second and third batch). Tomorrow evening, I make fourth version for very old French-American friend, that will include previous dinner-table feedback and my own edits. One hint: fresh, rather than dried rosemary, makes a big difference.
 
Chris H.
Chris H. November 6, 2009
I agree, and I use fresh herbs when I have them. The thing is, I live by myself, and I'm usually cooking for just me, so it's somewhat impractical for me to buy fresh herbs that I'm not going to use that often. I have nothing against rosemary, of course, but I use it a lot less than I use other herbs. But again, you're right, if you have fresh, by all means use them!
 
mariaraynal
mariaraynal November 1, 2009
A&M are right - these meatballs are well worth taking time out of a precious weekend. Deeply flavorful and savory. Perfect for parties or Sunday dinner with family and friends. And yes, a great addition to the repertoire, Veronique.
 
testkitchenette
testkitchenette October 13, 2009
Sounds light and heavy at the same time! What a perfect mix for a cool fall day!
 
Chris H.
Chris H. October 13, 2009
Veronique--The powder can be made by buzzing dried porcini mushrooms in a food processor, blender, or spice grinder.
 
Chris H.
Chris H. October 13, 2009
Veronique--The powder can be made by buzzing dried porcini mushrooms in a food processor, blender, or spice grinder.
 
veronique
veronique October 12, 2009
Where on earth can I find porcini mushroom *powder* in Boston? Is it really that essential an ingredient?
 
veronique
veronique October 12, 2009
Am trying out this weekend in a repertoire-building exercise (just finished reading "Cooking for Mr. Latte" in which having a good repertoire merits an essay). Meatballs look worthy of the not inconsiderable effort required and AH essays are delightful. Highly recommended.
 
Jaq A.
Jaq A. October 12, 2009
possibly one of the best things that I have ever eaten.
 
Erin J.
Erin J. October 12, 2009
This was delicious. I could have tripled the recipe and there still wouldn't have been enough, people loved it so much!