These delicious homemade Kotleti also known as chicken patties or chicken cutlets, will make your kitchen smell like comfort food heaven. They are so rich, juicy, and tender on the inside, they are the epitome of comfort food.
What are Kotleti?
If you grew up in a Slavic household, Kotleli is one of those classic Ukrainian foods that you grew up eating. Kotleti or Russian cutlets are basically meatballs, but not the traditional meatballs in sauce. Kotleti are made with ground meat (I prefer chicken), shaped like a pattie, and deep fried until golden brown.
Every time I make kotleti, I instantly go back in time to my childhood. I grew up with an amazing chef who went to culinary school and who happens to be my mom (I know how lucky am I) and I loved coming home and being greeted by the delicious and aromatic smell of kotleti. Kotleti is one of those comfort food that just hits the spot, and they can be served with so many dishes or they are amazing on their own.
Why you will love these Kotleti?
When I say these chicken patties are juicy I really mean it, dipping the bread in warm milk and adding water to the meat mixture are the two secret ingredients that make these kotleti so juicy.
They are kid approved and it’s a win-win for me, much better and healthier than chicken nuggets.
If you love freezer meals, chicken Kotleti freezes well. To freeze them place cooled Kotleti in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate, then once frozen you can seal them in a freezer bag.
You can enjoy Kotleti on their own, they can be served as a side dish with mashed potatoes, pasta, side salad, and so much more.
Recipe Ingredients?
- 2 lb of Chicken Thighs
- Half a Yellow Medium Onion Onion
- 1 or 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 slices of toasted french bread (crust removed)
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- Seasonings (Johnny’s seasoning salt, black pepper, salt, and optional Vegeta seasoning)
- 2 tbsp Mayo
- 1/2 cup water
- Oil for cooking
How to make
- Trim the fat from the chicken thighs, then wash and pat dry with paper towels. (Although USDA doesn’t recommend washing raw chicken. I do like to wash my chicken, but I don’t rinse it under running water. I let the chicken soak in a large bowl of water for a few minutes then I pat dry it. Follow USDA for best practices.
- Dice half a yellow onion and saute it in a frying pan for 2 minutes until soft, then add 2 minced garlic cloves and saute for an additional minute. Remove from pan to cool for a few minutes.
- Take about 1/4 of day-old french bread or 3 slices of your favorite bread and dip it lightly in a bowl of warm milk, when the bread is almost mushy like remove it from the bowl and squeeze out extra milk and add it to the food grinder.
- Using a meat grinder, grind chicken thighs, sauteed onion and garlic, and lightly soaked bread.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your ground chicken mixture, 2 tbsp of mayo, 1/2 cup of water, and season with Johhnys seasoning salt, pepper, and Vegeta. Mix everything well.
How to shape and cook Kotleti?
1. Using a large spoon, spoon out the meat mixture, wet your hands, and shape the meat into round patties or oval shape depending on your liking.
2. Preheat the frying pan or a large skillet with cooking oil ( I prefer to use avocado oil), you won’t enough oil to cover the pan. Place the patties in the frying pan, leaving a little bit of space in between, and fry the kotleti for about 5 minutes per side on medium heat until golden brown or the internal temperature reaches 165°.
3. Once the kotleti are cooked through, remove them from the frying pan onto a large plate lined with a paper towel. And Enjoy!
Recipe Notes for Sucess
Sauteing onions and garlic is an important step and what makes these kotleti so delicious. Cooking them down first releases those pungent flavors. If you just grind the onion and garlic raw, the raw garlic tends to overpower and your kotleti will have a very strong garlic flavor.
Because this recipe calls for french bread, don’t soak the bread in milk for too long, just lightly dip it in milk. (You can use bread of your liking, make sure to remove the crust).
It can be tricky to shape the patties since we are not using breadcrumbs or flour, make sure your hands are wet with cold water. The water creates a barrier between skin and meat, using wet hands will help you shape perfectly round kotleti.
If you don’t have a food grinder, you can also use a large food processor to grind all your ingredients.
Enjoy this recipe? Please share it, I would greatly appreciate it. For more homecooked recipes, follow me on Pinterest
Kotleti Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Food Grinder or large food processor
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken Thighs
- 1/2 Yellow Medium Onion
- 1 or 2 garlic cloves
- 4 slices of bread (french bread or your favorite bread)
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 2 tbsp mayo
- 1/2 cup water
- Cooking oil (Olive Oil or My favorite Avacado Oil)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vegetta or Johnnys easoning
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Instructions
- Trim the fat from the chicken thighs, then wash and pat dry with paper towels.
- Dice half a yellow onion and saute it in a frying pan for 2 minutes until soft, then add 2 minced garlic cloves and saute for an additional minute. Remove from pan to cool for a few minutes.
- Take about 1/4 of day-old french bread or 3 slices of your favorite bread and dip it lightly in a bowl of warm milk, when the bread is almost mushy like remove it from the bowl and squeeze out extra milk and add it to the food grinder.
- Using a meat grinder, grind chicken thighs, sauteed onion and garlic, and lightly soaked bread.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your ground chicken mixture, 2 tbsp of mayo, 1/2 cup of water, and season with Johhnys seasoning salt, pepper, and Vegeta. Mix everything well.
How to Shape and Cook Kotleti
- Using a large spoon, spoon out the meat mixture, wet your hands, and shape the meat into round patties or oval shape depending on your liking.
- Preheat the frying pan or a large skillet with cooking oil ( I prefer to use avocado oil), you won't enough oil to cover the pan. Place the patties in the frying pan, leaving a little bit of space in between, and fry the kotleti for about 5 minutes per side on medium heat until golden brown or the internal temperature reaches 165°.
- Once the kotleti are cooked through, remove them from the frying pan onto a large plate lined with a paper towel. And Enjoy!