The Essential Recipe for Amsterdam's Dutch Beef Bitterballen (2024)

FAQs

What are Dutch bitterballen made of? ›

Bitterballen (plural of bitterbal) are a Dutch meat-based snack, made by making a very thick stew thickened with roux and beef stock and generously loaded with meat, refrigerating the stew until it firms, and then rolling the thick mixture into balls which then get breaded and fried.

Croquettes are a cylinder shaped snack made from meat or any other fillings dipped in breadcrumbs and deep fried. Bitterballen are similar but are large round balls, served with mustard as well, you will more often see this eaten at parties.

Preparation In deep fryer: Frozen: 4.5 minutes at 180ºC. Fry up to 12 pieces at a time. Airfryer: Frozen: 7 minutes.

Bake the bitterballen in sunflower oil at 180°C until they are nicely browned and start to float.

Loved by locals and tourists alike, bitterballen is a breaded meatball that's been deep fried - a bit like a croquette but sphere-shaped. The inside of a bitterballen is flavour-packed with a thick creamy roux and a generous amount of beef or veal ragu.

Bitterballen are actually Dutch meatballs, a very popular snack served at bars along with beer. Sometimes they are shaped as logs or sometimes as balls.

Well, way back when, you'd order jenever at the bar, referred to as a “bittertje”, and the snack you'd order with it: a bitterbal. Bal (ball) refers to the shape. So the name for the bitterbal, probably came about because it was something you ordered when drinking jenever, and of course, its shape.

The name has nothing to do with a bitter taste. A bitterbal is called that because it used to be served with the drink 'bitter'. A bitter here is genever (gin), or another strong alcoholic herbal drink.

The famous Dutch dish is often believed to be invented in the 17^th century, when the country was occupied by Spaniards and the wife of a pub owner in Amsterdam modified the Spanish recipe of the dish and served it with beer to inhabitants.

Can you put raw meat in Airfryer? ›

It is safe to cook raw meat in the air fryer if it is fully defrosted, seasoned, and monitored. Some fully cooked foods, including chicken tenders or fries, can be placed frozen in the air fryer. However, with raw meat, it's recommended to thoroughly defrost to allow more even cooking and a tasty final product.

Recipes that use a wet batter, including fried chicken, will end up being very messy if cooked in an air fryer. This is because there won't be enough hot oil to set the batter, and it will likely drip everywhere rather than forming a crunchy coating.

Frying. Fill your dutch oven no more than halfway with oil and then heat to your recipe's prescribed temperature. Submerge your ingredients in the heated oil until cooked, then rest them on a paper towel or wire rack to remove excess oil.

Oven (240ºC): heat the bitterballen for about 8 minutes in the middle of a preheated oven. Airfryer (200°C): put the desired amount of frozen bitterballen in the basket and heat for approx. 7 minutes in a preheated airfryer.

Bitterballen were always part of a bigger eating and drinking routine even going back to the 17^th century. In a bar in Amsterdam where famous Dutch writers like Vondel and Bredero, hinted that while drinking gin they got hungry and therefore had to leave the establishment to go home to eat.

The 'kroket' (croquette) is a deep fried roll with meat ragout inside, covered in breadcrumbs. The original Dutch croquette is made from beef or veal, but there are many different flavors like chicken satay, shrimps, goulash or even a vegetarian version.

Dutch croquettes, or kroketten as we call them are a very popular snacks in The Netherlands. They are sold in Dutch fast food restaurants, so called 'snackbars'.