All Russian children grow up with their mom’s kotleti, just like Italians grow up with meatballs. Kotleti translate as meat “cutlets”, and are small, individual meatloaf-type patties.
Most of the time, kotleti are made with pork or beef, but I actually prefer chicken. I think the meat is much more tender and light. Adding fresh, toasted breadcrumbs gives the meat a porous, tender texture. I have also found that grating the onion on the smallest holes of a box grater incorporates the onion really well into the meat and using only a small amount will give just enough flavor without giving you kotleti aftertaste. Not a good thing:) For this reason also, I always omit garlic.
Yields: 20-22 small or 16 large kotleti
Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
2 slices of bread (1 slice of bread is about 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs)
1/2 – 3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
1 small onion, grated
1/2 cup flour, for dredging
Toast the bread and pulse in the food processor or use a box grater. Place in a bowl and top with milk. The milk should just cover the bread. You may not need all the milk, depending on the size of your bread. Allow to stand for about 5 min. Combine all the ingredients, except the flour, in a bowl.
The meat mixture should be very tender. It is much softer in consistency than regular meatloaf mixture.
With moistened hands, shape into oval patties. Dredge in flour.
In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 – 1 1/2 Tablespoons of oil and add the kotleti to the skillet.
Cover and cook until golden on both sides, about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side.
Covering the skillet and cooking it on medium heat with produce some steam, cooking the kotleti all the way through and injecting moisture and juiciness into the meat.
Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel before cooking the next batch.
Make Ahead:
To make ahead, you can either make the meat mixture ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze until you’re ready to cook or cook the kotleti and reheat later. When you re-heat the kotleti, add just enough water to a skillet or a small pot and cook, covered, on low heat. This will keep the kotleti moist even as leftovers.
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 2 slices of bread (1 slice of bread is about 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs)
- ½ – ¾ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 small onion, grated
- ½ cup flour, for dredging
- Toast the bread and pulse in the food processor or use a box grater.
- Place in a bowl and top with milk. The milk should just cover the bread. You may not need all the milk, depending on the size of your bread.
- Allow to stand for about 5 min.
- Combine all the ingredients, except the flour, in a bowl.
- The meat mixture should be very tender. It is much softer in consistency than regular meatloaf mixture.
- With moistened hands, shape into oval patties. Dredge in flour.
- In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 – 1½ Tablespoons of oil and add the kotleti to the skillet.
- Cover and cook until golden on both sides, about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side.
- Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel before cooking the next batch.
- To make ahead, you can either make the meat mixture ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze until you’re ready to cook or cook the kotleti and reheat later. When you re-heat the kotleti, add just enough water to a skillet or a small pot and cook, covered, on low heat. This will keep the kotleti moist even as leftovers.
Hi, this is Natasha’s husband. I love the pictures and probably will force Natasha to make some, unless I get to make them first. Great posts.
Thanks, Vadim.
Your wife is quite an amazing cook herself:)
Olga, my hubby (Vadim) actually made these today and I’m eating one as I write. Soo wonderful! Thank you so much. It’s just perfect!
Yay, Vadim!
I’m so glad you liked them, Natasha.
These look so yummy! I am planning on whipping up a batch tomorrow. Quick question: what kind of bread do you typically use to make your breadcrumbs? Thanks!
I use hearty country bread or homemade sandwich bread. I always have some bread in the freezer and just take out a slice or two whenever I need it.
I always use pork for my kotleti but after trying these I dont think I will go back.. Husband absolutely loved them.. Thanks for the recipe
Natasha, I used to use pork all the time before too. After trying kotleti with chicken once, my husband and I were won over and I only make it this way now. I’m so glad you liked it too.
I made kotleti last night and they tasted so awesome !! Thank you for this great recipe !!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that:). It’s very rewarding when I hear of other people enjoying our family favorites.
Hello Olga! Thank you so much for the recipe! It was seriously the best chicken kotleti I have ever made!
Olga, I just made these wonderful kotletki and everyone loved them. I will definatly do them again, but I will triple the recipe because they are too good and my brothers just swollow them too fast. They turned out so soft with a really pretty korochka. Thank you very much for sharing these amazing recipes with.
Merry Christmas to you and your family
These are favorites for my husband and myself. We never get tired of eating the chicken kotleti. I’m so glad to hear that your family enjoyed them too:).
Even my picky kids love these kotletki. Thanks this is really helpful for my kid’s menu… God bless you, Olga.
How cool is that? I’ve noticed that most people really like these kotleti. Probably because chicken is a well liked protein.Thanks for letting me know, Helen.
Hi Olga,
) thanks for the recipe! I sure do love your site and visit it at least 3 times a week!
I made these and my husband said these were the most amazing ever! And he said to try making these patties for hamburgers instead of beef… I think we are hooked!
Yay! So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. I like using chicken for hamburgers once in a while too.
Thanks for visiting my site and for taking the time to let me know.
Hi Olga,
I just got done making these kotleti and they turned out sooo good!!! Thank you for this awesome recipe and I love you site!
I’m Olga too
May God Bless You!!!
your* not you lol
Glad to “meet you”, Olga! I’m so happy to hear that you liked the kotleti:).