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"Home" » Traditional Danish

"Home" » Traditional Danish

Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

Published: Aug 24, 2015 · Modified: Dec 19, 2018 · About 3 minutes to read this article. · By Kim Nielsen

Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

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.



 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

 Recipe for Homemade Danish Breaded Pork Patties (Karbonader)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. debbie king

    September 12, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    I made this f/my family, and they loved it! Tastes just like tenderloin.

    Reply
  2. S Clausen

    February 15, 2018 at 3:31 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      February 15, 2018 at 6:57 pm

      Hi. I'm happy that you like them :-) It's also one of my all-time favorite :-)

      Reply
    • Ann

      June 22, 2024 at 3:04 pm

      My family likes when I wrap a piece of bacon around the Pattie before frying.

      Reply
  3. Norma Sorensen

    March 17, 2018 at 7:12 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      March 17, 2018 at 8:05 am

      That sounds like a delicious combination. I'm happy that you like my blog, thanks:-)

      Reply
      • Lisa

        October 12, 2020 at 5:57 am

        My family always made this with pork tenderloin. My favorite!

        Reply
  4. Peter Gartner Randrup

    December 19, 2018 at 5:35 am

    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

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      December 19, 2018 at 9:10 am

      Hi. Yes you are absolutely right. I will change this right away. Thanks for letting me know :-)

      Reply
    • Lynette

      October 20, 2023 at 4:14 am

      I'm another BC person with danish parents. : >

      And I also grew up eating these. Always a treat!

      Reply
  5. Bjorn

    February 12, 2019 at 2:07 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Sue Pedersen

      August 31, 2019 at 11:56 pm

      Correct!

      Reply
  6. Peter Randrup

    August 11, 2019 at 4:10 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      August 12, 2019 at 7:34 am

      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.

      Reply
    • Kjeld Nielsen

      September 19, 2019 at 5:03 pm

      I make mine about 3-3 1/2" diameter 1 1/4" thick

      Reply
  7. Christine E. Lauster

    December 24, 2019 at 1:24 am

    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.

    Reply
  8. Charlotta Norby

    January 16, 2020 at 7:48 am

    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!

    Reply
  9. Cat

    March 07, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    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!!

    Reply
  10. Nick

    March 12, 2020 at 6:35 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      March 12, 2020 at 6:44 am

      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)

      Reply
  11. Kell ! Priesum

    May 03, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    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!!

    Reply
    • Kim Nielsen

      May 04, 2020 at 7:23 am

      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)

      Reply
  12. Kirsten Smid

    September 29, 2021 at 9:15 am

    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.

    Reply
  13. Agnethe Ravn Manchester

    May 13, 2022 at 10:15 pm

    Krebinetter is sure Jysk, I come from Als and this was my favorite meal for my birthday. Yes my sister and I also fought over the egg/ breadcrumb mix fried up. Now my daughter Kirsten makes them and had them served on mothers day with the usual Danish side dishes. Yum

    Reply
  14. Peter Randrup

    September 12, 2024 at 8:17 am

    I plan to make some Karbonader tomorrow for dinner. Hope they hold together well. Made some Frikaddeller yesterday [using pork I got at a good price] and they turned out pretty good. Used a different online recipe than the last time. Biggest problem for me is usually to not have them fall apart. This Frikadeller recipe called for 2 eggs, a good amount of salt, garlic [I left it out] and some milk. [Not sure if Mom added milk] Very wet so forming them into meatballs was a little tricky, Were a bit on the large size. Iike them VERY dark and crisp. Next time a little less diced oniion I think. Was still deliscious. [In Canada ground beef and ground pork has gotten expensive. Used to be poor mans food. Now normally cost $5 and even $6 lb CND! [$3.70 -$4.44US] Yesterday I paid about $3.80 lb [abt $2.82 US lb.]

    Reply
  15. Kitty

    October 25, 2024 at 9:30 am

    This has always been my favorite dish. Meat (half & half), egg, flour, salt, pepper and milk if it needs it. No stew here, don't like that. Big and thick patties. Golden and crispy. Steamed veggies and a couple of boiled potatoes on the side. A knob of butter on top melting while you eat. It doesn't get better than that. Sometimes I knead a bit of curry in the patty, it gives a different but delicious taste. Karbonader doo - det ka' noet! :D

    Reply

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