This traditional dish is in Danish called Karbonader or sometimes Krebinetter. I have always called them Krebinetter. However, I must confess after having searched around the internet I think the most common name for this dish is Karbonader. The word Karbonader can't be translated into English but they can be called Danish Breaded Pork Patties. I am not sure if this dish was originally invented in Denmark. However, it has always been a popular and traditional dish on the Danish dinner table.
In the old days these Karbonader was traditional served together with a stew of carrots and green peas. Today, I personally prefer to serve these breaded pork patties together with a nice and fresh green salad and some bread.
It is really simple to make Karbonader. In the original recipe the meat used, is a mixture of ground pork and veal. This gives the best and most traditional taste. However, I know that it can be difficult to find ground veal meat in some countries. In that case you can also just use ground pork meat with about 10-12% fat.
The instructions are simple; shape the ground meat into thick patties, dip them in a mixture of a beaten egg and some water, cover them in breadcrumbs and then finally fry them on a frying pan with some butter or oil. Then you have some delicious Krebinetter.
Danish Breaded Pork Patties
2-3 people
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Danish title: Karbonader
Cuisine: Danish
Category: dinner
Ingredients:
500 g (1 lb) ground pork 12% fat (traditional it’s a mix of pork and veal meat)
1 egg
2 tbsp water
70 g (2.5 oz) bread crumbs
salt and pepper
50 g (1 1/2 oz) of butter (or oil)
Instructions:
1. Start by dividing the meat into 5 portions of about 100 g each (or 1/5 lb each) and shape them into circular thick patties.
2. In a deep plate; beat the egg together with the water.
3. In a second plate; mix the bread crumbs together with salt and pepper.
4. Now dip the pork patties in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs. Make sure the entire patty is covered with breadcrumbs. One time should be enough but if you like a thicker layer of breading – then repeat this step one more time.
5. On a frying pan; add the butter and fry the breaded pork patties for about 5-8 minutes. Flip them over from time-to-time.
Tip: Serve the Karbonader together with a nice salad and maybe some bread.
debbie king
I made this f/my family, and they loved it! Tastes just like tenderloin.
S Clausen
Made these last night. I just used ground pork and used Panko bread crumbs from the store. I grated about 1/4 yellow onion into meat (my hubby loves onion). We had green peas and an apple, celery pecan salad.
This is definitely on our MUST HAVE AGAIN list!!!
thank you
Kim Nielsen
Hi. I'm happy that you like them :-) It's also one of my all-time favorite :-)
Norma Sorensen
I grew up making and eating these. I too like onion in mine. I have even added garlic, depending on my company. I sometimes use a mix of mainly pork and about one quarter regular ground beef (not lean). I like to serve them with mashed potatoes or peas and carrots with a white sauce flavored by a lot of parsley. I have also served them with mushroom gravy and with fried apples in the fall. They are definitely great cold weather food. Thanks for this blog--it makes me feel at home again.
Kim Nielsen
That sounds like a delicious combination. I'm happy that you like my blog, thanks:-)
Lisa
My family always made this with pork tenderloin. My favorite!
Peter Gartner Randrup
Kim. Greetings from British Columbia, Canada!
My Mom (Rigmor) made these quite often and I loved them. To my untrained ear Karbonader and Krebenetter sound very similar. Mom may have used both names.
In the recipe you say to use 500 grams (1/2 lb) of pork. Later you say to divide into 5 100g patties, so again 500g. Uhhhhh...sorry, but 454 grams is ONE pound, not 1/2 a pound. So maybe you should change the recipe?
PS I have a brother named Kim Gartner Randrup
Kim Nielsen
Hi. Yes you are absolutely right. I will change this right away. Thanks for letting me know :-)
Bjorn
Made them on Saturday using veal instead of pork. Very nice.
I was told by a native Danish speaker that in Copenhagen you say Krebinetter and in Jutland you use karbonader.
Sue Pedersen
Correct!
Peter Randrup
I'm making some Karbonader right this minute. I divided the meat into 4 pieces because it was easier. The cooked Karbonader in the photo appear to be quite large and thick, but my 1/4 lb patties seem pretty small.and are quite thin. My Mom must have made 1/2 lb burgers? I'll cook according t o directions and see what I think. Hopefully they don't shrink a lot.
Kim Nielsen
I normally make about four Karbonader from one pound of meat. But you can also make them smaller or larger - it doesn't matter that much. I hope that you like them.
Kjeld Nielsen
I make mine about 3-3 1/2" diameter 1 1/4" thick
Christine E. Lauster
This is the closest recipe I've found that seems like what my family has made every Christmas for over 70 years. We call them veal sticks. Our recipe calls for extra fine saltine crackers, ground veal and pork, scrambled egg, salt, pepper made into patties. Dip into more scrambled egg, dredge in cracker crumbs before cooking on stovetop. My grandmother used a mix of crisco, lard or oil to fry them in..we have added the step to finish after quick frying by baking in oven., can be eaten warm or cold. Just add some sea salt while still warm.
Charlotta Norby
Absolutely or react that they’re called krebinetter in Copenhagen and probably most of Sjælland and karbonader in Jylland. I’m not sure about Fyn and the rest of the islands. I grew up in Jylland, and both of my parents were from Aarhus (but have lived in the USA since I was 19). Growing up we called them karbonader.
My sister studied in Copenhagen and married a guy from Kalundborg and they live on Fyn. They now call them krebinetter and it took me a while to figure out what was going on. I finally realized she had just adopted the Copenhagen word, and she had totally forgotten that we used to call them karbonader!
Cat
Grew up eating krebenetter because my Mom was Danish. My brother & I used to fight over the left over egg/breadcrumb mixture after my mom would fry it!! It was to DIE FOR!!
Nick
Thanks for posting up some great recipes. I'm going to be making this and a lot of other dishes for my family soon. I'm American but spent almost four years recently in Greenland and ate a ton of Danish food while there. I've found myself missing this dish as well as others like risengrød, frikadeller, burning love, and boller i karry. Thinking it would be close to the taste of karbonader, a little while back I tried to make a basic german pork schnitzel with a Danish-style parsley sauce for my wife and daughter and it did not turn out anywhere near as good as the Danish-made karbonader that I ate in Greenland. I'm so glad I've discovered your site and recipes!
Kim Nielsen
You are welcome! Thanks for your comment on my blog. I'm really happy that you like it and that you can use the recipes. It's comments like yours that makes me want to continue the work. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Kell ! Priesum
In lockdown in Spain at the moment and have been running out of ideas for dinner recipes. Came across your website and now am raring to go ahead and try some of your recipes. I am Danish but moved to UK many years ago. Miss a lot of the food of my childhood so thank you for giving me the opportunity to get the taste of Danmark back!!
Kim Nielsen
Yes the entire world is in lockdown due to Corona - I'm in the same situation. I also spend some more time in my kitchen these days. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Kirsten Smid
My daughter has just found your blog with this recipe for Karbonader, an old favourite from my childhood. My grandmother Rigmor used to make them. I will be giving them ago next week.