No more dry, tasteless rissoles – these are plump, extra juicy, extra tasty and they have hidden veggies! I usually make Beef Rissoles but you can make these with lamb, pork, chicken or turkey.
Next time – try my signature Chicken Rissoles!
Rissoles
I know many Aussies grew up with rissoles as a weekly meal, but that doesn’t include my family. My first experience with rissoles was when I moved out of home at the tender age of 18 and shared a flat with a real true-blue Aussie lass. She introduced me to the joys(??) of having the same meals every week, on the same night.
I kid you not.
Bolognese on Monday night. Bangers and Mash on Tuesday night (the real cheap “sausos”). Store bought rissoles on Wednesday night. Frozen Chicken Kiev on Thursday night (not a patch on a real homemade version!).
That was our weekly meal rotation for almost 2 years.
I was allowed to lash out on Sunday nights. And Friday and Saturday nights…. well, we were 18. We got up to mischief in town!
These Rissoles I’m sharing today are a little different to the store bought rissoles that were our Wednesday night dinners…..
Plump, juicy rissoles
I promised you plump and juicy, and these really are. There are a few ways to make rissoles that are extra juicy (and tasty!):
Grated onion – terrific way to get extra flavour into your rissoles as well as juiciness (from the onion juices). Chopped onions = uncooked bits in rissoles;
Grated zucchini – it’s about hidden veggies as well as the moisture in the zucchinis that makes the rissoles juicy;
Don’t even think about pressing the juices out while they cook!!! It’s a crime!!
Press a little indent in the patties, like when making burgers, and this will stop the rissoles from puffing up into rounds which gives rise to the temptation to press them flat which squeezes the juices out;
Don’t overcook – I know that goes without saying; and
Right amount of breadcrumbs – too much = dry patties = 😩
See how juicy these are? And these were sitting around for a while as I faffed around with my camera!
Here’s what I mean about pressing an indent into the patties, and how the rissoles stay nice and flat while cooking. Well, on the stove it does. When they are baked, rissoles shrink more so they do look a bit more like squashed meatballs. But still super tasty, and you do get a gorgeous browning on them!
I have these sitting in the fridge, these actual ones in the photo above, ready to be reheated for dinner tonight. When I hack things up for photos, smear them in ketchup and fiddle with them with my hands, I just can’t offload them to someone else.
I eat a LOT of leftovers for dinner – and I’m totally cool with that! – Nagi xx
Watch how to make it
Rissoles recipe video! That moment at the end when Dozer watches the tray being taken away…. he looks PANICKED!! 😂
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Rissoles!
Ingredients
Rissoles:
- 1 small brown onion
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (or normal)
- 500 g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 1 small zucchini
- 1 small carrot
- 1 egg
- 1 large garlic clove , minced
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp oregano (or sub with other favourite herbs)
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
Cooking:
- 1 – 2 tbsp oil
Serving:
- Tomato Ketchup!
Instructions
- Grate the onion into a large bowl using a box grater (see video). Add panko, mix briefly to coat in the onion juices.
- Grate zucchini and carrot into the bowl. Add remaining Rissoles ingredients. Mix well. Scoop up about 1/4 cup of mixture, form a 1.7cm / 2/3″ thick pattie. Indent the middle slightly (Note 2, see photos in post). Repeat with remaining mixture – you should make 10 – 12.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add half the patties and cook for 4 minutes or until dark golden. Press LIGHTLY with spatula, if you press hard, you’ll press the juices out!
- Flip and cook the other side for 3 – 4 minutes until golden.
- Transfer to plate, repeat with remaining rissoles.
- Serve with tomato ketchup!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More beef mince recipes
Spaghetti Bolognese – curious how I make it? 🙂
Juicy Italian Meatballs – also, a baked version!
Mexican Food – Tacos, Burritos, Quesadillas and Enchiladas
Cosy Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie
See all beef mince recipes
Life of Dozer
Dozer. I think you missed a spot.
