List of meatball dishes facts for kids

A meatball is a yummy food made from ground-up meat, often shaped into a small ball. Sometimes, other ingredients like breadcrumbs, chopped onions, or eggs are mixed in to make them even tastier. Meatballs can be cooked in many ways, like frying them in a pan, baking them in the oven, steaming them, or simmering them in a delicious sauce. Almost every country has its own special way of making meatballs, using different kinds of meat and spices!

Lion's Head is a dish from eastern China, featuring big pork meatballs cooked with vegetables.

Amazing Meatball Dishes Around the World

Meatballs are a popular food enjoyed by people everywhere. They come in many shapes, sizes, and flavors. Let's explore some of the most interesting meatball dishes from different parts of the world!

Popular Meatball Types

Bakso sapi

• Bakso: This is a popular Indonesian meatball, usually made from beef. It's often served in a warm soup with noodles and vegetables.
• Bitterballen: From the Netherlands, these are small, crispy meatballs often made with beef or veal. They are usually fried and served as a snack.
• Frikadeller: These are flat, pan-fried meatballs popular in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. They are often made from minced pork, veal, or a mix of both.
• Frikkadel: A traditional South African meatball, often baked or deep-fried. It's made with onion, bread, eggs, and spices.
• Gondi: This is a special meatball dish from Persian Jewish cooking. It's made from ground lamb, veal, or chicken and often served on the Sabbath.
• Kibbeh: A famous dish from the Middle East, kibbeh is made from cracked wheat, minced onions, and finely ground meat like beef or lamb. It can be shaped into balls, baked, or cooked in broth.
• Köttbullar: These are the famous Swedish meatballs! They are typically made with ground pork or a mix of meats, diced onion, and breadcrumbs. They are often served with gravy and lingonberry jam.
• Leberknödel: A traditional meatball from Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. It's usually made from beef liver mixed with bread, eggs, and spices.
• Mititei: A traditional Romanian dish of grilled ground meat rolls. They are made from a mix of beef, lamb, and pork with various spices.
• Porcupine Meatballs: These American meatballs are made with ground beef and long-grain rice. When cooked, the rice sticks out, making them look like a porcupine!
• Tsukune: These are Japanese chicken meatballs. They are often cooked on skewers, similar to yakitori, but can also be fried or baked.

Meatballs in Meals

Meatballs are super versatile and can be part of many different meals.

• Meatball Pizza: Yes, you can put meatballs on pizza! It's a fun and tasty twist on a classic.
• Meatball Sandwich: A popular sandwich with meatballs, often covered in sauce and cheese, served in a long bun.
• Meatball Soup: Many cultures enjoy meatballs in a warm, comforting soup.
• Spaghetti with Meatballs: This is a very famous Italian-American dish. It combines delicious meatballs with spaghetti noodles and tomato sauce.
• Steamed Meatball: A common dish in Chinese dim sum. These meatballs are steamed, making them soft and juicy.
• Lion's Head: Also known as Stewed Meatball, this is a large pork meatball dish from eastern China. It's cooked with vegetables and can be white or red (cooked with soy sauce).

Middle Eastern and South Asian Kofta Dishes

Sulu köfte

Tabriz meatballs

Kofta is a big family of meatball dishes found in South Asia, the Middle East, and other regions. Koftas are usually made from minced meat like beef, chicken, lamb, or pork, mixed with spices and onions. In Turkey, many kofta dishes are named after the places where they are made.

Some examples of Kofta include:

• Çiğ köfte: A raw meatball dish popular in Armenian, Kurdish, and Turkish cooking.
• Sulu köfte: A Turkish stew or thick soup that features meatballs.
• Tabriz Meatballs (Koofteh Tabrizi): A large, stuffed meatball dish from Tabriz, Iran.
• Yuvarlakia: A Greek meatball made of beef and rice or cracked wheat. It's cooked in a moist heat and often served with a special egg-lemon sauce.

Images for kids

• Meatball dishes around the world
• 

  Albondigas are small meatballs prepared in the cuisines of Mexico, Spain and South America. Pictured is albondigas in Spain.

• 

  Bulgarian meatball soup

• 

  Precooked beef balls

• 

  Meatballs with tomato sauce and bread dumplings in the Czech Republic

• 

  Dutch gehaktballen

• 

  Fish balls

• 

  Fish balls at a restaurant in Italy

• 

  Danish frikadelle accompanied with bread and tzatziki

• 

  Fried kibbeh

• 

  A leberknödel soup

• 

  Meatball pizza

• 

  Mexican meatball soup simmering on a stove

• 

  Mutton meatballs in India

• 

  Polish kotlet mielony

• 

  A Russian meatball dish

• 

  Spaghetti with meatballs

• 

  Swedish meatballs (köttbullar) at an Ikea store in Poznań, Poland