I am from Cape Town, South Africa and we call them frikadelle. the only difference in the one my granny used to make is instead of Worcestershire Sauce she would ad Mrs Balls chutney and the panco with normal bread crumbs
This recipe is incredible!! Hubby cannot stop raving about it, the grated onion really does make them juicy!!
Best rissoles ever! Seriously, flavour bomb.
My family loved these rissoles. New favourite! ☺️
Amazing recipe!! So tender and juicy, and major bonus – my fussy 4 year old even ate them! And she never eats meat so it’s a big deal… ok sure, I told her it was a meat lollipop and let her eat it whole off her fork, but whatever works right?! 😂
Once again another amazing recipe. Soft juicy rissoles. I’ve always tried but failed until now. Can’t wait until the warm weather and cooking them on the BBQ!
I have made these rissoles several times now and they are so flavourful! My kids thought they were great too.
Hi there
Made your rissoles tonight and they were lovely. The nutrition break down confuses me though. I got 12 in total, the 38g per serve does not add up … Can you please help as I’m counting my dietary intake and would love to include the rissoles into my regular menu.
Many thanks
Hi, love your recipes, just curious, what does squeezing a thumb hole into the rissoles do when you are rolling them prior to cooking please??
P.s. my kids and I love your page 👍
The rissoles are amazing, packed with flavour. Made them a few months back and I am making them tomorrow.
Have made these rissoles a few times now and LOVE how flavourful they are! I replace the zucchini for grated capsicum and it seems to work the same for moisture. I came across this recipe when I randomly recalled childhood memories of eating these at my Nan’s house, decided to go looking for a recipe and of course Nagi had one!! Thanks for the throwback Nagi!!
I love your recipes and they are the first I turn to. But how is it that EVERY ONE is rated 5 star. I am dubious to say the least
Hi Warwick – Every recipe is not rated 5 star – I do get the occasional lower review which I take seriously and try to address concerns or edit/retest the recipes if needed. I work very hard to ensure my recipes are perfect BEFORE I post them – they are tested at my kitchen and in a few different home kitchens by my testers so I know they are good. I get thousands of comments every week (there are over 1300 recipes on my site!) and I can say that usually there are only a few lower rankings among those. That is why I test EVERY recipe multiple times with many variations – there is nothing worse than spending good money on ingredients and time to cook something which ends up in the bin!! That’s my BIGGEST PET PEEVE (although Dozer never seems to mind the failures much!) !!! I hope you continue to enjoy the recipes!! N x
I absolutely turn to your site for a base recipe, they always work well, however, I find that I need to add additional herbs and spices to the base recipe but this is purely an individual taste thing. Keep up the hard work Nagi
Hi Nagi
Yes I did grate the vegetables and chopped the onion very finely.
I used the large grater as that is what size I thought you used from the photos.
I wondered if there was too much panko breadcrumbs ?
You can try reducing the panko slightly next time if you think that was the problem. Also be VERY gentle when you flip them! N x
Hi Nagi
Great news your back ! and you and Dozer look fantastic !
Please can you tell me why my rissoles fell apart whilst cooking them ?
Did you grate the veggies Pam? I can’t be sure without seeing them but as long as you measured everything accurately and followed the instructions they should have stayed together! N x
Delicious, Nagi! Great for a quick dinner and the “hidden” vegie factor is always a bonus. Also, I tried your suggestion of using swimming goggles to grate the onion. Totally worked!! Not a tear was shed 😅😂🙌 Thanks
Just made these tonight with asparagus and wild rice!! Delicious!! Hubby loved them too! Very moist!!
I love this recipe but am worried that I won’t be able to have it when zucchini’s are out of session. Or is there another vegetable that does the same job? They are so lovely and moist. Can I use frozen grated zucchini?
Perfect recipe as usual. Followed the recipe exactly and this resulted in the best rissoles ever.
OMG oh yeah as usual another belter cheers Nagi and dozer and thanks again for sharing all your recipes I really look forward to cooking since I found you.
Ooops,foegot the 5 stars!